The University of Wisconsin–Madison (also known as UW–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin, or UW) is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Founded in 1848, it is the largest university in the state with a total enrollment of over 41,000 students, of whom approximately 29,000 are undergraduates.

A public, land-grant institution, UW-Madison offers a wide spectrum of liberal arts studies, professional programs, and student activities. The school is frequently called a “public Ivy,” and in 2007 US News and World Report ranked UW as the eighth best public university in the United States. It has also been ranked as the 16th best university in 2006 in terms of volume scientific publications according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

From 1848 to 1956, the university was part of the higher education system in Wisconsin that included the current Madison campus, ten freshman-sophomore centers and the state-wide extensions. Between 1956–1971, it was part of the then University of Wisconsin. It became a part of the University of Wisconsin System in 1971.

Wisconsin’s NCAA Division I athletic teams are called the Badgers. They compete in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except ice hockey, where they participate in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Wisconsin’s football team won the Rose Bowl in 1994, 1999, and 2000. Its men’s basketball team won the NCAA National Championship in 1941, and made it to the Final Four in 2000. Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams won the national championship in 2006.

The university had its official beginnings when Wisconsin was incorporated as a state in 1848. Article X, Section B of the Wisconsin Constitution provided for “the establishment of a state university, at or near the seat of state government…” On July 26, 1848, Nelson Dewey, Wisconsin’s first governor, signed the act that formally created the University of Wisconsin. The board of regents held their initial meeting in the library room of the Capitol on October 7, and provided John W. Sterling a $500 per-annum salary to become the university’s first professor (mathematics). The first class of 17 students met at Madison Female Academy on February 5, 1849. Regents continued to discuss the construction of the university and soon a campus site was selected. It was an area of 50 acres (200,000 m²) “bounded north by Fourth lake, east by a street to be opened at right angles with King (later State) street, south by Mineral Point Road (University Avenue), and west by a carriage-way from said road to the lake.” Building plans called for a “main edifice fronting towards the Capitol, three stories high, surmounted by an observatory for astronomical observations.” This building, University Hall, now known as Bascom Hall, was finally completed in 1859. A fire later destroyed the building’s dome, which was never replaced. North Hall, constructed in 1851, was actually the campus’ first building. Finally, in 1854, Levi Booth and Charles T. Wakeley became the first graduates of the university. Academics continued to improve at Wisconsin, and in 1892 the university awarded its first Ph.D. to future university president Charles R. Van Hise.

Posted on September 24th, 2007 by Madison
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