Johns Hopkins Gazette: January 3, 1995


President Richardson to leave Hopkins in 1995

By Dennis O'Shea
     William C. Richardson, the university's president since
1990, has been elected president and chief executive officer of
the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the nation's second-largest
philanthropic foundation.
     Dr. Richardson, who has been associated with the foundation
as a fellow, consultant and grantee for more than 30 years, will
leave the university this summer and assume the Kellogg
presidency on Aug. 1. He will succeed Russell G. Mawby, who for
25 years has headed a foundation that now has well over $5
billion in assets.
     Dr. Richardson said the decision to leave Johns Hopkins,
Baltimore and Maryland was a very difficult one.
     "The warmth and generosity of the people who welcomed me and
my family five years ago has only grown over the years, and, of
course, the university is without peer," he said. "But the
opportunity to lead one of the world's great philanthropic
organizations comes very infrequently. Also, many of the
foun-dation's interests are very close to my own, including
health, education and community development. Those two factors
made the opportunity irresistible."
     The Kellogg Foundation, established in 1930, seeks to "help
people to help themselves through the practical application of
knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that
of future generations." The foundation, based in Battle Creek,
Mich., awards most of its grants in higher education, youth
development, leadership, philanthropy and volunteerism, health
care and rural development. Grants are concentrated in the United
States, Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Africa.
     Morris W. Offit, chairman of the Johns Hopkins board of
trustees, expressed deep regret but said Dr. Richardson's five
years at the university had been extraordinarily productive.
     "Bill Richardson's strong, creative and energetic leadership
has been an inspiration to the entire Hopkins community--to
students, faculty, staff and alumni--and to the city of Baltimore
and the state of Maryland," Offit said. 
     "Further, he has been cited time and again for his
leadership among the presidents of America's research
universities," Offit said. 
     Offit said Dr. Richardson was leaving the university at a
time when its academic reputation, senior leadership and
financial position are particularly strong. The university ended
fiscal 1994 with a small surplus, the first in many years, he
said. Enrollment is up again this year to a record 16,330. On
Oct. 1, the university and the Johns Hopkins Health System
announced a joint fund-raising campaign. That effort, The Johns
Hopkins Initiative, has already raised one-third of its $900
million goal.
     Offit also said the university had made great progress in
each of the areas Dr. Richardson set as priorities when he became
president: curricular reform, interdisciplinary collaboration,
international outreach, and enhancement of the diversity of the
student body, faculty and staff.
     "There will be time later to describe in detail the ways in
which Bill Richardson helped lift Johns Hopkins to new levels of
achievement," Offit said. "For the moment, let me just say that
we consider ourselves fortunate to have had him with us for as
long as we did. We will miss him very much and wish him much good
fortune in his new position."
     Offit said the executive committee of the board of trustees
meets Jan. 9 and will begin planning a national and international
search for a successor to Dr. Richardson.
     Dr. Richardson, 54, became the 11th president of The Johns
Hopkins University on July 1, 1990, succeeding Steven Muller. He
has taken a leading role among university presidents in
maintaining and enhancing the critical relationship between the
federal government and the research community, especially in the
effort to retain full federal funding for the costs associated
with scientific and medical research.
     Nationally known as a health policy expert, Dr. Richardson
was appointed in 1993 by Gov. William Donald Schaefer to chair
Maryland's Health Care Access and Cost Commission, which is
charged under the state's health care reform law with expanding
health insurance coverage and containing medical costs.
     While at Hopkins, Dr. Richardson also served as co-chair of
the Pew Health Professions Commission, formed by the Pew
Charitable Trusts of Philadelphia to prompt national reform in
the education of health care professionals, including doctors,
nurses, dentists, pharmacists and others.
     Dr. Richardson, who specializes in health care organization
and financing, holds an appointment in the School of Hygiene and
Public Health as a professor of health policy and management.
     He sits on the boards of the Glenmede Trust Co./Pew
Charitable Trusts and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. He
also serves on the boards of directors of CSX Corp. and
Mercantile Bankshares Corp. 
     Dr. Mawby said he is "delighted" that Dr. Richardson will
succeed him at the Kellogg Foundation.
     "His broad experience in education and health care, combined
with his understanding and concern for communities, makes him an
ideal candidate to lead the Kellogg Foundation," Dr. Mawby said.
"Clearly, Bill Richardson believes in the foundation's mission. I
warmly welcome his vision and new leadership."


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