March 27, 2006

Dear Colleagues,

With deep gratitude for his exceptional service to our institutions, we want to inform you that Joseph R. Coppola, Chief of Corporate Security Services for The Johns Hopkins Health System since 1994, and Vice President for Corporate Security at Johns Hopkins Medicine since 2001, has decided to retire from his Hopkins post in August.

In his more than 12 years with us, Joe has been rightly credited with unifying, professionalizing and strengthening JHM security to the point that it is a model system, and one with a staff whose performance is a source of both comfort and pride to all faculty, staff, students, patients and visitors. Indeed, he has transformed East Baltimore campus safety efforts to such an extent that his success in preventing and reducing crime has been recognized and admired by his peers across the nation.

In addition to building a crack team devoted to keeping us safer, Joe also created a force that puts service excellence at the top of every day's “to-do” list.

En route to Hopkins, he served as Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service, capping a distinguished 24-year career with that agency. It was therefore not a surprise that he achieved so much for JHM. But it is a fact that his accomplishments far exceeded our optimistic expectations.

Although leaving Hopkins and the full time work place, Joe plans to continue making contributions to his profession in other ways, both locally and at broader levels. Most of all, he tells us, he looks forward to spending more time with his family and his many other interests.

And he leaves us in good hands with Harry Koffenberger, who will take over as Vice President for Corporate Security this summer. Harry was one of the first appointments Joe made to his top staff in 1994 and he has served as Senior Director of Corporate Security Services.

Before coming to Hopkins, Harry was a 24-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department and Commander of the Department's Southeastern District. He served as a security consultant to the East Baltimore campus leadership before joining the Security team, and had developed a widely used series of crime awareness seminars for Hopkins staff. His knowledge of, and involvement with, neighborhood organizations and crime-prevention programs are highly prized. He graduated from the University of Maryland , College Park , in 1969, with a degree in business administration.

After September 11, 2001, Harry was chosen by Joe to develop and lead a new unit. Highly visible by its members' khaki and olive uniforms and black boots, the Special Response Unit's four-person teams are trained as “first responders” to any disaster or criminal activity. The unit is believed to be one of the first of its kind developed by any medical center.

We know that you will join us in wishing Joe a well-earned Hopkins retirement, and in congratulating Harry and welcoming him to his new post.

Edward D. Miller, M.D.
Dean/CEO
Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President
The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System