Johns Hopkins Transformational Academic Initiative Receives $350 Million Pledge from Michael Bloomberg

Johns Hopkins University announced on Saturday, January 26, that New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg pledged $350 million to the university's Transformational Academic Initiative. The biggest portion of the endowment, $250 million, will be donated to cross-disciplinary programs to fund 50 faculty appointments in areas including water resource sustainability, the science of learning, individualized health care delivery, urban revitalization and global health. The balance of the funds from Mayor Bloomberg's gift to the university will provide scholarships to 2,600 needs-based undergraduate students over the course of the next 10 years.

A Visionary Philanthropist

According to the university's press release, this recent pledge brings Mayor Bloomberg's lifetime contributions to the university to over one billion dollars, or more precisely $1.118 billion, making Bloomberg the university's largest philanthropic contributor. University president, Ronald J. Daniels praised Bloomberg, calling him, "a visionary philanthropist, a force for social good on the order of Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Leland Stanford and our own founder, Johns Hopkins." In addition to Bloomberg's financial contributions, he also dedicates his personal time to the university. Bloomberg is on the board of trustees, working to improve Johns Hopkins, as a whole.
Following in the footsteps of business moguls Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, Bloomberg has pledge to give away all of his wealth before he dies. The donation to his alma mater is just one of many steps to do so.

Distribution of Funds over the Years

According to the university, over the past 49 years Bloomberg has provided funds to four main areas benefiting students, the university and the public as a whole. The mayor's gifts to the university include $240 million toward capital and infrastructure, helping to build the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy, helping to implement the Homewood campus master plan, and helping with renovations to both the Peabody Institute and Gilman Hall. In addition, Bloomberg has now contributed about $219 million to funding needs-based financial aid grants to undergraduates at Johns Hopkins.

Mayor Bloomberg has also supported various research projects at the university. He has backed his belief in the value of public health discoveries with donations totaling $289 million, used for public health matters such as malaria research, preventing gun violence, reducing tobacco use and safe water issues. He has also donated $69 million to stem cell research.