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Robert E. Meyerhoff Professorships

ROBERT E. MEYERHOFF was born and raised in Baltimore and received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1944. He served as an officer in the United States Navy Civil Engineers Corps and participated in the invasion of Okinawa with the 28th Construction Battalion – “Seabees.” He was married to JANE MEYERHOFF who died in 2004. They raised a family, including a daughter, Rose Ellen Meyerhoff Greene, and twin sons, Neil Meyerhoff and John Meyerhoff, M.D.

Professionally, Mr. Meyerhoff has been active in housing and apartment development in Baltimore. He is also a prominent art collector and has successfully bred horses.

Mr. Meyerhoff has been devoted to increasing the participation of promising and outstanding diverse students and scholars in the sciences for many decades. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), established in 1988, serves as a national model for expanding minority participation in the sciences. At Johns Hopkins, where Mr. Meyerhoff has been a generous donor for over 40 years, he has continued his support of this cause by funding the Robert E. Meyerhoff Professorships and now the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Professorships at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Additionally, Mr. Meyerhoff has supported the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute’s Diversity Initiative as well as the late Leon Fleisher’s piano studio.

Mr. Meyerhoff shares his passion for the arts with his partner, Mrs. Rheda Becker, who is both a former faculty member and avid supporter of the Peabody Conservatory. She is recognized as one of the outstanding professionals in the specialized art of musical narration. Mrs. Becker has performed with a variety of renowned orchestras across the country. In 2014, she and Mr. Meyerhoff were appointed Lifetime Directors of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra where Mrs. Becker has been a musical narrator for over four decades.

Please see the current chair holders’ profiles below.  Previously, the professorships were held by:

2017-2022

  • Jonathan Chrispin, M.D., Division of Cardiology, Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia in the Department of Medicine
  • Arthur Jason Vaught, M.D., Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics

2012-2017

  • Michael Chattergoon, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Infectious Diseases
  • Chiadi E. Ndumele, M.D., M.H.S., Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine

2007-2012

  • Samuel A. Giday, M.D., Division of Gastroenterology in the Department of Medicine
  • Frederick K. Korley, M.D., Ph.D., Emergency Medicine

Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Professorships

ROBERT E. MEYERHOFF was born and raised in Baltimore and received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1944. He served as an officer in the United States Navy Civil Engineers Corps and participated in the invasion of Okinawa with the 28th Construction Battalion – “Seabees.” He was married to JANE MEYERHOFF who died in 2004. They raised a family, including a daughter, Rose Ellen Meyerhoff Greene, and twin sons, Neil Meyerhoff and John Meyerhoff, M.D.

Professionally, Mr. Meyerhoff has been active in housing and apartment development in Baltimore. He is also a prominent art collector and has successfully bred horses.

Mr. Meyerhoff has been devoted to increasing the participation of promising and outstanding diverse students and scholars in the sciences for many decades. The Meyerhoff Scholars Program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), established in 1988, serves as a national model for expanding minority participation in the sciences. At Johns Hopkins, where Mr. Meyerhoff has been a generous donor for over 40 years, he has continued his support of this cause by funding the Robert E. Meyerhoff Professorships and now the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Professorships at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Additionally, Mr. Meyerhoff has supported the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute’s Diversity Initiative as well as the late Leon Fleisher’s piano studio.

Mr. Meyerhoff shares his passion for the arts with his partner, Mrs. Rheda Becker, who is both a former faculty member and avid supporter of the Peabody Conservatory. She is recognized as one of the outstanding professionals in the specialized art of musical narration. Mrs. Becker has performed with a variety of renowned orchestras across the country. In 2014, she and Mr. Meyerhoff were appointed Lifetime Directors of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra where Mrs. Becker has been a musical narrator for over four decades.