Washington University in St. Louis
- Washington University redirects here. See Washington University (disambiguation) for institutions with similar names.
| Motto | Per veritatem vis (Strength through truth) |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Established | February 22, 1853 |
| Endowment | $4.746 billion [1] |
| Chancellor | Mark S. Wrighton |
Academic staff | 3,054 [2] |
| Undergraduates | 6,097[1] |
| Postgraduates | 5 682 [2] |
| Location | , , |
| Campus | Urban/Suburban 2,227 acres (3.48 mi²)[3] Danforth campus, 169 acres Medical Campus, 59 acres Tyson Research Center, 2000 acres |
| Athletics | 18 varsity teams |
| Colors | Red and Green [3] |
| Mascot | Bear |
| Website | www.wustl.edu |
Washington University in St. Louis is a private, coeducational, non-sectarian research university located in St. Louis, Missouri. The University was co-founded in 1853 by William Greenleaf Eliot and Wayman Crow[4] as Eliot Seminary in downtown St. Louis, and it functioned as a night school until 1856.[5]The university offered its first four-year Bachelor arts degree in 1859 under the title of Washington University, and moved to its current location six miles west of the St. Louis downtown in 1905 [6].
The University includes 7 graduate and undergraduate schools[7], encompassing a broad range of academic fields. In the 2007 U.S. News & World Report rankings, its undergraduate program is ranked 12th in the nation (tied with Cornell University). High-ranked schools include the Medical School, which is tied for fourth in the nation in research, and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, which is ranked second.
Despite its official letterhead name, the school is legally incorporated as The Washington University, and popular nicknames for the university include Wash. U. and WUSTL, derived from the initials of the university's name. To prevent confusion over its location, the Board of Trustees added the phrase “in St. Louis” in 1976 [8].
The University has an endowment of 4.7 billion USD [9], one of the largest in the nation. The current Chancellor of the University is Dr. Mark S. Wrighton, who has led the university since 1995.
University History
Washington University was co-founded as a nonsectarian, private institution in 1853 by St. Louis leader Wayman Crow, and the Unitarian minister William Greenleaf Eliot, grandfather of the Nobel Prize laureate poet T. S. Eliot. The University's original name at the time of foundation was Eliot Seminary. Eliot, however, was not in favor of the name, and in 1854, the Board of Trustees changed it to Washington Institute in St. Louis in honor of George Washington. In 1857, the name was changed to Washington University. To avoid confusion with over 20 other institutions sharing the Washington name in their titles, the university again changed its name in 1976, restoring the "in St. Louis" suffix to distinguish it in the national media.
Campuses
Danforth Campus
Distinguished by its collegiate gothic architecture, the 169-acre Danforth Campus lies at the western boundary of Forest Park in the City of St. Louis.
History
Formerly known as The Hilltop Campus, Danforth Campus was officially dedicated on September 17, 2006, in honor of Dr. William H. Danforth, the 13th Chancellor of the University, his family, and the Danforth Foundation.
Danforth Campus construction was accelerated through a profitable lease of several buildings to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Through the efforts and influence of David R. Francis, an alumnus and former mayor of St. Louis, Missouri governor and U.S. Interior Secretary, newly-constructed campus buildings on the edge of Forest Park began use for classes when the Fair was over. This included facilities used by the six-day 1904 Summer Olympics, such as Francis Field and Francis Gymnasium [10].
The landscape design of the University's Danforth Campus grounds was created in 1895 by a firm best known for designing New York City's Central Park. The University's signature building, Brookings Hall (named for University board chairman Robert S. Brookings), was designed by Cope & Stewardson, which was famed for designing schools throughout the country based on motifs at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. A nearly identical Cope & Stewardson building is also a defining landmark at Princeton University -- Blair Hall [11]. Brookings Hall houses the office of the Chancellor, Admissions, the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and other administrative departments.
The nation's foremost landscape design firm of Olmsted, Olmsted, & Eliot, founded by Frederick Law Olmsted, updated their design of the Danforth Campus in 1899. (Olmsted's firm also created the 1897 master design renovations for the Missouri Botanical Garden a few miles away.)
The University held a national competition in 1899 using Olmsted's master plan to select an architectural firm, and Cope & Stewardson were chosen to design the entire campus. [12]
Just as the University was planning to move to its new campus from downtown St. Louis, the organizers of the St. Louis World's Fair asked if they could rent the entire campus during 1903-04 as the headquarters for the event in nearby Forest Park. The University agreed and delayed its move until 1905. Brookings Hall, Busch Hall, Cupples I & II Halls, Francis Field & Gymnasium, site of the 1904 World Olympics, Ridgley Hall, Eads Hall, and Prince Hall (a mens' dormitory) were then used by Fair organizers.
Recent Years
Since 1995, more than 30 new buildings have been erected.
Campus Art and Sculpture
The Barry Flanagan bronze statue, "Thinker on Rock, "widely known, simply, as "The Bunny," is currently on loan to Washington University and features prominently near Olin Library.
Medical Campus
Washington University Medical Center is comprised of 135 acres spread over approximately 12 city blocks, located along the eastern edge of Forest Park in St. Louis.
West Campus
West Campus is located about a mile to the west of the Danforth Campus in Clayton, Missouri. Until 1990, the building was home to the Clayton branch of the Famous-Barr department store. The University acquired the property and adjacent parking and began a series of renovations. The basement level houses the Library archives, a conference center, and the Writing Center. The ground level was turned into retail space. The upper floors consolidated accounting, development, and information systems offices from across the Danforth and Medical School campuses. The West Campus is also home to the Center for Application of Information Technologies (CAIT), which provides IT training services.
Tyson Research Center
Tyson Research Center is a 2,000-acre field station located West of St. Louis on the Meremec River. Washington University obtained Tyson as surplus property from the federal government in 1963. It is used by the Univesrity as a biological field station and research/education center.
Academics
School of Arts & Sciences
The Washington University School of Arts and Sciences is composed of three divisions: the College of Arts & Sciences, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, and University College in Arts & Sciences. Edward S. Macias is Executive Vice Chancellor. James E. McLeod is the Vice Chancellor for students and Dean of Arts & Sciences.
- The College of Arts & Sciences is the central undergraduate unit of the University with 330 tenured and tenure-track faculty along with over 100 research scientists, lecturers, artists in residence, and visitors serving about 3,000 undergraduates in 40 academic departments divided into divisions of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- The Graduate School serves over 1,500 students pursuing Masters and Ph.D. degrees.
- University College at Washington University in St. Louis grants both graduate and undergraduate degrees, offering courses primarily in the evenings for adult and continuing education.
School of Law
The School of Law offers eight joint-degree programs, including JD/MSW, JD/East Asian Studies, and JD/MBA programs. It also offers two graduate degrees in law, the LLM and the MJS (Master of Juridical Studies). The law school offers 3 semesters of courses in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, and requires at least 85 hours of coursework for the JD. The median LSAT score consistently ranks in the 90th percentile and above. This year, the median score placed the average student in the 96th percentile of test takers. The law school's clinical training program is currently ranked fourth in the nation. The law school offers a full-time day program, beginning in August, for the J.D. degree in a state-of-the-art building, Anheuser-Busch Hall (opened in 1997). The building combines traditional architecture, a five-story open-stacks library, an integration of indoor and outdoor spaces, and the latest wireless and other technologies. National Jurist ranked Washington University 4th among the "25 Most Wired Law Schools." Kent D. Syverud is the Dean of the School of Law.
Olin School of Business
Olin School of Business was founded in 1917 and was named after entrepreneur John M. Olin in 1988. As one of the leading business schools in the United States, Olin obtained its reputation from strong research-oriented achievements and competitive graduates. The school provides degree programs in BSBA, MSBA, MBA, EMBA, and part-time programs in MBA and PhD degrees. In 2002, an Executive MBA program was established in Shanghai, in cooperation with Fudan University.
Olin has a network of about 13,000 alumni all over the world. Over the last several years, the school’s endowment has increased to $178 million (2004) and annual gifts average $12 million per year. Due to a donation from John E. Simon, Simon Hall was opened in 1986.
The flexible course arrangement is a factor attracting potential students. Undergraduates who pursue the accounting concentration can choose a five-year Master of Science program which is seeking CI certification in school. Graduate students can select electives from other areas in Washington University such as the Medical School and Law School.
Mahendra R. Gupta is the Dean of the Olin School of Business.
School of Medicine
The Washington University School of Medicine partners with St. Louis Children's Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital (part of BJC HealthCare), where all physicians are members of the school's faculty.
Within the Medical School, the School of Physical Therapy is also highly reputable. It is ranked 2nd in the nation for "Best Physical Therapy Schools" according to U.S. News & World Report[13]. In 1999, the Program was granted approval by Washington University to offer a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) at both the professional and post-professional levels. The two new clinical doctorate programs replaced the Master of Science in Physical Therapy and the Master of Health Science (MHS). With the transition to the DPT, the program would best equip students to manage the changing needs of the healthcare environment and the growing responsibilities of the profession. In its 60-year history, more than 1500 students, most of whom are still actively involved in the physical therapy profession, have graduated from the Program.
Larry Shapiro is Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs and the Dean of the School of Medicine.
George Warren Brown School of Social Work
The George Warren Brown School of Social Work (commonly called GWB) is currently ranked second among Master of Social Work (MSW) programs in the United States. GWB also offers a Ph.D. in Social Work, in cooperation with the Graduate School. The school was named by Bettie Bofinger Brown for her husband - George Warren Brown - a St. Louis philanthropist and founder of the Brown Shoe Company. The school's dean is Edward Lawlor. It has a center for Native American research, as well as acclaimed scholars in social security, health, individual development accounts, etc. Edward F. Lawlor is the Dean of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.
School of Engineering and Applied Science
The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) was ranked 41 in the 2005-2006 U.S. News undergraduate engineering program ratings. Its current head is Dean Mary J. Sansalone, Ph.D.
Departments include:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Science and Engineering
- Electrical and Systems Engineering
- Environmental Engineering
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
(The Engineering Physics Major is no longer offered via the Engineering School for students who did not declare their major prior to Fall 2006.)
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
Created in 2005, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts combines the strengths of art and architecture into a single school offering both undergraduate and graduate programs. The School also includes the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, considered one of the most distinguished university art collections in the country. Architecture offers BS and BA degrees as well as M.Arch. There is a combined six-year BS/M.Arch degree program as well as joint M.Arch programs with most of the other schools in the University. In 2007, the Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design was ranked 6th in the nation by Design Intelligence. Art offers the BFA and MFA in Art in the context of a full university environment. Students take courses in the College of Arts & Sciences as well as courses in the School of Art to provide a well rounded background. One third of students in the school pursue a combined study degree program, second major, and/or minors in other undergraduate divisions at Washington University. U.S. News & World Report ranked the MFA program 21st in the nation. In October 2006 the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will move into new facilities designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect, Fumihiko Maki.
Carmon Colangelo is the Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.
Museums and Library System
With 14 libraries, the Washington University Library System is the largest in the state of Missouri, containing over 3.6 million volumes.[4]The main library, Olin Library, is centrally located on the Danforth Campus. Other libraries in the system include the Law Library, the Bernard Becker Medical Library, and the East Asian Library.
The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, established in 1881, is one of the oldest teaching museums in the country. The collection includes works from 19th, 20th, and 21st century American and European artists, including George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Barbara Kruger, and Christian Boltanski. In October 2006, the museum moved from Steinberg Hall into a new facility designed by Fumihiko Maki.
Centers and Institutes
Rankings and Reputation
The University was ranked 12th, tied with Cornell University, in the 2007 U.S. News & World Report National Universities ranking and 28th globally in an academic ranking of world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2006.[14] Britain's Times Higher Education Supplement ranked Washington University 28th in the world in 2005.[15] Washington University was ranked eighth nationally and first among Midwestern universities in The Washington Monthly's 2006 ranking of universities' contributions to research, community service, and social mobility.[16] The Medical School and the School of Law rank 4th and 19th in the nation respectively. The George Warren Brown school of Social Work ranks 2nd. The Olin School of Business undergraduate program ranks in the top 15, and the University's graduate program ranks in the top 30.
Student Life
Student Organizations
Washington University has over 200 undergraduate student organizations on campus. All are funded by WUSTL's student government Student Union, which has a $2 million annual budget that is completely student controlled and is one of the largest student government budgets in the country. Known as SU for short, it sponsors large-scale campus programs including WILD (a semesterly concert in the quad), free copies of the New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program; the Assembly Series, a weekly lecture series; and the campus television station, WUTV and the radio station, KWUR.
Residences
75% of undergraduate students live on campus. Most of the dormitories on campus are located on the South 40, named because of its adjacent location south of the Hilltop campus and its size of 40 acres. It is the location of all the freshman dorms as well as several upperclassman dorms. All of the dorms are co-ed. The South 40 is organized as a pedestrian friendly environment where residences surround a central recreational lawn known as the Swamp. Wohl Student Center, the Habif Health and Wellness Center (Student Health Services), the Residential Life Office, University Police Headquarters, various student owned businesses (e.g. the laundry service, "Wash U Wash"), and the baseball, softball, and intramural fields are also located on the South 40.
Student Media
Washington University supports four major student-run media outlets. The university's independent student newspaper, Student Life, is printed thrice weekly and is one of the oldest college newspapers in the nation. KWUR (90.3 FM) serves as the students' official radio station; the station also attracts a listenership in the immediately surrounding community due to its eclectic and free-form musical programming. Though KWUR offers streaming content through the Internet, the station only broadcasts at ten watts, and its frequent applications to the FCC to increase its power have been unsuccessful. WUTV is the university's closed-circuit television channel. The university's main political publication is the Washington University Political Review (nicknamed "WUPR"), a student-run nonpartisan biweekly magazine. The Washington Witness, part of the national Collegiate Network, is a nonpartisan conservative and contrarian biweekly published by the school's Conservative Leadership Association. Washington University undergraduates publish two literary and art journals, The Eliot Review and Spires Intercollegiate Arts and Literary Magazine. A variety of other publications also serve the university community, ranging from in-house academic journals to glossy alumni magazines to organization newsletters.
Athletics
WUSTL's sports teams are called the Bears. They participate in the University Athletic Association and the NCAA Division III. The Bears have won 12 NCAA Division III Championships, four in women's basketball (1998-2001) and eight in women's volleyball (1989, 1991-1996, 2003) and 112 University Athletic Association titles in 14 different sports. The Athletic Department is headed by John Schael who has served as director of athletics since 1978. The 2000 Division III Central Region winner of the National Association of Collegiate Director's of Athletics (NACDA)/Continental Airlines Athletics Director of the Year award, Schael has helped orchestrate the Bears athletics transformation into one of the top departments in Division III. Washington University in St. Louis is home of Francis Field, site of the 1904 Summer Olympics.
Traditions
- WILD - Walk In, Lay Down, the semesterly concert in the Quad which brings in popular acts such as Guster, Lil' John, Ben Folds, Busta Rhymes, Live, and the Black Eyed Peas.[5]
- Bauhaus - Annual Halloween costume party sponsored by the Architecture Student Council.[6]
- Thurtene carnival - The oldest and largest student-run carnival in the nation, run by Thurtene Honorary.[7]
- Diwali Show- Show in celebration of the Indian Holiday features many Indian dances, a skit regarding Indian Culture, and other preformances. [8]
Notable Washington University People
Alumni include twenty-two Nobel-laureates, mostly in the field of medicine and physiology.
Notable faculty at Washington University include: economist and Nobel Memorial Prize winner, Douglass North -- currently the only Nobel laureate on the faculty; husband and wife biochemists and co-Nobel Prize winners Carl and Gerty Cori; physicist and Nobel Prize winner Arthur Compton; former Missouri senator Thomas Eagleton; novelists Stanley Elkin and William Gass; neurologist and Nobel Prize winner Rita Levi-Montalcini; sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson; Poet Laureates Howard Nemerov and Mona Van Duyn; writer and culture critic Gerald Early.
External links
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References
- ^ Full-time students. Approx. 1,450 Part-time students
- ^ http://facts.wustl.edu/enrollment.htm
- ^ http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/facts/colors-logotype.html
- ^ [http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/facts/co-founders.html Wayman Crow and William Eliot the founders ]
- ^ Ralph E. Morrow, Washington University in St. Louis: A History (St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1996.)
- ^ http://www.wustl.edu/tour/danforth/introduction.html
- ^ Schools of the University
- ^ http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/facts/george.html
- ^ http://annualreport.wustl.edu/financial-endowment.htm
- ^ The 1904 World's Fair
- ^ http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/blair_hall.html
- ^ University Architectural frim Cope & and Stewardson
- ^ "The Best Graduate Schools 2006". U.S. News & World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/med/medindex_brief.php
- ^ "USNews.com: America's Best Colleges 2007: National Universities: Top Schools". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 2006-08-21.
- ^ "The Times Higher World University Rankings". The Times Higher Education Supplement. Retrieved 2006-05-23.
- ^ "National Rankings". The Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2006-08-12.
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| Centers and institutes | ||
| Campus | ||
| Athletics | ||
| People | ||
| History | ||
| Campus life | ||
| Miscellaneous | ||
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Architecture schools
- Association of American Universities
- Universities and colleges in Missouri
- Oak Ridge Associated Universities
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Universities and colleges in St. Louis, Missouri
- Gothic Revival architecture
- North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
- Educational institutions established in 1853