Former Penn Provost Ron Daniels thriving as Johns Hopkins president

A year after he left his position as Penn Provost to become the president of Johns Hopkins University, Ron Daniels has settled into his new role.

Daniels “hit the ground running” in his first term as the 14th President of Hopkins, his Executive Assistant Jerome Schnydman wrote in an e-mail.

After the removal of a gastrointestinal tumor in October, Daniels returned to work at the office in January and has already implemented several community engagement projects.

As Penn’s provost, Daniels was a “great source of energy” and focused mainly on global and local engagement, according to a statement from current Provost Vincent Price.

He was also particularly skilled at building an “effective team,” Penn President Amy Gutmann said of his tenure at the University.

At Hopkins, Daniels continues to be effective as a leader and “moves very quickly,” Schnydman wrote.

Early in his term, Daniels noted several “striking” similarities between Penn and Hopkins. In addition to having “great schools of medicine,” both schools are “large, complex and really outstanding research-intensive universities.” He emphasized that Hopkins’ local outreach is “consistent” with Penn’s “very strong ethos” for community engagement.

Continuing his commitment to public service, Daniels announced a program offering two days of paid leave to full time Hopkins staff in exchange for service in Baltimore public schools in early March.

Additionally, Daniels is “eager” to raise scholarship money for Hopkins students, Schnydman wrote.

Daniels’ chosen theme for Hopkins is “One University” — or a desire to bring each of the school’s divisions closer together, he added.

The One University theme is analogous to “Penn Integrates Knowledge” and multi-school research collaborations at Penn, Daniels noted.

However, the two schools do show obvious differences — namely, geography, he said.

“When I was at Penn, people often talked about the value of Penn as one university on a contiguous campus,” Daniels said, explaining that Hopkins is much more spread out.

“That provides obvious challenges,” Daniels added, since departments may not be as likely to collaborate if the geographic distance poses a barrier. He has made interdepartmental collaborations a “very important priority.”

Daniels, like his Hopkins predecessor William Brody, is “able to think out of the box,” and expects cabinet members to work hard, according to Schnydman.

Despite his relocation, Daniels remains connected to Penn, often commuting to Philadelphia. His wife, Joanne Rosen, continues to teach at Penn, and his twin sons are finishing up their senior year in high school and awaiting college decisions.

“I am proud to have been associated with Penn,” Daniels said.

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