Education: $18 Million in 18 Months

In 1960, the Ford Foundation told five U.S. universities, from Stanford to Notre Dame, that $46 million was theirs in varying shares—if in three to five years they could match the money by at least two for one. Last week Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins announced that it was the first university to hit the tape, having raised $12 million on its own to get $6,000,000 from Ford. Winning time: 18 months, 12 days.

Johns Hopkins’ drive was largely powered by President Milton Eisenhower, who says, “I won’t rattle a tin cup, but I’ll tell the story.” In five years, he has changed his school’s financial complexion from red to black and doubled the budget to $61 million. The new take of $18 million, most of it earmarked for buildings, made Johns Hopkins eligible for a second heat. All the university has to do is raise another $12 million and Ford will give it another $6,000,000. With an alumni body that is notably longer on doctorates than on dollars, it will not be easy. But just since George Washington’s birthday, hopeful Storyteller Eisenhower has logged 20,000 miles in his money hunt.