In 2013, Johns Hopkins University created the Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships with $250 million of a generous $350 million gift from alumnus, philanthropist, and three-term New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Bloomberg’s gift is part of a larger effort to facilitate interdisciplinary work across the university to galvanize people, resources, research, and educational opportunities around a set of complex global challenges. Central to this effort is the recruitment of 50 distinguished scholars to spark interdisciplinary collaborations across the institutions. With the BDPs, we are steadily attracting some of the world’s most creative thinkers to the Hopkins faculty who are engaged in finding innovative solutions for critical global issues.

Since the first Ten by Twenty progress report was released in March 2015, 19 more Bloomberg Professors have been named, including experts in hearing loss and brain development, global food security, and the environmental and social impacts of public and private programs. The first 25 BDPs already span nine divisions of Hopkins and are exposing hundreds of students to new modes of thinking and discovery each year. In the process of building intellectual bridges across the institution, the BDPs are breaking down academic silos and connecting our historical strengths to tackle big problems that require interdisciplinary solutions.

Photo: Six of the most recently selected BDPs from across the disciplines. From left to right: Adam Riess, Jessica Fanzo, Paul Ferraro, Lisa Cooper, Michael Schatz, and Ulrich Mueller.

Table includes BDPs through December 31, 2016