Guidelines for Writing JHU Alumni Affiliations

On first reference, academic affiliations should be included after the name of the alum. With the exception of the Bloomberg School and SAIS, the schools are represented in affiliations by shortened forms that are different from their customary ones.

  • A&S (Krieger School of Arts and Sciences)
  • BSPH (Bloomberg School of Public Health)
  • Bus (Carey Business School)
  • Ed (School of Education)
  • Med (School of Medicine)
  • Nurs (School of Nursing)
  • Peab (Peabody Institute)
  • SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies)
  • SAIS Eur (School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, Italy)
  • SAIS Nanj (Johns Hopkins University–Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies)
  • Engr (Whiting School of Engineering)

Style guidelines applicable to all the schools

  • The alum’s school is always identified by one of the abbreviations above when citing the degree.
  • Any degree beyond a bachelor’s is listed in parentheses. (See sample affiliation listings below.)
  • The abbreviations never take periods.
  • In listing multiple degrees, the earliest one comes first.
  • When an affiliation appears midsentence, it is set off by two commas, one after the alum’s name, the other after the affiliation.
  • Some alumni have degrees that are no longer offered by their school. For example, Nursing, Business, and Education used to offer bachelor’s degrees. List such affiliations using the current style guidelines.

Degree programs at JHU’s nine schools

The Bloomberg School of Public Health offers master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as dual and joint degrees. The nine master’s degrees are Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Applied Science (MAS), Master of Health Science (MHS), Master of Arts in Public Health Biology (MA), Master of Science (ScM), Master of Bioethics (MBE), Master of Health Administration (MHA), and Master of Science in Toxicology for Human Risk Assessment (MS). The doctoral degrees are PhD and DrPH.

Carey Business School offers full-time and part-time MBA programs, specialized Master of Science programs, online programs, and dual degree programs. MS degrees are given in six areas: finance, marketing, information systems, health care management, real estate and infrastructure, and business analytics and risk management. Dual degrees (e.g., MPH/MBA, MBA/MD, MBA/BS) are given by two Johns Hopkins schools or by partnering with an outside institution (JD/MBA).

The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences offers bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science can be combined with a Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MS), or Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) as joint or dual degrees (BA/MA, BA/MS, BS/MS, BA/MSPH). A master’s degree is not a terminal degree in most KSAS departments but is often obtained on the way to a PhD. Most departments do not admit students whose goal is a master’s degree only. The sole graduate degree in the Writing Seminars is a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), and Advanced Academic Programs, a division of KSAS, grants only master’s degrees, such as Master of Liberal Arts (MLA), and certificates.

The Conservatory at the Peabody Institute grants two baccalaureate degrees (BM and BFA), two master’s degrees, and a doctoral degree, in addition to double degree programs with the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering (a BM or BFA degree from Peabodycombined with a BA or BS from KSAS or WSE). The master’s degrees are Master of Music (MM) and Master of Arts in Audio Sciences (MA). The doctoral program is the Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA). The Conservatory also offers diploma programs: a Graduate Performance Diploma (GPD), an Artist Diploma (AD), and a Performer’s Certificate (PC).

The School of Advanced International Studies awards a variety of master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees, as well as a number of certificates. Although the SAIS website gives abbreviations for master’s degrees describing the specialization of the degree (e.g., Master of Arts in International Relations is MAIR and Master of Arts in International Public Policy is MIPP), Johns Hopkins Magazine simplifies the notation to MA in most cases. The two doctoral degrees are the PhD and DIA, or Doctor of International Affairs, an advanced practitioner’s degree for experienced professionals. The magazine uses the following abbreviations for certificate and diploma programs at SAIS: “Cert” for Certificate in Chinese and American Studies at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and “Dipl” for the one-year Diploma at SAIS Europe.

The School of Education has multiple master’s degree programs and two doctoral programs. Johns Hopkins Magazine uses MS and MEd as the abbreviations for the master’s programs, which include a Master of Science in Education, Master of Science in Counseling, and Master of Education in the Health Professions. PhD and EdD (Doctor of Education) are the doctoral degree programs.

The School of Medicine offers the MD and PhD as both separate and dual degrees (i.e., MD, PhD, MD/PhD). It also offers combined degrees, including MD/MBA, MD/MPH, and MD/MS (Master of Science in Health Care Management). Its master’s degrees include an MS in anatomy education, an MA in the history of medicine, and an MA in medical and biological illustration.

The School of Nursing awards MS, MSN, MSN/MBA, and MSN/MPH master’s degrees and PhD and DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) doctoral degrees, as well as post-master’s certificates. Examples of these include the Post-Master’s Certificate in Healthcare Organizational Leadership and the Post-Master’s Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate. These are listed simply as “Cert” in affiliation lists. The DNP degrees are often from dual programs; examples are DNP Advanced Practice/PhD, DNP Executive/MBA, and DNP Executive/MPH. In an alum’s affiliation, use “DNP” alone.

Whiting School of Engineering awards bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Its full-time master’s programs award Master of Science in Engineering degrees, abbreviated as MSE. Doctoral degrees are PhD and, for professionals wanting further education, DEng, or Doctor of Engineering. WSE’s Engineering for Professionals division offers online and part-time master’s degrees and certificates in 22 programs. Degrees from EP programs are abbreviated as either MS or MSE, depending on the program. A student’s transcript does not distinguish between full-time and part-time programs.

Examples of affiliation listings for an alum

Baccalaureate degrees

  • Undergraduate listings when BA or BS is the only degree
    Alum’s name, A&S ’08
    Alum’s name, Peab ’10
    Alum’s name, Engr ’18
    Alum’s name, Bus ’69
  • A bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree from the same school
    Alum’s name, Engr ’17, ’22 (PhD)
    Alum’s name, Peab ’12, ’20 (DMA)

Graduate degrees

  • A master’s or doctoral degree
    Alum’s name, A&S ’12 (MA)
    Alum’s name, Engr ’22 (PhD)
    Alum’s name, Bus ’15 (MBA)
  • A joint bachelor’s/master’s degree from the same school
    Alum’s name, Peab ’06, ’08 (MA)
  • Bachelor’s/master’s degrees from different schools
    Alum’s name, Engr ’95, BSPH ’96 (MPH)
    Alum’s name, A&S ’96, SAIS ’96 (MA)
  • Two master’s degrees from the same school
    Alum’s name, A&S ’06 (MA), ’08 (MFA)
  • Dual degrees from the same school
    Alum’s name, Engr ’03, ’03 (MS), Med ’08 (MD)
  • Dual degrees from different schools
    Alum’s name, BSPH ’18 (MPH), Bus ’18 (MBA)
    Alum’s name, BSPH ’11 (MPH), Med ’12 (MD)

Nondegree affiliations

  • Alum’s name, HS ’03 (HS is short for house staff; follows BA/BS style, no degree in parentheses.)
  • Alum’s name, A&S ’98, HS ’03, ’04. (See note above for “HS.”)
  • Alum’s name, Med ’76 (PGF). (PGF is short for post-graduate fellow.)
  • Alum’s name, Engr ’89, Med ’93 (MD), ’94 (PGF)
  • Alum’s name, Bus ’97 (Cert), ’00 (MBA) (Cert is short for certificate.)
  • Alum’s name, SAIS ’98 (Cert)
  • Alum’s name, A&S ’87, SAIS Eur ’89 (Dipl) (Dipl is a one-year diploma program at SAIS Europe.)
  • Alum’s name, Peab ’15 (AD). (AD is short for Artist’s Diploma.)