Under the terms of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act, the West Virginia Legislature created the Agricultural College of West Virginia on February 7, 1867, and the school officially opened on September 2 of the same year. On December 4, 1868, lawmakers renamed the college West Virginia University to represent a broader range of higher education.

The University was built on the grounds of three former academies, the Monongalia Academy of 1814, the Morgantown Female Academy of 1831, and Woodburn Female Seminary of 1858. Upon its founding, the local newspaper claimed that "a place more eligible for the quiet and successful pursuit of science and literature is nowhere to be found".

The first campus building was constructed in 1870 as University Hall, and was renamed Martin Hall in 1889 in honor of West Virginia University's first president, the Rev. Alexander Martin of Scotland. After the Woodburn Seminary building was destroyed by fire in 1873, the centerpiece of what is now Woodburn Hall was completed in 1876, under the name New Hall.

The name was changed to University Building in 1878, when the College of Law was founded as the first professional school in the state of West Virginia. The precursor to Woodburn Circle was finished in 1893 when Chitwood Hall (then Science Hall) was constructed on the bluff's north side. In 1909 a north wing was added to University Building, and the facility was renamed Woodburn Hall.

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As a land-grant institution in the 21st century, WVU will deliver high-quality education, excel in discovery and innovation, model a culture of diversity and inclusion, promote health and vitality, and build pathways for the exchange of knowledge and opportunity between the state, the nation, and the world.

Joe Alexander - basketball player for BC Krasnye Krylya Samara Terry Bowden - Yahoo Sports Analyst Tommy Bowden - Former Head Football Coach at Clemson University and Tulane University Marc Bulger - Former American football quarterback, played for the St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints and the Baltimore Ravens Quarterback Gale Catlett - winningest coach in WVU basketball history Mike Compton - Former NFL Guard for the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, and Jacksonville Jaguars Mike Gansey - Basketball player in NBA Development League Jedd Gyorko - Professional baseball player for the San Diego Padres Sue Haywood - Professional Mountain Bike Racer Major Harris - Quarterbacked for West Virginia in their 1988 undefeated season.

Johannes "Joe" Herber - German international basketball player Chris Henry - Former NFL wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals Jeff Hostetler - Former Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders & New York Giants Quarterback. "Hoss" was the starting QB in Super Bowl XXV, in which the Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills. Chuck Howley - WVU Five Sport Letterman, NFL Linebacker and Super Bowl MVP with Dallas Cowboys Sam Huff - NFL Linebacker, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982.

Alumni Association:www.alumni.wvu.edu

The Morgantown campus comprises three sub-campuses. The original main campus, typically called the Downtown Campus, is in the Monongahela River valley on the fringes of Morgantown. This part of campus includes eight academic buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. The Downtown Campus comprises several architectural styles predominantly featuring red brick including Victorian Second Empire, Federal, Neoclassical, and Collegiate Gothic among others.

The Evansdale Campus, a mile and a half north-northwest, on a rise above the flood plain of the Monongahela River, was developed in the 1950s and 1960s to accommodate a growing student population, since space for expansion was limited at the Downtown Campus. The Health Sciences Campus, in the same outlying area (but on the other side of a ridge), includes the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, the Erma Byrd Biomedical Research Facility, Ruby Memorial Hospital, Chestnut Ridge Hospital, Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center, WVU Healthcare Physicians Office Center, Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, WVU Eye Institute, and the WVU Children's Hospital.