The University of Florida (commonly referred to as Florida or UF) is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grantresearch university on a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) campus in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida that traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its Gainesville campus since September 1906.
The University of Florida is one of sixty-two elected member institutions of the Association of American Universities (AAU), the association of preeminent North American research universities, and the only AAU member university in Florida. The University is classified as a Research University with Very High Research by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. After the Florida state legislature’s creation of performance standards in 2013, the Florida Board of Governors designated the University of Florida as one of the two “preeminent universities” among the twelve universities of the State University System of Florida. For 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Florida as the ninth (tied) best public university in the United States.
The University of Florida’s intercollegiate sports teams, commonly known by their “Florida Gators” nickname, compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In their 111-year history, the university’s varsity sports teams have won 40 national team championships, 35 of which are NCAA titles, and Florida athletes have won 275 individual national championships. In addition, University of Florida students and alumni have won 126 Olympic medals including 60 gold medals.
On January 6, 1853, Governor Thomas Brown signed a bill that provided public support for higher education in Florida. Gilbert Kingsbury was the first person to take advantage of the legislation, and established the East Florida Seminary, which operated until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The East Florida Seminary was Florida’s first state-supported institution of higher learning.
The second major precursor to the University of Florida was the Florida Agricultural College, established at Lake City by Jordan Probst in 1884. Florida Agricultural College became the state’s first land-grant college under the Morrill Act. In 1903, the Florida Legislature, desiring to expand the school’s outlook and curriculum beyond its agricultural and engineering origins, changed the name of Florida Agricultural College to the “University of Florida,” a name the school would hold for only two years.
In 1909, Albert Murphree was appointed the university’s second president, and organized several of the colleges of the university, increased enrollment from under 200 to over 2,000, and he was instrumental in the founding of the Florida Blue Key leadership society. Murphree is the only University of Florida president honored with a statue on the campus.
In 1924, the Florida Legislature mandated women of a “mature age” (at least twenty-one years old) who had completed sixty semester hours from a “reputable educational institution” would be allowed to enroll during regular semesters at the University of Florida in programs that were unavailable at Florida State College for Women. Before this, only the summer semester was coeducational, to accommodate women teachers who wanted to further their education during the summer break. Lassie Goodbread-Black from Lake City became the first woman to enroll at the University of Florida, in the College of Agriculture in 1925.
In 1985, the University of Florida was invited to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of sixty-two academically prominent public and private research universities in the United States and Canada. Florida is one of the seventeen public, land-grant universities that belong to the AAU. In 2009, President Bernie Machen and the University of Florida Board of Trustees announced a major policy transition for the university. The Board of Trustees supported the reduction in the number of undergraduates and the shift of financial and other academic resources to graduate education and research. In 2017 the University of Florida became the first university in the state of Florida to crack the top ten best public universities according to U.S. News. As of 2016 the University of Florida generated $791.3 Million in Research Expenditures.
The University of Florida is divided into 16 colleges and more than 150 research, service and education centers, bureaus and institutes, offering more than 100 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate degrees.
In 2007, the University of Florida joined the University of Virginia, Harvard University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Princeton University when they announced they were discontinuing their early decision admissions to foster economic diversity in their student bodies. These universities assert early decision admissions forces students to accept an offer of admission before evaluating the financial aid offers from multiple universities. The university’s single application deadline is November 1.
The University of Florida campus encompasses over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2). The campus is home to many notable structures, such as Century Tower, a 157-foot (48 m) tall carillon tower in the center of the historic district. Other notable facilities include the Health Science Center, Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Smathers Library, Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Harn Museum, University Auditorium, O’Connell Center, and The Hub.
The Reitz is the campus union at the University of Florida. On February 1, 2016, it was reopened after an extensive renovation and expansion. The 138,000 square feet of new space includes support space for student organizations, new lounges, study spaces, a game room and dance studios.
A number of the University of Florida’s buildings are historically significant. The University of Florida Campus Historic District comprises 19 buildings and encompasses approximately 650 acres (2.6 km2). Two buildings outside the historic district, the old WRUF radio station (now the university police station) and Norman Hall (formerly the P.K. Yonge Laboratory School), are also listed on the historic register.
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