The University of Michigan was established in Detroit in 1817 as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, by the governor and judges of Michigan Territory. The Rev. John Monteith was one of the university"s founders and its first President. Ann Arbor had set aside 40 acres (16 ha) that it hoped would become the site for a new state capitol, but it offered this land to the university when Lansing was chosen as the state capital. What would become the university moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 thanks to governor Stevens T. Mason.

 

The original 40 acres (160,000 m2) became part of the current Central Campus. The first classes in Ann Arbor were held in 1841, with six freshmen and a sophomore, taught by two professors. Eleven students graduated in the first commencement in 1845. By 1866 enrollment increased to 1,205 students, many of whom were Civil War veterans. Women were first admitted in 1870. James Burrill Angell, who served as the university"s president from 1871 to 1909, aggressively expanded U-M"s curriculum to include professional studies in dentistry, architecture, engineering, government, and medicine. U-M also became the first American university to use the seminar method of study.

 

From 1900 to 1920 the university constructed many new facilities, including buildings for the dental and pharmacy programs, chemistry, natural sciences, Hill Auditorium, large hospital and library complexes, and two residence halls. In 1920 the university reorganized the College of Engineering and formed an advisory committee of 100 industrialists to guide academic research initiatives. The university became a favored choice for bright Jewish students from New York in the 1920s and 1930s when the Ivy League schools had quotas restricting the number of Jews to be admitted.

 

As a result, U-M gained the nickname "Harvard of the West," which became commonly parodied in reverse after John F. Kennedy referred to himself as "a graduate of the Michigan of the East, Harvard University" in his speech proposing the formation of the Peace Corps while on the front steps of the Michigan Union. During World War II, U-M"s research grew to include U.S. Navy projects such as proximity fuzes, PT boats, and radar jamming.

More than 250 Michigan graduates have served as legislators as either United States Senator (40 graduates) or as a Congressional representative (over 200 graduates), including former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt[168] and U.S. Representative Justin Amash, who represents Michigan"s Third Congressional District. Mike Duggan, Mayor-elect of Detroit, earned his bachelor and law degree at Michigan, while Michigan Governor Rick Snyder earned his bachelor, M.B.A., and J.D. degrees from Michigan. U-M"s contributions to aeronautics include aircraft designer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson of Lockheed Skunk Works fame, Lockheed president Willis Hawkins, and several astronauts including the all-U-M crew of Gemini 4 and the all-Michigan crew of Apollo 15. U-M counts among its matriculants twenty-one billionaires and prominent company founders and co-founders including Google co-founder Larry Page and Dr. J. Robert Beyster who founded Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 1969. Several U-M graduates contributed greatly to the field of computer science, including Claude Shannon (who made major contributions to the mathematics of information theory), and Turing Award winners Edgar Codd, Stephen Cook, and Frances E. Allen. Marjorie Lee Browne received her M.S. in 1939 and her doctoral degree in 1950, becoming the third African American woman to earn a PhD in mathematics.

 

Alumni Association:www.alumni.umich.edu/