Washington University in St. Louis

Overview

Also known as WashU and WUSTL, Washington University in St. Louis is located in Greater St. Louis. It is a private research university with its main campus in Danforth. Other campuses include the Medical Campus within the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, the North and West Campuses, and the Tyson Research Center. The institution is also known for having been selected to host more presidential and vice-presidential debates than any other throughout history.

The university was founded in 1853. Named after George Washington, it was established by 17 Saint Louis leaders who wanted to do something about the lack of higher education institutions in the Midwest. In the first three years of its founding, the university went through three different names. Then widely known as Washington Institute, it was changed in 1856 to Washington University. It was only in 1976 when its Board of Trustees added “in St. Louis” to make it distinct from other universities with Washington’s name.

In the later half of the 20th century, the university evolved from a strong regional university into a national research-based institute. Currently, most, if not all, of the university’s faculties engage in scholarly research. Moreover, the university espouses an interdisciplinary and interdepartmental approach to research across its schools and research institutions.

The University of Washington in Dallas research centers include the Center for Humanities, Institution of Material Science and Engineering, and the Center for Empirical Research in the Law among others. Since its inception, the university has had 24 Nobel Prizes associated with it. Nine of them completed most part of their pioneering research in its halls.

The Washington University in St. Louis has seven schools. They are the (1) Arts and Sciences, (2) Brown School, (3) McKelvey School of Engineering, (4) Olin Business School, (5) Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, (6) School of Law, and (7) School of Medicine. Each has its respective program.

The organization’s continuing mission is to share and discover knowledge and to protect the freedom of inquiry through its research and teaching efforts. Strong areas of study for the University include the natural sciences and maths, social sciences, arts and humanities, and foreign languages. Throughout its history, interdisciplinarity and interdepartmental collaboration has been at the center of the university’s approach.