Johns Hopkins University:

The Research University

ModelBy Justin FeitHIST X3570

Prof. McCaughey03/26/14

Johns Hopkins (1793-1873)

Daniel Gilman (1831-1908 )

Two Most Important Men in Founding of JHU

Johns Hopkins

Born in 1795 in Southern Maryland to devout Quaker family

Never formally educated (at a university) and rather went to work as a merchant in Baltimore with his uncle

Invested in first major US railroad and became their director in 1847

Died in 1873 and left $7 million (largest philanthropic donation at that time) to be divided between the eventual Johns Hopkins University and and the Johns Hopkins Hospital: “His beneficence, so free, so great, so wise, promoting at once the physical, intellectual, and moral welfare of his fellow-men, awakens universal surprise and administration, and calls for our perpetual thanks.”- DC Gilman (1876)

Quick Philanthropic Aside: A Comparison

Abbott Lawrence gift to Harvard (1846)- $50,000 “the largest amount ever given at one time during the lifetime of the donor to any public institution in this country”

James Smithson, primary benefactor of the Smithsonian (1864)- $500,000

Stephen Girard, philanthropist for the cities of Philadelphia and New Orleans (1830s)- $2,000,000

Johns Hopkins, benefactor of JHU (1876)- $7,000,000

Daniel Coit Gilman

Graduated from Yale in 1852 with degree in geography

Instrumental in the forming of Sheffield Scientific School at Yale

President of University of California, 1872-1875

President (1st) of Johns Hopkins University, 1875-1901

President of Carnegie Institution, 1902-1904

Johns Hopkins University

Officially founded in 1876, JHU was the first American university created in the European/German model of a research university institution: its mission was “Knowledge for the World”. Its unofficial mission was to teach and to advance human knowledge through discovery (research).

Johns Hopkins Hospital was founded in 1889 and Johns Hopkins Medical School was founded in 1893. Other institutions established under the umbrella JHU include a school of international studies (1943), a business school (2007), school of Public Health (1916), school of education (1909) and a conservatory/preparatory school (1857).

The New Private Research University

While at Yale, Gilman attempted to implement the idea of an externally oriented faculty who would not only serves as members of their local college community but also as members of the international scholarly community. Yale did not bite on Gilman’s vision, which led Gilman to make the move down to Baltimore.

President Gilman’s opening address on 2/22/1876: “What are we aiming at? … The encouragement of research… and the advancement of individual scholars, who by their excellence will advance the sciences they pursue, and the society where they dwell.”

Johns Hopkins University awarded its first PhD’s in 1878 and its first undergraduate bachelor degrees in 1879. Putting graduate studies ahead of undergraduates led to the rise of research universities, with little-to-no denominational spirit (Stanford, U Chicago, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Clark)

Early Consequences of JHUSuccess of the academic president (with Gilman) led to other

successful academics as presidents including James Angell (U Michigan 1877-1901), David Starr Jordan (Stanford 1891-1913), Andrew Dickson White (Cornell 1868-1886)

Focus on external faculty (towards PhD’s and graduate relations rather than undergraduates) led to mass migration of academics from leading institutions (Harvard, Yale, Columbia) to JHU

Harvard’s Charles William Eliot (president from 1869-1909) used the success of Gilman’s “PhD” vision towards Harvard: “the great need of the University is to make the career of the University teacher more attractive to men of capacity and ambition.”

Prominent player in graduate education- 549 PhD’s awarded between 1878-1900

Famous JHU PhD’s

John Dewey- 1884

Woodrow Wilson- 1886

Frederick Jackson Turner-

1890

Edward Alsworth Ross-

1891

Johns Hopkins University Today

As of 2010, Johns Hopkins University has nearly 20,0o0 students and 27,000 employees, making JHU one of Maryland’s largest private employers.

JHU ranks first among US universities in receipt of federal research and development funds (from the National Science Foundation) and its School of Medicine is consistently first among medical schools in NIH grants and awards.

37 Nobel Prize Winners have been affiliated with JHUContinues to be one of leading examples of research

universities and in undergraduate/graduate education

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Johns Hopkins University undergraduate campus

SourcesFranklin, Fabian. “Daniel Coit Gilman: A Biography.” New York Times 21 May, 1910. Online.

Gilman, Daniel Coit. University Problems in the United States. Century Press, 1898. Online.

http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/about_jhu/a_brief_history_of_jhu/index.cfm

http://webapps.jhu.edu/jhuniverse/information_about_hopkins/about_jhu/who_was_johns_hopkins

/

https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=view&fice=2077

McCaughey, Robert A. Alma Mater: History of American Colleges and Universities, Lectures 10-11 and accompanying powerpoints.

McCaughey, Robert A. Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1754-2004. Columbia University Press, 2003.

Rudolph, Frederick. The American College & University: A History. University of Georgia Press, 2011.