The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 through the financial support of John D. Rockefeller and the vision of Baptist educator William Rainey Harper, opening for classes in 1892 as a coeducational institution with a commitment to rigorous research and undergraduate education. It adopted an innovative quarter system and emphasis on general education early on, and grew rapidly in the early twentieth century with the establishment of major graduate programs and research institutes. The university has maintained a focus on intellectual inquiry and free expression, contributing significantly to fields such as economics through the Chicago School, physics with the Manhattan Project involvement, and sociology, while expanding its campus and programs throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The University of Chicago's main campus is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, covering approximately 217 acres with a Gothic Revival architectural style featuring limestone buildings, quadrangles, and green spaces designed in the early twentieth century. Key landmarks include the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, the Main Quadrangles, the Regenstein Library, the Mansueto Dome, and modern facilities such as the William Eckhardt Research Center and the Saieh Hall for Economics. The campus is urban, integrated with surrounding Hyde Park, and includes athletic facilities, museums such as the Smart Museum of Art, and additional sites for medical and research activities in nearby areas.
The University of Chicago is governed by a Board of Trustees composed of approximately fifty members responsible for overall policy, finances, and strategic direction as a private nonprofit institution. The current President is Paul Alivisatos, who has served since September 2021. The university operates with significant autonomy, supported by one of the largest university endowments in the world valued at approximately ten point eight billion dollars as of recent reports, and maintains a structure with a Provost as chief academic officer and deans leading each of its divisions and schools.
The University of Chicago is organized into the College for undergraduates and five graduate divisions covering Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, along with professional schools including the Booth School of Business, the Law School, the Divinity School, the Harris School of Public Policy, and the Pritzker School of Medicine. It is known for its Core Curriculum requiring broad general education for undergraduates, emphasis on original research, and interdisciplinary approaches. The university consistently ranks among the world's top institutions, placing tenth in the QS World University Rankings 2026 and eleventh in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, with particular strengths in economics, where it has affiliations with over thirty Nobel laureates in the field, as well as physics, mathematics, sociology, and law.
The University of Chicago enrolls approximately seventeen thousand students, including around seven thousand undergraduates and ten thousand graduate and professional students, with a diverse and international community. Most undergraduates live in on-campus residence halls organized into seven collegiate houses that provide community, dining, and social activities. Student life includes over four hundred registered student organizations covering academic, cultural, political, performing arts, and service interests, along with traditions such as Scav Hunt, the annual Latke-Hamantaschen Debate, and strong participation in NCAA Division III athletics, in an environment that emphasizes intellectual engagement, debate, and campus events within the urban setting of Chicago.
Professors at University of Chicago
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