University of Connecticut

The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Founded in 1881 as a land-grant university, UConn serves more than 28,000 students on its six campuses, including nearly 8,000 graduate students in multiple programs.

UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Town of Mansfield. The university's interim president is Dr. Philip E. Austin, who took over from Dr. Michael J. Hogan, a noted historian and former provost of the University of Iowa. Hogan resigned June 30, 2010 and took the position of President at the University of Illinois. On December 20, the university named Susan Herbst, the executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for The University System of Georgia, to take over the presidency in July.

Considered a Public Ivy, UConn is one of the founding institutions of the Hartford, Connecticut/Springfield, Massachusetts regional economic and cultural partnership alliance known as New England's Knowledge Corridor. UConn is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and a member of the Big East Conference.

UConn was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School. It was named after Charles and Augustus Storrs, two brothers who donated the land for the school as well as initial funding. Women began attending classes in 1891 and were officially admitted in 1893, when the name was changed to Storrs Agricultural College and it became Connecticut's land grant college. In 1899, the name changed again to Connecticut Agricultural College; in 1933, to Connecticut State College; and finally in 1939, to the University of Connecticut.

In 1940, the school was first divided into individual colleges and schools, reflecting its new university status. This was also the year that the School of Social Work and School of Nursing were first established. The graduate program was also started at this time, and existing schools of law and pharmacy were absorbed into the university. Ph.D.s have been awarded since 1949.

During the 1960s, the University of Connecticut Health Center was established in Farmington as a home for the new School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. John Dempsey Hospital was opened in Farmington at this time and has been operated by UConn ever since.

In 1995, a state-funded program called UCONN 2000 was passed by the Connecticut General Assembly and signed into law by then-Gov. John G. Rowland. This 10-year program set aside $1 billion ($1,000,000,000) to upgrade campus facilities, add faculty, and otherwise improve the university. An additional $1.3 billion was pledged by the State of Connecticut in 2002 as part of a new 10-year improvement plan known as 21st Century UConn.

UConn has repeatedly been ranked the top public university in New England by U.S. News and World Report, and is also ranked among the top 25 public research universities nationally.

UConn offers 105 majors, eight undergraduate degrees,16 graduate degrees and five professional degree programs. Students can choose from 64 different minors at UConn, including some areas of study that are not offered as formalized majors. Some areas of study offered formally only as minors at UConn include: Asian American Studies, Aquaculture, Bioinformatics, Criminal Justice, Film Studies, Human Rights, Middle Eastern Studies, Native American Studies, and Slavic & East European Studies.

Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences College of Agriculture and Natural Resources the College of Continuing Studies the Graduate School the Neag School of Education the School of Allied Health the School of Nursing, the School of Business, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Medicine, the School of Engineering, Office of International Affairs, the School of Family Studies, the School of Social Work, the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Law, and the School of Fine Arts.

UConn is especially known for its programs in law, health care administration, dentistry, gifted and talented education, and family studies. The University of Connecticut School of Law and the University of Connecticut School of Business are two of the top-ranked public graduate schools of their kind in the nation, and the School of Fine Arts' puppetry department is the most influential in the United States.