Albert Gallatin, Secretary of Treasury under Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, declared his intention to establish "in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting for all and graciously opened to all". A three-day long "literary and scientific convention" held in City Hall in 1830 and attended by over 100 delegates debated the terms of a plan for a new university. These New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based on merit, not birthright, status or social class. On April 18, 1831, an institution was established, with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the city's landed class of merchants, bankers, and traders. Albert Gallatin was elected as the institution's first president. On April 21, 1831, the new institution received its charter and was incorporated as the University of the City of New York by the New York State Legislature; older documents often refer to it by that name. The university has been popularly known as New York University since its beginning and was officially renamed New York University in 1896. In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, situated near City Hall. In 1835, the School of Law, NYU's first professional school, was established. Although the impetus to found a new school was partly a reaction by evangelical Presbyterians to what they perceived as the Episcopalianism of Columbia College, NYU was created non-denominational, unlike many American colleges at the time. The University Heights campus, now home to Bronx Community College Whereas NYU had its Washington Square campus since its founding, the university purchased a campus at University Heights in the Bronx because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York City's development further uptown. NYU's move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor Henry Mitchell MacCracken. The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was. As a result, most of the university's operations along with the undergraduate College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering were housed there. NYU's administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the graduate schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the downtown undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the "Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island". This extension would later become a fully independent Hofstra University. In 1950, NYU was elected to the Association of American Universities, a nonprofit organization of leading public and private research universities. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, financial crisis gripped the New York City government and the troubles spread to the city's institutions, including NYU. Feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, NYU President James McNaughton Hester negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the City University of New York, which occurred in 1973. After the sale of the Bronx campus, University College merged with Washington Square College. In the 1980s, under the leadership of President John Brademas, NYU launched a billion-dollar campaign that was spent almost entirely on updating facilities. The campaign was set to complete in 15 years, but ended up being completed in 10. In 2003 President John Sexton launched a $2.5 billion campaign for funds to be spent especially on faculty and financial aid resources

The mission of the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) is to promote and support the University's commitment to creating and fostering an inclusive and diverse community of faculty, administrators, staff, and students. OEO will achieve its mission by providing leadership and guidance to the University community in the following ways: Serve as a resource to schools and administrative units with respect to affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity; Oversee the preparation and implementation of the University's annual Affirmative Action Plan (AAP) under Executive Order 11246, as enforced by the Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP); Maintaining and analyzing data collected by schools and administrative units and by the University's Office of Institutional Research for inclusion in the AAP; Review University practices, policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal, state and city anti-discrimination laws in the recruitment and selection process, and in other terms and conditions of employment (e.g., compensation, promotion, benefits and termination); Oversee compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other federal, state and city disability discrimination laws; Develop and conduct training programs on discriminatory harassment, equal opportunity, cultural sensitivity, and diversity topics; Implement a consistent and uniform procedure for responding to and resolving internal discrimination complaints; Confer and seek the advice of appropriate University offices, including the Offices of Legal Counsel, Compliance and Risk Management, Academic Appointments and Human Resources, regarding institutional best practices; and Serve as the University's liaison to relevant government agencies.

NYU counts 36 Nobel Prize winners, three Abel Prize winners, 10 National Medal of Science recipients, 16 Pulitzer Prize winners, 30 Academy Award winners, four Putnam Competition winners, Russ Prize, Gordon Prize, and Draper Prize winners, Turing Award winners, and Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winners among its faculty and alumni. NYU also has MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowship holders as well as National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering members among its past and present graduates and faculty

Urban 229-acre (0.93 km2) (Manhattan campus