Posted on January 29, 2013

With Latest $350 Million Gift to Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg Surpasses $1 Billion in Giving to Alma Mater

Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore has announced a $350 million gift from longtime supporter and New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The gift, which boosts Bloomberg's total giving to the university during his lifetime to $1 billion, includes $250 million in support of a $1 billion effort to facilitate cross-disciplinary work across the university. Among other things, the funding will be used to endow fifty Bloomberg Distinguished Professors in areas such as water resource sustainability, individualized healthcare delivery, global health, the science of learning, and urban revitalization.

The remaining $100 million will be used to provide Bloomberg Scholarships to twenty-six hundred undergrads over the next ten years, ensuring that the most talented and driven students can attend the university, regardless of economic circumstance.

Bloomberg, who earned his bachelor's degree in engineering from the university in 1964, made his first donation to the school, a gift of $5, in 1965. In the decades since, he has been a devoted supporter of the university, contributing a total of $336 million in support of research projects, $289 million to the Bloomberg School of Public Health, $240 million for various capital and infrastructure projects, and $219 million in support of need-based financial aid.

"Johns Hopkins University has been an important part of my life since I first set foot on campus more than five decades ago," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Each dollar I have given has been well-spent improving the institution and, just as importantly, making its education available to students who might otherwise not be able to afford it. Giving is only meaningful if the money will make a difference in people's lives, and I know of no other institution that can make a bigger difference in lives around the world through its groundbreaking research — especially in the field of public health."