The university's Bloomberg Distinguished Professors and Bloomberg Scholars came together over coffee and pastries Friday morning for the first of what is expected to be a wide-ranging series of interactions that includes field-specific mini lectures and discussions over lunch.
The event took place in Shriver Hall's Clipper Room, on the Homewood campus.
"The breakfast was a wonderful opportunity to share experiences and network with a group of incredibly talented students," said Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Arturo Casadevall, who holds appointments in the schools of Public Health and Medicine.
Denis Wirtz, vice provost for research, called the breakfast gathering "a match made in heaven."
"Our brilliant Bloomberg Scholars talking with our Bloomberg Distinguished Professors about their research experience, their academic and professional aspirations, and their serious and less-serious hobbies was incredibly inspiring," he said.
Added Hansel Romero, a member of the Class of 2018, "Being a Bloomberg Scholar has opened me up to a lot of opportunities among such incredible students. Meeting these people—the faculty that this school prides itself on—is an incredible networking opportunity."
The Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships were created in 2013 with a generous gift from Johns Hopkins alumnus and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to foster collaboration across the institution's many divisions and help address major world problems. The professors, who will eventually number 50, hold appointments in at least two units of the university, focus their research on signature initiatives and other areas important to Johns Hopkins' future, and teach undergraduate and graduate students.
The Bloomberg Scholars Program was established by Bloomberg in 1995. It provides highly competitive need-based scholarships to undergraduate students with outstanding academic ability and potential. In the 2015–16 academic year, there are 226 Bloomberg Scholars, whose majors span fields from chemical and biomedical engineering to the Writing Seminars.
