Bucknell University

Bucknell University

File:Bucknellseal.jpg
Type	Private
Established	1846, as the University of Lewisburg
Endowment	$600 million
President	Brian C. Mitchell
Undergraduates	3,400
Postgraduates	155
Location	Lewisburg , Pennsylvania , USA
Campus	Rural, 445 acres
Colors	Orange and Blue
Nickname	Bison
Mascot	Bucky Bison
Website	www.bucknell.edu

Bucknell University is a private university located along the Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. Set on a scenic campus, it is highly regarded for its academic programs (especially in engineering and the life sciences). Student athletes compete in 27 NCAA sports.

Brief history

Bucknell University in the 1870s.

The university was founded under the name of the University at Lewisburg 1846 as a private Baptist university. In 1886 it was renamed for its benefactor, William Bucknell, a Philadelphian who bolstered the university during the post-Civil War recession.

Bucknell University has a historical link with Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Northeastern Pennsylvania. Wilkes University was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and became an independent institution in 1940, naming itself Wilkes College, after English colonial politician John Wilkes. Wilkes University received university status in 1990. During a ceremony to celebrate this designation, dignitaries from Bucknell University attended a gala event at the Arnaud C. Marts Conference Center on the Wilkes University campus to celebrate this historic event and pay tribute to both institutions' history.

The university reports having $600 million in investments in its endowment portfolio in 2007.

Presidents

Name	Tenure
Stephen William Taylor	1846 - 1851 *
Howard Malcom	1851 - 1857
George Ripley Bliss	1857 - 1858; 1871 - 1872 *
Justin Rolph Loomis	1858 - 1879
Francis Wayland Tustin	1879 *
David Jayne Hill	1879 - 1888
George G. Groff	1888 - 1889 *
John Howard Harris	1889 - 1919
Emory William Hunt	1919 - 1931
Charles Parker Vaughan	1931 *
Homer Price Rainey	1931 - 1935
Arnaud Cartwright Marts	1935 - 1945 **
Herbert Lincoln Spencer	1945 - 1949
Horace Augustus Hildreth	1949 - 1953
Joseph Welles Henderson	1953 - 1954 *
Merle Middleton Odgers	1954 - 1964
Charles Henry Watts II	1964 - 1976
George Dennis O'Brien	1976 - 1984
John Frederick Zeller III	1984 *
Gary Allan Sojka	1984 - 1995
William Drea Adams	1995 - 2000
Steffen H. Rogers	2000 - 2004
Brian C. Mitchell	2004 - present

* - Interim President
** - Acted as interim president from 1935 to 1938

Academics

Bucknell is a highly competitive national liberal arts university with its Class of 2011 undergraduate acceptance rate of 30%. U.S. News & World Report classifies its selectivity as "most selective." [1] It is ranked 30th for liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report as of 2007. Bucknell is ranked 7th for liberal arts colleges in the U.S. by Washington Monthly. The SAT scores for the Class of 2011 that matriculated ranged from 600 to 690 in Critical Reading and from 630 to 710 in Math. 81% of students accepted into Bucknell were in the top 10% of their class and 94% of accepted students were in the top 20% of their class. The student-faculty ratio is 12:1.

Primarily an undergraduate institution, Bucknell offers 53 majors and 64 minors. Majors include mathematics, environmental studies, geology, environmental geology, East Asian studies, management, biology, chemistry, education, art history, English, animal behavior, Caribbean studies, economics, philosophy, theatre, and various foreign languages. Students can also design their own majors.

File:Bucknell-University-Library.jpg

Bucknell University's Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library

The school's College of Engineering (with majors in electrical, chemical, computer science, mechanical, civil, and recently established bio-medical engineering) is particularly strong. Among American schools that do not offer a Ph.D. in engineering, Bucknell ranks No. 8. The Chemical Engineering Program ranks No. 4 under the same criteria.

Bucknell is also strong in environmental studies, animal behavior, ecology and evolution. Because Bucknell is larger than many other liberal arts colleges, a wide diversity of courses can be offered in these fields, including, for example, entomology, limnology, mammalogy, invertebrate zoology, ornithology, tropical ecology, ecosystem and community ecology, conservation biology, and social insect courses. Faculty research in these areas is active, with many opportunities for student participation, field work, and travel.

The Bucknell Environmental Center (BUEC) recently sponsored a symposium series on sustainability and the global environment and has major initiatives focused on the art, culture, and ecology of the Susquehanna River basin and the greening of the Bucknell Campus. Bucknell has recently received a Solar Scholars grant, and is building an experimental student housing unit that will rely primarily on renewable energy, including photovoltaics.

Bucknell has strong programs in Theatre, Dance and Music, where students work closely with experienced professionals. State-of-the-art performance and practice facilities, including the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, enhance the undergraduate performing arts experience.

Bucknell ranks among the top universities in the number of students from liberal arts colleges that go on to gain their Ph.D's, and is No. 3 on the All-Time List (CoSida) for Producing Academic All Americans. It also ranks in the Top 100 for schools that produce America's top business leaders.

Forty percent of Bucknell students study abroad.

Athletics

File:BucknellBison.png

Bucknell Bison logo

Bucknell University is a member of the Patriot League for Division I sports, Division I-AA in football. It ranks among the top universities for NCAA Division I in athletic graduation rates (No. 1 three times in the last 10 years).

Bucknell won the first Orange Bowl (26-0 over the University of Miami on January 1, 1935). It is also the alma mater of the legendary baseball hero Christy Mathewson who requested burial in a cemetery adjoining Bucknell's campus.

In 2005, Bucknell went to the NCAA men's basketball tournament and became the first Patriot League team to win an NCAA tournament game, in a surprising and intense upset of Kansas (64-63). The victory followed a highly successful year that included wins over #9 Pittsburgh and Saint Joseph's. They lost to Wisconsin in the following round, but received the honor of "Best Upset" at the 2005 ESPY Awards. In 2006, the Bison continued their success with high-profile victories at Syracuse, then ranked 19th, DePaul, and Saint Joseph's, a sequence that saw the Bison nearly enter the Associated Press's top-25 rankings. However, those wins were followed by high-profile losses against Villanova, then ranked fourth in the nation, and at Duke, then ranked first. Patriot League play began after the Duke loss, and the Bison did not lose a league game in 2006. The team was ranked 24th in the nation in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today college basketball polls for the week of February 13. This was the Bucknell program's first national ranking, and the first time since the league's creation in 1990 that any Patriot League men's basketball team has been ranked. The team was seeded ninth in the Oakland bracket for the 2006 NCAA tournament, and defeated the Arkansas Razorbacks in the first round (59-55). The Bison were defeated by Memphis in the second round, losing by a score of 72-56. They finished the regular season ranked 25th in the ESPN poll. Entering the 2006-2007 season, the Bison had scheduled a number of high-profile games, including a season opener against Wake Forest. The schedule also included a match up against George Mason, a team that had made the 2006 Final Four. In a tight game, the Bison were defeated by Wake Forest 86-83 in overtime. They did, however, go on to defeat George Mason. Bucknell made it to the 2007 Patriot League Championship Game where they faced Holy Cross. The Bison lost by a score of 66-74.

In 2006 the Bucknell Men's soccer team went on a surprise run to capture the Patriot League championship. In the semifinal they beat top seeded Lehigh in a game that went to a shootout. Then in the final they defeated Lehigh in a game that also ended in a shootout. This qualified them for the NCAA Soccer tournament. They faced George Mason in the first round and won on an overtime goal. In the second round they fell to fourth ranked Virginia.

In 2006 the Bucknell Women's rowing team won the Patriot League Championship and its Lightweight Women scored a 6th place finish at the National Championship IRA Regatta. The following year the team repeated as Patriot League team champions, and the lightweight eight was crowned national champions at the IRA for the first time.

Bucknell is the only school in Patriot League history to capture both the Men's and Women's swimming league championship in the same season (2003).

Bucknell has a strong Ultimate program. The men's team, the Mudsharks, was formed in 1975, making it arguably the longest running team name in college Ultimate. The women's team is known as the Peace Frogs and has also been a team since the late 70s.

Beginning in the 2006-2007 season, Bucknell has re-instituted its men's wrestling program, after it was originally dropped by the university in efforts to be in compliance with Title IX.

Fight song

'Ray Bucknell, 'Ray Bucknell,
'Ray for the Orange and the Blue!
'Ray, 'Ray, 'Ray, 'Ray,
'Ray for the Orange and the Blue!

Student life

First-year undergraduates are required to live on campus. The school guarantees on-campus housing for all four years. Some students choose to live off campus after their first year. All on-campus students must purchase a campus meal plan. There are multiple dining options on campus for students including the Bostwick Cafeteria and the Bison snack bar.

Because of its rural location and lack of nearby large cities (Harrisburg, PA is located about one hour south), Bucknell may seem fairly isolated. However, its more than 130 student organizations, a historical downtown movie theater, and year-end formal ball provide students with a wide array of activities.

Bucknell has active religious life involvement on campus. Groups such as Bucknell University Catholic Campus Ministry, Rooke Chapel Congregation, and Campus Jewish Life are available to students for spiritual and personal growth.

The university also has a lively Greek community. Students cannot rush until the first semester of their sophomore year, but approximately 50 percent of eligible students join the school's 13 fraternities and 6 sororities.

Active Fraternities:

• Chi Phi
• Delta Upsilon
• Kappa Delta Rho
• Kappa Sigma
• Lambda Chi Alpha
• Phi Gamma Delta
• Phi Kappa Psi
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon
• Sigma Alpha Mu
• Sigma Chi
• Sigma Phi Epsilon
• Tau Kappa Epsilon
• Theta Chi

Active Sororities:

• Alpha Chi Omega
• Chi Omega
• Delta Gamma
• Kappa Alpha Theta
• Kappa Kappa Gamma
• Pi Beta Phi

Bucknell University's student newspaper is The Bucknellian, which is printed weekly. Its radio station is WVBU 90.5 FM.

Notable alumni

• Diane B. Allen, New Jersey State Senator, Legislative District 7
• Ted Ammon, New York financier
• Karl Amylon, chief administrative officer of Ketchikan, AK, USA
• Kunitake Ando, President and Group Chief Operating Officer of Sony Corporation
• Rob Andrews, U.S. representative
• Ronald S. Baron, New York financier, founder of Baron Funds
• Theodore Beale, Author and columnist, also known as Vox Day
• Sam Bidleman, President of the Pennsylvania School Press Association; Finalist, 2002 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year
• Neal Blaisdell, former mayor of Honolulu
• Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, Marine, NYC Assistant District Attornery, and Author
• Colby Cooper, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State
• Susan Crawford, former chief judge of U.S. Court of Military Appeals
• Jane Elfers, president and CEO of Lord & Taylor
• Bently Elliott, former chief speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan
• Benjamin K. Focht, US Congressman from Pennsylvania
• John A. Giannetti, member of Maryland House of Delegates
• Sunil Gulati, President, United States Soccer Federation
• Marc Hauser, author, professor, and Director of the Cognitive Evolution Lab at Harvard University
• Daniel J. Herrington, NASA Vice-President, Intuitive Aeronautics Design
• Edward Herrmann, actor
• David Jayne Hill, diplomat, ambassador, writer
• Clarke Hinkle, National Football League fullback and Hall of Fame inductee
• Jon Robert Holden, naturalized Russian Basketball player, currently active for PBC CSKA Moscow
• Ye Htoon, Burmese political dissident
• Bob Keegan, former Major League Baseball player
• Kenneth Langone, co-founder of Home Depot and former director of the New York Stock Exchange
• Douglas Lebda, founder of LendingTree
• Evan Coyne Maloney, webmaster/documentary filmmaker
• Mark Morganelli, Jazz Musician, Producer
• Christy Mathewson, former Major League Baseball player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame (did not graduate)
• John McPherson, "Close to Home" cartoonist
• Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS Television
• Edward (Ted) C. Peterson, Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Peterson and Collins Inc.
• James Pommersheim, Katherine Piggott Professor of Mathematics at Reed College
• Michael Riccio, founder Falcon Partners, and Chief Operating Officer and Director of Go2Net
• Mark H. Ronald, President & CEO, BAE Systems Inc.
• Philip Roth, award-winning novelist
• Trevor Rutledge-Leverenz, producer of the Mike and Murray Show on Sirius Satellite Radio
• Greg Schiano, head coach of the Rutgers University football team
• Paul Shipman, Founder, President, and CEO, Redhook Ale Brewery
• Ray Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer of the New England Patriots
• Theodore Van Kirk, Enola Gay Navigator on August 6th, 1945
• Ralph Waite, actor
• Jay Wright, head coach of the Villanova University basketball team
• Weldon Wyckoff, former Major League Baseball player
• George Young, former New York Giants general manager

External links

• Official school website
• Official athletics website
• Bucknell Student Government