On the Radio

JHU historian N.D.B. Connolly has become a co-host of the national radio program and podcast “BackStory with the American History Guys,” which airs on dozens of stations nationwide. He joins co-hosts Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Joanne Freeman.

President’s Gift

JHU President Ronald J. Daniels and his wife, faculty member Joanne Rosen, are establishing a $1 million financial aid endowment for undergraduates who are among the first in their families to attend college. The Daniels-Rosen First Generation Scholars Fund includes $500,000 presented to the university as part of a Carnegie Corporation of New York Academic Leadership Award that Daniels received in 2015.

Crossing Cultures

Melaku Arega ’17, neuroscience and molecular and cellular biology major, was selected as a Luce Scholar. The program, launched in 1974 by the Henry Luce Foundation, identifies potential future U.S. leaders to promote cross-cultural understanding between the U.S. and Asia.

Future Tales

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Junot Díaz addressed the Hopkins community as part of the student-run Foreign Affairs Symposium. The Dominican-American writer, who won the MacArthur “genius” grant in 2012, spoke broadly about his forthcoming novel.

Winning Motion

JHU debaters Kuan Hian Tan ’18 and Harry Zhang ’17 won the 2016 North American Universities Debating Championships in Ottawa. With their victory, Tan and Zhang become the first-ever Johns Hopkins team to win the NAUDC, the official continental title tournament for North America in the British Parliamentary debating format.

Book Arts

Off the Shelf: Modern and Contemporary Artists’ Books, a collaborative project between the Baltimore Museum of Art and JHU, opened March 12 and runs through June 25. Several Hopkins students wrote label texts and helped to determine the checklist and thematic organization of this exhibition of artists’ books from the BMA’s collection.