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New York University


Founded in 1831, New York University is the largest private university in the United States. The University, which is composed of 14 schools, colleges, and divisions, occupies five major centers in Manhattan. It operates branch campus and research programs in other parts of the United States and abroad, as well as study abroad programs in more than 25 countries.

New York University is also one of the largest employers in New York City, with over 16,000
employees.
History
A group of prominent New York City residents – the city's landed class of merchants, bankers, and traders – established NYU on April 18, 1831. These New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based on merit, not birthright or social class. Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury under Thomas Jefferson, is cited as the founder. NYU was created non-denominational, unlike many American colonial colleges at the time.
On April 21, 1831, the new institution received its charter and was incorporated as the University of the City of New York by the New York State Legislature; older documents often refer to it by that name. The university has been popularly known as New York University since its beginning and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, situated near City Hall. In 1835, the School of Law, NYU's first professional school, was established.
At that time, 1831, most students in American colleges and universities were members of the privileged classes. Albert Gallatin and the University’s founding fathers planned NYU as a center of higher learning that would be open to all, regardless of national origin, religious beliefs, or social background.

Whereas NYU had its Washington Square campus since its founding, the university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York City's development further uptown. NYU's move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was. As a result, most of the university's operations along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering were housed there. With most of NYU's operations transferred to the new campus, the Washington Square campus declined; only the law school remained there until the establishment of Washington Square College in 1914. This college would become the downtown arts and sciences division of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the "Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island". This extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, financial crisis gripped the New York City government and the troubles spread to the city's institutions, including NYU. Feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, NYU President James McNaughton Hester negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York, which occurred in 1973. After the sale of the Bronx campus, University College merged with Washington Square College. In the 1980s, under the leadership of President John Brademas, NYU launched a billion-dollar campaign that was spent almost entirely on updating facilities.The campaign was set to complete in 15 years, but ended up being completed in 10. In 2003 current President John Sexton launched a 2.5-billion dollar campaign for funds to be spent especially on faculty and financial aid resources.

The university logo, the upheld torch, is derived from the Statue of Liberty, signifying NYU's service to the city of New York. The torch is depicted on both the NYU seal and the more abstract NYU logo, designed in 1965 by renowned graphic artist Ivan Chermayeff. There are two versions of the origin of the university color, violet. Some believe that it may have been chosen because violets are said to have grown abundantly in Washington Square and around the buttresses of the Old University Building. Others argue that the color may have been adopted because the violet was the flower associated with Athens, the center of learning in ancient Greece.

Schools, Colleges, and Institutes

Washington Square Center

College of Arts and Science/CAS (1832)

School of Law/LAW (1835)

Graduate School of Arts and Science/GSAS (1886)

Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development/ED (1890)

Leonard N. Stern School of Business/STERN (1900)

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences/CIMS (1934)

School of Continuing and Professional Studies/SCPS (1934)

Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service/WAGNER (1938)

School of Social Work/ESSW (1960)

Tisch School of the Arts/TSOA (1965)

Gallatin School of Individualized Study/GAL (1972)

New York University Medical Center

School of Medicine/MED (1841) Post-Graduate Medical School/P-GM (1948), 550 First Avenue

David B. Kriser Dental Center
College of Dentistry/DENT (1865), 324 East 24th Street

Institute of Fine Arts
Institute of Fine Arts/IFA (1938), 1 East 78th Street

New York University Midtown Center
School of Continuing and Professional Studies/SCPS (1934), 11 West 42nd Street

Officers
Martin Lipton: Chairman of the Board of Trustees
John Sexton: President

Buildings
Academic and Administration
Over 5 million square feet of interior space

Residential
Housing for over 11,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students

Libraries
The eight libraries hold over 4.5 million volumes. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library and Study Center alone holds more than 3.3 million

Enrollment
Total: 50,917
Undergraduate: 19,401
Graduate and Professional: 18,990
Noncredit Programs: 12,526
Degrees Conferred

Total: 11,804
Associates: 698
Baccalaureate: 4,492
Master's: 4,840
Doctoral: 407
Professional: 1,367

Selected Awards and Honors
Guggenheim Fellowships: 147 faculty members have received fellowships since 1964; 70 in the last 17 years
Nobel and Crafoord Prizes: 4
MacArthur Fellowships: 12
American Council of Learned Society Fellowships/Grants: 25 in the last 17 years
Pulitzer Prizes: 4
Lasker Awards: 7
Elected to the National Academy of Sciences: 21
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences: 68
Howard Hughes Medical Investigatorship: 7

Alumni
Nearly 350,000 from all 50 states and 163 foreign countries.
International
International students make up 9.7 percent of NYU's student body (3,823).



Washington Square Arch



University Facts

Founding Date: April 18, 1831
Official Color: Violet
Nickname: Violets
Mascot: Bobcat
Alma Mater: The Palisades

New York University Ranked 49th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking
New York University Ranked 40th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
New York University Ranked 52nd in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking
New York University Ranked 41st in the 2010 QS World University Ranking
New York University Ranked 44th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

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