25th Anniversary Historical Highlight: Harvey Meyerhoff Endows Professorship

Throughout the Berman Institute’s history, most notably during his decade as Chair of the Advisory Board, Bud Meyerhoff’s leadership and vision have been integral to its success. He spearheaded the Institute’s strategic planning process, which helped formulate the future vision of the Institute, develop a competitive strategy to achieve its goals, and create and organizational structure for that vision.

“Under Bud’s leadership, the Bioethics Institute’s Advisory Board meetings are not only widely admired at Hopkins but are considered by many to be a model for other board meetings at the university. When the faculty and board engage in conversation about bioethical dilemmas, the outcomes are unparalleled,” said Steven Knapp, Johns Hopkins Provost during Meyerhoff’s Board tenure.

Meyerhoff’s guidance was also integral to purchase and renovation of the Berman Institute’s permanent home in Deering Hall, which was dedicated in 2011.

“Without Bud, I don’t think there would be a building devoted to the Berman Institute,” said Ruth Faden. “Not only did he support the building philanthropically, his lifetime of experience in the construction industry proved invaluable in guiding the project forward. In a real sense, the expertise and time he invested in our building is the best gift we could have received.”

In addition to his leadership on the Advisory Board, Meyerhoff made a generous commitment in 1999 to endow the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professorship in Bioethics and Medicine. It has been held since its inception by Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, who had been the founding director of the Center for the Study of Medical Ethics and Humanities at Duke University. Dr. Sugarman’s work concentrates on informed consent, research ethics, and the ethical issues associated with emerging technologies.

“As I told Bud years ago, I’m honored to have his name on my business card,” said Dr. Sugarman. When he endowed this chair, he sent a really strong message regarding the importance of ethics in the contemporary health care environment. He’s incredibly important to the Berman Institute and Johns Hopkins — his dedication and leadership are unparalleled.”