JOHNS HOPKINS University United States

The Johns Hopkins University, founded in Baltimore in 1876, was the first university in the Western Hemisphere founded on the model of the European research institution, where research and the advancement of knowledge were integrally linked to teaching. Its establishment began a revolution in U.S. higher education.
The university is named for its initial benefactor, Baltimore merchant Johns Hopkins, whose $7 million bequest -- the largest U.S. philanthropic gift to that time -- was divided evenly to finance the establishment of both the university and The Johns Hopkins Hospital.