Hopkins celebrated years of contributions from Champ and Debbie Sheridan Thursday when they celebrated the unveiling of a portait of the two donors in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library.
The ceremony featured a picnic as well as the unveiling of the painting, which hangs on a wall above Q-Level.
"We definitely wanted it to be more laid back, more informal, rather than something stuffy. We wanted to encourage students to attend, so we decided to go the hot dogs and hamburgers route," he told The Gazette.
The Sheridans have long been major benefactors for the University.
In 1994, R. Champlin and Debbie Sheridan made a $20 million contribution to almost double the library's endowment for its future renovation.
Thanks to the contribution of the Sheridan, the University has made major renovations and added many amenities, such as a Digital Knowledge Center and an updated electronic catalog to the Eisenhower Library.
Mr. Sheridan graduated from Johns Hopkins with a bachelor's in business.
After years of working at his father's printing business, he bought Everybody's Poultry Magazine Publishing Co. for $1000.
Over time, he formed this company into the Sheridan group which became one of the nation's largest medical and scientific printers.
By 1989, he was elected as one of the University's Board of Trustees and later chaired the Eisenhower Library Council.
Ms. Sheridan has been an active patron in the leadership of the Friends of The Johns Hopkins University Libraries.
In 1998, the Eisenhower Library and its special collections at the Garrett Library, the George Peabody Library and the Hutzler Reading Room, were re-dedicated as the Sheridan Libraries to recognize their generosity.
"We've been very hands-off in terms of what or how the gift has been used, knowing that really should be the University's decision and the library's decision, so we haven't tried to steer that in any way," he told the Gazette.
Nonetheless, they are in full confidence with how the University has been using the money and express their approval, "I think there have been some incredible changes here," he told the Gazette.
