At a luncheon held Dec. 1 in Baltimore, the Hodson
Trust presented grants totaling $6.5 million to four
Maryland colleges. Johns Hopkins, Hood College, Washington
College and St. John's College will each receive
$1,625,000.
With this year's grants, the trust has given a total
of $155.6 million to the four colleges it supports.
The Hodson Trust was settled in 1920 by the family of
Col. Clarence Hodson, founder of the Beneficial Corp., to
support excellence in education. "Col. Hodson believed that
credit should be available to the average American, a
revolutionary idea in 1914, when he founded the Beneficial
Loan Society, " said Hodson Trust Chairman Finn M.W.
Caspersen. "That single idea led to the creation of one of
the nation's most successful corporations, and provided the
means to fund the Hodson Trust.
"The power of a single original idea, coupled with
strong follow-through, can produce remarkable results,"
Caspersen said. "The colleges and university that the
Hodson Trust supports are among the best idea factories in
the world. We believe these grants are an excellent
investment, supporting the development of new ideas that
will change individual lives and benefit all of
America."
The Hodson Trust has given millions of dollars to
endow academic merit scholarships at all four schools. In
addition, grants from the trust have supported research,
academic programs, new facilities, professorships and other
initiatives to advance the missions of the four Maryland
institutions.
At Johns Hopkins, Hodson Scholarships, which cover a
significant portion of tuition costs, are awarded to
exceptionally talented undergraduates in the Krieger School
of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of
Engineering.
Saul Garlick, an international relations major at
Johns Hopkins and one of four students who spoke at the
luncheon, said the Hodson Trust "literally opened up a
world of opportunities for me." Garlick, who founded a
nonprofit student group that raises money for schools in
Africa, said, "Because of the Hodson Scholarship, I have
not needed to work at a part-time job while I have been at
school, which has meant that I could focus my attention on
the extracurricular activities that are giving me the
experiences I want and need to accomplish my dreams for the
future."
Johns Hopkins will use this latest Hodson Trust grant
to create a new endowed fund for a university archivist and
to increase the endowment for the Hodson Directorship of
the Digital Knowledge
Center at the
Eisenhower Library. The grant also will support the
Hodson Scholarship endowment, the
Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards and the Hodson
Trust Young Investigator in Oncology Award at the
Sidney
Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Johns Hopkins President William
R. Brody said, "We are grateful for all that the Hodson
Trust has done to strengthen this university. Throughout
our campuses, the name Hodson is synonymous with
excellence."
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