Robert Garrett Professorship in Pediatric Surgery

ROBERT GARRETT, president of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, died in 1896. The Garrett family has been among Hopkins’ most generous supporters for several generations. The ROBERT GARRETT FUND was established in 1936 by the will of MARY FRICK GARRETT JACOBS (pictured below) in memory of her first husband and designated for support of the surgical treatment of children. During her lifetime, Mrs. Jacobs established a dispensary on North Caroline Street in Baltimore for area children, a summer hospital for children in Carroll County, and the Robert Garrett Hospital for Children in West Baltimore.

In the 1940s, the Garrett Fund pursued its mission by supporting pioneering physician Alfred Blalock’s development of pediatric cardiac surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The fund expanded its support to other research projects in the 1950s and then joined with the Eudowood and Harriet Lane boards to underwrite construction at Hopkins of the Children’s Medical and Surgical Center, completed in 1964. As of December 30, 1999, the value of the Garrett Fund was approximately $35 million. All the income from the fund is devoted to supporting pediatric surgery at Hopkins, including this professorship.