7.The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 by the American Baptist Education Society and oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, who later described the University of Chicago as the best investment I ever made. The land for the new university, in the recently annexed suburb of Hyde Park, was donated by Marshall Field, owner of the Chicago department store that bears his name.
William Rainey Harper, the first president, imagined a university that would combine an American-style undergraduate liberal arts college with a German-style graduate research university. The University of Chicago quickly fulfilled Harper's dream, becoming a national leader in higher education and research.
Although the University was established by Baptists, it was non-denominational from the start. It also welcomed women and minority students at a time when many universities did not.
The first buildings copied the English Gothic style of architecture, complete with towers, spires, cloisters, and gargoyles. By 1910, the University had adopted more traditions, including a coat of arms that bore a phoenix emerging from the flames and a Latin motto, Crescat Scientia, Vita Excolatur .
In 1929, Robert Hutchins became the University's fifth president. During his tenure, Hutchins established many of the undergraduate curricular innovations that the University is known for today. appropriately, Harper and the other faculty members had pulled a feverish all-nighter beforehand, unpacking and arranging desks, chairs and tables in the newly-constructed Cobb Hall.
Although the University was established by Baptists, it was non-denominational from the start. It also welcomed women and minority students at a time when many universities did not.
In 1929, Robert Hutchins became the University's fifth president. During his tenure, Hutchins established many of the undergraduate curricular innovations that the University is known for today. These included a curriculum dedicated specifically to interdisciplinary education, comprehensive examinations instead of course grades, courses focused on the study of original documents and classic works, and an emphasis on discussion, rather than lectures. While the Core curriculum has changed substantially since Hutchins' time, original texts and small discussion sections remain a hallmark of a Chicago education.
In 1978, Hanna Gray, Professor of History, was appointed President of the University, becoming the first woman to serve as president of a major research university. During Gray's tenure, both undergraduate and graduate enrollment increased, and a new science quadrangle was completed.