What do U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, Dr. Virginia Apgar, and Wes Craven have in common? They are all alumni of Johns Hopkins University. So are Gov. Wes Moore, Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, and U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume. The difference in the two groups? The second all stayed in Baltimore after graduating to pour their talents into Charm City.
Hopkins has a long list of notable alumni whose names are well known around the globe. Think Michael Bloomberg, Rachel Carson, John Astin, Russell Baker, Woodrow Wilson, and more. Most of them left Baltimore, their passions and professions taking them away from Charm City for myriad reasons. Quite a few, however, chose to stay put, making Baltimore the beneficiary of their energy and vision.
HERE AS STUDENTS
Underwood received her master’s in public health in 2009 from the School of Nursing in 2009. She is making quiet, yet huge impact as an Illinois Congresswoman with 19 pieces of legislation signed into law and by holding Trump administration officials to the fire in Congressional hearings.
Dr. Virginia Apgar created the score for which every parent waits with bated breath in the moments after their child is born. The Apgar Score measures an infant’s five key health indicators: heart rate, respiration, muscle tone, reflex response, and color. She earned a master’s degree from Hopkins in 1959 while on sabbatical.
Wes Craven graduated from Hopkins’ Writing Seminars program in 1964 before embarking on his storied career in the film industry. He became a master of the horror genre, with iconic slasher franchises like “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream.”
As proud as a Hopkins alum can be having their name associated with the above three, their time at JHU did not make them lifetime Baltimoreans.
HERE TO STAY
Moore, King-Hammond, and Mfume, on the other hand, stayed Baltimoreans for life after their time at Hopkins, even if they weren’t all born here. They used their educations and energies to give back to their hometown, working to improve the circumstances, lives, access to their passions of the communities that raised and/or educated them.
Here’s a list of a dozen Hopkins graduates who used their educations to make Baltimore even more charming, smart, just, artistic, and captivating.
(School abbreviations: KSAS – Krieger School of Arts and Sciences; SOE – Whiting School of Engineering; SOM – School of Medicine; ED – School of Education)
Jennifer Curran (KSAS ’89) is COO of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender, where she served as an attorney for over 22 years. She has also been on the Board of Directors of Baltimore Crisis Response, Inc. for over 31 years. Curran spent six years on the Board of Directors for SEED School of Maryland and is a resource and mentor for new attorneys.
Comptroller Bill Henry (KSAS ’92), a lifelong Baltimore City resident, was sworn in as comptroller in December 2020. Before that he served three terms representing Baltimore’s 4th District on the City Council. As comptroller, he focuses on modernizing the city’s systems to increase efficiency, accessibility, and accountability. He sits on the Board of Estimates, the Board of Finance, the Biennial Audits Oversight Commission, and has other oversight resonsibilities.
Dr. Charles Johnson-Bey (SOE BS ’89) is professor and chair of Morgan State University’s Electrical and Computer Engineering department. Those are not his only connections – he recently founded Demonstrata LLC, he is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a board member of both Project Lead The Way and Baltimore Homecoming, and co-principal investigator at Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVA).
Dr. Leslie King-Hammond (KSAS MA ’73, Ph.D. ’75) is graduate dean emerita of Maryland Institute College of Art, chair of the board of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, and a board member of Creative Alliance. She earned her master’s and doctoral degrees from Johns Hopkins University, coming to Baltimore from New York in 1969.
Kat Locke-Jones (KSAS ’15) teaches middle-school English at Hampstead Hill Academy in Baltimore City. She is a Baltimore City Schools model teacher, Maryland’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, and a Teach for America alumna. Locke-Jones is a nationally celebrated educator and mental health advocate for all students.
Judge Tameika Lunn (KSAS ’99, Peabody ’99) has been an associate judge for the District Court of Maryland, Baltimore City since March 2022. She presides over criminal and traffic cases as well as the Adult Recovery Court (ARC), a restorative-justice program for non-violent offenders, which emphasizes rehabilitation over incarceration. She prioritizes meeting people “where they are” with a deep understanding of systemic barriers and commitment to restorative justice.
Rep. Kweisi Mfume (KSAS MLA ’84) was born, educated, taught, and began his political career in Baltimore City. He earned a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and was elected to Congress in 1986. He won five consecutive terms before becoming CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Upon the death of Rep. Elijah Cummings, Mfume ran to fill the vacancy in April 2020 and has been representing the 7th District of Maryland ever since.
Gov. Wes Moore, KSAS ‘01 was elected Maryland’s governor in 2023, the state’s first Black governor in its 246-year history and the third African American elected governor in United States history. Before his life in politics, he authored “The Other Wes Moore”, founded and was CEO of BridgeEdU, an education technology startup in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area, and was CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation, which worked to address poverty nationwide.
Nick Skinner (Peabody, BA ’08, trumpet and music education) is vice president of OrchKids with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. He is a prominent music educator with years of experience teaching in Maryland’s public schools, working in arts advocacy locally and around the world, and conducts himself with distinction as a leader of the BSO’s young musicians.
Dr. Michelle Taylor (Bloomberg School of Public Health, Ph.D., ’15) is commissioner of health at the Baltimore City Department of Health. Her role involves protecting the health, eliminating disparities, and enhancing the wellbeing of Baltimore residents. She manages issues like the spread of infectious diseases, chronic disease prevention and treatment, and more.
Dr. Bert Vogelstein (JHSOM ’74) is a professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, but he began life there as an infant – it is the hospital where he was born. Between then and now, he has became a world-renowned pioneer in cancer genomics with landmark discoveries and a 44-plus-year tenure on the Hopkins faculty. He is the Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology, and co-director of the Ludwig Center at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
D. Watkins (ED MA ’11) is a journalistic powerhouse who has made multiple appearances on the New York Times bestsellers list, won myriad awards, including the James Beard Media Award, Los Angeles Press Club Award, Vernon Jarrett “Medal of Journalistic Excellence”, Johns Hopkins University “Society of Scholars” award, Johns Hopkins University “Distinguished Alumnus Award”, and more. Watkins has executive produced films for Hulu, is a writer on the HBO mini-series “We Own This City”, and host of the show’s companion podcast. He is a professor at the University of Baltimore and recently landed a show on WYPR radio station called “The Engagement.”
WORDS TO REMEMBER
MOORE TIMELESS QUOTE:
“I can tell you countless instances of this country’s history of brutality, of inequity, of heartlessness. But if I do that without also talking about the other elements of its history, that’s a selective memory that I think is dangerous.” ~ 2023 interview with Time magazine
KING-HAMMOND TIMELESS QUOTE:
“I’m passionate about the role of the arts in government and society. Artists have a definitive place in the 21st century. With all these challenges facing us all, the only ones who make order out of the chaos are the artists, the writers, the architects.” ~ ArtSpeak, FIU, Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media
MFUME TIMELESS QUOTE:
“If you erase it, we will replace it. …History taught us and still teaches us that we can’t keep making the same mistakes. …We will not let you destroy that museum. No matter how long it takes, how many battles are required, how much effort is needed, we will not allow that to happen. Unless you find a way to kill all of us and walk over our bodies to change history.” ~ Mfume during Congressional oversight hearings on President Donald Trump’s targeting the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
LOCKE-JONES TIMELESS QUOTE:
“As educators, we get the honor of being mirrors and candles. We get to hold the mirror back to our students so they can see their own light even if it comes years later. And we get to be the candle—the light that reminds them that happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. To be a mirror and a candle means not just teaching our kids where to put a semi-colon, but what that semi-colon means; there is a continuation…their story isn’t over.” ~ Speech to the delegates at MSEA’s Representative Assembly
