Johns Hopkins: Knowledge for the World: 1876-2001

"Almost anyone associated with Johns Hopkins would say it's a special place, an extraordinary place. But too few of us know its incredible history, how it grew from a handful of faculty and two buildings at Howard and Eutaw Streets into the amazing worldwide institution it is today. This book tells that story. It will surprise and delight you." -- President William R. Brody

Daniel Coit Gilman, Johns Hopkins' first president, described an ambitious and audacious mission for a new style of American university in his 1876 inaugural address. Over the next 125 years he, his faculty, and their successors accomplished virtually every task he had proposed. This book celebrates the realization of Daniel Coit Gilman's vision and "depicts a university made strong by its diversity and individualism but linked closely by a commonality of purpose, commitment, hopes, dreams, and accomplishments," according to Ross Jones, chair of the 125th Anniversary Committee.

Johns Hopkins: Knowledge for the World weaves a fascinating story of extraordinary accomplishments and day-to-day life on campuses in Baltimore, suburban Maryland, Washington, D.C., and beyond. It's all here, dramatized in more than four hundred illustrations -- many published for the first time -- and dozens of voices representing all university divisions and the internationally renowned hospital and health system; an absorbing chronology of events spanning more than 125 years complements the images and narratives. Distinguished faculty and determined students in seminars and laboratories ponder great issues and tackle life-and-death challenges; staff, students, and alumni make important contributions around the world; thousands of part-time scholars garner knowledge and advance both their careers and their professions.

Then there are those uniquely Hopkins moments. Readers are invited to accompany the Peabody Orchestra to Moscow and legendary physicians as they lead medical rounds. Applied Physics Laboratory scientists work with Homewood astrophysicists to unravel the mysteries of the universe. Engineering and public-health students work side-by-side to understand and alleviate complex problems. Trailblazing women reinvent the nursing profession and break down barriers in graduate and undergraduate schools. Budding diplomats from many countries consider real and imagined global crises. And year after year, the lacrosse team inspires university-wide pride -- and, in 1947, some resolute undergraduates to steal a rather large terrapin.

"Hopkins gave me every opportunity that I've had, and it made me realize that you have to think. It made me skeptical. It made me wonder. It made me ask why all the time. That's the great difference it made in me."--Russell Baker, B.A. '47

"We expect you to be great. And we will work as hard as we can to make you great. I know of no place else where people work as hard to help each other. People who've never been here and don't know us think that this is a cutthroat place. They don't understand it's just the opposite. We have the opportunity to take from among the best, and we have among the best teachers to work with them. Great begets great begets great. You're expected to be great and you are. Everybody has every faith in you."--Dr. Catherine DeAngelis

"Hopkins was a tough place, but that was part of its charm, and that's what we all shared graduation day, thinking, 'I went through four years of Hopkins. I've got to be good.' I guess students still have that feeling, but it was particularly true in our time. What a wonderful feeling it was to have graduated from Hopkins."--Ernest A. Bates, B.A. '58

"My boss advised me to go to Johns Hopkins. He said, 'When you go to Hopkins and you get up to bat and hit the ball, they let you play. But you've got to hit the ball. Doesn't matter who you are, they'll take care of you.'"--Professor Donald Coffey, Ph.D. '64

Published in celebration of the university's 125th anniversary, this elegant book is richly illustrated with hundreds of archival and recent photographs.