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The newspaper of The Johns Hopkins University December 5, 2005 | Vol. 35 No. 13
 
Johns Hopkins Renames Scholarships to Honor James Gilliam

Hodson Scholars Leslie Burton Theibert and Meredith Hope, seniors who spoke at the luncheon, talk with James H. Gilliam Sr. and Linda G.J. Gilliam.
PHOTO BY HIPS/WILL KIRK

A scholarship program to assist exceptionally talented minority students underrepresented at Johns Hopkins will be renamed in memory of James H. Gilliam Jr., President William R. Brody announced last week. An attorney with degrees from Morgan State University and Columbia University School of Law, Gilliam served on the board of the Hodson Trust.

Hodson Success Scholarships, made possible through the generosity of the Hodson Trust, have been held by nearly 200 students since the program was established at Johns Hopkins in 1993. Beginning next fall, Hodson Success Scholarships will be known as Hodson-Gilliam Success Scholarships, continuing to ensure that awardees do not have to take out loans during their undergraduate years.

President William R. Brody made the announcement at a luncheon recognizing all Hodson Scholars, held Dec. 1 on the Homewood campus.

"Johns Hopkins University is honored to name the Hodson-Gilliam Success Scholarships in Jim Gilliam's memory," Brody said. "The accomplishments and values of this exceptional man will inspire Hodson-Gilliam Scholars at Johns Hopkins for generations to come."

Gilliam, who died in 2003 at age 58, was executive vice president and general counsel of Beneficial Corp. He served on a number of national boards including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which recently established the Gilliam Graduate Fellowships to provide support for disadvantaged students, including those from underrepresented minority groups, to pursue doctoral studies in the life sciences. A longtime Delaware resident, he was chairman of the Governor's Judicial Nominating Commission, chairman of the Administrative Enhancement Committee of the Delaware Supreme Court, a member of the executive committee and board of the Medical Center of Delaware and founding chairman of Wilmington 2000 to redevelop the city. He served on the boards of Goldey-Beacom College, Delaware State University and the Columbia University School of Law. He also was active at Morgan State, to which he and his wife, Linda G.J. Gilliam, in 2000 made the largest individual gift in that university's history, a $1.5 million fine arts endowment in honor of his parents, James H. and Louise Hayley Gilliam.

Finn M.W. Caspersen, chairman of the Hodson Trust, said, "Jim's life reflected his deeply held belief that to whom much is given, much is required. His commitment to excellence in education and his benevolence created opportunities for thousands of deserving young people." Caspersen, who headed the Beneficial Corp. until its 1998 merger with Household International, also said, "Through his leadership and quiet strength, Jim Gilliam transcended partisanship and inspired others to cross economic, racial and political divides."

The Hodson Trust was settled in 1920 by the family of Colonel Clarence Hodson, founder of Beneficial Corp., to support excellence in education. Today, the trust makes grants to Johns Hopkins and three other Maryland institutions of higher education.

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