[5] In 2013, Daniels announced the creation of "Ten by Twenty", the university's first comprehensive strategic plan, setting goals for the school through 2020.

[6] His Rising to the Challenge campaign, costing $6 billion and ending in 2018, emphasized Daniels' three overarching themes[7] - increasing interdisciplinary collaborative research and innovation, enhancing individual student excellence, and larger social involvement within the Baltimore community.

[11] Daniels has made attempts to strengthen Johns Hopkins' ties to Baltimore with programs such as HopkinsLocal, which hired hundreds of employees from within economically deprived neighborhoods in the city.

[14] Daniels has begun several initiatives focusing on interdisciplinary research and innovation; including the Johns Hopkins Precision Medicine Analytics Platform (PMAP), the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, and the recently announced partnership among the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute.

[15] The Bloomberg Distinguished Professors program recruits 50 scholars from around the world who are experts in their field to hold joint appointments in two or more departments of the university.

[16] In addition, Daniels founded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute which aims to discuss the need for universities to play a larger role in teaching students how to properly uphold their democratic duties, and increase the emphasis on civic education engagement and dialogue.

[20] In a US News article, Daniels stated that Johns Hopkins would "open [its] doors not to students whose parents can cut the check, but to those who can do the work and benefit from the opportunities we offer".

[21] He maintains that the cost of college should not be a deciding factor in receiving a proper liberal arts education, and that it is the duty of the institution, whether it be a private or public university, to ensure that.

[23] In 2017, he and his wife Joanne Rosen have announced the founding of the Daniels–Rosen First Generation Scholars Fund for Johns Hopkins undergraduates, which is a $1 million endowment for those who are the first in their families to attend college.

a member of the Board of Directors of BridgeBio Pharma Inc.[29] In 2018, Daniels served as the congressional chair of the Committee on The Next Generation Initiative of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

[43] In 2018, citing the "brazenness" of crime in Baltimore, Daniels appealed to Maryland's legislature to give Johns Hopkins the power to create a police force of its own to patrol its campus.

[55] Additionally, he writes about the need for institutional support of local economies, public versus private universities, and the role of humanities in education and society.