On Dec. 12 the Hodson Trust presented four Maryland colleges--Johns Hopkins University and Hood, Washington and St. John's colleges--with grants totaling $8.37 million.

Hopkins received $2.4 million from the trust, which was settled in 1920 by the family of Beneficial Corp. founder Col. Clarence Hodson. The grants are given annually and are used by the four institutions for academic merit scholarships, internships, professor endowments, information technology initiatives, large construction projects, athletic programs and endowment funds.

Homewood's Hodson Hall, seen here in an architect's rendering, will house classrooms and the archives of the Hodson Trust. Completion is scheduled for 2002.

"Neither business nor our nation can prosper without an educated populace," said Finn M.W. Caspersen, chairman of the board of trustees of the Hodson Trust. "The trust was founded on the principle that education is a necessity that serves not only the individual but the community as a whole," he said. "Despite the difficult economic environment, Hodson Trust is pleased to continue to show a strong level of financial commitment to these four Maryland colleges. We know that our funds are further supplementing the ability for these colleges to provide financial assistance to students as well as to enhance the development of important educational programs."

In announcing the gift, university President William R. Brody said, "From my office window on the Homewood campus I am able to watch our newest academic building--Hodson Hall--being built. The steady and methodical progress of the workers involved in its construction is an apt metaphor for the tremendous and consistent support Johns Hopkins University has received from the Hodson Trust for more than four decades."

Hodson Hall, scheduled for completion in 2002, will house classrooms and the archives of the Hodson Trust.

This year's grant will support the Eisenhower Library's Digital Knowledge Center and Hodson Graduate Assistantship in Information Technology; the Hodson Scholarship endowment in the Homewood schools; renovations to areas surrounding Hodson Hall; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building for cancer care; the Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards; and the Hodson Trust Young Investigator Award in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"As ever," Brody said, "the generosity of the Hodson Trust makes a critical difference in our ability to provide a world-class education, and to make that education available to students from all backgrounds. We are deeply grateful for the support and enduring friendship the Hodson Trust has shown to Johns Hopkins."

In the first year of the Hodson Trust grants, two colleges shared $39,000. Under the stewardship of Finn Caspersen for the past 25 years, the donations to the four colleges have grown from $12.6 million to more than $118 million.