Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships
| Company type | Academic program |
|---|---|
| Industry | Higher education |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Michael Bloomberg |
| Headquarters | Baltimore , United States |
Area served | Johns Hopkins University and international academic community |
Key people | Denis Wirtz (Vice Provost for Research) |
| Products | Endowed professorships |
| Owner | Johns Hopkins University |
Bloomberg Distinguished Professorships were established in 2013 following a $350 million endowment from Michael Bloomberg, a graduate of Johns Hopkins University. This initiative appoints fifty scholars—ten affiliated with Johns Hopkins and forty recruited internationally—selected for their outstanding achievements in research, pedagogy, service, and leadership. In December 2021, Michael Bloomberg pledged further funding to expand the program to one hundred professorships, with recruitment efforts commencing in 2022. The growth emphasizes interdisciplinary faculty groups designed to propel groundbreaking research in strategic fields.
The vice provost for research at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Denis Wirtz, administers the program. By January 2022, a total of 54 Bloomberg Distinguished Professors had been named.
Purpose
The professorships aim to encourage interdisciplinary cooperation throughout Johns Hopkins University, provide mentorship to undergraduate and graduate students, and strengthen the institution’s leadership in globally impactful research domains. Each Bloomberg Distinguished Professor holds joint appointments in two or more disciplines, fostering collaborative approaches to complex challenges such as cancer, urban poverty, and health inequities.
Bloomberg Distinguished Professors
| Professor | Research Area | Appointment Year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Agre | malaria | 2014 | |
| Rexford S. Ahima | diabetes | 2016 | |
| Nicole Baumgarth | immunology and infectious diseases | 2022 | |
| James Bellingham | exploration robotics | 2021 | |
| Charles L. Bennett | space science, experimental astrophysics, and cosmology | 2015 | |
| Otis Brawley | oncology and epidemiology | 2019 | |
| Melinda Buntin | health policy and economics | 2023 | |
| Filipe Campante | political economy and governance | 2018 | |
| Christopher Cannon | medieval literature and cultural studies | 2017 | |
| Jane Carlton | malaria genomics and global public health | 2024 | |
| Arturo Casadevall | molecular microbiology and immunology, infectious diseases | 2015 | |
| Nilanjan Chatterjee | biostatistics and genetic epidemiology | 2015 | |
| Rama Chellappa | computer vision and machine learning | 2020 | |
| Kris Chesky | performing arts health studies | 2023 | |
| Christopher G. Chute | health informatics | 2015 | |
| Jeffery Coller | RNA biology and therapeutic development | 2020 | |
| Lisa Cooper | health equity | 2016 | |
| Chi Van Dang | cancer medicine | 2022 | |
| David DeMille | atomic and molecular physics; precision measurement | 2025 | |
| Mikala Egeblad | 'tumor microenvironment' research | 2023 | |
| Andrew Feinberg | 'Epigenetics' | '2015' | |
| 'Paul Ferraro' | 'human behavior modeling and public policy' | '2015' | |
| 'Jessica Gill (nurse)' | 'biomarkers of trauma recovery' | '2021' | |
| 'Rachel Green (scientist)' | 'genetics and biology' | '2017' | |
| 'Gillian Hadfield' | 'AI alignment and governance' | '2025' | |
| 'Yuan He' | 'structural biophysics and chromatin biology' | '2025' | |
| 'Richard L. Huganir' | 'neuroscience and brain science' | '2018' | |
| 'Jack Iwashyna' | 'social science focusing on justice in medicine' | '2023' | |
| 'Lawrence Jackson' | 'English literature and historical studies' | '2017' | |
| 'Patricia Janak' | 'associative learning and addiction research' | '2014' | |
| 'Odis Johnson' | 'social policy with emphasis on STEM equity' | '2021' | |
| 'Yannís G. Kevrekidis' | 'complex systems modeling and dynamics' | '2017' | |
| 'Daeyeol Lee' | 'neuroeconomics field' | '2019' | |
| 'Julie Lundquist' | 'atmospheric sciences and wind energy research' | '2024' | |
| 'Ellen J. MacKenzie' | 'trauma injury rehabilitation health services' | '2017' | |
| 'Mauro Maggioni' | 'data-intensive computational methods' | '2016' | |
| 'Kathryn McDonald' | 'health systems quality improvement and patient safety' | '2020' | |
| 'Ebony McGee' | "STEM innovation and inclusion" | "2024" | |
| "Stephen L. Morgan" | "sociology of education" | "2014" | |
| "Ulrich Mueller" | "hearing loss and brain development studies" | "2016" | |
| "Edward Pearce" | "immunobiology" | "2020" | |
| "Eliana Perrin" | "primary care medicine" | "2021" | |
| "Erika L. Pearce" | "immunology and cellular metabolism" | "2020" | |
| "Hanna Pickard" | "philosophy and bioethics" | "2019" | |
| "Ian Phillips (philosopher)" | "philosophy, psychological, and brain sciences" | "2019" | |
| "Daniel Polsky" | "health economics" | "2019" | |
| "Monica Prasad" | "economic and political sociology" | "2023" | |
| "Adam Riess" | "observational cosmology and dark energy studies" | "2016" | |
| "Kathleen M. Sutcliffe" | "organizational theory with focus on patient safety" | "2014" | |
| "Steven Salzberg" | "computational biology and genomics" | "2015" | |
| "Michael Schatz" | "computational biology applied to oncology" | "2016" | |
| "Jeremy Shiffman" | "global health policy analysis" | "2018" | |
| "David Sing" | "exoplanetary physics research" | "2018" | |
| "Sabine Stanley " | planetary physics | 2017 | |
| Alex Szalay | big data analytics | 2015 | |
| Michael Tsapatsis | nanomaterials science | 2018 | |
| Vesla Weaver | racial politics and criminal justice studies | 2017 | |
| Ashani Weeraratna | cancer biology investigations | 2019 | |
| Carl Wu | chromatin biology and biochemistry | 2016 | |
| Alan Yuille | computational cognitive science | 2015 |
Previous Bloomberg Distinguished Professors
| Professor | Area of Research for Professorship | Tenure |
|---|---|---|
| Kathryn Edin | social policy and inequality | 2014–2018 |
| Carol W. Greider | molecular biology | 2014–2020 |
| Jessica Fanzo | ethics and policy in global food and agriculture | 2015–2023 |
| Taekjip Ha | single-molecule biophysics | 2015–2023 |
| Matthew Kahn | business and economics | 2019–2021 |
| Rong Li | cell biology and dynamics | 2015–2022 |
| Nilabh Shastri | pathogenesis and immunology | 2018–2020 |
Research Clusters
Promoting racial equity within education, housing, and health sectors
Artificial intelligence’s impact on society
Climate change, resilience, and public health
Lifespan brain resilience studies
Center for imaging and quantum technology innovation
Epigenomic science research
Strategies for emerging pandemic preparedness and response
Translating knowledge into health business practices