Fund gives $1M to first-gen students

University President Ronald J. Daniels and his wife Joanne Rosen, an associate lecturer at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, announced that they will be establishing a $1 million financial aid endowment for first-generation undergraduate students at Hopkins.

The Daniels-Rosen First Generation Scholars Fund is expected to meet the financial aid needs of approximately four students at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering each year.

In a Feb. 23 press release, it was announced that Daniels and Rosen will be donating $500,000 to the to the Fund, and the other $500,000 will be from a Carnegie Corporation of New York Academic Leadership Award that Daniels received in 2015.

The award is given biennially in recognition of exceptional leadership within circles of higher education.

Daniels cited his personal investment in first-generation university students as a factor that influenced his decision.

“My own father and his siblings were the first generation of his family able to pursue a university education,” Daniels said in the press release. “Access to a transformative education made a profound difference in his life and in his children’s lives. The opportunity to help others achieve their educational, personal and professional aspirations through a Johns Hopkins education is deeply meaningful for Joanne and me.”

Similarly, Rosen highlighted the personal and professional commitment she and Daniels share for creating equal opportunities for students of all backgrounds to succeed academically.

“We have seen firsthand, in our own families and in the experiences of our students, the ways that education can change the trajectory and meaning of people’s lives,” Rosen said in the press release. “We are thrilled to help offer future members of the Johns Hopkins family that same opportunity.”

Jeffrey H. Aronson, chair of the University’s board of trustees, added that it was one of the University’s main aims to attract a wide range of students to Hopkins.

“A top priority for this University and for our president is ensuring that we are able to bring the best students to Johns Hopkins, no matter their economic circumstances,” Aronson said in the press release. “I am deeply grateful to Ron and Joanne for their personal commitment to students who come here without the advantage of generations of college access. I look forward to seeing these students thrive at Johns Hopkins and beyond.”