With 11 campuses scattered between Baltimore and Washington, it is sometimes difficult to explain Johns Hopkins University to someone who isn?t part of the system. A $7 million bequest from Johns Hopkins ? a wealthy 19th-century Baltimore entrepreneur and philanthropist ? established Johns Hopkins University in 1876 and Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1889.
Now, the school is larger, in terms of research funding, than Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology combined. It is one of the foremost medical schools in the country.
William Brody has been the university?s president for the past 11 years. Previously, he was the provost of the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota. He received bachelor?s and master?s degrees from MIT and a doctorate from Stanford University.
Q What?s the future hold for Johns Hopkins?
A We want to maintain our established position as the nation?s premier research institution. Whether it?s medicine, public health or astrophysics, Hopkins has always been about discovery. The challenge … is we?re now in a global talent search, not just a local talent search. In the end, that?s the best for Hopkins, and it?s the best for Baltimore and the nation.
Q Where is higher education headed over the next several years?
A With all the talk about the Internet, education is still done best in a collaborative setting. What Johns Hopkins has tried to do is create a community of scholars, where there is tremendous dialogue and discourse. You?re going to see more stratification, more people taking online courses at the undergraduate level. Universities are raising more and more endowment to offset the true cost of educating and making it more affordable.
Q How would you distinguish Johns Hopkins for prospective students?
A Johns Hopkins is like a small liberal arts college in the middle of the world?s largest research institution. It?s for self-starters, so there?s not a lot of defined curriculum. If you?re looking for a lot of structure, you should probably look somewhere else. We?re looking for students who want to get passionate about something, who want to get involved. We don?t train people for a specific career or a specific job, though they may be ready for it. Many people will have three, four or five different careers. In real life, you need to absorb what?s all around you and solve problems that haven?t been proposed. About 80 percent of our undergrads have some sort of independent study as part of their curriculum. I would like that to be 100 percent.
Q What do you look for in a student?
A I look for what I call “well-lopsided students” ? students who try to take the most competitive classes in their high school and have an outside interest for which they are passionate. Leadership experience is helpful. There?s a right school for kids and a wrong school. There?s so much obsession over rankings. Many times, parents push their kids toward a school that has [a high] ranking, but it may not be the right fit.
Q What has distinguished your tenure as president?
A I have been blessed to be at Hopkins in a unique time of growth. Until recently, the government research budgets were growing, and we?ve had a buildup of philanthropy. It?s that philanthropy that?s helped Hopkins excel. Philanthropy is really the oil that allows the wheels of academia to run smoothly.
Q What obstacles do you see?
A Since 1996, basic federal investment in research and development as a function of our gross domestic product has been going down. Other countries are ratcheting their R-and-D budgets up. If you want economic development, you invest in education, and you invest in basic research.
FAST FACTS
» Number of applicants (2007): 14,848
» Number admitted (2007): 3,586
» Admission rate: 24 percent
» Undergraduate tuition: $35,900
» Number of undergraduates: 4,478
» Percentage, black: 6
» Percentage, Asian-American: 22
» Percentage, Hispanic: 6
» Student-to-teacher ratio: 10-to-1
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI
From the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences:
» Woodrow Wilson, 1886, U.S. president
» John Astin, 1952, actor
» Rachel Carson, 1932, author of “Silent Spring”
» Wes Craven, 1964, horror film director
» Kweisi Mfume, 1984, former U.S. congressman and former president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
» P.J. O?Rourke, 1970, political satirist and journalist
From the Whiting School of Engineering:
» Michael Bloomberg, 1964, New York City mayor
From the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies:
» Wolf Blitzer, 1972, CNN anchorman
The Examiner is taking an indepth look at colleges and universities throughout Maryland. Click here to read the entire series.
