Since the merchant Johns Hopkins made his original investment, the university has been the recipient of extraordinary acts of philanthropy. These commitments have launched lifesaving innovations, fueled fundamental discoveries, and touched the lives of countless students. Even so, the university faces considerable resource challenges, with a relatively modest endowment and smaller pools of funding at the central or divisional level. The university must calibrate its approach to the financial framework of our university, coupling new lines of revenue with targeted initiatives for cost control.

The last two fiscal years were the most successful fundraising years in the university’s history, with a total of more than $1.43 billion raised in that time span alone. We also saw more involvement than ever from our alumni in helping to build these resources for future generations of students. Finally, those efforts were coupled with a new cross-university, faculty-led effort to leverage our collective purchasing power to lower costs and improve services; this initiative is expected to produce nearly $10 million in savings in the first year, all of which will benefit faculty research and related budgets. The emphasis of each of these endeavors has been on empowering and investing in the people who make up Hopkins, a focus that will only grow in the coming year.