Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg Philanthropies have announced the launch of a $150 million effort to address historic underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering, and math fields and prepare a more diverse generation of researchers and scholars to assume leading roles in tackling some of the world's greatest challenges.

The gift will establish the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative — named for one of the institution's most celebrated figures, an African-American surgical laboratory supervisor best known for his work to develop a lifesaving cardiac surgical technique — and provide permanent funding for the creation of a hundred new spots for diverse PhD students in JHU's more than thirty STEM programs. To achieve its goals, the initiative will engage in active outreach to PhD candidates from historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions, a group that encompasses more than four hundred and fifty four-year colleges and universities nationwide. Each Thomas Scholar will receive up to six years of full tuition support, a stipend, health insurance, and funds for travel, along with mentorship, research, and professional development opportunities. Initial pathway programs offered through the initiative will begin this summer, with the first cohort of Thomas Scholars entering their Hopkins PhD programs in the fall of 2022.

According to the university, numerous studies dating to the late 1990s have demonstrated that STEM PhD programs do not reflect the diversity of talent and perspectives that other fields of study have cultivated, nor do they effectively recruit scholars from diverse undergraduate institutions. A 2019 study conducted by the National Science Foundation found that there were more than thirty fields, including multiple disciplines in biology, chemistry, physics, math, and engineering, in which fewer than five PhDs were awarded to Black or Latinx students in the United States. While Black Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population and Latinx individuals make up 18 percent, in 2019 Blacks received just 3 percent and Latinx students received just 7 percent of PhDs in engineering, math, and the physical and computer sciences. The diversity gap in STEM PhDs also impacts Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, with the percentage of science and engineering PhDs for those groups stuck at roughly a third of their share of the U.S. population over the last ten years.

"Scientific discovery that continually advances human flourishing and creates a healthier, safer world must be fueled by the expertise and insights of people of differing perspectives and ideas," said Johns Hopkins University president Ronald J. Daniels. "Yet decades of data and our own experience show the persistent truth that PhD programs, particularly in the STEM fields, do not reflect the full spectrum of available talent. We cannot hope to produce the best science nor ensure that our faculties are truly representative until we increase the diversity of our PhD programs. Through the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative, Johns Hopkins now has the opportunity and imperative to invest ambitiously, think ambitiously, and act ambitiously to begin correcting the longstanding inequity in PhD education."