October 25, 2005

Dear Faculty and Staff:

Over the past several months, the eminence of Johns Hopkins among American colleges and universities has been demonstrated in a very real way: Twice, trustees of other institutions have tapped senior Johns Hopkins leaders to serve as president.

I am proud to announce that it has happened a third time. Today, Robert R. Lindgren, vice president of development and alumni relations at Johns Hopkins since 1994, has been named the 15th president of Randolph-Macon College. His appointment will take effect Feb. 1.

Though I will very much miss Bob, both personally and professionally, I am most pleased for him. I congratulate Randolph-Macon on its choice of an extraordinarily able, thoughtful and accomplished leader. I have no doubt whatever that, working with the college's faculty, students, staff, alumni and friends, he will bring additional luster to a distinguished 175-year tradition of liberal education for young men and women.

When I returned to Johns Hopkins as president in 1996, the university had already embarked on the Johns Hopkins Initiative, which reached its initial goal two years early and went on to record $1.52 billion in gifts, the fifth-largest campaign ever in higher education at that time. Even after such a resounding success, the vision of the Johns Hopkins community for our potential to serve humanity remained less than fully realized. We almost immediately were back in campaign mode, launching what became known as Johns Hopkins: Knowledge for the World.

It will not surprise you, then, to learn that Bob and I have spent a great deal of time together! I can tell you from personal experience that he has been the consummate university advancement professional.

The support the university and health system have received on his watch -- nearly $3.2 billion in gifts and commitments in 11 years -- has made Johns Hopkins even stronger; of that, there is no question.

More important, however, are the old friendships he has enhanced, the new relationships he has created, and the extremely savvy, effective development and alumni relations staff he has built. Those relationships and that staff will serve Johns Hopkins well for many, many years into the future; they are the legacy that Bob leaves us.

Knowledge for the World has reached nearly $1.9 billion in commitments towards its $2 billion goal. That achievement is as impressive as the generosity that motivated those commitments. The numbers, however, should not blind us to the fact that we have a lot of hard work left to do. As Bob constantly reminds all of us, we have many priority goals left to achieve, including those for support of critical building programs on several of our campuses.

I am absolutely confident, however, that we at Johns Hopkins, with Bob's excellent staff at the point, are more than up to the task.

I know that you join me in expressing heartfelt thanks and warmest congratulations to Bob. We shall miss him, but we shall look forward to hearing great things from Randolph-Macon during his presidency.

Sincerely,
William R. Brody