University of Chicago#Library system

{{main|History of the University of Chicago}}

{{further|Old University of Chicago}}

File:Uchicago convocation 1894.jpg, Professor of Physics and first American Nobel laureate, delivers the second Convocation Address in front of Goodspeed and Gates-Blake Halls, with President William Rainey Harper, professors, and trustees in attendance, July 1, 1894.{{cite web |title=Convocations : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago |url=http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf3-00416.xml |website=photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu |publisher=University of Chicago Library |access-date=August 17, 2022 |archive-date=October 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025005012/http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf3-00416.xml |url-status=live}}]]The first University of Chicago was founded by a small group of Baptist educators in 1856 through a land endowment from Senator Stephen A. Douglas. It closed in 1886 after years of financial struggle and a final annus horribilis in which the campus was badly damaged by fire and the school was foreclosed on by its creditors.{{cite web |title=Agreement Between Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Burroughs (1856), Folder 2, Box 3, Old University of Chicago Records, Special Collections, University of Chicago. |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/olduofc-0002-002.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905081325/https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/olduofc-0002-002.pdf |archive-date=September 5, 2018 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |website=UChicago.edu}} Several years later, its trustees elected to change the school's name to the "Old University of Chicago" so that a new school could go by the name of the city.{{Cite web |title=Guide to the Old University of Chicago Records 1856-1890 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.OLDUOFC |access-date=September 21, 2017 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

{{EB1911 poster|Chicago, University of|the founding and early years}}

In 1890, the American Baptist Education Society incorporated a new University of Chicago as a coeducational{{cite book |last=Goodspeed |first=Thomas Wakefield |title=A History of the University of Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistoryunivers00goodgoog |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |year=1916 |isbn=0-226-30367-5}}{{rp|137}} institution, using $400,000 donated to the ABES to supplement a $600,000 donation from Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller,{{cite journal |title=The Decennial Publications of the University of Chicago |url=https://archive.org/details/decennialpublic01chicgoog |journal=Science |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |volume=1 |issue=501 |year=1903 |page=498 |bibcode=1904Sci....20..187. |doi=10.1126/science.20.501.187}} and land donated by Marshall Field.{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/about/history.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526175937/http://www.uchicago.edu/about/history.shtml |archive-date=May 26, 2011 |access-date=May 26, 2011 |publisher=University of Chicago}} While the Rockefeller donation provided money for academic operations and long-term endowment, it was stipulated that such money could not be used for buildings. The Hyde Park campus’ construction was financed by donations from wealthy Chicagoans such as Silas B. Cobb, who provided the funds for the campus's first building, Cobb Lecture Hall, and matched Marshall Field's pledge of $100,000. Other early benefactors included businessmen Charles L. Hutchinson (trustee, treasurer and donor of Hutchinson Commons), Martin A. Ryerson (president of the board of trustees and donor of the Ryerson Physical Laboratory) Adolphus Clay Bartlett and Leon Mandel, who funded the construction of the gymnasium and assembly hall, and George C. Walker of the Walker Museum, a relative of Cobb who encouraged his inaugural donation for facilities.{{cite web |title=The University of Chicago and its Donors, 1889–1930 |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/building/buildings.html |url-status=live |publisher=University of Chicago |access-date=November 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109182601/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/webexhibits/building/buildings.html |archive-date=November 9, 2015}}

The new university acknowledged its predecessor. The university's coat of arms has a phoenix rising from the ashes, a reference to the fire and foreclosure of the Old University of Chicago.{{cite web |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/olduofc-0009-004.pdf |title=Old University of Chicago Records, Folder 4, Box 9, Special Collections, University of Chicago. |access-date=June 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922051000/https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/ead/pdf/olduofc-0009-004.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2017 |url-status=live }} A single stone from the rubble of the original Douglas Hall on 34th Place was set into the wall of the Classics Building. The dean of the college and University of Chicago and professor of history John Boyer has argued that the University of Chicago has "a plausible genealogy as a pre–Civil War institution".John Boyer, The University of Chicago: A History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 59. Alumni from the Old University of Chicago are recognized as alumni of the University of Chicago.John Boyer, The University of Chicago: A History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015), 58–59.

William Rainey Harper became the university's president on July 1, 1891, and the Hyde Park campus opened for classes on October 1, 1892.{{cite book |last=Rudolph |first=Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3se-H1Y_l7kC&pg=PA351 |title=The American College and University: A History |publisher=Knopf |year=1962 |isbn=978-0-8203-1284-2 |page=351 |access-date=November 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308042336/https://books.google.com/books?id=3se-H1Y_l7kC&pg=PA351 |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |url-status=live}} Harper worked on building up the faculty and in two years had a faculty of 120, including eight former university or college presidents.{{cite web |url=http://dept.harpercollege.edu/library/archives/williamraineyharper.html |title=Harper College Archives – Wiliiam Rainey Harper |last=Firestein |first=Martin |website=Harper College Library Archives |access-date=September 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161109055914/http://dept.harpercollege.edu/library/archives/williamraineyharper.html |archive-date=November 9, 2016 |url-status=dead }} Harper was a Semiticist and a member of the Baptist clergy who believed that a great university should maintain the study of faith as a central focus.{{cite web | url= https://divinity.uchicago.edu/history-and-mission#sthash.FRbXtlNP.dpuf | title= History and Mission, The University of Chicago Divinity School | access-date= May 20, 2016 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160607193124/http://divinity.uchicago.edu/history-and-mission#sthash.FRbXtlNP.dpuf | archive-date= June 7, 2016 | url-status= dead }} To fulfill this commitment, he brought the Baptist seminary that had begun as an independent school "alongside" the Old University of Chicago and separated from the old school decades earlier to Morgan Park. This became the Divinity School in 1891, the first professional school at the University of Chicago.{{rp|20–22}}

In 1892, Harper recruited Yale baseball and football player Amos Alonzo Stagg from the Young Men's Christian Association training school at Springfield to coach the school's football program.{{Cite book|title=Muscular Christianity|last=Ladd|first=Tony|publisher=Bridgepoint Books|year=1999|isbn=0-8010-5847-3|location=Grand Rapids, MI|pages=64–68|url=https://archive.org/details/muscularchristia0000ladd/page/65}} Stagg was given the position of associate professor in physical education, becoming the first football coach and athletic director in the university's history.{{Cite web |title=Youngstown Vindicator - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7zxfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3170,9073092 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=news.google.com}} While coaching at the university, Stagg invented the numbered football jersey and the huddle.{{Cite journal |last=Reider |first=Bruce |date=April 2007 |title=The Grand Old Men |journal=The American Journal of Sports Medicine |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=529–530 |doi=10.1177/0363546507300231 |pmid=17413129 |s2cid=33296565 |via=Sage Journals}} Stagg is the namesake of the university's Stagg Field.{{Cite web |title=Outdoor Athletic Complex |url=https://athletics.uchicago.edu/sports/2023/6/12/facilities-athletic-fields.aspx |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=University of Chicago |language=en}}

In 1894, the university adopted maroon as its official color after initially selecting goldenrod. The Maroons became the university's nickname during the same year.{{Cite web |title=Maroon, Maroons, and the Phoenix |url=https://athletics.uchicago.edu/sports/2023/6/12/maroons-phoenix.aspx |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=University of Chicago |language=en}}

The business school was founded in 1898,{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/history.aspx|title=Chicago Booth History|publisher=University of Chicago Booth School of Business|access-date=September 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602073840/http://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/history.aspx|archive-date=June 2, 2009|url-status=dead}} and the law school was founded in 1902.{{cite web|url=http://www.law.uchicago.edu/school/history|title=History of the Law School|date=June 18, 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Law School|access-date=September 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728070908/http://www.law.uchicago.edu/school/history|archive-date=July 28, 2009|url-status=live}} Harper died in 1906{{cite web |title=History of the Office:William Rainey Harper |url=http://president.uchicago.edu/history/harper.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028122502/http://president.uchicago.edu/history/harper.shtml |archive-date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago}} and was replaced by a succession of three presidents whose tenures lasted until 1929.{{cite web |title=History of the Office |url=http://president.uchicago.edu/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912004333/http://president.uchicago.edu/history/ |archive-date=September 12, 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago}} During this period, the Oriental Institute was founded to support and interpret archeological work in what was then called the Near East.{{cite web |title=A Brief History of the Oriental Institute |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321210727/http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/history/ |archive-date=March 21, 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=The Oriental Institute |quote=Since its establishment in 1919, the Oriental Institute (now known as the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa) has sponsored archaeological and survey expeditions in every country of the Near East.}}

In the 1890s, the university affiliated with several regional colleges and universities. Among other things, the schools were required to have courses of study comparable to those at the university and to make no faculty appointment without the university's approval. For their part, the university agreed to provide affiliated schools with books and equipment at cost, as well as instructors without cost except for travel expenses. The agreement provided that either party could terminate the affiliation on proper notice. Several university professors disliked the program, as it involved uncompensated additional labor on their part, and they believed it cheapened the academic reputation of the university. The program was ended by 1910.Gilbert Lycan, Stetson University: The First 100 Years at 70–72, pp. 165–185 (Stetson University Press, 1983)

In 1900, the university co-founded the Association of American Universities with thirteen other universities, including Harvard, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins. {{Cite web |title=AAU History |url=https://www.aau.edu/aau-history |access-date=May 16, 2023 |website=Association of American Universities}}

In 1911, the university adopted a Latin motto of Crescat scientia; vita excolatur, which translates to "Let knowledge grow from more and more; and so be human life enriched."{{Cite web |title=University Emblems {{!}} Office of the Secretary of the University |url=https://secretary.uchicago.edu/university-emblems/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=secretary.uchicago.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Theme and Logo {{!}} 125th Anniversary |url=https://125.uchicago.edu/about-anniversary/theme-and-logo/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=125.uchicago.edu}}

File:ChicagoPileTeam.png in the front row and Leó Szilárd in the second|alt=A group of people in suits standing in three rows on the steps in front of a stone building]]

In 1929, the university's fifth president, 30-year-old legal philosophy scholar Robert Maynard Hutchins, took office. The university underwent many changes during his 24-year tenure. Hutchins reformed the undergraduate college's curriculum into a liberal-arts curriculum, which survives today in the form of a Common Core.{{Cite web |title=History of the Core {{!}} The College {{!}} The University of Chicago {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core/history |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=college.uchicago.edu |language=en}} He also organized the university's graduate work into four divisions, and eliminated varsity football from the university in an attempt to emphasize academics over athletics.{{cite web |date=November 6, 2008 |title=History of the Office |url=http://president.uchicago.edu/history/hutchins.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028123034/http://president.uchicago.edu/history/hutchins.shtml |archive-date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=September 14, 2009 |publisher=The University of Chicago Office of the President}} During his term, the University of Chicago Hospitals (now called the University of Chicago Medical Center) finished construction and enrolled their first medical students.{{cite web |url=http://www.uchospitals.edu/about/history.html |title=A Brief History of the Medical Center |publisher=The University of Chicago Medical Center |access-date=September 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202082321/http://www.uchospitals.edu/about/history.html |archive-date=December 2, 2009 |url-status=live }} Furthermore, the philosophy oriented Committee on Social Thought was created.{{Cite web |title=About {{!}} John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought |url=https://socialthought.uchicago.edu/about |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=socialthought.uchicago.edu}}

Money that had been raised during the 1920s and financial backing from the Rockefeller Foundation helped the school to survive through the Great Depression. In 1933, Hutchins proposed a plan to merge the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, though it was ultimately abandoned.{{cite web|title=The "Universities of Chicago" Proposal |url=http://www.northwestern.edu/about/historic-moments/academics/the-universities-of-chicago.html|publisher=Northwestern University|access-date=September 8, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527160652/http://www.northwestern.edu/about/historic-moments/academics/the-universities-of-chicago.html|archive-date=May 27, 2010|url-status=dead }} During World War II, the university's Metallurgical Laboratory contributed to the Manhattan Project.{{cite web|url=http://www.atomicheritage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=155|title=University of Chicago Met Lab|publisher=Atomic Heritage Foundation|access-date=July 31, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612002453/http://www.atomicheritage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=155|archive-date=June 12, 2011|url-status=dead }} The university was the site of the first isolation of plutonium and of the creation of the first artificial, self-sustained nuclear reaction by Enrico Fermi in 1942.{{cite web|url=http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0044&numPages=51&fp=N |website=DOE R&D Accomplishments |publisher=Office of Scientific & Technical Information |title=The First Reactor|quote=On December 2, 1942, in a racquets court underneath the West Stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, a team of scientists led by Enrico Fermi created man's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.|access-date=July 15, 2009|date=December 1982|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512015519/http://www.osti.gov/cgi-bin/rd_accomplishments/display_biblio.cgi?id=ACC0044&numPages=51&fp=N|archive-date=May 12, 2009|url-status=dead }}

In the early 1950s, student applications declined as a result of increasing crime and poverty in the Hyde Park neighborhood. In response, the university became a major sponsor of an urban renewal project for Hyde Park,{{Cite web |date=2012-02-02 |title=HPKCC Story and role in Urban Renewal |url=https://www.hydepark.org/historicpres/HPKCCstoryurbren.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202210326/https://www.hydepark.org/historicpres/HPKCCstoryurbren.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-02-02 |access-date=2025-05-09 }} which called for the clearing of 101 acres of land. Of the buildings proposed for demolition, 78% were substandard. During this period the university, and later the affiliated Shimer College, adopted an early entrant program that allowed students with two years of high school education to attend college.{{Cite book |last=Dzuback |first=Mary Ann |title=Robert M. Hutchins: portrait of an educator |date=1991 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-226-17710-6 |location=Chicago |pages=69}}{{Cite web |date=19 April 1950 |title=Hutchins Sells Shimer on 'Chicago Plan' of Education |url=https://hpherald.newsbank.com/doc/image/v2:13EDAA8FD407386D@NGPA-ILHPH-1406A5A6416AD12A@2433391-1406A5A642A8E850@11-1406A5A6A26D6CC6@Hutchins+Sells+Shimer+on+%2527Chicago+Plan%2527+of+Education?search_terms=shimer&text=shimer&content_added=&date_from=&date_to=&pub%255B0%255D=13EDAA8FD407386D&pdate=1950-04-19 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=hpherald.newsbank.com}}

File:Chicago Maroon (January 17, 1962).pdf breaking the news of the university's segregationist off-campus rental policies]]

The university experienced its share of student unrest during the 1960s, beginning in 1962 when then-freshman Bernie Sanders helped lead a 15-day sit-in at the college's administration building in a protest over the university's segregationist off-campus rental policies. After continued turmoil, a university committee in 1967 issued what became known as the Kalven Report. The report, a two-page statement of the university's policy in "social and political action," declared that "To perform its mission in the society, a university must sustain an extraordinary environment of freedom of inquiry and maintain an independence from political fashions, passions, and pressures."{{cite web |url=http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/kalvenreport.pdf |title=Kalven Committee: Report on the University's Role in Political and Social Action|access-date=October 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923185337/http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/kalvenreport.pdf |archive-date=September 23, 2015 |url-status=live }} The report has since been used to justify decisions such as the university's refusal to divest from South Africa in the 1980s and Darfur in the late 2000s.{{cite web |last=Fang |first=Marina |url=http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/02/21/born-amidst-60s-student-protests-kalven-report-remains-controversial/ |title=Born amidst '60s student protests, Kalven Report remains controversial |publisher=ChicagoMaroon.com |access-date=January 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725125709/http://chicagomaroon.com/2013/02/21/born-amidst-60s-student-protests-kalven-report-remains-controversial/ |archive-date=July 25, 2016 |url-status=live }}

In 1969, after the sociology department unanimously declined to rehire assistant professor Marlene Dixon (an open Marxist), over 400 students occupied the Administration Building for two weeks to protest the perceived politically motivated decision.{{Cite web |last=Sinhababu |first=Supriya |title=The sit-in: 40 years later |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/22887/grey-city/the-sit-in-40-years-later/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Chicago Maroon}} After the sit-in ended when Dixon turned down a one-year reappointment, 42 students were expelled and 81 were suspended,{{cite web |url=http://alumniweekend.uchicago.edu/reu-72-scrap.shtml |title=The University of Chicago – Alumni Weekend |publisher=Alumniweekend.uchicago.edu |access-date=September 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907211148/http://alumniweekend.uchicago.edu/reu-72-scrap.shtml |archive-date=September 7, 2008 }} the most severe response to student occupations of any American university during the student movement.{{cite book|first=Eileen|last=Boris|title=Voices of Women Historians: The Personal, the Political, the Professional|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BHlbO6eJrQC&pg=PA33|access-date=June 11, 2008|publisher=Indiana university Press|isbn=978-0-253-33494-7|year=1999|archive-date=March 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308042330/https://books.google.com/books?id=2BHlbO6eJrQC&pg=PA33|url-status=live}}

In 1978, history scholar Hanna Holborn Gray, then the provost and acting president of Yale University, became president of the University of Chicago, a position she held for 15 years. She was the first woman in the United States to hold the presidency of a major university.{{cite press release |url=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/president/history/gray.shtml |title=Hanna Holborn Gray (1978–1993) |publisher=University of Chicago News Office |date=March 9, 2006 |access-date=September 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619130714/http://www-news.uchicago.edu/president/history/gray.shtml |archive-date=June 19, 2009 |url-status=live }}

In 1989, the Graduate Library School was closed.{{cite journal |date=February 15, 1989 |title=Chicago GLS to close |journal=Library Journal |volume=114 |page=111}}

File:Harper Midway Chicago.jpg]]

In 1999, President Hugo Sonnenschein announced plans to relax the university's core curriculum, reducing the number of required courses from 21 to 15. When The New York Times, The Economist, and other news outlets picked up this story, the university became the focal point of a national debate on education. The changes were ultimately implemented, but the controversy played a role in Sonnenschein's decision to resign in 2000.{{cite book |last=Beam |first=Alex |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xyQOZUzkt3UC&pg=PA153 |title=A Great Idea at the Time |publisher=Public Affairs |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-58648-487-3 |page=152 |access-date=March 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308042413/https://books.google.com/books?id=xyQOZUzkt3UC&pg=PA153 |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |url-status=live}}

From the mid-2000s, the university began a number of multi-million dollar expansion projects. In 2008, the University of Chicago announced the establishment of the Milton Friedman Institute, which attracted both support and controversy from faculty members and {{nowrap|students.{{cite news|last=Staley and Lippert|first=Oliver and John|title=Milton Friedman Institute Spurs Chicago Faculty Clash (Update3)|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=akM_dI3rWYKo|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=October 15, 2008|access-date=March 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151121074446/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=akM_dI3rWYKo|archive-date=November 21, 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Jacobsen|first=Kurt|title=Milton Friedman gives Chicago a headache|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/aug/26/economics.miltonfriedman|newspaper=The Guardian|date=August 26, 2008|location=London|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170305042507/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/aug/26/economics.miltonfriedman|archive-date=March 5, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Cohen|first=Patricia|title=On Chicago Campus, Milton Friedman's Legacy of Controversy Continues|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/books/12milt.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 12, 2008|access-date=February 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302141240/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/books/12milt.html|archive-date=March 2, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite web | title=Milton Friedman Petition | url=http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/friedman_letter.htm | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108175322/http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.cochrane/research/Papers/friedman_letter.htm | archive-date=January 8, 2009 | df=mdy-all }}{{cite web|last=Cochrane|first=John|title=Comments on the Milton Friedman Institute Protest letter|url=http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/research/papers/friedman_letter_comments.htm|access-date=June 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714162944/http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.cochrane/research/papers/friedman_letter_comments.htm|archive-date=July 14, 2011|url-status=live}}}} The institute was later merged with the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory to form the new Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics.{{Cite web |date=2011-06-17 |title=Becker Friedman Institute established at University of Chicago {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/becker-friedman-institute-established-university-chicago |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}} In 2008, investor David G. Booth donated $300 million to the university's Booth School of Business, which is the largest gift in the university's history and the largest gift ever to any business school. In 2009, planning or construction on several new buildings, half of which cost $100 million or more, was underway.{{cite magazine|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0906/features/make_no_little_quads.shtml|magazine=University of Chicago Magazine|last=Pridmore|first=Jay|title=Make No Little Quads|access-date=July 21, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090809151723/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0906/features/make_no_little_quads.shtml|archive-date=August 9, 2009|url-status=live}} Since 2011, major construction projects have included the Jules and Gwen Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery, a ten-story medical research center, and further additions to the medical campus of the University of Chicago Medical Center.{{cite press release |title=$25 million gift from Jules and Gwen Knapp will help build 10-story medical research facility at the University of Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago News Office |url=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/06/060210.knapp.shtml |access-date=June 11, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830170415/http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/06/060210.knapp.shtml |archive-date=August 30, 2006}} In 2014, the university launched the public phase of a $4.5 billion fundraising campaign.{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Mitch|title=University of Chicago announces $4.5 billion fundraising campaign|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2014/05/08/university-of-chicago-announces-45-billion-fundraising-campaign/|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=December 22, 2015|date=May 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225091845/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-05-08/news/chi-university-of-chicago-announces-45-billion-fundraising-campaign-20140508_1_previous-campaign-chicago-campaign-chicago-area|archive-date=December 25, 2015|url-status=live}} In September 2015, the university received $100 million from The Pearson Family Foundation to establish The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Pearson Global Forum at the Harris School of Public Policy.{{cite news |last=Glanton |first=Dahleen |date=September 30, 2015 |title=U. of C. gets $100 million donation to study global conflict |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-u-of-chicago-100-million-donation-global-conflict-20150930-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151201231909/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-u-of-chicago-100-million-donation-global-conflict-20150930-story.html |archive-date=December 1, 2015 |access-date=December 2, 2015 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}

In 2019, the university created its first school in three decades, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.{{Cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/university-of-chicago-launches-school-of-molecular-engineering-11559055600 |title=University of Chicago Launches School of Molecular Engineering |last=Holland |first=Jake |date=May 28, 2019 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=May 28, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528172510/https://www.wsj.com/articles/university-of-chicago-launches-school-of-molecular-engineering-11559055600 |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-university-of-chicago-molecular-engineering-20190528-story.html |title=University of Chicago receives $75M to launch campus' first engineering school |last=Rhodes |first=Dawn |date=May 28, 2019 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528175917/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-met-university-of-chicago-molecular-engineering-20190528-story.html |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |url-status=live }}

On April 29, 2024, students at the University of Chicago set up an encampment on the university's main quad{{Cite web |date=April 29, 2024 |title=University of Chicago students set up pro-Palestinian encampment on campus as protests spread |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/israel-hamas-war/2024/04/29/university-of-chicago-protest-camp-palestine-israel-hamas |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}} as a part of the nationwide movement in support of Palestine at institutions of higher learning across the country. The encampment was cleared by the University of Chicago Police Department on May 7.{{Cite web |last=Maheras |first=Peter |title=Police raid quad encampment |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/43157/news/breaking-police-arrive-on-main-quad-in-riot-gear-tell-protesters-to-leave/ |access-date=August 5, 2024 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

{{wide image|UniversityofChicagoPanoramic.jpg|1049px|The campus of the University of Chicago, from the top of Rockefeller Chapel. The Main Quadrangles can be seen on the left (west), the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa and the Becker Friedman Institute for Research in Economics can be seen in the center (north) and the Booth School of Business and Laboratory Schools can be seen on the right (east), as the panoramic is bounded on both sides by the Midway Plaisance (south).|alt=The campus of the University of Chicago}}

The main campus of the University of Chicago consists of {{convert|217|acre|ha|1}} in the Chicago neighborhoods of Hyde Park and Woodlawn, approximately {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} south of downtown Chicago.{{Cite web |title=Framework for Planning {{!}} The University of Chicago Facilities Services |url=https://facilities.uchicago.edu/services/construction/framework_for_planning/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=facilities.uchicago.edu}} The northern and southern portions of campus are separated by the Midway Plaisance, a large, linear park created for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. In 2011, Travel+Leisure listed the university as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.{{cite web |date=July 10, 2014 |title="America's most beautiful college campuses", Travel+Leisure (September 2011) |url=http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-most-beautiful-college-campuses/27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140802110608/http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-most-beautiful-college-campuses/27 |archive-date=August 2, 2014 |access-date=July 29, 2014 |publisher=Travelandleisure.com}}

File:John List- Extra footage 3-VPRO-The Mind of the Universe.ogv

File:Harper Quadrangle.jpg

The first buildings of the campus, which make up what is now known as the Main Quadrangles, were part of a master plan conceived by two University of Chicago trustees and plotted by Chicago architect Henry Ives Cobb. The Main Quadrangles consist of six quadrangles, each surrounded by buildings, bordering one larger quadrangle.{{rp|221}} The buildings of the Main Quadrangles were designed by Cobb, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, Holabird & Roche, and other architectural firms in a mixture of the Victorian Gothic and Collegiate Gothic styles, patterned on the colleges of the University of Oxford.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/chicagosfamousbu0000schu/page/246|title=Chicago's Famous Buildings|last1=Schulze|first1=Franz|last2=Harrington|first2=Kevin|edition=5th|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-74066-8|year=2003|pages=[https://archive.org/details/chicagosfamousbu0000schu/page/246 246–50]|access-date=August 31, 2009}} (Mitchell Tower, for example, is modeled after Oxford's Magdalen Tower,{{cite magazine|title=Architectural Details|date=December 2002|magazine=The University of Chicago Magazine|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0212/alumni/arch.html|access-date=April 30, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060518050733/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0212/alumni/arch.html|archive-date=May 18, 2006|url-status=live}} and the university Commons, Hutchinson Hall, replicates Christ Church Hall.{{cite book|last=Robertson|first=David Allan|title=The University of Chicago: An Official Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/universityofchic00univ|access-date=August 31, 2009|edition=3rd|year=1919|publisher=University of Chicago Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/universityofchic00univ/page/48 48]}}) In celebration of the 2018 Illinois Bicentennial, the University of Chicago Quadrangles{{cite web |title=AIA Illinois Great Places – University of Chicago Quadrangle |url=http://www.illinoisgreatplaces.com/#detail/university_of_chicago_quadrangle-081/type=educational/city=chicago |access-date=January 26, 2021 |website=www.illinoisgreatplaces.com |language=en |archive-date=October 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031032430/http://www.illinoisgreatplaces.com/#detail/university_of_chicago_quadrangle-081/type=educational/city=chicago |url-status=live }} were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component.{{cite news|last=Waldinger|first=Mike|title=The proud history of architecture in Illinois|url=https://springfieldbusinessjournal.com/2018/01/the-proud-history-of-architecture-in-illinois/|access-date=January 30, 2018|newspaper=Springfield Business Journal|date=January 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613084700/https://springfieldbusinessjournal.com/2018/01/the-proud-history-of-architecture-in-illinois/|archive-date=June 13, 2018|url-status=live}}

File:Mitchell-Magdalen comparison.jpg architecture like that of the University of Oxford. For example, Chicago's Mitchell Tower (left) was modeled after Oxford's Magdalen Tower (right).]]

After the 1940s, the campus's Gothic style began to give way to modern styles. In 1955, Eero Saarinen was contracted to develop a second master plan, which led to the construction of buildings both north and south of the Midway, including the Laird Bell Law Quadrangle (a complex designed by Saarinen); a series of arts buildings; Edith Abbott Hall, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe;{{Cite web |title=Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice {{!}} Explore the architecture at the University of Chicago |url=https://architecture.uchicago.edu/locations/crownschool/ |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=architecture.uchicago.edu}} the Keller Center, which is home of the Harris School of Public Policy and was designed by Edward Durrell Stone;{{Cite web |title=The Keller Center {{!}} Harris School of Public Policy {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://harris.uchicago.edu/about/who-we-are/keller-center |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=harris.uchicago.edu}} and the Regenstein Library, the largest building on campus, a brutalist structure designed by Walter Netsch.{{cite magazine|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/chicago_journal/books.shtml|title=There Will Be Books|last=Puma|first=Amy Braverman|magazine=University of Chicago Magazine|year=2007|access-date=September 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621080611/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/chicago_journal/books.shtml|archive-date=June 21, 2010|url-status=live}} Another master plan, designed in 1999 and updated in 2004,{{cite magazine|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0502/chicagojournal/2020.shtml|title=2020 Vision|magazine=University of Chicago Magazine|last=Braverman|first=Amy M.|date=February 2005|issue=3|volume=27|access-date=September 16, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621140734/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0502/chicagojournal/2020.shtml|archive-date=June 21, 2010|url-status=live}} produced the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center (2003), the Max Palevsky Residential Commons (2001), South Campus Residence Hall and dining commons (2009), a new children's hospital,{{cite magazine | url = http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/features/momentum.shtml | title = Of Milestones and Momentum | access-date = September 16, 2009 | magazine = The University of Chicago Magazine | date = July–August 2008 | volume = 100 | issue = 6 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090131175610/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/features/momentum.shtml | archive-date = January 31, 2009 | url-status = live }} and other construction, expansions, and restorations.[http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/features/on_the_map.shtml The University of Chicago Magazine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131163246/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0878/features/on_the_map.shtml |date=January 31, 2009 }}. Magazine.uchicago.edu. Retrieved on August 15, 2013. In 2011, the university completed the glass dome-shaped Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, which provides a grand reading room for the university library and prevents the need for an off-campus book depository.{{Cite web |title=The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/mansueto/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}}

The site of Chicago Pile-1 is a National Historic Landmark and is marked by the Henry Moore sculpture Nuclear Energy.{{cite web |date=April 16, 2003 |title=Site of the First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=204&ResourceType=Site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405180502/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=204&ResourceType=Site |archive-date=April 5, 2015 |access-date=September 12, 2009 |publisher=National Historic Landmarks Program}} Robie House, a Frank Lloyd Wright building acquired by the university in 1963, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ UNESCO World Heritage Site]{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/07/arts/design/frank-lloyd-wright-unesco.html|title=Unesco AddsFrank Lloyd Wright's Architecture to World Heritage List|work=New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820035137/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/07/arts/design/frank-lloyd-wright-unesco.html|archive-date=August 20, 2019|date=August 7, 2019}} as well as a National Historic Landmark,{{cite web|url=http://www.robiehouse.com/aboutus/aboutus.html |title=About Us |publisher=Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust |access-date=September 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219025633/http://robiehouse.com/aboutus/aboutus.html |archive-date=December 19, 2007 }} as is room 405 of the George Herbert Jones Laboratory, where Glenn T. Seaborg and his team were the first to isolate plutonium.{{cite web |date=April 16, 2003 |title=Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory |url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=735&ResourceType=Building |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208100011/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=735&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=February 8, 2008 |access-date=September 12, 2009 |publisher=National Historic Landmarks Program}} Hitchcock Hall, an undergraduate dormitory, is on the National Register of Historic Places.{{cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places NPS Focus database |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803035425/http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreghome.do?searchtype=natreghome |archive-date=August 3, 2012 |access-date=January 17, 2012 |publisher=National Park Service}} Resource Name = Hitchcock, Charles, Hall; Reference Number = 74000751

Adjacent to the campus in Jackson Park is the home of the Obama Presidential Center, the Presidential Library for the 44th president of the United States{{cite web | url=https://www.obamalibrary.gov/#event-number-86 | title=Barack Obama Presidential Library | Barack Obama Presidential Library }}{{cite web | url=https://www.obama.org/presidential-center/ | title=About the Obama Presidential Center }} with expected completion in 2026. The Obamas settled in the university's Hyde Park neighborhood where they raised their children and where Barack Obama began his political career. Michelle Obama served as an administrator at the university and founded the university's Community Service Center.{{cite web | title=University Community Service Center | website=ucsc.uchicago.edu | url=https://ucsc.uchicago.edu/ }}

File:Snell Hitchcock1.JPG|Snell-Hitchcock, an undergraduate dormitory constructed in the early 20th century, is part of the Main Quadrangles.

File:Rockefeller Chapel Entire Structure.jpg|Rockefeller Chapel, constructed in 1928, was designed by Bertram Goodhue in the neo-Gothic style.

File:Henry Hinds Laboratory at University of Chicago5.jpg|The Henry Hinds Laboratory for Geophysical Sciences was built in 1969.{{cite web|url=http://photofiles.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf2-03501.xml|title=Henry Hinds Laboratory Architect's Drawings|publisher=University of Chicago Archival Photographic Files|access-date=September 10, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617140204/http://photofiles.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf2-03501.xml|archive-date=June 17, 2010|url-status=live}}

File:Ratner Athletic Center.jpg|The Gerald Ratner Athletics Center, opened in 2003 and designed by Cesar Pelli, houses the volleyball, wrestling, swimming, and basketball teams.{{cite web |url=http://athletics.uchicago.edu/facilities/ratner-overview.htm|title=Overview|publisher=The University of Chicago|access-date=October 10, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080616150245/http://athletics.uchicago.edu/facilities/ratner-overview.htm |archive-date = June 16, 2008}}

The Hyde Park campus is served by the CTA Red Line and Green Line, as well as the Metra Electric District Line and the South Shore Line,{{Cite web |title=Public Transportation |url=https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/en/transportation/public-transportation |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=safety-security.uchicago.edu |language=en}} all of which provide access to downtown Chicago.{{Cite web |title=Metra Electric (ME) {{!}} Metra |url=https://metra.com/train-lines/me |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=metra.com}}{{Cite web |title=Green Line (Route info, alerts & schedules) |url=https://www.transitchicago.com/greenline/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=CTA |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Red Line (Route info, alerts & schedules) |url=https://www.transitchicago.com/redline/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=CTA |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Stations & Map |url=https://mysouthshoreline.com/plan-your-trip/stations-map/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=South Shore Line |language=en-US}} The campus is also served by a network of CTA bus routes.

The university shuttle program includes day-time and night-time routes, most of which operate within Hyde Park.{{Cite web |title=Shuttle Services |url=https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/transportation/shuttle-services/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=safety-security.uchicago.edu |language=en}} In 2022, the university added a Downtown Campus Connector to its shuttle program, which connects the main Hyde Park campus to the Gleacher Center and downtown UChicago Medicine clinics.{{Cite web |title=Downtown Campus Connector |url=https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/news-alerts/2022-12-20-Downtown-Campus-Connector |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=safety-security.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

In 2024, the University introduced a Via ride-sharing program ahead of the 2024-2025 school year, which provides unlimited free rides on campus in shared vans.{{Cite web |last=Ma |first=Amy |title=University Announces New Via Rideshare Service to Replace Lyft Program in September |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/43817/news/university-announces-new-via-rideshare-service-to-replace-lyft-program-in-september/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

In November 2021, a university graduate was robbed and fatally shot on a sidewalk in a residential area in Hyde Park near campus; a total of three University of Chicago students were killed by gunfire incidents in 2021.[https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/13/suspect-charged-death-university-chicago-student Suspect Charged in Death of University of Chicago Student] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214190218/https://news.wttw.com/2021/11/13/suspect-charged-death-university-chicago-student|date=February 14, 2022}} WTTW/Associated Press, November 13, 2021[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-university-of-chicago-student-rally-shooting-response-20211117-szbvysl6vvdahbv6qnez4xrfle-story.html University of Chicago international students rally to demand safety upgrades a week after fatal shooting of recent grad. 'The next one ... could be anyone in this crowd.'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215164812/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-university-of-chicago-student-rally-shooting-response-20211117-szbvysl6vvdahbv6qnez4xrfle-story.html|date=February 15, 2022}} PAIGE FRY, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, November 16, 2021 These incidents prompted student protests and an open letter to university leadership signed by more than 300 faculty members.{{cite web |title="We are experiencing an existential crisis": Faculty Letter Calls for Increased Safety and Security Actions in Hyde Park |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/article/2021/11/15/experiencing-existential-crisis-faculty-letter-calls/ |access-date=February 27, 2022 |website=chicagomaroon.com |language=en |archive-date=February 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227181212/https://chicagomaroon.com/article/2021/11/15/experiencing-existential-crisis-faculty-letter-calls/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |date=November 16, 2021 |title='We Are Here To Learn, Not To Die:' University of Chicago Students, Faculty Protest After Shooting That Killed Dennis Shaoxiong Zheng, Other Violence |url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/16/university-of-chicago-protest-violence/ |access-date=February 27, 2022 |language=en-US |archive-date=December 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211220163214/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/11/16/university-of-chicago-protest-violence/ |url-status=live }}

In response, the university introduced measures including increased foot and vehicular patrols near campus, expanded coordination between the university police department and the CPD, and greater use of security cameras and license plate readers.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-18 |title=UChicago, Chicago Police Department leaders reaffirm commitment to campus safety {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-chicago-police-department-leaders-reaffirm-commitment-campus-safety |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The university continues to maintain one of the largest private police forces in the country.{{Cite web |last=Kartik-Narayan |first=Ashvini |date=2018-07-17 |title=The Fight Over Chicago's Largest Private Police Force |url=https://southsideweekly.com/the-fight-over-chicagos-largest-private-police-force-university-of-chicago-ucpd/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=South Side Weekly |language=en-US}}

The university also maintains facilities apart from its main campus. The university's Booth School of Business maintains campuses in Hong Kong, London, and downtown Chicago.{{Cite web |title=Global Locations |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/executiveeducation/experience/global-locations |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |language=en}} The Center in Paris, a campus located on the left bank of the Seine in Paris, hosts various undergraduate and graduate study programs.{{cite web|title=The University of Chicago Center in Paris|publisher=University of Chicago|url=http://centerinparis.uchicago.edu/|access-date=August 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905082342/http://centerinparis.uchicago.edu/|archive-date=September 5, 2009|url-status=live}} The university also maintains the Chicago House, based in Luxor, which serves as the Egyptian headquarters for the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-20 |title=Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures marks 100 years of documenting Egypt’s ancient inscriptions {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/institute-study-ancient-cultures-marks-100-years-documenting-egypts-ancient-inscriptions |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}} In fall 2010, the university opened a center in Beijing, near Renmin University's campus in Haidian District. The most recent additions are a center in New Delhi, India, which opened in 2014,{{Cite web |title=A Global Foundation {{!}} University of Chicago Global |url=https://global.uchicago.edu/global-foundation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624061420/https://global.uchicago.edu/global-foundation |archive-date=June 24, 2022 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |website=UChicago Global}} and a center in Hong Kong which opened in 2018.{{cite journal |date=May 14, 2019 |title=FGLA 2019 Merit: The University of Chicago Center in Hong Kong |url=https://www.futurarc.com/project/the-university-of-chicago-center-in-hong-kong/ |url-status=dead |journal=FuturArc |volume=2nd Quarter 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129014451/https://www.futurarc.com/project/the-university-of-chicago-center-in-hong-kong/ |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |access-date=January 29, 2023}} In 2024, the university opened the John W. Boyer Center in Paris, designed by architectural firm Studio Gang and nearly tripling the size of the Center in Paris which had opened in 2003.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-15 |title=UChicago celebrates opening of John W. Boyer Center in Paris {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-celebrates-opening-john-w-boyer-center-paris?s_src=9J68Z&mkt_tok=MjUwLUNRSC05MzYAAAGXCgBBaElWxXwuR2AnNG8BXI7HHJQeVaJNXIKuY3e0wnESEAGSx7XS9w0ZudrajiS6T-2I2bbfrvVIzfaSVxXuFGOYOFzgvx8Lu436DkXVjd6lrQ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

== Academics ==

File:University of Chicago July 2013 19 (Main Quadrangles).jpg

The academic bodies of the University of Chicago consist of the college, four divisions of graduate research, seven professional schools, and the Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.{{cite web|url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/academic-programs|title=Academic programs|website=University of Chicago|access-date=August 31, 2023|archive-date=May 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531172830/https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/academic-programs|url-status=dead}} The university also contains a library system, the University of Chicago Press, and the University of Chicago Medical Center, and oversees several laboratories, including Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), Argonne National Laboratory, and the Marine Biological Laboratory.{{Cite web |title=Affiliated Laboratories |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/affliated-laboratories |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.{{cite web |title=The University of Chicago |url=http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=university+of+Chicago&s=all&id=144050 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413004814/http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=University+of+Chicago&s=all&id=144050 |archive-date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=August 6, 2009 |publisher=College Navigator}} It is a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Universities Research Association.{{Cite web |title=Member Detail |url=https://members.naicu.edu/Membership/Membership-Directory/Member-Detail?MemberId=%7BA8E55C04-6142-E411-BEB5-00505683000D%7D&Alpha=&keyword=university%20of%20chicago |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=members.naicu.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Member Universities |url=https://ura-hq.org/member-universities/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Universities Research Association |language=en-US}}

The university runs on a quarter system in which the academic year is divided into four terms: Summer (June–August), Autumn (September–December), Winter (January–March), and Spring (April–June). Full-time undergraduate students take three to four courses every quarter{{cite web|url=http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/pdf_10/academic-regulations.pdf |title=Academic Regulations and Procedures |access-date=August 13, 2009 |publisher=The University of Chicago |quote=Students register for three or four courses per quarter. Over the typical four-year program (twelve quarters), a student normally registers for at least six four-course quarters and as many as six three-course quarters. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014070914/http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/pdf_10/academic-regulations.pdf |archive-date=October 14, 2009 }} for approximately nine weeks before their quarterly academic breaks. The school year typically begins in late September and ends in late May.{{cite web|url=http://academic-calendar.uchicago.edu|title=The University of Chicago Academic Calendar|access-date=August 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051027001716/http://academic-calendar.uchicago.edu/|archive-date=October 27, 2005|url-status=live}}

{{Main|College of the University of Chicago}}

File:Harper Library from the Midway Plaisance.JPG

The College of the University of Chicago grants Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 51 undergraduate courses of study{{cite web |title=Majors |url=http://college.uchicago.edu/academics-advising/majors-minors |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423184516/http://college.uchicago.edu/academics-advising/majors-minors |archive-date=April 23, 2014 |access-date=May 17, 2016 |publisher=University of Chicago College}} (since 2005 known as majors) and 33 secondary courses of study, now known as minors.{{cite web|url=http://college.uchicago.edu/academics-advising/majors-minors/minors|title=Minors|publisher=University of Chicago College|access-date=May 17, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140211200719/http://college.uchicago.edu/academics-advising/majors-minors/minors|archive-date=February 11, 2014|url-status=dead}} The college's academics are divided into four divisions: the Biological Sciences Collegiate Division, the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division, the Social Sciences Collegiate Division, and the Humanities Collegiate Division. Each division is affiliated with the corresponding graduate division of the university.{{Cite web |title=Collegiate Divisions {{!}} The College {{!}} The University of Chicago {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/collegiate-divisions |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=college.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

The college introduced a now-widespread model of the liberal arts undergraduate program which featured the Socratic method in undergraduate contexts, the Great Books program, and the core curriculum.{{Cite book |last1=Adler |first1=Mortimer Jerome |title=Reforming education: the opening of the American mind |last2=Van Doren |first2=Geraldine |date=1990 |publisher=Collier Books |isbn=978-0-02-030175-2 |edition=1st Collier Books |location=New York}}{{Cite book |title=The liberal arts tradition: a documentary history |date=2010 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-7618-5132-5 |editor-last=Kimball |editor-first=Bruce A. |location=Lanham, Md.}}{{cite web|title=The Core Curriculum {{!}} The College {{!}} The University of Chicago|url=https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core-curriculum|access-date=May 2, 2021|website=college.uchicago.edu|language=en|archive-date=May 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502150208/https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core-curriculum|url-status=live}} Since the 1999-2000 school year, 15 courses across seven subjects and demonstrated proficiency in a foreign language are required under the core curriculum.

File:Eckhart Hall.jpg

The university graduate schools and committees are divided into four divisions (biological sciences, humanities, physical sciences, and social sciences), and eight professional schools.{{cite web|url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/graduate-programs|title= Graduate Divisions & Professional Schools|website=University of Chicago|access-date=August 31, 2023}} In the autumn quarter of 2022, the university enrolled 10,546 graduate students on degree-seeking courses: 569 in the biological sciences division, 612 in the humanities division, 2,103 in the physical sciences division, 972 in the social sciences division, and 6,290 in the professional schools (including the Graham School).{{cite web|url=https://uchicago.app.box.com/s/trkqpw1ztu0lc4niahgz0y7g6eyqt6z6/file/1045237976077|title=Autumn Quarter 2022 Census Report|publisher=University of Chicago Registrar|access-date=August 31, 2023}}

The university is home to several committees for interdisciplinary scholarship, including the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought.{{Cite web |date= |title=Academic Departments {{!}} University of Chicago |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/academic-departments |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315181102/https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/academic-departments |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |access-date=March 17, 2023 |website=University of Chicago}}

File:Fermilab.jpg, a science research laboratory co-managed by the University of Chicago]]

According to the National Science Foundation, University of Chicago spent $423.9 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 60th in the nation.{{cite web |title=Table 20. Higher education R&D expenditures, ranked by FY 2018 R&D expenditures: FYs 2009–18 |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2018/html/herd18-dt-tab020.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930141919/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/herd/2018/html/herd18-dt-tab020.html |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |access-date=July 21, 2020 |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |publisher=National Science Foundation}} It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".{{cite web |title=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=144050 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722033734/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=144050 |archive-date=July 22, 2020 |access-date=July 21, 2020 |website=carnegieclassifications.iu.edu |publisher=Center for Postsecondary Education}} It is a founding member of the Association of American Universities, and was a member of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation between 1946 and 2016, when the group's name was changed to the Big Ten Academic Alliance. The University of Chicago is not a member of the rebranded consortium, but continues to be a collaborator.{{cite web |title=Name Change – FAQ |url=http://www.btaa.org/about/expansion/name-change-faq |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711111625/http://www.btaa.org/about/expansion/name-change-faq |archive-date=July 11, 2016 |access-date=June 30, 2016 |publisher=Big Ten Academic Alliance}}{{cite web |date=June 30, 2016 |title=Big Ten's Academic Division Changes Name |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/06/30/big-tens-academic-division-changes-name |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914020235/https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2016/06/30/big-tens-academic-division-changes-name |archive-date=September 14, 2016 |access-date=June 30, 2016 |website=Inside Higher Ed}}

The university operates more than 140 research centers and institutes on campus. Among these are the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia & North Africa—a museum and research center for Near Eastern studies owned and operated by the university—and a number of National Resource Centers, including the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.{{cite web |title=Institutes and Centers |url=http://www.uchicago.edu/research/centers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160513224921/http://www.uchicago.edu/research/centers/ |archive-date=May 13, 2016 |access-date=May 17, 2016 |website=The University of Chicago}} Chicago also operates or is affiliated with several research institutions apart from the university proper. The university manages Argonne National Laboratory, part of the United States Department of Energy's national laboratory system, and co-manages Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), a nearby particle physics laboratory. It was also part of the Astrophysical Research Consortium that constructed the Apache Point Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico.{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Jim |title=A Brief History of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) and the Apache Point Observatory (APO) |url=https://arc.apo.nmsu.edu/ARC-History.pdf |access-date=10 May 2025 |website=Astrophysical Research Consortium}} Faculty and students at the adjacent Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago collaborate with the university.{{cite web |date=August 2009 |title=About TTI-C |url=http://www.tti-c.org/about.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525140320/http://www.tti-c.org/about.php |archive-date=May 25, 2009 |access-date=August 17, 2009 |quote=An agreement between the University of Chicago and TTI – C allows cross-listing of computer science course offerings between the two institutions, providing students from each institution the opportunity to register in the other's courses.}} In 2013, the university formed an affiliation with the formerly independent Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.[https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/06/11/marine-biological-laboratory-affiliate-with-university-chicago/Z6VMtposQFr8hBqV0GzWnL/story.html Marine Biological Laboratory to affiliate with University of Chicago – Health & wellness] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829202545/https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/06/11/marine-biological-laboratory-affiliate-with-university-chicago/Z6VMtposQFr8hBqV0GzWnL/story.html|date=August 29, 2017}}. The Boston Globe (June 12, 2013). Retrieved on August 15, 2013. The National Opinion Research Center maintains an office at the Hyde Park campus and is affiliated with multiple academic centers and institutes.{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago Institutes and Centers |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/center/population_research_center |access-date=September 18, 2023 |website=Population Research Center}}{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago Other Academic Units and Resources |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/other-academic-units-and-resources |access-date=September 18, 2023}}

File:University of Chicago at Fall.jpg

The University of Chicago has been the site of various experiments and academic movements. The university has played a role in shaping ideas about the free marketKasper, Sherryl (2002) The Revival of Laissez-Faire in American Macroeconomic Theory: A Case Study of Its Pioneers. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. {{ISBN|1-84064-606-3}} and is the namesake of the Chicago school of economics, the school of economic thought supported by Milton Friedman and other economists. The university's sociology department was the first independent sociology department in the United States and gave birth to the Chicago school of sociology.{{Cite web |title=Department of Sociology Homepage {{!}} Department of Sociology |url=https://sociology.uchicago.edu/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=sociology.uchicago.edu}} The university was the site of the Chicago Pile-1 (the first controlled, self-sustaining human-made nuclear chain reaction, part of the Manhattan Project), of Robert Millikan's oil-drop experiment that calculated the charge of the electron,{{cite web |date=January 13, 2009 |title=Abstract of Robert A. Millikan Oil Drop Experiment Notebooks |url=http://caltechln.library.caltech.edu/8/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703071919/http://caltechln.library.caltech.edu/8/ |archive-date=July 3, 2010 |access-date=September 8, 2009 |publisher=Caltech Institute Archives}} and of the development of radiocarbon dating by Willard F. Libby in 1946.{{Cite web |title=Radiocarbon Dating |url=https://www.acs.org/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/radiocarbon-dating.html |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=American Chemical Society |language=en}} The chemical experiment that tested how life originated on early Earth, the Miller–Urey experiment, was also conducted at the university.{{Cite web |title=Miller-Urey experiment {{!}} Description, Purpose, Results, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Miller-Urey-experiment |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} REM sleep was discovered at the university in 1953 by Nathaniel Kleitman and Eugene Aserinsky.{{cite book |last=Cox |first=John D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BMPSJTQaFTQC&pg=PA27 |title=Climate crash: abrupt climate change and what it means for our future |publisher=National Academies Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-309-09312-5 |page=27 |quote=In 1947, at the University of Chicago, chemist Willard F. Libby discovered a powerful new technology known as radiocarbon dating. Libby would win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for developing this geological clock. |access-date=September 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308042353/https://books.google.com/books?id=BMPSJTQaFTQC&pg=PA27 |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |url-status=live}}

The University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics operated the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin from 1897 until 2018,{{cite web |date=March 7, 2018 |title=UChicago activities at Yerkes Observatory to end in 2018 |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-activities-yerkes-observatory-end-2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809072516/https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-activities-yerkes-observatory-end-2018 |archive-date=August 9, 2020 |access-date=June 28, 2020 |website=UChicago News}} where the largest operating refracting telescope in the world and other telescopes are located.{{Cite web |title=Yerkes Observatory {{!}} Astronomy, Research, Wisconsin {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yerkes-Observatory |access-date=2025-01-27 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

The university contains eight professional schools.

• The University of Chicago Divinity School was the first professional school at the University of Chicago, chartered in 1865 and incorporated into the university in 1890. It offers four graduate degree programs as well as undergraduate course offerings.{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} The University of Chicago Divinity School |url=https://divinity.uchicago.edu/about/history |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=divinity.uchicago.edu}} It has been accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada since 1938.{{cite web |title=The University of Chicago |url=http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=university+of+Chicago&s=all&id=144050 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110413004814/http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=University+of+Chicago&s=all&id=144050 |archive-date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |publisher=College Navigator}}
• The Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies, originally known as the University-Extension program, was established in 1892.{{Cite web |last=grahamschool@uchicago.edu |date=2021-02-01 |title=A Brief History of the Graham School: President Harper’s Vision |url=https://graham.uchicago.edu/article/a-brief-history-of-the-graham-school-president-harpers-vision/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=UChicago {{!}} Graham School |language=en-US}} The school offers various non-degree courses and certificates as well as degree programs.{{cite web |title=About {{!}} University of Chicago Graham School |url=https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160607193125/https://grahamschool.uchicago.edu/about |archive-date=June 7, 2016 |access-date=May 17, 2016}} In 1997, it was renamed to the William B. and Catherine V. Graham School of General Studies in honor of a $10 million donation from William and Catherine Graham made in the same year.{{Cite news |title=Grahams give gift of $10 million to University |url=https://chronicle.uchicago.edu/970320/graham.shtml |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=University of Chicago Chronicle|date=20 March 1997|volume=16|number=13}}
• The Booth School of Business was founded in 1898 as the College of Commerce and Politics and received business school accreditation in 1916.{{Cite web |title=Booth School of Business - The University of Chicago |url=https://www.metromba.com/school/the-university-of-chicago-booth-school-of-business/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=MetroMBA |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Key Facts |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/key-facts |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |language=en}} In 2008, the then-called Graduate School of Business was renamed following a $300 million donation from alumnus David Booth.{{Cite web |title=Meet David Booth |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/david-booth |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |language=en}} It was ranked fourth out of 133 American business schools by U.S. News in 2025.{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago (Booth) Full-Time MBA Program |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/university-of-chicago-01073 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=U.S. News}}

• The University of Chicago Law School was established in 1902, twelve years after the founding of the university.{{Cite web |date=2009-06-18 |title=History of the Law School {{!}} University of Chicago Law School |url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/school/history |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=www.law.uchicago.edu |language=en}} It has been accredited by the American Bar Association since 1923 and was ranked third out of 195 American law schools by U.S. News in 2025.{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/university-of-chicago-03052 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |website=U.S. News}}
• The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice was first established in 1908 as the Chicago School of Civics and Philanthropy and received its first dean, Edith Abbott (who became the first female dean of any graduate school in the United States), in 1924. It was renamed in 2021 in recognition of a $75 million donation from James and Paula Crown and the Crown family.{{Cite web |title=Our First Century {{!}} Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice |url=https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/about/history/our-first-century |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=crownschool.uchicago.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=History {{!}} Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice |url=https://crownschool.uchicago.edu/about/history |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=crownschool.uchicago.edu |language=en}}
• The Pritzker School of Medicine matriculated its first class of medical students in 1927 and was renamed to the Pritzker School of Medicine in 1968 in recognition of support from the Pritzker family.{{Cite web |title=About Pritzker {{!}} Pritzker School of Medicine {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://pritzker.uchicago.edu/about |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=pritzker.uchicago.edu |language=en}} It has been accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education since 1942. In 2023, the school declined to continue submitting data to U.S. News to help the publication rank the institution, joining medical schools including those at Harvard, Stanford, and Columbia in doing so.{{Cite web |date=2023-01-26 |title=University of Chicago medical school withdraws from US News rankings |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2023/01/26/university-of-chicago-medical-school-withdraws-from-us-news-rankings/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}}
• The Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy was established in 1988 as the Graduate School of Public Policy Studies. In 1990, it was renamed in recognition of Irving Harris' financial support of the program during its inception.{{Cite web |title=History of Harris {{!}} Harris School of Public Policy {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://harris.uchicago.edu/about/history/history-of-harris |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=harris.uchicago.edu}} The school offers six graduate degree programs as well as joint degree and non-degree programs.{{Cite web |title=Academics {{!}} Harris School of Public Policy {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://harris.uchicago.edu/academics |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=harris.uchicago.edu}}
• The Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering was founded in 2019 following an expansion of the Institute of Molecular Engineering, which was established in 2011. The Pritzker Foundation provided a $75 million donation to help establish the school, which occupies the William Eckhardt Research Center. {{Cite web |last=Dyer |first=Emma |title=UChicago Expands IME to School of Molecular Engineering with $100 Million from Pritzkers |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/27008/news/uchicago-expands-ime-school-molecular-engineering/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

File:University of Chicago Laboratory Schools exterior.jpg

The university runs a number of academic institutions and programs apart from its undergraduate and postgraduate schools. It operates the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools (a private day school for K-12 students and day care),{{Cite web |date=2025-05-02 |title=About Lab - University of Chicago Laboratory Schools |url=https://www.ucls.uchicago.edu/about-lab |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.ucls.uchicago.edu |language=en-US}} and a public charter school with three campuses on the South Side of Chicago administered by the university's Urban Education Institute.{{Cite web |title=About UChicago Charter |url=https://www.uchicagocharter.org/aboutuchicagocharter |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.uchicagocharter.org |language=en}} In addition, the Hyde Park Day School, a school for students with learning disabilities,{{cite web|url=http://hpds.uchicago.edu/|title=Chicago School for Children with Learning Disabilities|publisher=Hyde Park Day School|quote=The Hyde Park Day School (HPDS) is a private, not-for-profit day school serving the needs of children with learning disabilities... With two Illinois locations on the University of Chicago campus in Chicago and north suburban Northfield, HPDS is the only school of its kind in the Chicago area.|access-date=September 9, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604183421/http://hpds.uchicago.edu/|archive-date=June 4, 2009|url-status=live}} and the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School, a residential treatment program for those with behavioral and emotional problems,{{cite web|title=Caring for the Whole Person|url=http://oschool.org/why-the-o-school/history/|publisher=Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School|access-date=May 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519205115/http://oschool.org/why-the-o-school/history/|archive-date=May 19, 2018|url-status=live}} maintains a location on the University of Chicago campus. Since 1983, the University of Chicago has maintained the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, a mathematics program used in urban primary and secondary schools.{{Cite web |title=Overview - UCSMP |url=https://ucsmp.uchicago.edu/about/overview/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=ucsmp.uchicago.edu}} The university runs a program called the Council on Advanced Studies, which administers interdisciplinary workshops to provide a forum for graduate students, faculty, and visiting scholars to present scholarly work in progress.{{Cite web |title=Council on Advanced Studies Workshops |url=https://grad.uchicago.edu/academic-support/council-on-advanced-studies-workshops/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=UChicagoGRAD {{!}} The University of Chicago |language=en-US}} The university also operates the University of Chicago Press, the largest university press in North America.{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago Press Journals: About |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/about |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=RCNi Company Limited |language=en}}

File:University of Chicago, Harper Library.jpg

The University of Chicago Library system encompasses six libraries that contain a total of 11 million volumes, the 9th most among library systems in the United States.{{cite web |title=The University of Chicago Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/about/factsheet.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515160908/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/about/factsheet.html |archive-date=May 15, 2016 |access-date=May 17, 2016 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}} The university's primary library is the Regenstein Library, which contains over 4.5 million print volumes on a variety of subjects and is the largest on campus.{{Cite web |title=Site Protection - Verification Required |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/turnstile/challenge/?next=/spaces/joseph-regenstein-library/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}}{{Cite web |title=Joseph Regenstein Library {{!}} Explore the architecture at the University of Chicago |url=https://architecture.uchicago.edu/locations/joseph_regenstein_library/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=architecture.uchicago.edu}} The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, built in 2011, houses a large study space and an automated book storage and retrieval system.{{Cite web |title=Joe and Rika Mansueto Library {{!}} Explore the architecture at the University of Chicago |url=https://architecture.uchicago.edu/locations/joe_and_rika_mansueto_library/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=architecture.uchicago.edu}} The John Crerar Library contains more than 1.4 million volumes in the biological, medical and physical sciences and collections in general science and the philosophy and history of science, medicine, and technology.{{cite web |date=June 13, 2013 |title=About the John Crerar Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/crerar/about.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531144239/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/crerar/about.html |archive-date=May 31, 2016 |access-date=May 17, 2016 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}} The university also operates a number of special libraries, including the D'Angelo Law Library, the Social Service Administration Library, and the Eckhart Library for mathematics and computer science.{{cite web |title=Eckhart Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/eck/index.html |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012035723/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/eck/index.html |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |publisher=University of Chicago Library}}{{cite web|title=College Closeup: University of Chicago|publisher=Peterson's|url=http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/code/idd.asp?sponsor=36&inunId=9162#The%20university|access-date=August 19, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070310210336/http://www.petersons.com/ugchannel/code/idd.asp?sponsor=36&inunId=9162#The%20University|archive-date=March 10, 2007}} Harper Memorial Library, the first library of the university, is now a reading and study room.{{Cite web |last=Brooks |first=Tony |title=The Storied Past of Harper Memorial Library |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/26013/news/storied-past-harper-memorial-library/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

File:University of Chicago USA3.jpg.]]

The University of Chicago Arts program joins academic departments in the Division of the Humanities and the college, student art programs, and professional organizations including the Court Theatre, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, the Smart Museum of Art, and the Renaissance Society.{{Cite web |title=Arts Institutions & Programs |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/life-at-uchicago/arts |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The university has an artist-in-residence program, which has supported over 32 individual artists as of May 2025.{{Cite web |title=Artists-in-Residence Program {{!}} Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://csrpc.uchicago.edu/programs/artists_programs/artists_in_residence/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=csrpc.uchicago.edu}} The university offers graduate degrees in music, cinema and media studies, visual arts, and the humanities, among other subjects.{{Cite web |title=Master's Programs |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/graduate-programs/masters-programs |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Doctoral Programs |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/graduate-programs/phd-programs |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} It also offers bachelor's degree programs in visual arts, music, art history, cinema and media studies, and theater and performance studies.{{Cite web |title=Undergraduate Programs |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/education-and-research/undergraduate-programs |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The college's general education core includes an arts requirement, which can be fulfilled by taking classes in subjects such as art history, creative writing, or music.{{Cite web |title=Arts Core {{!}} The College {{!}} The University of Chicago {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://college.uchicago.edu/academics/core/arts-core |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=college.uchicago.edu |language=en}} Several thousand major and non-major undergraduates enroll annually in creative and performing arts classes.{{cite web |url=http://arts.uchicago.edu/content/background-and-history |title=Background and History of UChicago Arts |publisher=Arts.uchicago.edu |date=August 5, 2012 |access-date=July 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110215036/http://arts.uchicago.edu/content/background-and-history |archive-date=November 10, 2013 |url-status=live }} The university was home to the improvisational Compass Players student comedy troupe, which evolved into The Second City in 1959.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-10 |title=The Compass Players: How the First Improv Theater Changed Comedy |url=https://blog.crowdwork.com/the-compass-players/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=CrowdWork |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Alumni - The Second City |url=https://www.secondcity.com/history |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.secondcity.com |language=en-US}} The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts opened in 2012, five years after a $35 million gift from alumnus David Logan and his wife Reva. The center includes spaces for exhibitions, performances, classes, and media production. The Logan Center was designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien.{{Cite web |title=History —Logan Center |url=https://www.logancenter.uchicago.edu/history |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=LOGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS |language=en-US}}

On April 9, 2025, under the Paul Alivisatos presidency, the University of Chicago merged the Division of the Humanities and University of Chicago Arts to establish the new Division of the Arts & Humanities.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-09 |title=UChicago announces unified Division of the Arts & Humanities {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/uchicago-announces-unified-division-arts-humanities?utm_source=WWW&utm_medium=NewsModule |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 14

| THE_WSJ = 75

| USNWR_NU = 11 (tie)

| Wamo_NU = 35

| ARWU_W = 10

| QS_W = 21

| THES_W = 14 (tie)

| USNWR_W = 25

}}

The University of Chicago is considered one of the most prestigious research universities in the United States.

{{See also|List of presidents of the University of Chicago}}

File:Paul Alivisatos University of Chicago President September 2021.png

The university is governed by a board of trustees. The board of trustees oversees the long-term development and plans of the university and manages fundraising efforts, and is composed of 55 members including the university president.{{cite web |title=Board of Trustees |url=http://trustees.uchicago.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530232950/http://trustees.uchicago.edu/ |archive-date=May 30, 2016 |access-date=May 20, 2025 |publisher=The University of Chicago}} Directly beneath the president are the provost, fourteen vice presidents (including the chief financial officer and chief investment officer), and twelve deans.{{Cite web |title=UChicago Leadership |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/leadership |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The current chair of the board of trustees is David Rubenstein, who has occupied the position since May 2022.{{Cite web |title=David Rubenstein |url=https://president.uchicago.edu/leadership/david-rubenstein |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=president.uchicago.edu |language=en}} The current provost is Katherine Baicker, who was appointed in March 2023.{{Cite web |title=Katherine Baicker |url=https://president.uchicago.edu/leadership/officers/katherine-baicker |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=president.uchicago.edu |language=en}}{{cite web |date=January 30, 2023 |title=Katherine Baicker appointed provost of the University of Chicago |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/katherine-baicker-appointed-provost-university-chicago |access-date=April 7, 2023 |website=University of Chicago News |language=en}} The current president of the University of Chicago is chemist Paul Alivisatos, who assumed the role on September 1, 2021.{{Cite web |title=Office of the President |url=https://president.uchicago.edu/ |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=president.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

The university's endowment was the 21st largest among American educational institutions and state university systems in 2024, valued at roughly $10.1 billion.{{cite web |date=February 12, 2025 |title=U.S. and Canadian 2024 NCSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2024 Endowment Market Value, Change in Market Value from FY23 to FY24, and FY24 Endowment Market Values Per Full-time Equivalent Student |url=https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/nacubo1-nacubo-prd-dc8b/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2024-NCSE-Endowment-Market-Values-for-US-and-Canadian-Institutions-FINAL-Feb-12-2025.xlsx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250212074654/https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/nacubo1-nacubo-prd-dc8b/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2024-NCSE-Endowment-Market-Values-for-US-and-Canadian-Institutions-FINAL-Feb-12-2025.xlsx |archive-date=February 12, 2025 |access-date=February 12, 2025 |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) |format=XLSX}} Since 2016, the university's board of trustees has resisted pressure from students and faculty to divest its investments from fossil fuel companies.{{cite web |date=February 22, 2016 |title=University of Chicago professors urge fossil fuel divestment over climate change fears |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/22/university-chicago-divest-fossil-fuel-professors-climate-change |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026192835/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/22/university-chicago-divest-fossil-fuel-professors-climate-change |archive-date=October 26, 2021 |access-date=October 26, 2021 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} {{As of|2024}}, such investments remain a part of the university's endowment.{{Cite web |last=Buntin |first=Oliver |title=UChicago Alumni Pledge to Withhold Donations Unless Endowment Eliminates Fossil Fuel Investments |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/42142/news/uchicago-alumni-pledge-to-withhold-donations-unless-endowment-eliminates-fossil-fuel-investments/ |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Chicago Maroon}}

Part of former university President Zimmer's financial plan for the university was an increase in accumulation of debt to finance large building projects.{{cite news |last=McDonald |first=Michael |date=March 17, 2014 |title=University of Chicago Is Outlier With Growing Debt Load |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-17/university-of-chicago-is-outlier-with-growing-debt-load |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223140447/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-03-17/university-of-chicago-is-outlier-with-growing-debt-load |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |access-date=March 12, 2017 |work=Bloomberg}} This drew both support and criticism from many in the university community.{{Cite web |last=Ando |first=Clifford |title=(West Virginia) Chicago is happening to you. The fight for the modern university. |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/40932/viewpoints/op-ed/west-virginia-chicago-is-happening-to-you-the-fight-for-the-modern-university/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Chicago Maroon}} In 2024, the university budget deficit stood at $288 million; the administration announced plans in November of that year to close the deficit over the next four years.{{Cite web |last=writer |first=Max Blaisdell, staff |date=2024-11-13 |title=U. of C. unveils 4-year plan to close $288 million budget deficit |url=https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/u-of-c-unveils-4-year-plan-to-close-288-million-budget-deficit/article_af808bbe-a215-11ef-891b-5bc4720df8f8.html |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=Hyde Park Herald |language=en}}

In 2023, the university agreed to pay $13.5 million to settle a lawsuit that it and other universities conspired to limit financial aid to students.{{Cite web |date=August 16, 2023 |title=University of Chicago to settle student aid price-fixing lawsuit for $13.5 million |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2023/8/16/23834454/university-chicago-568-cartel-student-aid-price-fixing-lawsuit |access-date=October 25, 2023 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |language=en}}

In fall 2023, the university employed 3,418 academic staff and 23,217 administrative staff (including those from the medical center).{{Cite web |title=University Facts – At a Glance {{!}} data.uchicago.edu |url=https://data.uchicago.edu/data-at-a-glance/ |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=data.uchicago.edu}} In 2024, the university's combined annual budget (including the university proper, the medical center, and the marine biological laboratory) stood at $5.2 billion, with the university's operations making up an additional $2.6 billion.{{Cite web |last=writer |first=Max Blaisdell, staff |date=2024-11-13 |title=U. of C. unveils 4-year plan to close $288 million budget deficit |url=https://www.hpherald.com/evening_digest/u-of-c-unveils-4-year-plan-to-close-288-million-budget-deficit/article_af808bbe-a215-11ef-891b-5bc4720df8f8.html |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Hyde Park Herald |language=en}} In the same year, the university's total assets were valued at $20.3 billion.{{Cite web |title=Financial Statements |url=https://intranet.uchicago.edu/tools-and-resources/financial-resources/accounting-and-financial-reporting/financial-statements |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=intranet.uchicago.edu |language=en}}{{Clear}}

{{Infobox U.S. college admissions|year=2023|ref={{cite web |title=Class of 2027 Profile |url=https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/class-2027-profile |website=College Admissions |access-date=April 28, 2024 |language=en}} |admit rate=4.8%|admit rate change=-3.3|yield rate=87.9%|yield rate change=+24.2|float=right}}

In fall 2024, the university enrolled 7,569 undergraduate students, 10,968 graduate students, and 750 non-degree students.{{Cite web |title=Historical Enrollment {{!}} University Registrar |url=https://registrar.uchicago.edu/data-reporting/historical-enrollment/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=registrar.uchicago.edu}} The college class of 2025 is composed of 53% male students and 47% female students. Twenty-seven percent of the class identify as Asian, 19% as Hispanic, and 10% as Black. Eighteen percent of the class is international.{{Cite web|url=https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/class-2025-profile|title=Class of 2025 Profile | College Admissions|date=December 30, 2021|access-date=March 18, 2022|archive-date=December 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230004705/https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/class-2025-profile|url-status=dead }} The university is need-blind for domestic applicants.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/about |website=Financial Aid |publisher=University of Chicago |access-date=May 4, 2023 |language=en |date=February 13, 2018 |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810083407/https://financialaid.uchicago.edu/about |url-status=dead }}

Admissions to the University of Chicago has become highly selective over the past two decades, reflecting changes in the application process, school popularity, and marketing strategy.{{cite web|title=Record-low acceptance rate as applicant numbers increase|url=https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2015/04/14/record-low-acceptance-rate-as-applicant-numbers-increase/|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=www.chicagomaroon.com|language=en|archive-date=April 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414182811/https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2015/04/14/record-low-acceptance-rate-as-applicant-numbers-increase/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Acceptance rate falls by one third, reaching record low of 18 percent|url=https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2010/4/2/acceptance-rate-falls-by-one-third-reaching-record-low-of-18-percent/|access-date=April 22, 2021|website=www.chicagomaroon.com|language=en|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422025238/https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2010/4/2/acceptance-rate-falls-by-one-third-reaching-record-low-of-18-percent/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Hoover|first=Eric|date=November 5, 2010|title=Application Inflation|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/application-inflation/|access-date=April 22, 2021|website=The Chronicle of Higher Education|archive-date=April 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422204405/https://www.chronicle.com/article/application-inflation/|url-status=live}} Between 1996 and 2023, the acceptance rate of the college fell from 71% to 4.7%.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The University of Chicago Magazine: October 2001, Features|url=https://magazine.uchicago.edu/0110/features/abuse.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126132935/https://magazine.uchicago.edu/0110/features/abuse.html|archive-date=January 26, 2021|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=magazine.uchicago.edu}} For the Class of 2027, the acceptance rate was 4.7%.{{Cite web |title=Class of 2027 Profile |url=http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/apply/class-2027-profile |access-date=April 26, 2024 |website=College Admissions |language=en}}

The middle 50% band of SAT scores for the undergraduate class of 2025 was 1510–1570 (98th–99th percentiles), the average MCAT score for students entering the Pritzker School of Medicine class of 2024 was 519 (97th percentile),{{Cite web|url=https://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/admissions-faq|title=| Pritzker School of Medicine | The University of Chicago|website=pritzker.uchicago.edu|access-date=November 1, 2019|archive-date=November 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101222451/https://pritzker.uchicago.edu/admissions/admissions-faq|url-status=live}} the median GMAT score for students entering the full-time Booth MBA program class of 2023 was 740 (97th percentile),{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/mba/full-time/admissions/class-profile |title=Full-Time MBA Class Profile |publisher=The University of Chicago Booth School of Business |access-date=November 1, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216151137/https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/full-time |archive-date=December 16, 2019 |url-status=dead }} and the median LSAT score for students entering the Law School class of 2021 was 172 (99th percentile).{{cite web |url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/class-profile |title=The University of Chicago – The Law School Profile 2020–2021 |date=October 11, 2019 |publisher=The University of Chicago |access-date=March 18, 2022 |archive-date=March 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304081648/https://www.law.uchicago.edu/class-profile |url-status=live }}

In 2018, the University of Chicago attracted national headlines by becoming the first major research university to no longer require SAT/ACT scores from college applicants.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/06/16/now-that-the-university-of-chicago-dropped-its-testing-requirement-for-applicants-will-other-elite-colleges-follow/|title=Perspective {{!}} Now that the University of Chicago dropped its testing requirement for applicants, will other elite colleges follow?|last=Selingo|first=Jeffrey J.|date=June 16, 2018|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=June 18, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617114050/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2018/06/16/now-that-the-university-of-chicago-dropped-its-testing-requirement-for-applicants-will-other-elite-colleges-follow/|archive-date=June 17, 2018|url-status=live}}

File:Chicago Maroons logo.svg

{{Main|Chicago Maroons}}

The University of Chicago hosts 19 varsity sports teams: 10 men's teams and 9 women's teams, all called the Maroons, with 502 students participating in the 2012–2013 school year.{{cite web |year=2013 |title=Quick Facts: 2012–13 Summary |url=http://athletics.uchicago.edu/about/quick_facts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325055237/http://athletics.uchicago.edu/about/quick_facts |archive-date=March 25, 2014 |access-date=April 23, 2014}} The Maroons compete in the NCAA Division III as members of the University Athletic Association (UAA).{{Cite web |title=University of Chicago {{!}} NCAA.com |url=https://www.ncaa.com/schools/chicago |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.ncaa.com |language=en}} Their mascot is Phil the Phoenix.

The university was a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and participated in the NCAA Division I men's basketball and football.{{Cite web |last=Rosenthal |first=Phil |date=2021-03-08 |title=So much for Chicago’s Big Ten team: 75 years ago, the University of Chicago told the conference it wanted out |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2021/03/08/so-much-for-chicagos-big-ten-team-75-years-ago-the-university-of-chicago-told-the-conference-it-wanted-out/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Chicago Tribune |language=en-US}} In 1935, the University of Chicago reached the Sweet Sixteen. In 1935, Chicago Maroons football player Jay Berwanger became the first winner of the Heisman Trophy.{{Cite web |title=Winners Archive |url=https://www.heisman.com/heisman-winners/ |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=Heisman |language=en-US}} However, the university chose to withdraw from the Big Ten Conference in 1946 after University president Robert Maynard Hutchins de-emphasized varsity athletics in 1939 and dropped football.{{cite book| last=McNeill|first=William Hardy|year=1991|title=Hutchins' University: A Memoir of the University of Chicago, 1929–1950| place=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=0-226-56170-4}} In 1969, Chicago reinstated football as a Division III team, resuming playing its home games at the new Stagg Field.{{Cite web |title=Six score of UChicago football |url=https://mag.uchicago.edu/footballhistory |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=mag.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

The University of Chicago is home to the University of Chicago Rugby Football Club (UCRFC).{{Cite web |last=%~{teamName} |title=University of Chicago - University of Chicago Rugby - Men's Rugby Team |url=https://www.uchicagorugby.com/about |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.uchicagorugby.com |language=en}} Since 2022, Men's Rugby competes in the Division II Great Midwest Conference (MWC) under National Collegiate Rugby, having previously competed under USA Rugby. It was ranked 15th in the country at the end of the 2024 fall 15s season, falling to Montana State 19-48 in the Sweet Sixteen NCR DII playoff round. It competes in a Rugby 7s circuit in the spring. It shares its conference with Loyola University Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, Northwestern University (for which it competes in a yearly cup, the Hutchins-Scott Cup), DePaul University, and Benedictine University.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-30 |title=Great Midwest Conference Rankings |url=https://rugby.exposureevents.com/widgets/v1/schedule?eventid=224249&divisionid=995117&division=true&css=https://cdn.exposureevents.com/content/external/ncrugby.min.css&responsive=true}} A women's club also exists at the university.{{Cite web |title=UC Rugby |url=https://rugby.uchicago.edu/ |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=rugby.uchicago.edu}}

The university is also home to the ultimate frisbee team UChicago Fission.{{cite web |title=USA Ultimate Events, Teams and Member Accounts | Play USA Ultimate |url=https://play.usaultimate.org/teams/events/Eventteam/?TeamId=BieG8NB%2f%2fsXUbEdh%2fNsShBmII%2bS3K7TovdfW9xJGBwk%3d}}

== Student life ==

=== Student organizations ===

Students at the University of Chicago operate more than 400 clubs and organizations known as Recognized Student Organizations (RSOs).{{Cite web |title=Recognized Student Organizations (RSO) {{!}} Center for Leadership and Involvement {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://leadership.uchicago.edu/get-involved/recognized-student-organizations-rso/ |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=leadership.uchicago.edu}} These include cultural and religious groups, academic clubs and teams, and common-interest organizations.{{Cite web |title=Organizations |url=https://blueprint.uchicago.edu/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2Forganizations |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=uchicago.okta.com}} Among notable student organizations are the nation's longest continuously running student film society Doc Films,{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://docfilms.org/about/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=docfilms.org}}{{cite journal |author= |year=1950 |title=Film News |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GAsdAAAAMAAJ |journal=Educational Film Library Association, American Film Center |publisher=Film News Co. |volume=11–13 |pages=628 |quote=At the University of Chicago the Documentary Film Group, probably the oldest US film society, has been operating continuously...since 1932.}} the organizing committee for the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, and the weekly student newspaper The Chicago Maroon.{{Cite web |title=Chicago Maroon |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=Chicago Maroon}}File:Reynoldsclub.JPG

All recognized student organizations are funded by The University of Chicago Student Government. Student Government consists of graduate and undergraduate students elected to represent members from their respective academic units.{{Cite web |title=Student Government {{!}} Center for Leadership and Involvement {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://leadership.uchicago.edu/get-involved/student-government/ |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=leadership.uchicago.edu}} It is led by an executive committee, chaired by a president with the assistance of two vice presidents (one for administration and the other for student life) who are elected together as a slate by the student body each spring. {{As of|2025}}, the Undergraduate Student Government annual budget was greater than $2.5 million.{{Cite web |title=Mission |url=https://www.uchicagocollegecouncil.com/mission |access-date=2025-05-19 |website=Undergraduate Student Government |language=en-US}}

{{As of|2019}}, there were more than 20 Greek organizations operating on campus.{{Cite web |last=Staff |first=Maroon |title=Sororities and Fraternities at UChicago |url=https://chicagomaroon.com/27132/news/greek-life-uchicago/ |access-date=2025-05-12 |website=Chicago Maroon}} In 2017, approximately 20 to 25 percent of students were members of fraternities or sororities.{{Cite magazine|last=Golus|first=Carrie|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0210/features/geeks.html|magazine=University of Chicago Magazine|date=October 2002|volume=95|issue=1|title=Geeks Go Greek|access-date=January 10, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209072901/http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0210/features/geeks.html|archive-date=December 9, 2006|url-status=live}} Numbers published in 2007 by the student activities office stated that one in ten undergraduates participated in Greek life.{{cite web |title=Greek Life On Campus |year=2007 |publisher=University of Chicago Office of Registered Clubs and Student Activities |url=http://studentactivities.uchicago.edu/involved/greek.shtml |access-date=March 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070211235147/http://studentactivities.uchicago.edu/involved/greek.shtml |archive-date=February 11, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}

File:Blue, orange and pink.jpg is a dormitory completed in 2001 designed by postmodernist Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta.]]

{{main|Housing at the University of Chicago}}

On-campus undergraduate students at the University of Chicago participate in a house system in which each student is assigned to one of the university's seven residence hall buildings and to a smaller community within their residence hall called a "house". There are 39 houses, with an average of 70 students in each house.{{cite web|url=http://housing.uchicago.edu/houses_houses/|title=Houses and Halls|publisher=The University of Chicago|access-date=September 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160922050142/http://housing.uchicago.edu/houses_houses/|archive-date=September 22, 2016|url-status=dead}} The houses are named after former professors and other historical figures in the university community, such as Eugene Fama.{{Cite web |date=2019-09-11 |title=University announces names for seven new College residential houses {{!}} University of Chicago News |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/university-announces-names-seven-new-college-residential-houses |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=news.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

In the past, only first years were required to live in on-campus housing, but starting with the Class of 2023, students are required to live in housing for the first two years of enrollment. About 60% of undergraduate students live on campus.{{cite web |title=Housing and Dining |url=https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/studentlife/housing.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508132739/http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/studentlife/housing.shtml |archive-date=May 8, 2009 |access-date=September 10, 2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Office of College Admissions}}

For graduate students, the university owns and operates 28 apartment buildings near campus.{{cite web|url=http://reo.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/index.shtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721041957/http://reo.uchicago.edu/graduate_housing/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 21, 2012|title=About Graduate Housing|access-date=July 24, 2009}}

File:Scavrace1.jpg 2005]]

{{Main|Doc Films|University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt}}

Every May since 1987, the University of Chicago has held the University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt, in which teams of students compete to obtain notoriously esoteric items from a list.{{cite press release |title=World's largest Scavenger Hunt begins in Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago News Office |url=http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/05/050505.scavhunt.shtml |access-date=June 13, 2005 |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507235316/http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/05/050505.scavhunt.shtml |archive-date=May 7, 2005}} Every January, the university holds a week-long winter festival, Kuviasungnerk/Kangeiko (Kuvia), which includes early morning exercise routines and fitness workshops.{{Cite web |last=Harrington |first=Adam |last2=Feurer |first2=Todd |last3=Cramer |first3=Matthew |date=2025-01-16 |title=Kuvia, winter tradition at University of Chicago, canceled over student's arrest, suspension - CBS Chicago |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/kuvia-winter-tradition-university-of-chicago-canceled-protest/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}} The university also annually holds a carnival and concert called Summer Breeze{{Cite web |title=Major Activities Board |url=https://uchicagomab.com/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Major Activities Board |language=en-US}} that hosts outside musicians and is home to Doc Films, a student film society founded in 1932 that screens films nightly at the university.{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://docfilms.org/about/ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=docfilms.org}} Since 1946, the university has organized the Latke-Hamantash Debate, which involves humorous discussions about the relative merits and meanings of latkes and hamantashen.{{Cite web |title=The University of Chicago Magazine |url=https://magazine.uchicago.edu/0512/features/puns.shtml |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=magazine.uchicago.edu}} Since 2002, the Ida Noyes Pub has hosted Trivia Nights for university affiliates each Tuesday.{{Cite web |date=2015-03-13 |title=Trivia, Pursued {{!}} The College {{!}} The University of Chicago {{!}} The University of Chicago |url=https://college.uchicago.edu/news/student-stories/trivia-pursued |access-date=2025-05-23 |website=college.uchicago.edu |language=en}}

{{Main list|List of University of Chicago people}}Since the university's establishment in 1890, there have been 101 Nobel laureates across all six categories affiliated with the University of Chicago,{{Cite web |title=Nobel Prizes |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/global-impact/accolades/nobel-laureates |access-date=2025-05-24 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} twenty-one of whom were pursuing research or on faculty at the university at the time of the award announcement.{{cite web |year=2008 |title=Nobel Laureates and Universities |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410035330/http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html |archive-date=April 10, 2008 |access-date=March 18, 2008 |publisher=Nobel Foundation}} Of these 101 Nobel Prizes, thirty were in Physics, nineteen in Chemistry, thirteen in Physiology/Medicine, three in Literature, one in Peace, and thirty-three in Economics. Chicago faculty and alumni also include ten Fields Medalists,{{cite web |title=Fields Medal |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/14/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407140029/https://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/14/ |archive-date=April 7, 2019 |access-date=November 16, 2020 |publisher=University of Chicago}} seventeen National Medal of Science recipients,{{Cite web |title=National Medal of Science |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/global-impact/accolades/national-medal-of-science |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=www.uchicago.edu |language=en}} four Turing Award winners,

• Robert W. Floyd
• Herbert A. Simon
• Richard Hamming
• Dana Scott

fifty-eight MacArthur Fellows,{{cite web |title=MacArthur Fellows |url=http://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/18/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706173343/http://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/18/ |archive-date=July 6, 2016 |access-date=July 8, 2016 |website=The University of Chicago}} five John Bates Clark Medalists,{{cite news |last1=Guibert |first1=Susan |date=April 18, 2014 |title=Chicago Booth's Gentzkow awarded 2014 Clark Medal |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/04/18/chicago-booth-s-gentzkow-awarded-2014-clark-medal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113113035/https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2014/04/18/chicago-booth-s-gentzkow-awarded-2014-clark-medal |archive-date=November 13, 2017 |access-date=November 13, 2017 |publisher=UChicago News}} thirty Marshall Scholars,{{cite web |title=Statistics |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/global-impact/accolades/marshall-scholars |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126211334/http://www.marshallscholarship.org/about/statistics |archive-date=January 26, 2017 |access-date=March 31, 2025 |publisher=Marshallscholarship.org}} fifty-five Rhodes Scholars,{{cite web |title=Rhodes Scholarships |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/global-impact/accolades/rhodes-scholars |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222074903/https://www.uchicago.edu/who-we-are/global-impact/accolades/rhodes-scholars |archive-date=February 22, 2022 |access-date=November 14, 2024 |publisher=University of Chicago}} twenty-seven Pulitzer Prize winners,{{cite web |title=Pulitzer Prize Winners |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/24/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419120810/https://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/24/ |archive-date=April 19, 2018 |access-date=April 19, 2018}} twenty National Humanities Medalists,{{cite web |title=National Humanities Medalists |url=https://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/20/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319090912/http://www.uchicago.edu/about/accolades/20/ |archive-date=March 19, 2016 |access-date=April 3, 2016}} and eight Olympic medalists.{{multiple image

| total_width = 450

| align = right

| direction = horizontal

| header = Notable alumni

| image1 = Milton Friedman.jpg

| caption1 = Milton Friedman

| image2 = Bernie Sanders (49624954238).jpg

| caption2 = Bernie Sanders

| image3 = Carl Sagan Planetary Society.JPG

| caption3 = Carl Sagan

}}

Chicago alumni have gone on to become notable in several fields. In particular, the university has produced CEOs of firms such as Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and Credit Suisse;

• Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft
• Jon Corzine, Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs
• Brady Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse

six heads of state across five continents;

• Hastings Banda, President of Malawi
• William Lyon Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada
• Lien Chan, Premier of the Republic of China
• Álvaro Magaña, President of El Salvador
• Geoffrey Palmer, Prime Minister of New Zealand
• Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, President of Bolivia

eight U.S. Cabinet Secretaries;

• Harold LeClair Ickes, Secretary of the Interior
• Robert Todd Lincoln, Secretary of War
• Peter George Peterson, Secretary of Commerce
• Abraham A. Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare
• Peter Peterson, Secretary of Commerce
• Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Steven C. Preston, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
• Edward Levi, Attorney General

ten U.S. Senators;

• Jon S. Corzine (D-NJ)
• Bernie Sanders (VT)
• Jim Talent (R-Mo)
• Todd Young (R-IN)
• Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
• Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL)
• Pete Ricketts (R-NE)
• Roman Hruska (R-NE)
• Gale McGee (D-WY)
• Charles H. Percy (R-IL)

four central bank Presidents or Directors, including the World Bank;

• Jacob A. Frenkel, Bank of Israel
• Masaaki Shirakawa, Bank of Japan
• Agustín Carstens, Bank of Mexico
• Paul Wolfowitz, World Bank

one U.S. Supreme Court justice;

• John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice

and Presidents of Princeton, Northwestern, and MIT.

• Christopher L. Eisgruber, Princeton
• Henry Bienen, Northwestern
• Howard Wesley Johnson, MIT

Notable faculty include three Supreme Court Justices, one central bank governor, and numerous Nobel Prize laureates. Former U.S. president Barack Obama,{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Joe |date=2008-03-28 |title=Obama a Constitutional Law Professor? |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2008/03/Obama-a-constitutional-law-professor/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=FactCheck.org |language=en-US}} poet T.S. Eliot,{{Cite web |last=TIME |date=1950-11-13 |title=Education: Find Your Own Answers |url=https://time.com/archive/6886061/education-find-your-own-answers/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=TIME |language=en}} and writer Ralph Ellison{{cite web|title=Ellison, Ralph : Photographic Archive : The University of Chicago|url=http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf1-05960.xml|access-date=September 1, 2021|website=photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu|archive-date=September 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901213406/http://photoarchive.lib.uchicago.edu/db.xqy?one=apf1-05960.xml|url-status=live}} have all served on the faculty.

The University of Chicago is the alma mater of fictional characters Harry Burns and Sally Albright (from When Harry Met Sally), Indiana Jones, and Mark Watney (from The Martian). It has served as filming locations for scenes in Divergent, The Fugitive, and Sense8.{{Cite web |title=Chicago in TV and Movies |url=https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/uncommon-blog/chicago-tv-and-movies |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=College Admissions |language=en}}

Abe Ravelstein, the titular character of the novel Ravelstein, was based off of UChicago faculty member Allan Bloom.{{Cite web |title=With Friends Like Saul Bellow |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000416mag-ravelstein.html |access-date=2025-05-26 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Boyer |first=John |title=The University of Chicago: A History |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015}}
• {{cite journal |last=Burstein |first=Stanley M. |title=Werner Jaeger Comes to Chicago |journal=International Journal of the Classical Tradition |volume=26 |issue=3 |year=2019 |pages=319–332|doi=10.1007/s12138-018-0484-8 |s2cid=255504312 }}
• {{cite book |last=Dunn |first=William N. |title=Pragmatism and the origins of the policy sciences: rediscovering Lasswell and the Chicago school |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2019}}
• {{cite journal |last=Eldred |first=Juliet Sprung |title='A Highly Complex Set of Interventions': The University of Chicago as Urban Planner, 1890-2017 |journal=Chicago Studies |year=2019 |doi=10.6082/uchicago.5538 |doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal |last=Irwin |first=Douglas A. |title=The midway and beyond: recent work on economics at Chicago |journal=History of Political Economy |volume=50 |issue=4 |year=2018 |pages=735–775 |doi=10.1215/00182702-7202548 |s2cid=158553976 |url=https://www.academia.edu/80417983}}
• {{cite journal |last=Jaworski |first=Gary D. |title=On loyalty and betrayal in postwar social science, mainly in Chicago |journal=Journal of Classical Sociology |volume=22 |issue=3 |year=2022 |pages=320–349 |doi=10.1177/1468795X211042550 |s2cid=238677255 |url=http://cdclv.unlv.edu/ega/articles/gj_on_loyalty_21.pdf}}
• {{cite book |last=Stigler |first=Stephen M. |chapter=University of Chicago Department of Statistics |editor-first1=A. |editor-last1=Agresti |editor-first2=X. L. |editor-last2=Meng |title=Strength in Numbers: The Rising of Academic Statistics Departments in the U.S. |year=2013}}
• {{cite book |last=Storr |first=Richard J. |title=Harper's University: The Beginnings |year=1966}} (a major scholarly history)
• {{cite book |last1=Veith |first1=Ilza |last2=McLean |first2=Franklin C. |title=The University of Chicago Clinics and Clinical Departments, 1927–1952: A Brief Outline of the Origins, the Formative Years, and the Present State of Medicine at the University of Chicago |year=1952}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermeulen |first=Cornelius W. |title=For the Greatest Good to the Largest Number: A History of the Medical Center, the University of Chicago, 1927–1977 |year=1977}}
• {{cite book |last=Webber |first=Henry S. |chapter=The University of Chicago and Its Neighbors: A Case Study in Community Development |editor-first1=David C. |editor-last1=Perry |editor-first2=Wim |editor-last2=Wiewel |title=The University as Urban Developer: Case Studies and Analysis |year=2005}}
• {{cite thesis |last=White |first=Woodie T. |title=The Study of Education at the University of Chicago 1892–1958 |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1977}}
• {{cite book |last=Wind |first=James P. |title=The Bible and the University: The Messianic Vision of William Rainey Harper |year=1987}}

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• [http://www.illinoisgreatplaces.com/#welcome Illinois Great Places] – [http://www.illinoisgreatplaces.com/#detail/university_of_chicago_quadrangle-081/type=educational/city=chicago University of Chicago Quadrangles]
• [http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/IL-01-031-0093 Society of Architectural Historians SAH ARCHIPEDIA entry on the University of Chicago Quadrangles]

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