Short answers, pulled from the story.
Johns Hopkins University was incorporated in 1867 and opened in 1876. It is considered the first research university in the United States, modeled on the European research institution tradition, and it was the first to integrate advanced research with teaching as a unified academic mission.
Johns Hopkins was a Quaker businessman and abolitionist who made much of his fortune through the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. At his death in 1873, he bequeathed $7 million to fund a university and hospital in Baltimore, the largest philanthropic gift in U.S. history at the time.
Daniel Coit Gilman was the first president of Johns Hopkins University, inaugurated on the 22nd of February, 1876. He recruited internationally known researchers, built the country's leading doctoral programs, and established the principle that teaching and original research were inseparable, transforming American higher education.
In fiscal year 2020, Johns Hopkins spent nearly $3.1 billion on research, more than any other U.S. university, a position it has held for over 40 consecutive years. The university crossed the $1 billion threshold in total research spending in FY 2002, the first university to do so.
As of March 2025-34 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with Johns Hopkins as alumni, faculty, or researchers. The most recent laureates are Gregg Semenza and William G. Kaelin. Eighteen Johns Hopkins affiliates have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine alone.
On the 18th of November, 2018, Michael Bloomberg donated $1.8 billion to his alma mater, the largest private donation in modern history to an institution of higher education. The gift brought his total contributions to more than $3.3 billion and enabled the university to practice need-blind admission and meet the full financial need of every admitted student.