University of Utah

Overview

The University of Utah (UofU or The U) is a public research university located in Salt Lake City, Utah. An Association of American Universities member, it is regarded as an R1: Doctoral University with very high activity in research.

Founded in 1850, UofU was originally called the University of Deseret. It was in 1894 that it was granted by Congress 60 acres of land from Fort Douglas, and was renamed the University of Utah. In its formative phase, the university tirelessly expanded its course offerings and research ventures.

Today, it has 18 colleges and schools. These include faculties for Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nursing, Architecture and Planning, Science, and Medicine, among others. Moreover, these have 100 combined academic departments. These departments oversee teaching, learning, and research efforts. Degrees and courses range from Dermatology to Computing, to Finance and Kinesiology.

The university also offers 35 interdisciplinary programs that benefit from the collaboration of multiple departments. Some of them are Latin American Studies, the Asia Center, Geographic Information Science, Neuroscience, Religious Studies, and Nuclear Engineering.

In research, the university has accumulated many awards and distinctions. There are four Nobel Prize winners, eight MacArthur Fellows, and three Turing Award laureates affiliated with the university either as faculty, researcher, or alumni.

Additionally, the university hosts 120 centers or bureaus on its campus. These include the Dixon Laser Institute, the Genetic Science Learning Center, the Integrated Technology in Architecture Center, the NVIDIA Center of Excellence, and the Quantitative Biology Center, among others.

These and the institution’s colleges and schools helped move forward study programs in science computing, technology, and engineering, military health and suicide prevention, human genetics and precision medicine, and opioid addiction and chronic pain, among others.

When it comes to technology commercialization, the University of Utah is one of the top universities in the United States. With a strong business and science collaborative culture, it puts heavy emphasis on bringing its research efforts to the market. This is being overseen by the university’s Technology and Venture Commercialization unit. The unit manages invention disclosures, licensing technologies, and just about anything related to its intellectual property portfolio.

This culture has produced many notable graduates. Famous alumni in their respective fields include James H. Clark, the founder of Netscape, J. Willard Marriott, Marriott International founder, Jake Garn, a space shuttle astronaut and senator, and the Nobel Prize co-winner Mario Capecchi, among many others.