University of Washington at St. Louis

University Foundation and Growth

The idea of ​​founding a university belongs to 17 businessmen, politicians and religious leaders from St. Louis, who were extremely concerned about the lack of higher education institutions in the Midwest . This group was led by Missouri State Senator Wayman Crowe and Unitarian Church Secretary William Eliot, grandfather of poet Thomas Eliot ^[7] .

In 1853, the charter of the university was adopted and the president of the board of trustees William Eliot was appointed. The first chancellor of the institution was Joseph Hoyt. Eliot repeatedly requested financial assistance from local businessmen and businessmen to support the activities of the university, but he could not achieve continuous funding, in fact, the institution had neither a rich patron nor support from religious organizations or the state ^[7] .

During the first 3 years, the university changed its name three times. It was first called Eliot's Seminary, but William Eliot did not like this name, who did not want the institution to bear his name, and also objected to the creation of a seminary that could be accused of teaching one religion . He advocated the unification of all religions at the university. In 1854, the Board of Trustees changed its name to the Washington Institute in honor of George Washington . Assigning the name of the first president of the United States was a sign of his universal admiration for the Americans, as the father of America and a symbol of national unity. In 1856, the Washington Institute changed its name to "University of Washington." In 1976, “St. Louis” was added to this name to distinguish the university from almost 20 others bearing the name of George Washington ^[6] .

Although the institution received university status, for many years it functioned mainly as an evening school, which was located in the center of St. Louis . Due to limited financial resources, training took place in public buildings, the first classes began on October 22, 1854 , in the building of the Benton school ^[7] . In the end, the university still managed to raise funds for the construction of a complex of its own buildings.

In 1867, the university opened its first private law school west of the Mississippi River . A medical school opened in 1891 after the St. Louis College of Medicine decided to join the university. In the 1890s, President of the Board of Trustees Robert Brooking Sommers undertook a number of important tasks to reorganize university funding, ensuring a stable flow of funds and arranging the purchase of land for the new campus.

University in the 20th Century

In connection with the construction of a new campus, in 1899 a national competition for the architectural design of new buildings was announced at the university. The winner was Cope & Stewardson , a well-known Philadelphia company, offering Gothic-style building designs inspired by the architecture of Oxford and Cambridge Universities . The cornerstone of the first building, Basch Hall, was laid on October 20, 1900 . Soon after this, construction of 3 more buildings began, in which from 1904 to 1905 the World Exhibition was located and the competitions of the Summer Olympic Games were held . This allowed the university to raise additional funds and build 10 campus buildings, instead of the planned 7 ^[8] .

By 1915, the construction of the medical center was completed, and 3 years later the university accepted the first female medical students ^[9] .

A young professor of physics, Arthur Holly Compton, in 1922, conducted a series of experiments in the Eds Hall basement and demonstrated the effect he discovered of a change in the wavelength of X-rays . This discovery, known as the " Compton effect " earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927 . After many years of work at the University of Chicago , Arthur Compton returned to St. Louis in 1946 and became the 9th Chancellor of the University of Washington. Under his leadership, student enrollment increased sharply, primarily due to veterans of World War II ^[10] .

In 1947, a professor at the medical school, Gerty Corey, became the first woman from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine .

In the mid -1940s, the process of racial segregation ^[11] began at the University of Washington and became the subject of critical articles in the local African American press. In the spring of 1949, a group of university students and a student committee for the admission of blacks launched a campaign for full racial integration. In May 1952, the Board of Trustees adopted a resolution prohibiting segregation in university schools ^[12] .

The second half of the 20th century becomes for the university a time of its growth from regional to national research. In 1957, planning began on the construction of a complex of modern hostels for students who came to study not only from the suburbs of St. Louis , but also from other cities and states ^[13] , by 1964 there were already more than 70% of such students ^[14] .

In 1971, the board of trustees appointed William Henry Danforth, chancellor, who led the university during the social and financial difficulties of the 1970s . For 24 years, he managed to strengthen relations with the residents of St. Louis, to achieve a significant improvement in the medical school, with it 70 new departments were created, he provided the university with $ 1.72 billion in donations and tripled the number of student scholarships ^[15] . In the mid -1990s, the university updated the curricula of a number of educational programs and commissioned more than 30 new buildings ^[16] .

Modern History

In 1992, the University of Washington was selected by the Presidential Debate Commission as the venue for the debate for the presidency or vice president of the United States ^[17] . As part of the presidential campaigns, meetings were held in 1992 , 2000 and 2004 in the sports complex of the university. Debates were also planned for 1996 , however, due to disagreements in the candidates' plans, the discussion did not take place ^[18] . On October 2, 2008, a debate took place in the sports complex between Republican Vice Presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden from the Democrats .

Despite the fact that after the 2004 meeting, Chancellor Urayton expressed doubts about the possibility of holding future debates on campus, an application for the 2008 debate was nevertheless filed. According to him: ^[19]

Danforth Campus

It differs from other campuses in the Gothic architecture of the buildings, located on the western border of Forest Park and covers an area of ​​68.4 hectares. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, September 17, 2006 was renamed in honor of William Danforth, 13th Chancellor of the University.

The construction of the campus was significantly accelerated due to the beneficial rental of several buildings for the world exhibition "EXPO 1904" . After the end of the exhibition, the operation of the buildings for their intended purpose began. In addition, the Francis Free Area and Gymnasium rented for the 1904 Summer Olympics were used for the university’s sports division ^[20] .

With the opening of the University City Big Bend and Skinker St Louis metro stations near the Danforth campus, getting to other campuses has become faster and more convenient.

Medical Center

The University of Washington Medical Center covers an area of ​​66.4 hectares and is located in buildings distributed over several blocks along the eastern border of Forest Park. There is a medical school and related clinical hospitals: the Barnes Jewish Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital, etc.

North and West Campuses

In the northern and western campuses are a complex of administrative buildings of the university.

The North Campus is in St. Louis, next to the Delmar Loop entertainment district. The university acquired the building here in 2004, which previously housed the Angelica uniform factory ^[21] . The campus includes housing, accounting, treasury, network technology services, as well as the Bon Appétit Management Company , a university catering company and others.

The western campus is located about 1.6 km west of the Danforth campus in Clayton , Missouri , and primarily consists of a 3-story former department store , which occupies most of the territory. In 1990, the university bought the building and the adjacent parking lot, and carried out a series of renovations ^[22] . Today it houses a library, archives of the conference center, retail space, offices, a music room for rehearsals and the Center for the Application of Information Technologies, which offers education in the field of IT services.

Tyson Research Center

The Tyson Research Center covers an area of ​​809 hectares west of St. Louis, by the Meramek River . The university received this center in 1963 from the federal government as excess property. Used as a university biological station for research and educational purposes.

The university is divided according to the model of Oxford and Cambridge universities . It consists of 7 graduating schools. The University of Washington offers more than 90 educational programs with bachelor , master , doctor degrees , 20 of which are included in the ratings of the 10 best national programs in various fields of science, according to the publication of US News & World Report . It also offers about 1,500 different courses, including foreign language courses, including Spanish , Italian , Russian , Arabic , Chinese , Hebrew , Hindi and others ^[23] .

Among the teachers there are 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences , 29 - the Institute of Medicine, 29 - the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , 2 - the National Academy of Engineering, 13 - the American Law Institute, 3 - the American Philosophical Council ^[23] .

The cost of training in the 2010-2011 academic year was $ 39,400 ^[23] .

There are more than 200 student organizations at the University of Washington ^[24] . Most of them are funded by the student union of the university, with a fund of more than $ 2 million and an annual budget that are fully controlled by students. This is one of the largest student unions in the United States . In addition, he sponsors large-scale campus programs, including Walk In Lay Down (a concert held at the university center twice a year), free copies of The New York Times , USA Today , and St. Louis Post-Dispatch , the University’s television station WUTV and the KWUR radio station, which became St. Louis’s best radio station in 2003 , despite being only a few blocks off campus ^[25] . Also, the university has 12 brotherhoods and 7 women's clubs.

Most of these organizations are located at the University Center on the Danforth campus. The center was opened on August 11, 2008 and received a gold LEED certificate for an environmentally friendly building project ^[26] .

75% of students live on campus; the total area of ​​the hostels is more than 160,000 m². All dormitories have shared accommodation, for students there are baseball and softball fields, a leisure and recreation center, a health and beauty center, etc.

Traditions

Walk In Lay Down is the largest concert organized since 1973 every semester on the Danforth campus and attracts famous musicians and groups, including Basta Rimes , Lil Jon , K'naan , The Black Eyed Peas , REM , Live .

The Bauhaus is an annual Halloween party costume created with the support of the Council of the School of Architecture, which is a gigantic tent set up in front of the Givens Hall.

Vertigo is a dance party organized by the Council of the Engineering School, which exhibits innovative dance floors created by students on 2.4 m and 4.9 m with computer control and modular LED lighting.

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  Edward Singleton Holden

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  David Rowland Francis

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  Dwight Philly Davis

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  William Webster

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  James Stephen Fossett

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  John Peter Sarsgaard

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  Johnny castle

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