University of Denver


The University of Denver is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it had an enrollment of approximately 6,600 undergraduate students and 6,200 graduate students in 2024. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research spending and doctorate production". The main campus is a designated arboretum and is located five miles south of downtown Denver.

History

In March 1864, John Evans, former governor of the Colorado Territory, appointee of President Abraham Lincoln, founded the Colorado Seminary in the newly created city of Denver, which was then a mining camp. Evans, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs of the Colorado Territory, lost his government position as a result of the November 1864 Sand Creek massacre.
At its founding the seminary was non-sectarian and operated by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It struggled in the early years of its existence. In 1880, it was renamed the University of Denver. The first buildings of the university were located in downtown Denver in the 1860s and 1870s, but concerns that Denver's rough-and-tumble frontier town atmosphere was not conducive to education prompted a relocation to the current campus, built on the donated land of potato farmer Rufus Clark, some six miles south of the downtown core. The university grew and prospered alongside the city's growth, appealing primarily to a regional student body prior to World War II. After the war, the large surge in G.I. Bill students pushed DU's enrollment to over 13,000 students, the largest the university has ever been, and helped to spread the university's reputation to a national audience.

Campus

The heart of the campus has a number of historic buildings. The longest-standing building is University Hall, which has served DU since 1890, and was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Just a few blocks off campus sits the historic Chamberlin Observatory, opened in 1894. Still a fully operational observatory, it is open to the public twice a week as well as one Saturday a month.
Image:duchapel.jpg|left|thumb|Evans Memorial Chapel; built in the late 1870s by John Evans in memory of his daughter Josephine Evans Elbert
The central campus area also includes Evans Memorial Chapel, an 1870s-vintage small church which was once located in downtown Denver, and was relocated to the DU campus in the early 1960s. Buchtel Tower is all that remains of the former Buchtel Chapel, which burned in 1983.
Image:University of Denver campus pics 044.jpg|left|thumb|Margery Reed Hall
The administrative offices are located in the Mary Reed Building, a former library built in 1932 in the Collegiate Gothic style. Margery Reed Hall was also built in the collegiate gothic style in 1929. Margery Reed Hall houses the Undergraduate Program for the Daniels College of Business; an $8 million overhaul and renovation was completed early 2014. The building was updated to include more classroom space, a larger hall to host guest speakers, as well as mechanical and technical improvements.
F.W. Olin Hall opened in 1997, housing Biological and Natural Sciences. The 40,000 square foot structure was the first building on campus constructed to meet a new set of design and aesthetic standards emphasizing load-bearing masonry, organic designs, and timeless architectural features. Olin Hall includes a two-story rotunda topped with an elliptical copper dome, a sentinel in the university skyline.
The Daniels College of Business was completed in September 1999 at the cost of $25 million. The business school has been nationally recognized by organizations such as Forbes magazine, Business Week, and the Wall Street Journal where it is ranked second in the nation for producing students with high ethical standards.
In 2002, the university opened the $70 million Robert and Judi Newman Center for Performing Arts, which houses the acclaimed Lamont School of Music. The center includes the June Swaner Gates Concert Hall, a four-level opera house seating just under 1,000, the Frederic C. Hamilton Family Recital Hall, a 222-seat recital hall with the largest "tracker" organ in the region, and the Elizabeth Ericksen Byron Theatre, a flexible theatre space seating up to 350. The Newman Center serves as home to many professional performing arts groups from the Denver region as well as the university's Newman Center Presents multi-disciplinary performing arts series.
Nelson Hall, opened in 2002, is a LEED residence hall housing sophomores in dorm- and apartment-style suites. Its castle-like design and gold leaf-topped tower anchors the south end of campus.
In autumn 2003, DU opened a new $63.5 million facility for its College of Law, later named the "Sturm College of Law." Donald and Susan Sturm, owners of Denver-based American National Bank, had given $20 million to the University of Denver College of Law. The gift is the largest single donation in the 112-year history of the law school and among the largest gifts ever to the university. The building includes a three-story library.
In 2005 the Graduate School of Social Work completed the renovation and significant expansion of its building, renamed Craig Hall. The building features extensive stained glass artwork and a large events space.
Image:DU campus picss 005.jpg|thumb|Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management
In January 2006, DU opened a new building for the School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management, later named the Joy Burns Center. The building contains classrooms, a large wine cellar, meeting rooms, and an all-purpose dining room that hosts numerous city and university events, weddings, and formal parties. The school helps DU rank near the top of all hotel schools in the United States. The program had its first graduating class in 1946.
Nagel Hall, a five-story 150,000 square foot residence hall, whose distinguishing characteristic is a tower topped by a 12-ton copper-clad cone, was completed in the Fall of 2008 to accommodate sophomores and upperclassman. The project was partially funded by a 30-year $45.7 million revenue bond and a $4 million donation from DU Trustee Ralph Nagel and his wife Trish. Nagel Hall also houses works donated from the Nagels' art collection, with over 50 paintings from Colorado artists including many by Ralph Nagel himself. In 2012, the building was certified Gold in LEED standards in recognition of its environmentally friendly and sustainable design. The building also houses offices for the Department of Psychology and a bike repair shop in its lower level.
DU completed the first ever lacrosse-only stadium that was specifically designed for the sport in 2005, as well as the Ciber Field Soccer Stadium on the northern end of campus, adjoining the Nagel studio space for the School of Art, as well as the Pat Bowlen varsity sports weight training facility underneath the stands.
The environmentally friendly $25 million Morgridge College of Education was opened in June 2010.
At the beginning of the summer of 2011, the 41-year-old Penrose Library closed for a $32 million renovation, and reopened in the spring of 2013 as the Anderson Academic Commons, a 21st-century high-tech collaboration and study space.
In May 2016, the 47,000 square foot Anna & John J. Sie International Relations Complex opened as an addition to Cherrington Hall. The addition rises five stories, and includes classrooms, offices, and an expansive event space and deck on the fifth floor. The building also features a blue-tiled tower prominent in the university's skyline.
In 2016, the university opened the 130,000 square foot Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science on the southern end of campus, adjacent to Olin Hall. The building features classroom, laboratory, and office spaces for faculty, as well as a cafe on the first floor. The structure is notable for its zinc and limestone dome rising five floors above the main entrance.
In 2018, then-Chancellor Rebecca Chopp and university architect Mark Rodgers introduced the Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan, which aimed to provide a path forward for the university's physical campus.
In September 2020, the Dimond Family Residential Village opened to house first-year students, and the Burwell Center for Career Achievement opened to house alumni engagement and career services offices, replacing the Leo Block Alumni Center. Both are on track to achieve LEED certification and are the first structures completed under the Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan.
In October 2021, the establishment of the James C. Kennedy Mountain Campus was announced with a $26 million gift from a university alumnus.

Academics

Rankings

Business68
Education83
Engineering173
Law80

Clinical Psychology50
English99
Fine Arts124
Library & Information Studies35
Psychology97
Social Work11

The undergraduate business program, The Daniels College of Business, was ranked 87th best in 2016 by BusinessWeek.
Image:OlinHall.jpg|right|thumb|F W Olin Hall for Biological and Natural Sciences

Academic programs

Schools and colleges:
Image:newwfall.jpg|right|thumb|Buchtel Tower and the Sturm College of Law Tower
Institutes and Centers:
  • Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System is a national, independent research center dedicated to facilitating continuous improvement and advancing excellence in the American legal system.
  • Conflict Resolution Institute
  • Intermodal Transportation Institute, established by Gil Carmichael, former head of the Federal Railroad Administration and former chairman of Amtrak
  • Center for China-US Cooperation
  • Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research
  • Institute for Comparative and Regional Studies
  • Denver Publishing Institute, a four week graduate level certificate program focused on book publishing
  • Scrivner Institute of Public Policy
  • Sié Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy
  • Center for Judaic Studies
  • Edward W. & Charlotte A. Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media
  • Pardee Center for International Futures
Programs:
  • Graduate Tax Program
  • DU-Iliff Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion
  • Graduate School of Social Work Doctoral Program
  • Josef Korbel School of International Studies-Sturm College of Law Joint Program
  • Daniels College of Business-Sturm College of Law Joint Program
Interdisciplinary programs:
  • Cognitive Neuroscience –
  • Video Game Design –
  • International Intercultural Communication M.A.
Students in the graduate programs represent over half of the total enrollment of the school.
Image:university of denver campus pics034.jpg|thumb|left|Daniels College of Business; the eighth oldest business school in the country
Aside from the Sturm College of Law, the university operates on a quarter system, sometimes known as trimester academic calendar, in which an academic year is divided into three academic quarters lasting 10 weeks per each quarter. This academic system allows students to take more classes each year than students in a more traditional 15-week semester system.
Image:University of Denver campus pics 027.jpg|thumb|right|Nelson Hall Tower
Offering students a learning experience abroad, the Cherrington Global Scholars program offers every undergraduate the chance to study abroad at no cost above the normal university tuition, room and board.
, the Daniels School of Business also offers an online MBA program.
Image:University of Denver campus pics 046.jpg|thumb|right|Margery Reed Hall Ivy