University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private co-educational university located in Chicago, Illinois. Over a century old, it is renowned for its contributions to teaching and research, and recognized as one of the world's leading research institutions. Known as the "teacher of teachers", scholars and researchers affiliated with the University of Chicago have earned more Nobel Prizes than any other institution besides Cambridge University. The academic home of leading intellectuals like Allan Bloom, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Ronald Coase, Milton Friedman, Richard Posner, and Leo Strauss, the University of Chicago is often considered the most intellectual and rigorous of American universities.

History

The University was founded by John D. Rockefeller (of Standard Oil fame), at the end of a wave of university foundings stretching from the middle of the 19th century until the beginning of the 20th (Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, University of Southern California, Stanford, Caltech, Northwestern, Rice University, and Carnegie Mellon also came into being during this time period). Incorporated in 1890, the University has always dated its founding as July 1, 1891, when William Rainey Harper became its first President. Westward migration, population growth, and the industrialization of America led to an increasing need for elite schools away from the East coast - schools whose focus would be on issues vital to national development. Rockefeller’s choice of Chicago – he was urged to build in the New England or the Mid-Atlantic States – demonstrated his outspoken desire to see Thomas Jefferson’s dream of a "natural aristocracy," determined by talent rather than familial heritage, rise to national prominence (he having pulled himself up by the figurative bootstraps). His early fiscal emphasis on the Physics department showed his pragmatic, yet nevertheless intellectually rigorous, desires for the school. Founded under Baptist auspices, the University today lacks a sectarian affiliation. The school's traditions of rigorous scholarship were established by Presidents William Rainey Harper and Robert Maynard Hutchins. Allowing women and minorities to matriculate from its inception, when their access to other leading Universities was an extreme rarity, the University counts among its alumni many prominent pioneers from both groups.

Related Topics:
John D. Rockefeller - Standard Oil - Washington University in St. Louis - MIT - Vanderbilt - Johns Hopkins - University of Southern California - Stanford - Caltech - Northwestern - Rice University - Carnegie Mellon - 1890 - July 1 - 1891 - William Rainey Harper - William Rainey Harper - Robert Maynard Hutchins

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Different from many other universities, the school was first set up around a number of graduate research institutions, following Germanic precedent. The College remained quite small (numerically and in intra-institutional importance) compared to its East coast peers until the middle of the twentieth century. As a result, graduate research and professional programs at the University continue to dwarf undergraduate education by a two-to-one student ratio (its undergraduate student body remains the second smallest amongst top 15 universities, behind historically small Dartmouth). Nevertheless, most faculty members have dual appointments to their respective Schools, Divisions or Institutes, as well as to the undergraduate College.

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An important event in the development of nuclear energy took place at the university.

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On December 12, 1942 the world's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction was achieved at Stagg Field on the campus of the university under the direction of Enrico Fermi. A sculpture by Henry Moore marks the location where this reaction took place; the stadium has since been demolished to make way for the Regenstein Library.

Related Topics:
World's first self-sustaining nuclear reaction - Enrico Fermi - Henry Moore

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