Legendary investor William H. “Bill” Miller III has committed a record $75 million to the Johns Hopkins University Department of Philosophy to broaden and intensify faculty research, graduate student support, and undergraduate study of philosophical thought. The gift is believed to be by far the largest ever to a university philosophy program. It’s also the largest to Johns Hopkins for any department in the humanities.
Miller, founder and chairman of Miller Value Partners and formerly the longtime, highly successful manager of the Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust, is himself a former Johns Hopkins philosophy student.
“I had taken exactly one philosophy course in college, but it led me to read a lot more philosophy when I was in the Army during the Vietnam War,” said Miller, 67. “I decided to apply to a PhD program once my time in the military was ending. I attribute much of my business success to the analytical training and habits of mind that were developed when I was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins,” said Miller, who is best known for beating the Standard & Poor’s 500 with his Legg Mason fund for a record 15 consecutive years, from 1991 to 2005.
“I am delighted to be able to show my gratitude by helping to move the department to its rightful place among the best in the country,” he said.
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Topics: Alumni, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Support Scholars