$100-Million Pledge to Fund Malaria Research

Johns Hopkins University announced that an anonymous donor pledged $100 million to the school--the latest in a remarkable series of nine-figure donations to U.S. colleges--to create an institute devoted to finding a new vaccine and treatment for malaria, which kills more than 1 million people every year.

School officials had talked to the donor about the need for new classroom and laboratory space on their Baltimore campuses. But the publicity-shy philanthropist had loftier aims, the university’s public health school dean said.

The $100 million to found the Johns Hopkins Malaria Institute will be spent entirely over 10 years in a high-stakes search for a medical breakthrough, officials said.