Johns Hopkins University has announced a $50 million commitment from investor William H. Miller III in support of its Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The gift will fund three endowed professorships, ten postdoctoral fellowships, ten graduate research fellowships, and a cohort of senior and junior level faculty lines and will provide funding for research infrastructure such as laboratory equipment and instrumentation to help advance key areas of physics research. Miller’s commitment also served as the impetus for two anonymous donors to support the department with an additional $25 million. In recognition of Miller's gift, the department will be renamed the William H. Miller III Department of Physics and Astronomy.

"Physics seeks to understand reality at its most fundamental level,” said Miller, who gave $75 million to Johns Hopkins’ Department of Philosophy in 2018. It is the bedrock on which the other sciences rest. I am delighted to be able to make a gift to Johns Hopkins physics that will enable it to add new resources and continue to build on its distinguished history."

“Four years ago, Mr. Miller committed what is believed to be the largest ever gift to a university philosophy program, and now he has made an equally impressive gift to the study of physics and astronomy,” said Johns Hopkins University president Ron Daniels. “We are endlessly grateful for his generosity that is driving our scholars to explore everything from the human condition to our understanding of the universe and our place in it. A philanthropic investment of this magnitude will be a standard-bearer for how a robust physics and astronomy department can broaden its research, engage in collaborative exploration, and advance to the front lines of emerging areas.”

(Photo credit: Courtesy of William H. Miller III, via Johns Hopkins University)