The university claims a founding date of 1740 and is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered prior to the U.S.
The university also considers itself as the first university in the United States with both undergraduate and graduate studies. In 1740, a group of Philadelphians joined together to erect a great preaching hall for the traveling evangelist George Whitefield, who toured the American colonies delivering open-air sermons.
Although a lot across Sixth Street from the old Pennsylvania State House (later renamed and famously known since 1776 as "Independence Hall"), was offered without cost by James Logan, its owner, the trustees realized that the building erected in 1740, which was still vacant, would be an even better site. The original sponsors of the dormant building still owed considerable construction debts and asked Franklin's group to assume their debts and, accordingly, their inactive trusts.
In 1899, the board of trustees voted to adjust the founding date earlier again, this time to 1740, the date of "the creation of the earliest of the many educational trusts the University has taken upon itself".
According to Franklin's autobiography, it was in 1743 when he first had the idea to establish an academy, "thinking the Rev.
The board of trustees voted in response to a three-year campaign by Penn's General Alumni Society to retroactively revise the university's founding date to appear older than Princeton University, which had been chartered in 1746. ===Early campuses=== The Academy of Philadelphia, a secondary school for boys, began operations in 1751 in an unused church building at 4th and Arch Streets which had sat unfinished and dormant for over a decade.
In the fall of 1749, now more eager to create a school to educate future generations, Benjamin Franklin circulated a pamphlet titled "Proposals Relating to the Education of Youth in Pensilvania", his vision for what he called a "Public Academy of Philadelphia". Unlike the other colonial colleges that existed in 1749—Harvard, William & Mary, Yale, and the College of New Jersey—Franklin's new school would not focus merely on education for the clergy.
At the first meeting of the 24 members of the board of trustees on November 13, 1749, the issue of where to locate the school was a prime concern.
Sometime later in its early history, Penn began to consider 1749 as its founding date and this year was referenced for over a century, including at the centennial celebration in 1849.
On February 1, 1750, the new board took over the building and trusts of the old board.
Located near Kennett Square, New Bolton Center received nationwide media attention when Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro underwent surgery at its Widener Hospital for injuries suffered while running in the Preakness Stakes. ===Libraries=== Penn's library began in 1750 with a donation of books from cartographer Lewis Evans.
On August 13, 1751, the "Academy of Philadelphia", using the great hall at 4th and Arch Streets, took in its first secondary students.
The board of trustees voted in response to a three-year campaign by Penn's General Alumni Society to retroactively revise the university's founding date to appear older than Princeton University, which had been chartered in 1746. ===Early campuses=== The Academy of Philadelphia, a secondary school for boys, began operations in 1751 in an unused church building at 4th and Arch Streets which had sat unfinished and dormant for over a decade.
A charity school also was chartered on July 13, 1753, by the intentions of the original "New Building" donors, although it lasted only a few years.
A request for one was first recorded in a meeting of the trustees in 1753 during which some of the Trustees "desired to get a Common Seal engraved for the Use of [the] Corporation".
On June 16, 1755, the "College of Philadelphia" was chartered, paving the way for the addition of undergraduate instruction.
The first commencement exercises were held on May 17, 1757. The institution of higher learning was known as the College of Philadelphia from 1755 to 1779.
Upon receiving a collegiate charter in 1755, the first classes for the College of Philadelphia were taught in the same building, in many cases to the same boys who had already graduated from The Academy of Philadelphia.
From 1756 to 1898, the motto read Sine Moribus Vanae.
However, it was not until a meeting in 1756 that "a public Seal for the College with a proper device and Motto" was requested to be engraved in silver.
The first commencement exercises were held on May 17, 1757. The institution of higher learning was known as the College of Philadelphia from 1755 to 1779.
Although a lot across Sixth Street from the old Pennsylvania State House (later renamed and famously known since 1776 as "Independence Hall"), was offered without cost by James Logan, its owner, the trustees realized that the building erected in 1740, which was still vacant, would be an even better site. The original sponsors of the dormant building still owed considerable construction debts and asked Franklin's group to assume their debts and, accordingly, their inactive trusts.
The first commencement exercises were held on May 17, 1757. The institution of higher learning was known as the College of Philadelphia from 1755 to 1779.
In 1779, not trusting then-provost the Reverend William Smith's "Loyalist" tendencies, the revolutionary State Legislature created a University of the State of Pennsylvania.
These first fraternities were located in walking distance of 9th and Chestnut (as campus was located from 1800 to 1872 on West side of 9th Street, from Market Street on the North to Chestnut Street on the South).
Classes were held in the mansion until 1829 when it was demolished.
Architect William Strickland designed twin buildings on the same site, College Hall and Medical Hall (both 1829–1830), which formed the core of the Ninth Street Campus until Penn's move to West Philadelphia in the 1870s.
It was founded in 1911 under the terms of the wills of Ellis Hornor Yarnall (December 23, 1839 - December 18, 1907) and Emily Yarnall, and subsequently housed at the former Philadelphia Divinity School.
Sometime later in its early history, Penn began to consider 1749 as its founding date and this year was referenced for over a century, including at the centennial celebration in 1849.
After being located in downtown Philadelphia for more than a century, the campus was moved across the Schuylkill River to property purchased from the Blockley Almshouse in West Philadelphia in 1872, where it has since remained in an area now known as University City. ===Residential university=== Starting in 1849 (with formation of Penn's Eta chapter of Delta Phi (St.
For example, in the 1850s when Penn's medical school accounted for two-thirds to three-quarters of the student body, over half of the population of the medical school was from the southern part of the United States. Penn had increasing need for housing in the first decades of the twentieth century due to number of factors including its competition for students with peer institutions and active recruitment of foreign students.
Architect William Strickland designed twin buildings on the same site, College Hall and Medical Hall (both 1829–1830), which formed the core of the Ninth Street Campus until Penn's move to West Philadelphia in the 1870s.
After being located in downtown Philadelphia for more than a century, the campus was moved across the Schuylkill River to property purchased from the Blockley Almshouse in West Philadelphia in 1872, where it has since remained in an area now known as University City. ===Residential university=== Starting in 1849 (with formation of Penn's Eta chapter of Delta Phi (St.
These first fraternities were located in walking distance of 9th and Chestnut (as campus was located from 1800 to 1872 on West side of 9th Street, from Market Street on the North to Chestnut Street on the South).
For example, Zeta Psi Fraternity was located at Southeast corner of 10th Street and Chestnut Street, Delta Phi was located on South side of 11th Street near Chestnut Street, and Delta Psi was located on North side of Chestnut Street, West of 10th Street. When Penn moved West in 1872 to its "new" campus (centered on the intersection of Woodland Avenue, 36th Street, and Locust Street) so did the fraternities.
Among the first fraternities to build near the new campus were Phi Delta Theta in 1883 and Psi Upsilon in 1891.
Among the first fraternities to build near the new campus were Phi Delta Theta in 1883 and Psi Upsilon in 1891.
By 1891 there were at least seventeen fraternities at the University. From its founding until construction of the Quadrangle Dormitories, which started construction in 1895, the student body did not live in university-owned housing as, with minor exceptions, there was none.
By 1891 there were at least seventeen fraternities at the University. From its founding until construction of the Quadrangle Dormitories, which started construction in 1895, the student body did not live in university-owned housing as, with minor exceptions, there was none.
In 2014, a new 7-story glass and steel building was completed next to the Institute's original brick edifice built in 1897 further expanding collaboration between the university and the Wistar Institute. The Module 6 Utility Plant and Garage at Penn was designed by BLT Architects and completed in 1995.
From 1756 to 1898, the motto read Sine Moribus Vanae.
In 1899, the board of trustees voted to adjust the founding date earlier again, this time to 1740, the date of "the creation of the earliest of the many educational trusts the University has taken upon itself".
It was founded in 1911 under the terms of the wills of Ellis Hornor Yarnall (December 23, 1839 - December 18, 1907) and Emily Yarnall, and subsequently housed at the former Philadelphia Divinity School.
The success of such efforts were evident in fall of 1910 when Vice Provost Edgar Fahs Smith (who the following year would start a ten-year tenure as Penn's provost) formally welcomed to Penn students from 40 different nations at an annual party.
It was founded in 1911 under the terms of the wills of Ellis Hornor Yarnall (December 23, 1839 - December 18, 1907) and Emily Yarnall, and subsequently housed at the former Philadelphia Divinity School.
By 1912, Stevenson focused almost all his efforts on the foreign students at Penn who needed help finding housing resulting in the Christian Association, buying 3905 Spruce Steet contiguous to Penn's campus.
By January 1, 1918, 3905 Spruce Street officially opened under the sponsorship of the Christian Association as a Home for Foreign Students, which came to be known as the International Students' House with Reverend Stevenson as its first director.
In 1921, Penn was also the first university to award a PhD to an African-American woman, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (in economics). ===Motto=== Penn's motto is based on a line from Horace's .
every Latin American country, and most of the Oriental and European nations". By 1931, first-year students were required to live in the quadrangle unless they received official permission to live with their families or other relatives.
In 1932, all elements of the seal were revised.
The most recent design, a modified version of the original seal, was approved in 1932, adopted a year later and is still used for much of the same purposes as the original. The outer ring of the current seal is inscribed with "Universitas Pennsylvaniensis", the Latin name of the University of Pennsylvania.
As an example, into the late 1940s, two-thirds of Penn women students were commuters. After World War II, Penn began a capital spending program to overhaul its campus, especially student housing.
The first general-purpose electronic computer (ENIAC) was developed at Penn and formally dedicated in 1946.
Nonetheless, in addition to a significant student population from the Delaware Valley, Penn attracted international students and students from most of the 50 states as early as the 1960s.
After 1966, there were five more instances of "Rowbottoms", the latest occurring in 1980. In 1965, Penn students learned that the university was sponsoring research projects for the United States' chemical and biological weapons program.
Members of the faculty believed that an academic university should not be performing classified research and voted to re-examine the University agency which was responsible for the project on November 4, 1965. In 1983, members of the Animal Liberation Front broke into the Head Injury Clinical Research Laboratory in the School of Medicine and stole research audio and video tapes.
After 1966, there were five more instances of "Rowbottoms", the latest occurring in 1980. In 1965, Penn students learned that the university was sponsoring research projects for the United States' chemical and biological weapons program.
It was installed in 1975 and is made of rolled sheets of milled steel. A larger-than-life white button, known as The Button (officially Split Button) is a modern art sculpture designed by designed by Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg (who specializes in creating oversize sculptures of everyday objects).
After 1966, there were five more instances of "Rowbottoms", the latest occurring in 1980. In 1965, Penn students learned that the university was sponsoring research projects for the United States' chemical and biological weapons program.
Members of the faculty believed that an academic university should not be performing classified research and voted to re-examine the University agency which was responsible for the project on November 4, 1965. In 1983, members of the Animal Liberation Front broke into the Head Injury Clinical Research Laboratory in the School of Medicine and stole research audio and video tapes.
In 2014, a new 7-story glass and steel building was completed next to the Institute's original brick edifice built in 1897 further expanding collaboration between the university and the Wistar Institute. The Module 6 Utility Plant and Garage at Penn was designed by BLT Architects and completed in 1995.
It is a painted aluminum sculpture and was installed in 1998 overlooking College Green. In 2019, the Association for Public Art loaned Penn two multi-ton sculptures.
Penn hopes that "South Bank will provide a place for academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs to establish their businesses in close proximity to each other to facilitate cross-pollination of their ideas, creativity, and innovation. ===Parks and arboreta=== In 2007, Penn acquired about between the campus and the Schuylkill River (the former site of the Philadelphia Civic Center and a nearby site owned by the United States Postal Service).
The campus arboretum is an urban forest with over 6,500 trees representing 240 species of trees and shrubs, ten specialty gardens and five urban parks, which has been designated as a Tree Campus USA since 2009 and formally recognized as an accredited ArbNet Arboretum since 2017.
Module 6 is located at 38th and Walnut and includes spaces for 627 vehicles, of storefront retail operations, a 9,500-ton chiller module and corresponding extension of the campus chilled water loop, and a 4,000-ton ice storage facility. In 2010, in its first significant expansion across the Schuylkill River, Penn purchased 23 acres at the northwest corner of 34th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue, the then site of DuPont Marshall Research Labs.
The first phase, comprising a park and athletic facilities, opened in the fall of 2011. In September 2011, Penn completed the construction of the $46.5 million, Penn Park, which features passive and active recreation and athletic components framed and subdivided by canopy trees, lawns, and meadows.
In 2014, a new 7-story glass and steel building was completed next to the Institute's original brick edifice built in 1897 further expanding collaboration between the university and the Wistar Institute. The Module 6 Utility Plant and Garage at Penn was designed by BLT Architects and completed in 1995.
In October 2016, Penn completed the design (with help from architects Matthias Hollwich, Marc Kushner, and KSS Architects) and renovation of the center piece of the project, a former paint factory it named Pennovation Works.
The campus arboretum is an urban forest with over 6,500 trees representing 240 species of trees and shrubs, ten specialty gardens and five urban parks, which has been designated as a Tree Campus USA since 2009 and formally recognized as an accredited ArbNet Arboretum since 2017.
The university's athletics program, the Quakers, fields varsity teams in 33 sports as a member of the NCAA Division I Ivy League conference. As of 2018, distinguished alumni and Trustees include three U.S.
In 2019, the university had an endowment of $14.65 billion, the sixth-largest endowment of all universities in the United States, as well as a research budget of $1.02 billion.
As of October 2019, 36 Nobel laureates, 80 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 64 billionaires, 29 Rhodes Scholars, 15 Marshall Scholars, and 16 Pulitzer Prize winners have been affiliated with the university. ==History== The University of Pennsylvania considers itself the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, though this is contested by Princeton and Columbia Universities.
It is a painted aluminum sculpture and was installed in 1998 overlooking College Green. In 2019, the Association for Public Art loaned Penn two multi-ton sculptures.
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