Washington University in St. Louis

{{Main article|History of Washington University in St. Louis}}

File:WGEliot.jpg, first president of the board of trustees|alt=William Greenleaf Eliot, first president of the board of trustees]]

Washington University was founded in 1853 by 17 St. Louis business, religious, and political leaders concerned by the lack of institutions of higher learning in the Midwest.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=6–7}} State Senator Wayman Crow and Unitarian minister William Greenleaf Eliot led the effort.{{Cite web |last=WOF |date=February 13, 2025 |title=William Greenleaf Eliot |url=https://stlouiswalkoffame.org/william-greenleaf-eliot/ |access-date=March 7, 2025 |website=St. Louis Walk of Fame |language=en-US}}{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=4–5}} Crow secured the university charter,{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=10}} and Eliot was named president of the board of trustees, with Crow serving as vice president.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=6–7}} Joseph Gibson Hoyt became the university's inaugural chancellor.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|p=19}}

Unlike most American institutions, Washington University initially lacked a financial endowment and did not have the backing of a religious organization, wealthy patron, or government support.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=6}}

Originally called Eliot Seminary, the name faced opposition from Eliot himself, who favored a nonsectarian identity for the institution. To address this, Eliot appointed a subcommittee consisting of himself and Samuel Treat to recommend a new name.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=6–7}} The subcommittee proposed Washington Institute, in honor of George Washington, the nation’s first president, as the charter had been granted on his birthday, February 22. The board unanimously approved the proposal.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=8–9}} In 1856, the board officially amended the name to Washington University.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|p=15}}

Chartered as a university, it initially functioned primarily as a night school and did not have buildings, faculty, or established course offerings. Classes began on October 22, 1854, in the Benton Schoolhouse, a facility loaned by the public school board, which also covered utility costs and installed gas lighting for evening instruction. Tuition was offered free of charge. By the end of the first year, 270 students had enrolled whose ages ranged from eight years old to forty-six years old. The university hired four teachers from the public school system; two of whom later became the university's first full-time faculty members. In 1856, the university's first building on its purchased three-acre site of Seventeenth Street and Washington Avenue was completed.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=21}} Washington University remained located in downtown St. Louis for its first fifty years.{{Cite web |title=Campus History |url=https://campusnext.wustl.edu/history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124043342/https://campusnext.wustl.edu/history/ |archive-date=January 24, 2025 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis}} File:Washington University Academic Hall and Smith Academy.jpg

In 1856, Eliot and other trustees established a preparatory academic department for boys.{{Cite web |title=Our History - MICDS |url=https://www.micds.org/our-school/our-history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122154603/https://www.micds.org/our-school/our-history/ |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |access-date= |publisher=Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School |language=en-US |quote=}} Admission was granted to boys aged ten and older who passed an exam in reading, writing, geography, and basic arithmetic.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=33}} In 1859, a preparatory female department was established. In recognition of Eliot’s leadership, the University insisted on naming it the Mary Institute, in honor of his daughter. In 1879, the academic department for boys was named Smith Academy.

Washington University's law school (originally known as The St. Louis Law School) was the first undergraduate division of the University to admit women. In 1869, Lemma Barkeloo and Phoebe Couzins enrolled. Barkeloo passed the Missouri bar exam in her first year and did not complete the program, while Couzins earned her LL.B. in 1871. However, it wasn’t until 1886 that women were regularly admitted again to the law school.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=57}}

In 1871, Eliot was named the third chancellor of Washington University.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=70}} File:The manual training school, comprising a full statement of its aims, methods, and results, with figured drawings of shop exercises in woods and metals (1906) (14596307140).jpgIn 1879, the St. Louis Manual Training School of Washington University{{Cite web |title=The Vocational Age Emerges, 1876-1926 |url=https://www.acteonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Vocational-Age-Emerges_1876-1926.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250221083808/https://www.acteonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Vocational-Age-Emerges_1876-1926.pdf |archive-date=February 21, 2025 |access-date=April 9, 2025 |publisher=American Vocational Journal}} became the first manual training school established in the United States.{{Cite web |title=Manual Training School, Washington University |url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-twain:9031 |access-date=March 8, 2025 |website=Northern Illinois University Digital Library |language=en}} Student's time was divided equally between manual training and school work.

Facing declining enrollment in the 1870s, the university sought to strengthen ties with local preparatory schools, and by 1880, graduates from select high schools could enter by certificate rather than examination. The College also introduced the Bachelor of Philosophy (Ph.B) degree as a more flexible alternative to the traditional Bachelor of Arts, with the Ph.B. placing greater emphasis on science, history, and English. Lectures and written exams replaced traditional oral recitations, and completing a senior thesis became a requirement for graduation for the Ph.B degree.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=124}} Admitting women had a greater impact on enrollment than any academic reforms. After a unanimous faculty vote, the first woman enrolled in the undergraduate college in 1870; by the 1890s, women were the main drivers of the college’s enrollment growth.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=124–125}}

During Eliot’s chancellorship, student organizations at Washington University rose and fell quickly due to a lack of institutional support.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=111–113}} Athletics were especially unstable, with clubs like baseball and rowing repeatedly forming and disbanding, though individual sports gained steadier traction with the building of gyms and hiring of instructors. A major shift occurred in 1890 when the Washington University Athletic Association (established in 1884) embraced intercollegiate football.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=111–113}}

In 1890, the amount of prescribed courses for the Bachelor of Arts degree was 40 of 45. By the end of 1892, Washington University had reduced the number of prescribed courses to 8 out of 38. This shift in policy also led to the abolition of alternative degrees like the Ph.B. and contributed to the creation of many new courses.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=143}}

Washington University’s decision to purchase a tract of land for a new campus was driven by the rapid growth of St. Louis and the decreasing availability of suitable locations. The land was acquired for {{US$|185000|1885|round=-3|long=no}} in with financing arranged through a loan and the sale of University stock, backed by private guarantees. The University then enlisted Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot to design the campus, beginning with two landscape plans in 1895 and marking the beginning of the architects' broader influence.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=157}} In 1897, the university formally announced plans in its catalog to move the Undergraduate Department to a new site northwest of Forest Park.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=162}} Olmsted's praise of the site led the board to agree to buy the land without conditions. Olmsted also recommended acquiring additional land along Skinker Boulevard, which was completed in 1899 with help from Robert Brookings, and advised that future construction emphasize aesthetics. Their proposals included holding an architectural competition and grouping buildings in quadrangles, with the main building facing east from the ridge.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=158}}

File:"St. Louis Medical College, Medical Department of Kemper College." - DPLA - 0cd7dc45c4ad2d18ec8aff4c033953dc.jpg

In 1890, the St. Louis Medical College proposed establishing a physiological laboratory in partnership with Washington University. Although the University initially declined, the medical college renewed its efforts to affiliate. A joint committee formed in early 1891, and by April, the college formally became the "Medical Department of Washington University".{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=134–135}}File:The Missouri Medical College and adjoining St. John's Hospital. - DPLA - 8ad07d731d2f6194651247a00a424cae.jpg

In 1892, the Missouri Dental College, with a curriculum closely aligned with the St. Louis Medical College, also affiliated with Washington University.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=138–139}}

In 1899, the Missouri Medical College, established in 1840 as the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi in conjunction with Kemper College, merged with the St. Louis Medical College. Historian Historian Ralph E. Morrow later wrote that this affiliation completed the foundation of Washington University’s health programs.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=139}} The merger doubled medical school enrollment. It also provided greater access to hospital beds for clinical work and expanded physical facilities, including the conversion of a Missouri Medical College building into Washington University’s first hospital.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=140}}

File:Washington University bookplate.png]]

In 1896, Holmes Smith, professor of Drawing and History of Art, designed what became the basis for the university seal. The seal is made up of elements from the Washington family coat of arms, an open book representing a university, and the symbol of Louis IX, whom the city is named after.{{Cite web |title=History and Traditions |url=https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408184414/https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/ |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |access-date= |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US |quote=}} In 1915, The university’s adopted its motto is Per veritatem vis, which translates to "Strength through truth".File:1904 World's Fair Administration Building (Brookings Hall, Washington University) seen from the southeast with the Italian Pavilion in the foreground.jpg during the 1904 World's Fair|alt=Brookings Hall during the 1904 World's Fair]]

File:Department of Anthropology building (Cupples Hall -1, Washington University) on the grounds of the 1904 World's Fair.jpg

File:Washington University in St. Louis1.jpg

The cornerstone of the first building on its new Hilltop Campus, Busch Hall was laid on October 20, 1900.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|p=88}} Construction of additional buildings, including Brookings Hall, Ridgley, and Cupples began shortly thereafter. Washington University postponed occupying these buildings until 1905 to accommodate the 1904 World's Fair and the 1904 Summer Olympics.{{Cite web |title=Washington University Hilltop Campus, 1899-1951 |url=https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/about/st-louis-county-landmarks/washington-university/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418002039/https://stlouiscountymo.gov/st-louis-county-departments/parks/about/st-louis-county-landmarks/washington-university/ |archive-date=April 18, 2021 |access-date= |website=St. Louis County}} Robert S. Brookings, president of the board, leased the first five University buildings to the Fair. The {{US$|750,000|1904|round=-5|long=no}} generated from the lease was then used to fund the construction of four additional buildings, which were also used by the Fair.{{cite web |last=O'Connor |first=Candace |date= |title=A Glorious World's Fair Transforms a University Campus |url=http://magazine.wustl.edu/Summer04/AGloriousWorld%27sFair-np.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603053854/http://magazine.wustl.edu/Summer04/AGloriousWorld%27sFair-np.htm |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |accessdate= |website=Washington University in St. Louis Magazine |publisher=}}

By 1905, the number of course offerings in the College had tripled.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=143}}

In 1909, the College implemented curricular changes that included a distribution requirement and a limit on how much concentration was allowed in a single field of study.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=144}}

The School of Medicine formalized partnerships with Barnes Hospital in 1911 and St. Louis Children's Hospital in 1912. These agreements required hospital staffs to consist entirely of University faculty, while granting the University access to patients for clinical instruction and research. In return, Washington University pledged to construct and maintain modern medical facilities and laboratories adjacent to the hospitals.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=220–221}} In 1915, the university completed a new medical complex on Kingshighway Boulevard. Three years later, Aphrodite Jannopoulo, Carol Skinner Cole, and Faye Cashatt became the first women to enroll as medical students.{{Cite web |title=Frederic Aldin Hall |url=https://washu.edu/people/frederic-aldin-hall/ |access-date=March 6, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}}

In 1922, Arthur Holly Compton, head of the Department of Physics, conducted a series of experiments in the basement of Eads Hall that demonstrated the particle concept of electromagnetic radiation.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=August 18, 2022 |title=Compton Centennial Celebration |url=https://physics.wustl.edu/compton-centennial-celebration |access-date=April 18, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis Arts & Sciences |language=en}} Compton's discovery, known as the "Compton Effect," earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927.{{Cite web |title=Arthur Holly Compton |url=https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/chancellors/compton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131215813/https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/chancellors/compton/ |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}}

In 1923, Washington University became a member of the Association of American Universities.{{Cite web |date=November 20, 2024 |title=AAU Member Universities By Year of Entry {{!}} Association of American Universities (AAU) |url=https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members/aau-member-universities-year-entry |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250415064426/https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members/aau-member-universities-year-entry |archive-date=April 15, 2025 |access-date= |website=Association of American Universities |language=en}}

File:WashU Danforth Campus.jpgFile:Brookings Hall during sunset.jpgFile:WashU Clocktower.jpgIn 1945, four African American students were denied admission to the university's summer school, prompting the NAACP and the city of St. Louis to file a lawsuit challenging the institution's tax-exempt status. The suit argued that the university's segregationist policies violated its obligations as a tax-exempt entity. Although the legal action did not succeed, it led the university's board of directors to publicly address the issue of segregation for the first time.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=|p=464}}

Compton returned to Washington University in 1946 as the ninth chancellor after 22 years at the University of Chicago.{{Cite journal |last=Allison |first=Samuel K. |year=1965 |title=Arthur Holly Compton 1892–1962 |url=https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/compton-arthur-h.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Biographical Memoirs |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |volume=38 |pages=81–110 |issn=0077-2933 |oclc=1759017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241007173401/https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/compton-arthur-h.pdf |archive-date=October 7, 2024 |access-date=}} He reestablished the Washington University football team and emphasized a "strictly amateur" athletic policy with no athletic scholarships. Under Compton, the university saw enrollment growth, which was driven by World War II veterans using the G.I. Bill, which covered college costs for military personnel.{{Cite web |title=Arthur Holly Compton |url=https://washu.edu/people/arthur-holly-compton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114170155/https://washu.edu/people/arthur-holly-compton/ |archive-date=November 14, 2024 |access-date=March 7, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}} Enrollment increased by 39 percent in Spring 1946 to 9,159 students. By Fall 1947, enrollment had reached 13,204 students.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|p=182}}

Before the board fully responded, the initiative for desegregation was taken up by individual deans and departments. In June 1947, the medical school sought retroactive approval for admitting an African American student to a postgraduate course in ophthalmology, which the board granted.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=|p=467}} That same year, President Harry S. Truman's Commission on Higher Education recommended repealing segregation laws in higher education. Although the first African American student did not begin undergraduate medical studies until 1951, by then, the medical school had already appointed African Americans to its part-time clinical faculty and named Ernest S. Sims as the first African American to hold a full-time academic appointment in the university.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=|p=467}}

Similarly, the School of Social Work began admitting African American students in December 1947. The graduate school followed suit a few months later.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=|p=467}} In 1949, a group of students formed the Student Committee for the Admission of Negroes (SCAN). In May 1949, SCAN conducted a poll in which nearly one-third of the student body participated, with 77 percent expressing support for ending segregation. By the winter of 1949, racial tests for admission were abolished in all postbaccalaureate programs on the Hilltop Campus. The dentistry school followed in early 1950. On May 9, 1952, racial tests for admissions to undergraduate programs were abolished.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=|p=467}}

On March 5, 1958, the Board of Directors approved HOK’s plans for four residence halls and a food service building.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=514–515}} Work on the South 40, named for its location south of the Hilltop Campus and its size of {{convert|40|acre|ha}}, site commenced before July 4, 1958.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=514–515}} The project was completed in four phases. Each wave of construction expanded residential capacity: the first group of dormitories accommodated nearly 600 students, the second added another 600, and subsequent phases continued to increase housing availability on campus.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=514–515}} With additional on-campus housing, the university, which had been predominantly attended by commuter students, began attracting a greater number of applicants from across the nation.{{Cite web |title=Ethan A.H. Shepley |url=https://washu.edu/people/ethan-a-h-shepley/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114182522/https://washu.edu/people/ethan-a-h-shepley/ |archive-date=November 14, 2024 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}} By 1964, over two-thirds of incoming students came from outside the St. Louis area.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|p=207}}

In the late 1960s, Black students established the Association of Black Collegians (ABC). The group (later the Association of Black Students) supported Black students, addressed issues related to campus policing, and advocated for more inclusive representation in the academic curriculum. On December 5, 1968, Elbert Walton, an MBA student, had an incident with campus police. Around 10:30 a.m., officers stopped him, and he reportedly refused to show his ID. The police then took him to the ground, handcuffed him, and placed him in a police car. Walton was later taken to the police station, where he sat in a chair while still handcuffed. When ABC learned about Walton's arrest, the group organized a sit-in at the police office, later expanding their occupation to the basement of Brookings Hall.{{Cite web |last=Early |first=Rosalind |date=August 6, 2018 |title=A tradition of activism: The 1968 Brookings occupation |url=https://source.washu.edu/2018/08/a-tradition-of-activism-the-1968-brookings-occupation/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250217151649/https://source.washu.edu/2018/08/a-tradition-of-activism-the-1968-brookings-occupation/ |archive-date=February 17, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} After arrests and negotiations, the university expanded diversity efforts, including the establishment of the department of African and African-American Studies.{{Cite web |last=Sargeant |first=Davis |date=September 1, 2011 |title=Civil Rights and Washington University: a complex history |url=https://www.studlife.com/scene/2011/09/01/civil-rights-and-washington-university-a-complex-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210021953/https://www.studlife.com/scene/2011/09/01/civil-rights-and-washington-university-a-complex-history/ |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}}

In May 1970, Washington University experienced student unrest in response to the U.S. invasion of Cambodia and the Kent State shooting. On the evening of May 4, a large meeting in Brookings Quadrangle led to a march of 1,200 to 1,500 students toward the AFROTC building. The building was subsequently damaged by a rock-throwing crowd and set on fire in the early hours of May 5. County firemen extinguished the fire after initial attempts by the Clayton Fire Department were hindered by protestors.{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|pp=574–575}}

In 1971, the board of trustees appointed Chancellor William Henry Danforth.{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Gloria S. |date=September 17, 2020 |title=William Danforth Dies At 94. He Led Wash U To Financial Stability, Established St. Louis As Plant Science Hub |url=https://www.stlpr.org/economy-business/2020-09-16/william-h-danforth-dies-at-94-he-led-wash-u-to-financial-stability-established-st-louis-as-plant-science-hub |access-date=May 7, 2025 |website=STLPR |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=September 17, 2020 |title=William Danforth dies at 94; grew Washington University into world-class institution |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/obituaries/william-danforth-dies-at-94-grew-washington-university-into-world-class-institution/article_baaf40ad-6e72-5ea2-9dc2-6f6d18350b18.html |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en |archive-date=September 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920051154/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/obituaries/william-danforth-dies-at-94-grew-washington-university-into-world-class-institution/article_baaf40ad-6e72-5ea2-9dc2-6f6d18350b18.html |url-status=live }} According to The New York Times, under Chancellor Danforth, Washington University transformed from a commuter school into a world-renowned institution.{{Cite news |last=Seelye |first=Katharine Q. |date=October 6, 2020 |title=William Danforth, Who Led Washington University, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/education/dr-william-danforth-dead.html |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104175950/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/education/dr-william-danforth-dead.html?searchResultPosition=16 |url-status=live }} During his 24-year chancellorship, he established 70 new endowed professorships, constructed dozens of buildings, secured a $1.72 billion endowment, and tripled the amount of student scholarships.{{Cite web |last=Seelye |first=Katherine |date=October 6, 2020 |title=William Danforth, Who Led Washington University, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/education/dr-william-danforth-dead.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104175950/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/education/dr-william-danforth-dead.html?searchResultPosition=16 |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |access-date= |website=The New York Times}}

To better distinguish itself in national media, the university's board of trustees added the phrase "in St. Louis" in 1976.{{cite web |title=Origin of the 'Washington' Name |url=http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/facts/george.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210215846/http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/archives/facts/george.html |archive-date=February 10, 2009 |work=WashU Libraries |df=mdy-all}}

In 1995, Mark S. Wrighton, former provost at MIT, was elected the university's 14th chancellor.{{Cite web |date=April 10, 1995 |title=MIT Provost Mark Wrighton to head Washington University |url=https://news.mit.edu/1995/wrighton |access-date= |website=MIT News |language=en}} During Chancellor Wrighton's tenure, undergraduate applications to Washington University more than doubled, the university has added more than 190 endowed professorships, and revamped its Arts & Sciences curriculum, and completed more than 30 new buildings.{{Cite web |title=Mark S. Wrighton |url=https://washu.edu/people/mark-s-wrighton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241114171801/https://washu.edu/people/mark-s-wrighton/ |archive-date=November 14, 2024 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}} The university has also built more than 50 new buildings and increased its endowment by more than $5,000,000,000.{{Cite web |last=Hemphill |first=Evie |last2=Lewis |first2=Jon |date=April 2, 2019 |title=Mark Wrighton Talks Legacy As Wash U Chancellor, Future At Better Together |url=https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2019-04-02/mark-wrighton-talks-legacy-as-wash-u-chancellor-future-at-better-together |access-date=May 14, 2019 |website=STLPR |language=en}}

File:Danforth Campus banner - Washington University in St. Louis.jpgIn 2005, Washington University established the "McDonnell International Scholars Academy", an international network of research universities build a global network to address challenges like disease and poverty, through academic collaboration, with an initial endowment gift of $10,000,000 ({{Inflation|index=US|value=10,000,000|start_year=2005|r=-5|fmt=eq}}) from John F. McDonnell.{{Cite web |date=October 29, 2009 |title=Leading US Education University Promotes New International Programs |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-10-20-voa4-67369382/274096.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307120534/https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-10-20-voa4-67369382/274096.html |archive-date=March 7, 2025 |access-date= |website=Voice of America |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Lipka |first=Sara |date=November 4, 2005 |title=Washington U. Partners With 15 Asian Universities |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/washington-u-partners-with-15-asian-universities/ |access-date= |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Epstein |first=David |title=Coming to America |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/10/20/coming-america |access-date=March 8, 2025 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}} Initially, it began with 15 partner institutions in Asia. {{As of|2022}}, it has more than 30 partner institutions around the world.{{Cite web |date=March 21, 2022 |title=Washington University in St. Louis: McDonnell International Scholars Academy names new partner |url=https://indiaeducationdiary.in/washington-university-in-st-louis-mcdonnell-international-scholars-academy-names-new-partner/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240813015009/https://indiaeducationdiary.in/washington-university-in-st-louis-mcdonnell-international-scholars-academy-names-new-partner/ |archive-date=August 13, 2024 |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=India Education Diary |language=en-US |url-status=dead }}

The Hilltop Campus was renamed the Danforth Campus in 2006 to honor former chancellor William H. Danforth.{{Cite web |last=Rim |first=Dennis |date=April 1, 2013 |title=The ever-so-changing campus |url=https://www.studlife.com/scene/2013/04/01/the-ever-so-changing-campus-2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919162025/https://www.studlife.com/scene/2013/04/01/the-ever-so-changing-campus-2/ |archive-date=September 19, 2020 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=February 23, 2006 |title=Washington University Names Campus in Honor of Danforths |url=https://www.komu.com/news/washington-university-names-campus-in-honor-of-danforths/article_005efd1d-144c-5eca-8f3c-1b527d202f28.html |access-date= |website=KOMU 8 |language=en}}

In 2014, a study ranked Washington University first in the country for income inequality{{Cite news |date=September 8, 2014 |title=The Most Economically Diverse Top Colleges |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/09/upshot/09up-college-access-index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224125741/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/09/upshot/09up-college-access-index.html |archive-date=December 24, 2019 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} with approximately 22 percent of its students coming from the top 1 percent of earners, and about 6 percent from the bottom 60 percent.{{Cite news |last=Aisch |first=Gregor |last2=Buchanan |first2=Larry |last3=Cox |first3=Amanda |author-link3=Amanda Cox |last4=Quealy |first4=Kevin |date=January 18, 2017 |title=Some Colleges Have More Students From the Top 1 Percent Than the Bottom 60. Find Yours. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/upshot/some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410135504/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/upshot/some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60.html |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Patel |first=Vimal |date=February 26, 2015 |title=A Distinction Washington U. Wants to Lose: Least Economically Diverse |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-distinction-washington-u-wants-to-lose-least-economically-diverse/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108090243/https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-distinction-washington-u-wants-to-lose-least-economically-diverse/ |archive-date=November 8, 2020 |access-date= |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Zagier |first=Alan Scher |date=April 28, 2011 |title=At top colleges, diversity not just black-white |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42807375 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017034615/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna42807375 |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |access-date= |website=NBC News |language=en}} In response to criticism, the university committed to increase the percentage of Pell-eligible students on campus from 6 percent to 13 percent by 2020.{{Cite web |author=Schienvar |first=Emily |date=January 22, 2015 |title=University announces plan to increase Pell-eligible numbers |url=https://www.studlife.com/news/administration/2015/01/22/university-announces-plan-to-increase-pell-eligible-numbers/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227203042/https://www.studlife.com/news/administration/2015/01/22/university-announces-plan-to-increase-pell-eligible-numbers/ |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |access-date= |website=Student Life}}{{Cite news |last=Leonhardt |first=David |author-link=David Leonhardt |date=January 15, 2015 |title=The Least Economically Diverse Top College, Seeking to Change |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/upshot/washington-university-aims-to-attract-low-income-students.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626031237/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/upshot/washington-university-aims-to-attract-low-income-students.html |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The university achieved that goal three years early, and {{As of|2022|lc=y}}, 19.9 percent of undergraduate students were eligible for Pell Grants, representing a 300 percent increase since 2012.{{Cite web |title=Our Progress {{!}} Equity, Diversity & Inclusion {{!}} Washington University in St. Louis |url=https://equity.washu.edu/our-progress/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121113605/https://equity.washu.edu/our-progress/ |archive-date=January 21, 2025 |access-date= |website=WashU Equity, Diversity & Inclusion |language=}}

In June 2019, Andrew D. Martin, former dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan, was elected the university's 15th chancellor.{{Cite web |last=Bernhard |first=Blythe |date=July 14, 2018 |title=From a student apartment to the chancellor's house, Wash U's new leader comes home |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/from-a-student-apartment-to-the-chancellors-house-wash-us-new-leader-comes-home/article_31c16431-b0c7-5a3b-a9a6-dcff5bb2fc54.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110020240/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/from-a-student-apartment-to-the-chancellors-house-wash-us-new-leader-comes-home/article_31c16431-b0c7-5a3b-a9a6-dcff5bb2fc54.html |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} At his inauguration, Martin announced the "WashU Pledge", a program that offers free tuition to full-time students from Missouri and southern Illinois whose families either earn $75,000 or less per year or qualify for Pell Grants (federal money that helps low-income students pay for college and doesn’t need to be repaid).{{Cite web |date=October 4, 2019 |title=Washington University unveils tuition-free aid program |url=https://apnews.com/article/2bc8174c0e714b48a5d7de795ebf999a |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126101003/https://apnews.com/article/2bc8174c0e714b48a5d7de795ebf999a |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |access-date= |website=Associated Press |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Hanshaw |first=Annelise |date=February 26, 2024 |title=Wash U. prioritizes need-based aid after years of low socioeconomic diversity |url=https://missouriindependent.com/2024/02/26/wash-u-prioritizes-need-based-aid-after-years-of-low-socioeconomic-diversity/ |access-date= |website=Missouri Independent |language=en-US}} In 2021, the university launched a $1 billion plan called Gateway to Success.{{Cite web |last=Burt |first=Chris |date=October 5, 2021 |title=Windfall at WashU! Endowment gains lead to $1 billion in financial aid to students |url=https://universitybusiness.com/windfall-at-washu-endowment-gains-lead-to-1-billion-in-financial-aid-to-students/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110012021/https://universitybusiness.com/windfall-at-washu-endowment-gains-lead-to-1-billion-in-financial-aid-to-students/ |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |access-date= |website=University Business |language=en-US}} $800 million for need-blind admission (meaning students are accepted without looking at their financial needs) and to cover all their financial need.{{Cite web |last=Bernhard |first=Blythe |date=October 5, 2021 |title=Washington University to boost student financial aid by $1 billion |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/washington-university-to-boost-student-financial-aid-by-1-billion/article_16ad3c20-f474-5a76-b506-1f965575bc5f.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416202539/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/washington-university-to-boost-student-financial-aid-by-1-billion/article_16ad3c20-f474-5a76-b506-1f965575bc5f.html |archive-date=April 16, 2023 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} Another $200 million was set aside to help graduate and professional students pay for school. Under Martin’s leadership, the School of Continuing & Professional Studies was redesigned to make college more accessible for more people. He also expanded the WashU Pledge and started the Heartland Initiative to help talented students from the region succeed and stay after graduation.{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2025 |title=Meet Andrew Martin Of Washington University {{!}} St. Louis Magazine |url=https://www.stlmag.com/business/andrew-martin-washington-university/ |access-date=May 4, 2025 |website=St. Louis Magazine |language=en-US}}

In 2024, Washington University purchased the 16-acre campus of neighboring Fontbonne University, which is set to close in 2025, for $39 million.{{Cite web |last=Salter |first=Jim |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Fontbonne University in Missouri to close due to budget problems and declining enrollment |url=https://apnews.com/article/fontbonne-university-to-close-2025-c2397d8ff4120d4533bc08c16dfb15a3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311211343/https://apnews.com/article/fontbonne-university-to-close-2025-c2397d8ff4120d4533bc08c16dfb15a3 |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |access-date= |website=Associated Press |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Lloyd |first=Gloria |date=September 12, 2024 |title=What WashU paid for Fontbonne campus |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/09/12/washu-buys-fontbonne-campus-clayton-million-close.html?ana=ksdk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913031013/https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/09/12/washu-buys-fontbonne-campus-clayton-million-close.html?ana=ksdk |archive-date=September 13, 2024 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Business Journal}}

File:Wustldebate08.JPG at the Washington University Field House|alt=2008 Vice Presidential Debate at the Washington University Field House]]

{{As of|2024}}, Washington University has been the venue for four presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate: the inaugural 1992 presidential debate on October 11, 1992, the third 2000 Presidential debate on October 17, the second 2004 Presidential debate on October 8,{{Cite web |last=McDermott |first=Kevin |date=September 24, 2015 |title=The 4 times Washington U. has hosted presidential or vice-presidential debates |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/the-4-times-washington-u-has-hosted-presidential-or-vice-presidential-debates/collection_8b95f684-5607-54eb-a8e9-15ef3c49bc31.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102000831/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/government-politics/the-4-times-washington-u-has-hosted-presidential-or-vice-presidential-debates/collection_8b95f684-5607-54eb-a8e9-15ef3c49bc31.html#4 |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} the sole 2008 Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on October 2,{{Cite web |date=October 2, 2008 |title=Vice Presidential Candidates Debate |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?281518-2%2F2008-vice-presidential-candidates-debate |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921170454/https://www.c-span.org/video/?281518-2%2F2008-vice-presidential-candidates-debate |archive-date=September 21, 2022 |access-date= |website=C-SPAN}} and the second 2016 Presidential debate on October 9.{{Cite web |last=Rosenbaum |first=Jason |date=September 9, 2024 |title=How did a St. Louis school become a mainstay of the presidential debate circuit? |url=https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2024-09-09/how-did-a-st-louis-school-become-a-mainstay-of-the-presidential-debate-circuit |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241013114145/https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2024-09-09/how-did-a-st-louis-school-become-a-mainstay-of-the-presidential-debate-circuit |archive-date=October 13, 2024 |access-date= |website=STLPR |language=en}} A 1996 debate was scheduled but canceled when the number of debates was reduced to two.{{Cite web |last=Camia |first=Catalina |date=April 1, 2015 |title=Ready for debates? 16 sites eager to be 2016 hosts |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2015/04/01/presidential-debates-2016-host-sites/81583952/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017034614/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2015/04/01/presidential-debates-2016-host-sites/81583952/ |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |access-date= |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}

File:WUSTL Danforth Campus.jpg buildings|alt=Danforth Campus buildings]]From its inception, Washington University has been governed by an independent board of trustees which, by charter, appoints its own members.{{Cite web |title=Charter |url=https://boardoftrustees.washu.edu/governance/charter/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209161451/https://boardoftrustees.washu.edu/governance/charter/ |archive-date=December 9, 2024 |access-date=March 6, 2025 |website=WashU Board of Trustees |language=en-US}} Trustees serve four-year terms and may be eligible for re-election upon the completion of a term. The Board is responsible for the university’s fiduciary oversight, strategic governance, and major institutional decisions, including setting policy and providing overall guidance. These include appointing the chancellor, reviewing and approving the annual budget, authorizing major capital expenditures, making final decisions on tenure and degree conferrals, and approving the creation of new academic programs.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://boardoftrustees.washu.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250402062332/https://boardoftrustees.washu.edu/ |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=WashU Board of Trustees |language=en-US}}

From 1983 to 1987, the "Alliance for Washington University" campaign raised more than {{US$|630,500,000|1987|long=no|round=-5}}.{{Cite web |last=Duenke |first=Ken |date=September 8, 2006 |title=Campus named for Danforths |url=https://source.washu.edu/2006/09/campus-named-for-danforths/ |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last=Winter |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Winter (journalist) |date=December 22, 2003 |title=A Mighty Fund-Raising Effort Helps Lift a College's Ranking |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/22/us/a-mighty-fund-raising-effort-helps-lift-a-college-s-ranking.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701113915/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/22/us/a-mighty-fund-raising-effort-helps-lift-a-college-s-ranking.html |archive-date=July 1, 2017 |access-date=February 20, 2017 |work=The New York Times}} From 1998 to 2004, the "Campaign for Washington University" raised more than {{US$|1,550,000,000|2000|long=no|round=-6}}.{{Cite journal |title=Milestones of the Campaign |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/70380243.pdf |journal=Washington University Magazine |pages=4-5}}

On June 1, 2019, Andrew D. Martin was appointed the 15th chancellor of Washington University after Chancellor Mark S Wrighton announced his plans to retire.{{Cite web |last=Dwyer |first=Joe |date=July 14, 2018 |title=Andrew Martin named chancellor of Washington University |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2018/07/14/andrew-martin-named-chancellor-of-washington.html |access-date= |website=St. Louis Business Journal}} The Chancellor is responsible for overseeing the university’s day-to-day operations, including managing staff, implementing the Board's policies and decisions, ensuring compliance, and leading strategic initiatives. The Chancellor also provides vision and leadership across academics, research, fundraising, and administration.{{Cite web |title=Chancellor Roles and Responsibilities |url=https://research.washu.edu/about/roles-responsibilities/chancellor/ |access-date=May 11, 2025 |website=WashU Research |language=}}

In 2020, Beverly Wendland, former dean of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, was named Provost.{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |date=January 14, 2020 |title=Krieger School dean Beverly Wendland named provost at Washington University |url=https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/01/14/wendland-washington-university-provost-999-em0-art1-admin-news/ |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=The Hub |language=en}}

Washington University is a member of the Association of American Universities, American Association of Colleges and Universities,{{Cite web |title=Current Member List |url=https://www.aacu.org/about/membership/current-member-list?srchName=washington+university+in+st.+louis&srchCity=&srchState= |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=AAC&U |language=en-US}} Universities Research Association,{{Cite web |title=Member Universities |url=https://ura-hq.org/member-universities/ |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=Universities Research Association |language=en-US}} American Council of Learned Societies Research University Consortium,{{Cite web |title=ACLS Research University Consortium |url=https://www.acls.org/our-communities/research-consortium/ |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=ACLS}} and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.{{Cite web |title=Washington University in St. Louis |url=https://www.hlcommission.org/institution/1473/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914054138/https://www.hlcommission.org/institution/1473/ |archive-date=September 14, 2024 |access-date=April 21, 2025 |website=The Higher Learning Commission |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs |url=https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/institution-profile/126377 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211204203507/https://ope.ed.gov/dapip/#/institution-profile/126377 |archive-date=December 4, 2021 |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=U.S. Department of Education}}

As of June 30, 2024, Washington University has an endowment of $12.0 billion,{{Cite web |title=Endowment Facts |url=https://endowment.wustl.edu/about/endowment/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517195556/https://endowment.wustl.edu/about/endowment/ |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=WashU IMC}}{{Cite web |last=Cuccinello |first=Hayley |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Federal funding cuts are raising questions about university endowments. Here's what some are worth and how they work |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/01/how-university-endowments-work.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250428021657/https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/01/how-university-endowments-work.html |archive-date=April 28, 2025 |access-date= |website=CNBC |language=en}} ranking it among the top 15 university endowments in the United States. Its total assets (including its campus) are valued at $20.48 billion.{{Cite web |title=Washington University Consolidated Financial Statements |url=https://washu.edu/app/uploads/2024/09/FY24-Financial-Statements-Final.pdf |access-date=May 3, 2025}} In Fiscal Year 2024, it had an operating budget of $5.23 billion of which 11 percent came from endowment spending. Of its $5.23 billion operating budget, it had expenses of $5.08 billion. Of the $5.08 billion, $3.026 billion went to instruction, $892.7 million to research, $489.8 million to academic support, $296.4 to institutional support, $165.1 million to auxiliary enterprises, $161.3 million to student services, and $51.6 million to other deductions.{{Cite web |title=University Facts |url=https://washu.edu/about-washu/university-facts/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405220501/https://washu.edu/about-washu/university-facts/ |archive-date=April 5, 2025 |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}}

For the 2025–‍2026 academic year, Washington University charged a tuition fee of $68,240 per student, with a total estimated on-campus cost of attendance of $92,932.{{Cite web |title=Cost of Attendance - Undergraduate Admissions |url=https://admissions.washu.edu/cost-aid/cost-of-attendance/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250420142538/https://admissions.washu.edu/cost-aid/cost-of-attendance/ |archive-date=April 20, 2025 |access-date=May 3, 2025 |website=Undergraduate Admissions |language=en-US}} Washington University practices need-blind admissions and meets 100 percent of admitted students' demonstrated needs.{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |date=October 5, 2021 |title=Washington University Is Going Need-Blind In Admissions |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2021/10/05/washington-university-is-going-need-blind-in-admissions/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016084909/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2021/10/05/washington-university-is-going-need-blind-in-admissions/ |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |access-date= |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Jaschik |first=Scott |date=October 10, 2021 |title=WashU Goes Need Blind in Admissions |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/11/washington-u-st-louis-goes-need-blind-admissions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004031535/https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2021/10/11/washington-u-st-louis-goes-need-blind-admissions |archive-date=October 4, 2022 |access-date= |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}} Of the 1,823 first-year students enrolled in {{As of|2023-2024|bare=yes}}, 929 applied for need-based financial aid, and 796 were determined to have financial need. Among those 796 students, 100 percent of demonstrated need was met on average (excluding any aid awarded beyond calculated need). It does not offer any athletic scholarships.{{Cite web |title=Washington University in St. Louis Common Data Set 2023-2024 |url=https://washu.edu/app/uploads/2024/12/WashU-CDS-2023-2024.pdf |access-date=May 4, 2025}}

File:Gfp-missouri-st-louis-looking-at-danforth.jpgFile:Gfp-missouri-st-louis-view-from-top-of-the-quad.jpg

{{Main articles|Danforth Campus}}

In 1899, the university held a national design competition for a new campus.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=85–86}} The Philadelphia firm Cope & Stewardson, known for their work at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and Princeton University,{{Cite web |last=Tatman |first=Sandra L. |title=Cope & Stewardson (fl. 1885-1912) |url=https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/23024?&Printable=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108050550/https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/23024?&Printable=1 |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |access-date= |website=Philadelphia Architects and Buildings}} won with a design based on Collegiate Gothic quadrangles inspired by Oxford and Cambridge Universities.{{Sfn|O'Connor|2003|pp=85–86}}

The university's 169-acre Danforth Campus is bordered by the Forest Park section of St. Louis and Clayton and University City, Missouri.{{Cite web |last=Ihnen |first=Alex |date=October 31, 2014 |title=Washington University Set for Major Transformation of Danforth Campus |url=https://nextstl.com/2014/10/wustl/ |access-date= |website=NextSTL |language=en-US |archive-date=November 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241107064754/https://nextstl.com/2014/10/wustl/ |url-status=live }} A large portion of the Danforth Campus is recognized as the Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District, which is a National Historic Landmark.{{Cite web |title=Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District - National Historic Landmark |url=https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/Washington-University-Hilltop-Campus-Historic-District-Historic-Landmark.cfm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220825205049/https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/planning/cultural-resources/Washington-University-Hilltop-Campus-Historic-District-Historic-Landmark.cfm |archive-date=August 25, 2022 |access-date=August 25, 2022 |website=City of St. Louis |language=en}}

{{Main articles|Washington University Medical Campus}}

File:JeffersonLake BJC.jpg as seen from Forest Park in 2009.|alt=The Washington University Medical Center as seen from Forest Park]]

Washington University Medical Center comprises {{convert|186|acre|ha|1}} spread over 18 city blocks, located along the eastern edge of Forest Park within the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis.{{Cite web |title=Washington University Medical Campus |url=https://medicine.wustl.edu/about/medical-center/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204102301/https://medicine.wustl.edu/about/medical-center/ |archive-date=December 4, 2018 |access-date= |website=WashU Medicine |language=en}} The campus is home to the Washington University School of Medicine and its partners, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital.

In 2019, Washington University was awarded a $7.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish the Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control to address disparities in cancer care in parts of Missouri and Illinois.{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2019 |title=Washington University Receives $7.6 Million Grant from National Cancer Institute |author-first1=Sara|author-last1=Weissman|url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/news-roundup/article/15105641/washington-university-receives-76-million-grant-from-national-cancer-institute |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731015841/https://www.diverseeducation.com/news-roundup/article/15105641/washington-university-receives-76-million-grant-from-national-cancer-institute |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |access-date= |website=Diverse: Issues In Higher Education |language=en-us}} In 2022, Washington University's Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences was awarded a five-year $61 million grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, to advance precision medicine, health equity, and diversity initiatives.{{Cite web |last=Barr |first=Diana |date=May 13, 2022 |title=Washington University researchers receive $61M federal grant for biomedical research |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2022/05/13/washu-researchers-receive-nih-grant-biomedical.html |access-date= |website=St. Louis Business Journal}}

In 2023, Washington University was one of 10 universities{{Cite web |title=Defying the odds: From a start amid the pandemic, more than 100 first-generation students this spring reach college graduation with comprehensive support from the Kessler Scholars Program |url=https://kesslerscholars.org/defying-the-odds/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109215722/https://kesslerscholars.org/defying-the-odds/ |archive-date=November 9, 2024 |access-date= |website=Kessler Scholars}} picked to join the Kessler Scholars Collaborative, which provides support for selected first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible STEM students.{{Cite web |last=Donadel |first=Alcino |date=May 25, 2023 |title=This program dedicated to boosting first-gen success rates is tripling down |url=https://universitybusiness.com/this-program-dedicated-to-boosting-first-gen-success-rates-is-tripling-down/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110012021/https://universitybusiness.com/this-program-dedicated-to-boosting-first-gen-success-rates-is-tripling-down/ |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |access-date= |website=University Business |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |date=April 12, 2022 |title=The Kessler Scholars Program Expands To Ten More Leading Colleges And Universities |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/04/13/kessler-scholars-program-to-expand-to-ten-new-colleges-and-universities/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520094700/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/04/13/kessler-scholars-program-to-expand-to-ten-new-colleges-and-universities/ |archive-date=May 20, 2022 |access-date= |website=Forbes |language=en}} The program aims to recruit 20 fully funded Kessler scholars per year and provide additional opportunities to close the wealth gap.{{Cite web |last=Kelliher |first=Rebecca |date=April 13, 2022 |title=Washington University in St. Louis To Launch Scholars Program for First-Gen STEM Students |url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/news-roundup/article/15290864/washington-university-in-st-louis-to-launch-scholars-program-for-firstgen-stem-students |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510134106/https://www.diverseeducation.com/news-roundup/article/15290864/washington-university-in-st-louis-to-launch-scholars-program-for-firstgen-stem-students |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |access-date= |website=Diverse: Issues In Higher Education |language=en-us}}

For the Class of 2028 (entering Fall 2024), Washington University in St. Louis received over 32,750 applications and admitted 12 percent of applicants.{{Cite web |last=Keaggy |first=Diane Toroian |date=August 28, 2024 |title=WashU enrolls more limited-income, first-generation students; share of Black students decreases |url=https://source.washu.edu/2024/08/embargoed-washu-admits-more-limited-income-first-generation-students-share-of-black-students-decreases/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250127182959/https://source.washu.edu/2024/08/embargoed-washu-admits-more-limited-income-first-generation-students-share-of-black-students-decreases/ |archive-date=January 27, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} Of those admitted, 86 percent who reported their rank were in the top 10 percent of their high school class.{{Cite web |title=Class of 2028 Profile |url=https://admissions.washu.edu/life-at-washu/our-students/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214100645/https://admissions.washu.edu/life-at-washu/our-students/ |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |access-date= |publisher=WashU Undergraduate Admissions |language=en-US}} Additionally, 25 percent of enrolled students were Pell Grant-eligible, and 18 percent were first-generation college students.

The middle 50 percent of admitted students who submitted standardized test scores scored between 33 and 35 on the ACT (out of a maximum score of 36), and between 1500 and 1570 on the SAT (out of a maximum score of 1600). National averages for these tests are approximately 19.4 for the ACT and 1050 for the SAT.{{Cite web |title=Average ACT Test Scores by State |url=https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/average-act-test-scores-by-state.html |access-date=May 12, 2025 |website=ACT |language=en |archive-date=April 20, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250420063454/https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/average-act-test-scores-by-state.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=What is a Good Score? |url=https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/scores/what-scores-mean/what-is-good-score |access-date=May 12, 2025 |website=College Board |language=en |archive-date=May 4, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504032641/https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/scores/what-scores-mean/what-is-good-score |url-status=live }} For comparison, admitted students scored in the 98th to 99th national percentile, indicating that these students outperformed 98 to 99 percent of recent test takers.{{Cite web |title=ACT National Ranks & Score Percentiles |url=https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/national-ranks.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250510020343/https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/the-act/scores/national-ranks.html |archive-date=May 10, 2025 |access-date=May 11, 2025 |website=ACT |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=SAT User Percentiles - College Board Research |url=https://research.collegeboard.org/reports/sat-suite/understanding-scores/sat |access-date=May 11, 2025 |website=College Board |language=en}}

The student-faculty ratio is 7:1.{{Cite web |title=College Navigator - Washington University in St Louis |url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Washington+University&s=all&pg=2&id=179867 |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website= |publisher=Institute of Education Sciences |archive-date=February 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208082859/https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=washington+university&s=all&pg=2&id=179867 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|Washington University Libraries}}

File:Olin Library wide.jpgThe Washington University library system comprises nine libraries, with Olin Library serving as the main library. According to the American Library Association, it is the 44th largest library in the United States by volume count, holding over 5.3 million volumes.{{cite web |title=Library Statistics and Figures: The Nation's Largest Libraries: A Listing by Volumes Held |url=https://libguides.ala.org/librarystatistics/volumesheld |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623131206/https://libguides.ala.org/librarystatistics/volumesheld |archive-date=June 23, 2023 |access-date= |work=American Library Association}} It is a member of the Association of Research Libraries.{{Cite web |title=List of ARL Members |url=https://www.arl.org/list-of-arl-members/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709231431/https://www.arl.org/list-of-arl-members/ |archive-date=July 9, 2019 |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=Association of Research Libraries |language=en-US}} The remaining eight libraries in the system include Al and Ruth Kopolow (Business) Library, Bernard Becker Medical Library, Brown School Library, East Asian Library, Gaylord Music Library, Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library, Law Library and West Campus Library.{{Cite web |title=Libraries |url=https://washu.edu/academics/libraries/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250329202711/https://washu.edu/academics/libraries/ |archive-date=March 29, 2025 |access-date=April 16, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}}

File:EastAsianLibraryWUSTL.JPGThe Department of Special Collections at Washington University Libraries encompasses four units: Rare Books, Manuscripts, University Archives, and the Film & Media Archive. These units collectively house a wide array of materials, ranging from ancient manuscripts to contemporary documentary film archives.{{Cite web |title=Celebrating Research |url=http://www.celebratingresearch.org/libraries/wustl/index.html |access-date=April 27, 2025 |website=Association of Research Libraries}}

Washington University holds a copy of the Southwick Broadside, one of the few surviving printed broadsides of the Declaration of Independence. Donated to the university in 2015, it is now part of the university's Special Collections.{{Cite web |last=Hemphill |first=Evie |last2=Heuer |first2=Alex |date=July 2, 2018 |title=Rare copy of Declaration of Independence on display at Wash U |url=https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2018-07-02/rare-copy-of-declaration-of-independence-on-display-at-wash-u |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209050252/https://www.stlpr.org/show/st-louis-on-the-air/2018-07-02/rare-copy-of-declaration-of-independence-on-display-at-wash-u |archive-date=February 9, 2025 |access-date= |website=STLPR |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/made-in-rare-copy-of-the-declaration-of-independence-goes/article_7e07b5dd-3129-5ebc-a0da-47169f0fd0ae.html|title=Made in 1776: Rare copy of the Declaration of Independence goes on view at Washington U.|last=Henderson|first=Jane|website=STLtoday.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702044653/https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/books-and-literature/made-in-rare-copy-of-the-declaration-of-independence-goes/article_7e07b5dd-3129-5ebc-a0da-47169f0fd0ae.html|archive-date=July 2, 2018|url-status=live}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 30

| THE_WSJ = 26

| USNWR_NU = 21 (tie)

| USNWR_W = 30

| Wamo_NU = 23

| QS_W = 176 (tie)

| THES_W = 68

| ARWU_W = 23

}}Washington University is ranked 21st in the nation in the 2025 U.S. News & World Report National Universities ranking{{cite magazine |last=U.S. News & World Report |date= |year=2025 |title=U.S. News & World Report College Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/washington-university-in-st-louis-2520 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163344/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/washington-university-st-louis-2520/overall-rankings |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |access-date=September 29, 2024 |magazine=U.S. News & World Report}} and 26th by The Wall Street Journal in their rankings.{{Cite news |title=Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings 2025 |url=https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2025?mod=ig_collegerankings2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905214504/https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/best-colleges-2025?mod=ig_collegerankings2025 |archive-date=September 5, 2024 |access-date= |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal}} In 2024, the university was ranked 23rd in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.{{Cite web |title=Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities |url=https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/arwu/2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815045113/https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/arwu/2024 |archive-date=August 15, 2024 |access-date= |website=ARWU}}

In 2025, Washington University in St. Louis was included in Forbes' 2025 New Ivies: 20 Great Colleges Employers Love, which highlights universities known for their academic rigor and producing graduates who are highly sought after by employers, with many graduates considered by employers to be outpacing their Ivy League peers.{{Cite web |last=Whitford |first=Emma |title=The New Ivies 2025: 20 Great Colleges Employers Love |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/26/the-new-ivies-2025-20-great-colleges-employers-love/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250416133322/https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/26/the-new-ivies-2025-20-great-colleges-employers-love/ |archive-date=April 16, 2025 |access-date=April 17, 2025 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

{{As of|2022}}, 19.9 percent of undergraduate students were eligible for Pell Grants, representing a 300 percent increase since 2012.

In the 2016 edition of The Hidden Ivies: 63 of America's Top Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities, a guidebook by educational consultants Howard and Matthew Greene, included Washington University in St. Louis among the institutions they described as offering an Ivy League-level education in terms of academic rigor, intellectual atmosphere, and campus experience.{{Cite book |last=Greene |first=Howard |title=The Hidden Ivies, 63 of America's Top Liberal Arts Colleges and Universities |last2=Greene |first2=Matthew |publisher=Cliff Street Books |year=2016 |isbn=978-0062420909 |edition=3rd}}

Washington University is among the top institutions producing recipients of various competitive postgraduate fellowships, including the Fulbright program, Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and Rhodes Scholarship.{{Cite web |title=Top Producing Institutions |url=https://www.fulbrightprogram.org/tpi/ |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Fulbright |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Scholar Listing {{!}} The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation |url=https://www.truman.gov/meet-our-scholars/scholar-listing?first_name=&last_name=&year=&state=All&institution=Washington+University |access-date=March 6, 2025 |website=Harry S. Truman Foundation |language=en}}

According to the National Science Foundation's Higher Education Research and Development Survey for fiscal year {{As of|2023|pre=fiscal year}}, Washington University ranks 27th among U.S. institutions in total research and development (R&D) expenditures. In that year, Washington University reported $1.169 billion in R&D spending, reflecting an 11.7 percent increase from the previous year.{{Cite web |last=Gibbons |first=Michael T. |title=Higher Education R&D Expenditures Increased 11.2%, Exceeded $108 Billion in FY 2023 {{!}} NSF - National Science Foundation |url=https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf25313 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320213831/https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf25313 |archive-date=March 20, 2025 |access-date= |website=National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics}} In 2022, Washington University developed a nasal vaccine aimed at addressing COVID-19; it was licensed for use in India to Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and the technology was licensed to bio-tech company Ocugen.{{Cite web |last=Ghosal |first=Aniruddha |date=September 6, 2022 |title=India and China clear needle-free COVID-19 vaccines |url=https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-china-0cfbcd23fa9ff0eb4e2217126a3475ae |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001165907/https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-china-0cfbcd23fa9ff0eb4e2217126a3475ae |archive-date=October 1, 2022 |access-date= |website=Associated Press |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kinsaul |first=Russell |date=February 7, 2025 |title=Nasal COVID vaccine developed at WashU approved for clinical trials |url=https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/02/07/nasal-covid-vaccine-developed-washu-approved-clinical-trials/ |access-date=May 13, 2025 |website=First Alert 4 |language=en}} Bharat named their licensed version of the vaccine iNCOVACC.{{Cite web |title=Bharat Biotech launches iNCOVACC®: World’s 1st intranasal COVID vaccine for Primary series and Heterologous booster |url=https://www.bharatbiotech.com/images/press/bharat-biotech-incovacc-launch-26012023.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231026205322/https://www.bharatbiotech.com/images/press/bharat-biotech-incovacc-launch-26012023.pdf |archive-date=October 26, 2023 |access-date=May 13, 2025}} In 2025, Washington University's' vaccine was approved for clinical trials in the United States.

In 2019, Washington University School of Medicine took over Folding@Home, a distributed computing project, from Stanford University.{{Cite web |date=May 21, 2020 |title=Using Crowdsourced Computing to Fight the Coronavirus – Communications of the ACM |url=https://cacm.acm.org/news/using-crowdsourced-computing-to-fight-the-coronavirus/ |access-date= |language=en-US}} The project, which taps into the idle power of personal computers owned by volunteers to simulate protein folding,{{Cite web |last=Strait |first=Julia Evangelou |date=February 26, 2019 |title=Computational biology project aims to better understand protein folding |url=https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/bowman-leading-international-supercomputing-project/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410094430/https://medicine.wustl.edu/news/bowman-leading-international-supercomputing-project/ |archive-date=April 10, 2020 |access-date= |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}} reached a speed of 1.5 exaFLOPS in 2020—seven times faster than the world's top supercomputer, Summit, and more powerful than the top 100 supercomputers in the world, combined.{{Cite web |last=Patrizio |first=Andy |date=April 1, 2020 |title=Thousands of PCs break exaFLOP barrier |url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/3535080/thousands-of-home-pcs-break-exaflop-barrier.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412095231/https://www.networkworld.com/article/3535080/thousands-of-home-pcs-break-exaflop-barrier.html |archive-date=April 12, 2020 |access-date= |website=Network World |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=April 8, 2020 |title=Folding@home stats report |url=https://stats.foldingathome.org/os |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408062339/https://stats.foldingathome.org/os |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |access-date= |website=The Folding@home Consortium}} This speed fuels research into diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer, COVID-19, and Ebola.{{Cite web |date=September 15, 2013 |title=Alzheimer’s Disease |url=https://foldingathome.org/diseases/neurological-diseases/alzheimers-disease/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250328091154/https://foldingathome.org/diseases/neurological-diseases/alzheimers-disease/ |archive-date=March 28, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Folding@home Consortium |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2024 |title=Cancer |url=https://foldingathome.org/diseases/cancer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250321005047/https://foldingathome.org/diseases/cancer/ |archive-date=March 21, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Folding@home Consortium |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=January 3, 2022 |title=COVID-19 |url=https://foldingathome.org/diseases/infectious-diseases/covid-19/ |access-date= |website=The Folding@home Consortium |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Ebola Virus |url=https://foldingathome.org/diseases/infectious-diseases/ebola-virus/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250328085436/https://foldingathome.org/diseases/infectious-diseases/ebola-virus/ |archive-date=March 28, 2025 |access-date=March 25, 2025 |website=The Folding@home Consortium |language=en-US}}

The university hosts NASA's Planetary Data System Geosciences Node, supporting unmanned Mars missions, with Professor Raymond Arvidson serving as deputy principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers and co-investigator for the Phoenix lander's robotic arm.{{Cite web |last=Lutz |first=Diana |date=April 16, 2007 |title=Undergraduate paves way for NASA Mars mission |url=https://source.washu.edu/2007/04/undergraduate-paves-way-for-nasa-mars-mission/ |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}}

Beyond STEM, Washington University students have digitized the works of 16th-century poet Edmund Spenser. Led by English professor Joseph Loewenstein and supported by a $150,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the project marks the first major update to Spenser’s collected works since Oxford University Press’s edition nearly a century ago. The new edition, produced in collaboration with scholars at four other universities, will include both a comprehensive print publication and a digital archive.{{Cite web |last=McGinn |first=Susan Killenberg |date=January 7, 2008 |title=Digitizing the works of a 16th-century poet |url=https://source.washu.edu/2008/01/digitizing-the-works-of-a-16thcentury-poet-2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326000648/https://source.washu.edu/2008/01/digitizing-the-works-of-a-16thcentury-poet-2/ |archive-date=March 26, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2009 |title=National Endowment for the Humanities Awards and Offers, June 2009 |url=https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/awards_09jun_pt2_iatony.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210328050036/https://www.neh.gov/sites/default/files/inline-files/awards_09jun_pt2_iatony.pdf |archive-date=March 28, 2021}}

{{See also|Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis|George Warren Brown School of Social Work|McKelvey School of Engineering|Olin Business School|Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts|Washington University School of Law|Washington University School of Medicine}}

Across its schools, it offers more than 150 undergraduate, 80 master's and professional, and 50 doctoral degree programs.{{Cite web |title=Academics |url=https://washu.edu/academics/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250328093610/https://washu.edu/academics/ |archive-date=March 28, 2025 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en-US}}

• The College of Arts & Sciences is home to the university's largest undergraduate program, providing students selection of courses across more than 50 disciplines, including anthropology, chemistry, English, the performing arts and women, gender and sexuality studies.{{Cite web |title=College of Arts & Sciences |url=https://bulletin.wustl.edu/undergrad/artsci/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122081207/https://bulletin.wustl.edu/undergrad/artsci/ |archive-date=January 22, 2025 |access-date= |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis: Office of the University Registrar}}

• The George Warren Brown School was founded in 1925.{{Cite web |date=July 26, 2024 |title=Brown School Eras |url=https://brownschool.washu.edu/washu-brown-school-100/brown-school-eras/ |access-date=April 21, 2025 |language=en-US |quote=}} The school was endowed by Bettie Bofinger Brown and named for her husband, George Warren Brown, a St. Louis philanthropist and co-founder of the Brown Shoe Company.{{Cite web |last=Gauen |first=Claire |date=February 17, 2025 |title=A century of impact |url=https://source.washu.edu/2025/02/a-century-of-impact/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250221160828/https://source.washu.edu/2025/02/a-century-of-impact/ |archive-date=February 21, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} In 1948, it became the first school at Washington University to admit Black students.{{Cite web |last=Traube |first=Dorian |date=July 27, 2023 |title=Dean’s Welcome |url=https://brownschool.wustl.edu/about/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028162047/https://brownschool.wustl.edu/about/ |archive-date=October 28, 2023 |website=WashU Brown School}}

• The James McKelvey School of Engineering was named on January 31, 2019, when the School of Engineering & Applied Science was renamed in honor of trustee and alumnus Jim McKelvey Jr., co-founder of Square, following his substantial donation.{{Cite web |last=Field |first=Andy |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Wash U Receives Donation From Square Co-Founder And Renames School Of Engineering |url=https://www.stlpr.org/education/2019-01-31/wash-u-receives-donation-from-square-co-founder-and-renames-school-of-engineering |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110020238/https://www.stlpr.org/education/2019-01-31/wash-u-receives-donation-from-square-co-founder-and-renames-school-of-engineering |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |access-date= |website=STLPR |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Barker |first=Jacob |date=January 31, 2019 |title=Wash U renaming engineering school after Square co-founder Jim McKelvey |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/wash-u-renaming-engineering-school-after-square-co-founder-jim-mckelvey/article_8f402169-9ffe-5c3f-8244-77d285986147.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240110020243/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/wash-u-renaming-engineering-school-after-square-co-founder-jim-mckelvey/article_8f402169-9ffe-5c3f-8244-77d285986147.html |archive-date=January 10, 2024 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}}

• The Olin Business School, originally established as the School of Commerce and Finance in 1917, was named after John M. Olin in the 1980s.{{Cite web |title=Our History |url=https://olin.wustl.edu/about/why-olin/our-history.php |access-date=April 20, 2025 |website=WashU Olin Business School}} In 2002, an Executive MBA program was established in Shanghai,{{Cite web |title=Washington University-Fudan University EMBA {{!}} Global Perspective Local Insights |url=https://www.fdsm.fudan.edu.cn/topemba/overview/overview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223233838/https://www.fdsm.fudan.edu.cn/topemba/overview/overview.html |archive-date=February 23, 2023 |access-date= |website=Fudan University School of Management |language=en}} in cooperation with Fudan University.{{Cite news |last=Gillet |first=Kit |date=March 26, 2013 |title=In China, Executives Flock Back to School for Unfinished Business |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/education/in-china-executives-flock-back-to-graduate-school.html |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024140130/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/27/education/in-china-executives-flock-back-to-graduate-school.html |url-status=live }}

• The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts was founded in 2006, merging the existing academic units of Architecture and Art with the university's museum.{{Cite web |last=Otten |first=Liam |date=January 20, 2005 |title=Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts created |url=https://source.washu.edu/2005/01/sam-fox-school-of-design-and-visual-arts-created/ |access-date=April 21, 2025 |website=The Source |language=en-US}} The school comprises the College of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, College of Art, Graduate School of Art and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. It was the first art museum west of the Mississippi.{{Cite book |last=Launius |first=John |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Life_and_Times_of_Missouri_s_Charles/OB3GDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA93&printsec=frontcover |title=The Life and Times of Missouri's Charles Parsons: Between Art and War |date=February 17, 2020 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-6907-5 |pages=ii |language=en}} Steinberg Hall, completed in 1960, was the first commissioned project by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki.{{Cite web |title=Washington University Steinberg Auditorium |url=https://www.chiodini.com/projects/washington-university-steinberg-auditorium/ |access-date=April 20, 2025 |website=Chiodini Architects |language=en-US}}

• The School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) was established in June 2023, when Washington University renamed University College. CAPS was established to focus on adult learners with a focus on rapidly growing and high paying fields like data analytics, education, healthcare, and management. The pre-nursing program was developed in partnership with Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.{{Cite web |last=Gieseke |first=Drew |date=August 16, 2023 |title=WashU looks to the future for adult learners with new School of Continuing & Professional Studies |url=https://www.laduenews.com/family-and-education/washu-continuing-professional-studies/article_60e6a53e-37b7-11ee-a166-9b04aa7ccdee.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123074657/https://www.laduenews.com/family-and-education/washu-continuing-professional-studies/article_60e6a53e-37b7-11ee-a166-9b04aa7ccdee.html |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |access-date= |website=Ladue News |language=en}}

• The Washington University School of Law (established in 1867) is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the Mississippi River.{{Cite journal |last=Owens |first=Dennis |date=1976 |title=American Law Schools in Their Second Century |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42892391 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Legal Education |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=210–215 |issn=0022-2208 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209160759/https://www.jstor.org/stable/42892391 |archive-date=December 9, 2021 |access-date=}} Washington University School of Law offers joint-degree programs with the Olin Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Medicine, and the School of Social Work.{{Cite web |title=Dual Degree Programs |url=https://bulletin.wustl.edu/law/juris-doctor/dual-degree/ |access-date=March 10, 2025 |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis: Office of the University Registrar}} Since 1997, Anheuser-Busch Hall has been home to the School of Law.{{Cite web |date=August 14, 2012 |title=Washington University School of Law’s Anheuser-Busch Hall |url=https://www.architectmagazine.com/project-gallery/washington-university-school-of-laws-anheuser-busch-hall |access-date= |website=Architect |language=en}}

• The Washington University School of Medicine was established in 1891.{{Cite web |title=About WashU Medicine |url=https://medicine.washu.edu/about/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406001634/https://medicine.washu.edu/about/ |archive-date=April 6, 2025 |access-date= |website=WashU Medicine |language=en}} In 2024, it ranked second in the United States for National Institutes of Health (government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research) funding.{{Cite web |last=Simpson |first=Maddy |date=December 12, 2024 |title=WashU ranks No. 2 in nation for NIH funding |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/12/12/wash-u-ranks-no-2-in-nation-for-nih-funding.html |access-date= |website=St. Louis Business Journal |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214044753/https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2024/12/12/wash-u-ranks-no-2-in-nation-for-nih-funding.html |url-status=live }}

File:SeigleHall.jpg|Seigle Hall (2008), shared by the School of Law and the College of Arts and Sciences

File:George Warren Brown School of Social Work.jpg|George Warren Brown School of Social Work, built in 1948.

File:Olin Business School.jpg|Simon Hall (2019) is a part of the Olin Business School.

File:Steinberg Hall.jpg|Steinburg Hall (completed in 1960) is part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

File:Washington University School of Medicine2.jpg|Washington University School of Medicine was established in 1891.

{{Main|Campus life at Washington University in St. Louis}}

In 2024, Washington University enrolled 16,399 students who came from all 50 U.S. states and more than 110 countries. This number includes 8,243 undergraduate students and 7,289 graduate students.

Of the 1,848 first year students enrolled in Fall 2024, 37 percent were Caucasian, 26 percent were Asian, 12 percent were Latino/Hispanic, 8 percent were Black/African-American, 11 percent were International, and 5 percent did not identify; 53 percent were female and 47 percent were male.{{Cite web |title=Our Students - Undergraduate Admissions |url=https://admissions.wustl.edu/life-at-washu/our-students/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231126113338/https://admissions.wustl.edu/life-at-washu/our-students/ |archive-date=November 26, 2023 |access-date= |publisher=WashU Undergraduate Admissions |language=en-US}}

Washington University has over 400 undergraduate student organizations on campus.{{Cite web |title=Student Groups |url=https://campuslife.washu.edu/get-involved/student-groups/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120154545/https://campuslife.washu.edu/get-involved/student-groups/ |archive-date=January 20, 2025 |access-date= |publisher=WashU Campus Life |language=en-US}} Most receive funding by the Washington University Student Union, which, as of Fiscal Year {{As of|2024|bare=yes}} has an annual budget of $4.2 million.{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Lily |last2=Swirnoff |first2=Joel |date=March 30, 2023 |title=SU passes general budget of $4.2 million |url=https://www.studlife.com/news/2023/03/30/su-passes-general-budget-of-4-2-million |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418093527/https://www.studlife.com/news/2023/03/30/su-passes-general-budget-of-4-2-million |archive-date=April 18, 2023 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}} The Student Union sponsors major campus programs including WILD{{Cite web |author=Jamula |first=Natalia |date=February 25, 2025 |title=SU Treasury joint session with SU Senate approves general budget and significantly increases funding for WILD |url=https://www.studlife.com/news/2024/02/24/su-treasury-joint-session-with-su-senate-approves-general-budget-and-significantly-increases-funding-for-wild |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406072156/https://www.studlife.com/news/2024/02/24/su-treasury-joint-session-with-su-senate-approves-general-budget-and-significantly-increases-funding-for-wild |archive-date=April 6, 2025 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}} and distributes free copies of The New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program.{{Cite web |last=Stohr |first=Grace |date=September 6, 2018 |title=SU Collegiate Readership Program provides access to New York Times subscription |url=https://www.studlife.com/news/2018/09/06/su-collegiate-readership-program-provides-access-to-new-york-times-subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318061251/https://www.studlife.com/news/2018/09/06/su-collegiate-readership-program-provides-access-to-new-york-times-subscription |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}}

Many of these organizations and other campus life amenities are housed in the Danforth University Center on the Danforth Campus.

Washington University has 26 recognized chapters of fraternities and sororities.{{Cite web |title=Sororities & Fraternities |url=https://campuslife.washu.edu/get-involved/sororities-fraternities/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120143328/https://campuslife.washu.edu/get-involved/sororities-fraternities/ |archive-date=January 20, 2025 |access-date= |website=WashU Campus Life |language=en-US}} In 2020, nearly half of Washington University's fraternity and sorority members canceled their memberships following student-led criticism that historically white fraternities and sororities contributed to racism and sexism on campus. Two sororities folded completely, and others lost more than 80 percent of their membership. The university has since faced ongoing calls from students to remove fraternities and sororities from campus.{{Cite web |last=Delaney |first=Ryan |date=March 18, 2021 |title=As Wash U Students Reckon With Greek System, Some Want It Gone For Good |url=https://www.stlpr.org/education/2021-03-18/as-wash-u-students-reckon-with-greek-system-some-want-it-gone-for-good |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102000753/https://www.stlpr.org/education/2021-03-18/as-wash-u-students-reckon-with-greek-system-some-want-it-gone-for-good |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |access-date= |website=STLPR |language=en}}

File:South40.jpgComprising 10 residential colleges and 23 residence halls, the South 40 serves as the primary housing area for first- and second-year undergraduate students. It is named for its location south of the Danforth Campus and its size of {{convert|40|acre|ha}}.{{Cite web |date=August 24, 2017 |title=Home, sweet home: Helpful facts about the South 40 |url=https://www.studlife.com/special-issues/freshman-press/2017/08/24/home-sweet-home-helpful-facts-about-the-south-40 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227062517/https://www.studlife.com/special-issues/freshman-press/2017/08/24/home-sweet-home-helpful-facts-about-the-south-40/ |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}} It includes Bear's Den (the largest dining hall on campus), Bear Necessities (a gift shop), Paws and Go (a convenience store), the Student Health Center, student businesses, meeting rooms, and sports fields.{{Cite web |title=South 40 Residential Communities |url=https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/first-year-housing/south-40-buildings/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318043229/https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/first-year-housing/south-40-buildings/ |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |access-date=March 16, 2025 |website=WashU Residential Life |language=en-US}}

The Village is a residential area on the Danforth Campus for undergraduate students in their third year or beyond.{{Cite web |title=Upper Division Housing |url=https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/upper-class-housing/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318121000/https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/upper-class-housing/ |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |access-date=March 16, 2025 |website=WashU Residential Life |language=en-US}} It includes two suite-style buildings, Lopata House and Village House, which contain multiple four-person single suites, each with two shared bathrooms.{{Cite web |title=The Village |url=https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/upper-class-housing/the-village/ |access-date=March 16, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis Residential Life |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318065145/https://reslife.washu.edu/living-at-washu/for-students/upper-class-housing/the-village/ |url-status=live }}

Washington University is home to seven student-run media organizations: The Hatchet, Law Review, Washington University Political Review, Student Life, Spires, KWUR 90.3FM, and WUTV.{{Cite web |last=Niemeyer |first=Kelly Wiese |date=January 29, 2021 |title=Who Knew WashU? |url=https://source.washu.edu/2021/01/who-knew-washu-1-27-21/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120115814/https://source.washu.edu/2021/01/who-knew-washu-1-27-21/ |archive-date=January 20, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} Student Life was founded in January 1878{{Sfn|Morrow|1996|p=113}}{{Cite web |last=Schoenherr |first=Neil |date=September 10, 2003 |title=Student Life alumni celebrate 125 years of publishing |url=https://source.washu.edu/2003/09/student-life-alumni-celebrate-125-years-of-publishing/ |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} and is published twice weekly by Washington University Student Media, Inc., an independent nonprofit incorporated in 1999.{{cite web |title=About Student Life |url=http://www.studlife.com/about-us/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729161926/http://www.studlife.com/about-us/ |archive-date=July 29, 2014 |access-date= |publisher=Student Life |quote=}} KWUR (90.3 FM) serves as the students' official radio station.{{Cite web |last=Cliburn |first=Erik |date=May 28, 2024 |title=Giving Voice to Increased Representation in Music |url=https://www.insightintodiversity.com/giving-voice-to-increased-representation-in-music/ |access-date= |website=Insight Into Diversity |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318055206/https://www.insightintodiversity.com/giving-voice-to-increased-representation-in-music/ |url-status=live }} In 2003, KWUR won the critic's choice from the Riverfront Times for the Best Radio Station in St. Louis.{{Cite web |title=Best Radio Station 2003 |url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/best-of/2003/arts-and-entertainment/best-radio-station-2464630 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240222010322/https://www.riverfronttimes.com/best-of/2003/arts-and-entertainment/best-radio-station-2464630 |archive-date=February 22, 2024 |access-date= |website=Riverfront Times |language=en}} WUTV is the university's closed-circuit television channel. It was founded in 1976.{{Cite web |last=Keaggy |first=Diane Toroian |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Student-run KWUR amplifies diverse music, student sounds |url=https://source.washu.edu/2024/03/student-run-kwur-amplifies-diverse-music-student-sounds/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250318063621/https://source.washu.edu/2024/03/student-run-kwur-amplifies-diverse-music-student-sounds/ |archive-date=March 18, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}}

Since 2006, the university began offering free MetroLink (St. Louis’s light rail commuter train system) passes to all full-time students, benefits-eligible faculty and staff, and full-time employees of qualified service providers.{{Cite web |date=March 3, 2006 |title=WUSTL to provide free Metro passes |url=https://source.washu.edu/2006/03/wustl-to-provide-free-metro-passes/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626183523/https://source.wustl.edu/2006/03/wustl-to-provide-free-metro-passes/ |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |access-date= |website=The Source |publisher=}}{{Cite web |last=Niemeyer |first=Kelly Wiese |date=May 6, 2025 |title=Register for parking permits, Metro passes soon |url=https://source.washu.edu/2025/05/register-for-parking-permits-metro-passes-soon/ |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} The Blue Line and the Red Line are on the Danforth Campus along Forest Park Parkway.{{Cite web |title=Metro Transit {{!}} Parking & Transportation |url=https://parking.wustl.edu/items/metro/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426194716/https://parking.wustl.edu/items/metro/ |archive-date=April 26, 2025 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis}} The Red Line provides access to the St. Louis Lambert International Airport, University of Missouri–St. Louis and the Delmar Loop. The Blue Line provides access to the suburbs of Clayton, Brentwood, and Richmond Heights. Both provide access to the Gateway Arch (U.S. National Historic Landmark in downtown St. Louis) and access to the village of Fairview, Illinois.{{Cite web |title=MetroLink |url=https://www.metrostlouis.org/metrolink/ |access-date=May 8, 2025 |website=Metro Transit – Saint Louis |language=en |archive-date=April 8, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408195100/https://www.metrostlouis.org/metrolink/ |url-status=live }}

The Washington University shuttle system includes a Campus Circulator (which provides free transportation around Danforth Campus for faculty, staff, students and guests) and seven neighborhood routes that go to locations outside of Danforth Campus.{{Cite web |title=WashU Campus Shuttle System |url=https://parking.wustl.edu/campus-shuttle-system/ |access-date=May 9, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis}}{{Cite web |title=Campus Circulator |url=https://parking.wustl.edu/items/campus-circulator/ |access-date=May 9, 2025 |website=Washington University in St. Louis Parking & Transportation |archive-date=May 9, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250509040728/https://parking.wustl.edu/items/campus-circulator/ |url-status=live }} In 2025, the Shopper Shuttle was introduced as a pilot program. The Shopper Shuttle provides transportation to Saint Louis Galleria (a shopping mall), Target, and Walmart.{{Cite web |last=Konstorum |first=Mary |date=February 13, 2025 |title=Shop ‘til you drop: WashU pilots new Shopper Shuttle |url=https://www.studlife.com/news/2025/02/13/shop-til-you-drop-washu-pilots-new-shopper-shuttle |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250509040728/https://www.studlife.com/news/2025/02/13/shop-til-you-drop-washu-pilots-new-shopper-shuttle |url-status=live }}

Every semester, Washington University hosts WILD, a concert in the Quad which brings in popular musical acts.{{Cite web |last=Keaggy |first=Diane Toroian |date=May 1, 2023 |title=Celebrating 50 years of WILD, one of WashU's largest campus traditions |url=https://source.washu.edu/2023/05/celebrating-50-years-of-wild-one-of-washus-largest-campus-traditions/ |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}} Other traditions include Thurtene Carnival (a student-run carnival),{{Cite news |date=April 17, 2016 |title=Thurtene Carnival is a highlight of spring |url=https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/thurtene-carnival-is-a-highlight-of-spring/collection_6d1ad705-207f-5a4d-b2fd-645ba299239b.html#3 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119113412/https://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/thurtene-carnival-is-a-highlight-of-spring/collection_6d1ad705-207f-5a4d-b2fd-645ba299239b.html#3 |archive-date=November 19, 2018 |access-date= |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} Vertigo (a dance party put on by the Engineering School Council),{{Cite web |date=December 1, 2022 |title=Vertigo returns to McKelvey Engineering |url=https://engineering.washu.edu/news/2022/Vertigo-returns-to-McKelvey-Engineering.html |access-date= |website=WashU Engineering |language=en}} and Residential Community Olympics (an annual competition between residential colleges featuring different sports and activities).{{Cite web |title=Congress of the South 40 |url=https://reslife.washu.edu/get-involved/congress-of-the-south-40/ |access-date=May 4, 2025 |website=WashU Residential Life |language=en-US}} Students also use the Underpass panels, a series of displays along the walls of the underpass connecting the South 40 to the main Danforth Campus,{{Cite web |last=Coulter |first=Sharon |date=September 23, 2020 |title=The Artists' Way: St. Louis Muralists Take Over Washington University Underpass |url=https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/a-lesson-in-art-at-washington-university-outside-class-34198454 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808231020/https://www.riverfronttimes.com/news/a-lesson-in-art-at-washington-university-outside-class-34198454 |archive-date=August 8, 2024 |access-date= |website=Riverfront Times |language=en}} to advertise events.{{Cite web |last=Humphrey |first=Thomas |date=February 18, 2019 |title=The dark side of the Underpass |url=https://www.studlife.com/forum/2019/02/17/the-dark-side-of-the-underpass |access-date= |website=Student Life |language=en}}

A superstition among students warns that stepping on the university seal at Brookings Hall will prevent one from graduating on time.{{Cite web |last=Early |first=Rosalind |date=August 6, 2018 |title=50 things every first-year WashU student must do |url=https://source.washu.edu/2018/08/50-things-every-first-year-washu-student-must-do/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214104723/https://source.washu.edu/2018/08/50-things-every-first-year-washu-student-must-do/ |archive-date=February 14, 2025 |access-date= |website=The Source |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Washington University Bears}}Washington University was a founding member of the University Athletic Association of NCAA Division III{{Cite web |date=December 20, 2023 |title=UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION |url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/u/university-athletic-association |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123074801/https://case.edu/ech/articles/u/university-athletic-association |archive-date=January 23, 2024 |access-date= |website=Case Western Reserve University |language=en}} and previously was a founding member of the Missouri Valley Conference.{{Cite web |title=This is The Valley |url=https://mvc-sports.com/sports/2017/5/16/GEN_0516170649.aspx |access-date=April 18, 2025 |website=Missouri Valley Conference |language=en}} It is also a member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.{{Cite web |last=Eisner |first=Matt |date=October 18, 2024 |title=Football to join North Coast Athletic Conference for 2026 season |url=https://www.studlife.com/sports/2024/10/18/football-to-join-north-coast-athletic-conference-for-2026-season |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=Student Life |language=en}}File:Francis Field 1904.jpg during the 1904 St. Louis Olympics]]

The Bears have won 26 NCAA Division III championships—ten in volleyball (1989, 1991–1996, 2003, 2007, 2009), five in women's basketball (1998–2001, 2010), two in men's basketball (2008, 2009), two in women's cross country (2011, 2018), two in women's outdoor track and field (2017, 2024), two in women's soccer (2016, 2024), one in men's tennis (2008), one in women's indoor track and field (2017), and one in men's indoor track and field (2022) – and 267 conference titles.{{Cite web |title=National Championships |url=https://washubears.com/sports/2022/6/6/athletics-department-championships.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250114190132/https://washubears.com/sports/2022/6/6/athletics-department-championships.aspx |archive-date=January 14, 2025 |access-date= |website=Washington University in St. Louis |language=en}} Its mascot is the Bear, and its official colors are red and green.{{Cite web |last=Ciorba |first=David |date=April 3, 2025 |title=The WashU Bear deserves a name |url=https://www.studlife.com/forum/2025/04/03/the-washu-bear-deserves-a-name |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=Student Life |language=}}File:238038658 c62059dc1f b.jpg

Washington University hosts more than 40 club sports.{{cite web |url=https://wustl.edu/about/university-facts/ |title=University Facts |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |access-date=September 14, 2024 |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704172135/https://wustl.edu/about/university-facts/ |url-status=live}}

Francis Olympic Field, formerly known as Francis Field,{{Cite news |date=October 27, 1907 |title=Washington Stadium is now called Francis Field |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/115742160/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201210505/https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch/115742160/ |archive-date=December 1, 2024 |access-date= |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |pages=31}}{{Cite web |last= |date=September 17, 2019 |title=WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY’S FRANCIS FIELD TO BE RENAMED FRANCIS OLYMPIC FIELD |url=https://stlsports.org/washington-universitys-francis-field-to-be-renamed-francis-olympic-field/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241014173036/https://stlsports.org/washington-universitys-francis-field-to-be-renamed-francis-olympic-field/ |archive-date=October 14, 2024 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Sports Commission |language=en-US}} is home to Washington University’s football, soccer, and track and field teams. It served as a venue for the 1904 Summer Olympics, the first Games held outside of Europe. In 2019, the stadium was renamed Francis Olympic Field to commemorate its Olympic heritage and St. Louis’ role as host city. The Olympic flame has passed through the field three times, during torch relays for the 1984 Los Angeles, 1996 Atlanta, and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.{{Cite web |title=Francis Field Stadium |url=https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/francis-field-stadium |access-date=March 8, 2024 |publisher=International Olympic Committee}}

{{Main|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Washington University in St. Louis as alumni or faculty|Category: Washington University in St. Louis people}}

Washington University has more than 166,000 living alumni and 22,530 employees {{As of|2024|lc=y|pre=Fiscal Year}}. Of these 22,530 employees, 4,551 are faculty and 17,979 are administrative staff.

{{As of|2024}}, 26 Nobel laureates, 11 Pulitzer Prize winners, 4 United States Poets Laureate, and 6 MacArthur Fellows have been affiliated with the university as faculty or alumni.{{Cite web |last=Rooney |first=Sonya |title=Awards and Learned Society Memberships earned by WashU faculty, students, and trustees |url=https://libguides.wustl.edu/wustl-faq/awards |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929210253/https://libguides.wustl.edu/wustl-faq/awards |archive-date=September 29, 2023 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |publisher=WashU Libraries |language=en}} Its alumni and faculty have also received numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, National Medal of Science, National Medal of Arts, Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Putnam Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, along with memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of London, American Institute of Architects, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Law Institute, American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Washington University alumni also include 17 university presidents, 21 members of the United States Congress, 30 Rhodes Scholars, 20 Truman Scholars, 7 Marshall Scholars and 2 Churchill Scholars.{{Cite web |title=U.S. Rhodes Scholarships Number of Winners by Institution U.S. Rhodes Scholars 1904 – 2023 |url=https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/46976/2023-rs-number-of-winners-by-institution.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122231744/https://www.rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk/media/46976/2023-rs-number-of-winners-by-institution.pdf |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |access-date=January 5, 2023 |publisher=The Rhodes Trust}}{{Cite web |last=Keaggy |first=Diane Toroian |date=December 13, 2021 |title=Senior Kuziez named Marshall Scholar |url=https://source.wustl.edu/2021/12/senior-kuziez-named-marshall-scholar/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240101045527/https://source.wustl.edu/2021/12/senior-kuziez-named-marshall-scholar/ |archive-date=January 1, 2024 |access-date=January 1, 2024 |website=The Source |publisher= |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Churchill Scholarship |url=https://churchillscholarship.org/scholars.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415055657/https://www.churchillscholarship.org/scholars.html |archive-date=April 15, 2021}}

{{See also|List of Washington University alumni|Category: Washington University in St. Louis alumni}}

In the sciences, alumni include Nobel laureates such as Earl Sutherland,{{Cite news |date=March 10, 1974 |title=Dr. Earl W. Sutherland Jr. Dies; 1971 Nobel Laureate in Medicine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/03/10/archives/dr-earl-w-sutherland-jr-dies1971-nobel-laureate-in-medicine.html |access-date=April 29, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Edwin Krebs{{Cite journal |last=Catterall |first=William A. |last2=Scott |first2=John D. |date=January 29, 2010 |title=Edwin G. Krebs (1918–2009) |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1186913 |url-status=live |journal=Science |volume=327 |issue=5965 |pages=537–537 |doi=10.1126/science.1186913 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106225908/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1186913 |archive-date=January 6, 2023 |access-date=|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=December 20, 2024 |title=Unraveling Cellular Mysteries: The Scientific Legacy of Edwin G. Krebs |url=https://observervoice.com/6-june-remembering-edwin-g-krebs-on-birthday-25203/ |access-date= |website=Observer Voice |language=en-US}} and Daniel Nathans, all in physiology or medicine.{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2019 |title=Daniel Nathans - Profiles in Science |url=https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/pd/feature/biographical-overview |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519004205/https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/spotlight/pd/feature/biographical-overview |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |access-date= |website=United States National Library of Medicine |language=en}} Other notable scientists include J. C. R. Licklider (pioneer in the development of computing and the Internet),{{Cite web |title=J. C. R. Licklider |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/j-c-r-licklider |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=EBSCO |language=en}} Julian W. Hill (discoverer of nylon),{{Cite news |last=Stout |first=David |author-link=David Stout |date=February 1, 1996 |title=Julian W. Hill, Nylon's Discoverer, Dies at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/01/us/julian-w-hill-nylon-s-discoverer-dies-at-91.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104040318/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/01/us/julian-w-hill-nylon-s-discoverer-dies-at-91.html |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Clyde Cowan (co-discoverer of the neutrino){{Cite journal |last=Reines |first=Frederick |date=August 1, 1974 |title=Clyde L. Cowan Jr |url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3128835 |url-status=live |journal=Physics Today |volume=27 |issue=8 |pages=68–69 |bibcode=1974PhT....27h..68R |doi=10.1063/1.3128835 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725194836/https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.3128835 |archive-date=July 25, 2021|url-access=subscription }} and Bob Behnken (NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office).{{Cite web |last=Tonnessen |first=Heather |date=August 30, 2016 |title=Robert L. Behnken (Colonel, USAF, RET., PH.D.) NASA Astronaut |url=http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/robert-l-behnken/biography |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414212703/https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/robert-l-behnken/biography/ |archive-date=April 14, 2022 |access-date= |website=NASA}}{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Ben |date=May 24, 2020 |title=Meet the Crew: Hurley, Behnken Primed for Historic U.S. Return to Space |url=https://www.americaspace.com/2020/05/24/meet-the-crew-hurley-behnken-primed-for-historic-u-s-return-to-space/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240913080808/https://www.americaspace.com/2020/05/24/meet-the-crew-hurley-behnken-primed-for-historic-u-s-return-to-space/ |archive-date=September 13, 2024 |access-date= |website=AmericaSpace |language=en-US}}

In politics and public service, alumni include William H. Webster (the only person to serve as director of both the FBI and CIA),{{Cite web |last=Hutchinson |first=Daphne |date=April 8, 2024 |title=Former FBI and CIA Director William Webster: Answering the call of his country |url=https://www.fauquiernow.com/news/former-fbi-and-cia-director-william-webster-answering-the-call-of-his-country/article_a0267739-f60f-5c09-9eb7-7023358fbd0a.html |access-date= |website=FauquierNow |language=en}} Rochelle Walensky (Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),{{Cite web |last=LeMieux |first=Julianna |date=December 9, 2020 |title=Five Things to Know about the New CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky |url=https://www.genengnews.com/topics/coronavirus/five-things-to-know-about-the-new-cdc-director-rochelle-walensky/ |access-date= |website=Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News |language=}} and Clark Clifford (political advisor to presidents Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter).{{Cite web |last=Berger |first=Marilyn |author-link=Marilyn Berger |date=October 11, 1998 |title=Clark Clifford, a Major Adviser To Four Presidents, Is Dead at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/11/us/clark-clifford-a-major-adviser-to-four-presidents-is-dead-at-91.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201110053234/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/11/us/clark-clifford-a-major-adviser-to-four-presidents-is-dead-at-91.html |archive-date=November 10, 2020 |access-date= |website=The New York Times}} Others include Jim Talent (former U.S. senator from Missouri),{{Cite web |title=Jim Talent |url=https://bipartisanpolicy.org/person/jim-talent/ |access-date=April 29, 2025 |website=Bipartisan Policy Center |language=en |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705115621/https://bipartisanpolicy.org/person/jim-talent/ |url-status=live }} Alan J. Dixon (former U.S. senator from Illinois),{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=July 8, 2014 |title=Alan J. Dixon, 86, Is Dead; U.S. Senator Who Championed Illinois |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/politics/alan-j-dixon-86-is-dead-us-senator-who-championed-illinois.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125054213/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/politics/alan-j-dixon-86-is-dead-us-senator-who-championed-illinois.html |archive-date=January 25, 2025 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Alexander M. Dockery (Governor of Missouri),{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=February 11, 2025 |title=Governor Alexander Dockery is Born: February 11, 1845 |url=https://missourilife.com/alexander-dockery-birthday-february-11-1845/ |access-date= |website=Missouri Life |language=en-US}} Siniša Mali (finance minister of Serbia),{{Cite web |last=Ralev |first=Radomir |date=May 30, 2018 |title=Serbia's new finance minister vows to cut debt, keep fiscal stability |url=https://seenews.com/news/serbias-new-finance-minister-vows-to-cut-debt-keep-fiscal-stability-614475 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731015846/https://seenews.com/news/serbias-new-finance-minister-vows-to-cut-debt-keep-fiscal-stability-614475 |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |access-date= |website=SeeNews |language=en}} Jonathan Mann (first director of the World Health Organization's Global Program on AIDS),{{Cite news |last=Hilts |first=Philip J. |author-link=Philip J. Hilts |date=September 4, 1998 |title=Jonathan Mann, AIDS Pioneer, Is Dead at 51 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/04/us/jonathan-mann-aids-pioneer-is-dead-at-51.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230108053154/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/04/us/jonathan-mann-aids-pioneer-is-dead-at-51.html |archive-date=January 8, 2023 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} and Phoebe Couzins (first female U.S. Marshal in the U.S.).{{Cite news |date=December 7, 1913 |title=PHOEBE COUZINS DIES AT 72; First Woman Lawyer in United States Succumbs in Poverty. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/12/07/100290494.html?pageNumber=19 |access-date=March 7, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}}

In business and entrepreneurship, alumni include Avram Glazer (executive co-chairman of Manchester United),{{Cite web |last=Gregory |first=Ross |date=May 5, 2021 |title=Avram Glazer: who is the Man Utd co-owner and what has he said about European Super League plot? |url=https://www.nationalworld.com/sport/football/avram-glazer-who-is-the-man-utd-co-owner-and-what-has-he-said-about-european-super-league-plot-3224871 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612110304/https://www.nationalworld.com/sport/football/avram-glazer-who-is-the-man-utd-co-owner-and-what-has-he-said-about-european-super-league-plot-3224871 |archive-date=June 12, 2021 |access-date= |website=National World |language=en}} Jim McKelvey (co-founder of Square Inc), Arnold W. Donald (president and chief executive officer of Carnival Corporation),{{Cite web |title=Arnold Donald's Biography |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/arnold-donald |access-date=May 10, 2025 |website=The HistoryMakers |language=en}} and Charles Nagel (founder of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce).{{Cite web |last=Ragan |first=Cooper |title=Nagel, Charles |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/nagel-charles |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101073358/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/nagel-charles |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |access-date= |website=Texas State Historical Association}}

In the arts, media and performing arts, alumni include Harold Ramis (Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day and Animal House),{{Cite web |title=Harold Ramis |url=https://stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductee/harold-ramis/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221044734/http://stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductee/harold-ramis/ |archive-date=February 21, 2022 |access-date=July 30, 2022 |publisher=St. Louis Walk of Fame |language=en-US}} Peter Sarsgaard (award-winning actor),{{Cite news |last=Cardenas |first=Felipe |date=March 10, 2021 |title=Q&A: Peter Sarsgaard on his love of soccer, St. Louis and Socrates (the player) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2441023/2021/03/10/peter-sarsgaard-soccer/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919021419/https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/2441023/2021/03/10/peter-sarsgaard-soccer/ |archive-date=September 19, 2024 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Lowman |first=Rob |date=April 12, 2009 |title=Peter Sarsgaard on soccer, acting and family |url=https://www.dailynews.com/2009/04/12/peter-sarsgaard-on-soccer-acting-and-family/ |access-date= |website=Los Angeles Daily News |language=en-US}} Robert Guillaume (Emmy-winning actor in Benson, first African American to play the title role in Phantom of the Opera, and voice of Rafiki in Disney’s The Lion King),{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Stacy M. |date=October 27, 2017 |title=Robert Guillaume Remembered as a True Legend |url=https://www.washingtoninformer.com/robert-guillaume-remembered-as-a-true-legend/ |access-date= |website=The Washington Informer |language=en-US |archive-date=December 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231201195001/https://www.washingtoninformer.com/robert-guillaume-remembered-as-a-true-legend/ |url-status=live }} Dave Garroway (founding host of NBC’s Today),{{Cite web |date=October 25, 2019 |title=Dave Garroway |url=https://walkoffame.com/dave-garroway/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203120334/https://walkoffame.com/dave-garroway/ |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |access-date= |website=Hollywood Walk of Fame |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=July 18, 1969 |title=Comebacks: Peace, Old Tiger |url=https://time.com/archive/6637168/comebacks-peace-old-tiger/ |access-date= |website=Time |language=en}} and Steven Sater (Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet and playwright).{{Cite news |last=Wadler |first=Joyce |author-link=Joyce Wadler |date=December 14, 2006 |title=Storming Broadway From Atop a Fortress |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/garden/14dakota.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221213174045/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/garden/14dakota.html |archive-date=December 13, 2022 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Literary and cultural figures include Fannie Hurst (prolific novelist),{{Cite web |last=Atlas |first=Nava |date=July 14, 2018 |title=Fannie Hurst, Author of Imitation of Life |url=https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/hurst-fannie/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129080927/https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/hurst-fannie/ |archive-date=November 29, 2023 |access-date= |website=Literary Ladies Guide |language=en-US}} Dan Simmons (Hugo Award winner),{{Cite web |last=White |first=Claire E. |title=A Conversation With Dan Simmons |url=https://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dan-simmons-9012#google_vignette |access-date=April 25, 2025 |website=Writers Write |language=en}} and A.E. Hotchner (playwright and novelist).{{Cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=February 15, 2020 |title=A. E. Hotchner, Writer and Friend of the Famous, Dies at 102 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/books/a-e-hotchner-dead.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215213813/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/15/books/a-e-hotchner-dead.html |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In architecture, George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata, and George Kassabaum founded HOK, one of the world’s largest architectural firms.{{Cite web |date=November 16, 1999 |title=George Hellmuth; 'Sold' Architect Firm's Ideas |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-16-9911160111-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610143136/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-11-16-9911160111-story.html |archive-date=June 10, 2020 |access-date= |website=Chicago Tribune}}

Higher education leaders include Abram L. Sachar (founding president of Brandeis University) and Thomas Lamb Eliot (founder of Reed College).{{Cite news |last=Lyons |first=Richard D. |date=July 25, 1993 |title=Dr. Abram L. Sachar, Historian And 1st Brandeis U. President, 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/25/obituaries/dr-abram-l-sachar-historian-and-1st-brandeis-u-president-94.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118043910/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/25/obituaries/dr-abram-l-sachar-historian-and-1st-brandeis-u-president-94.html |archive-date=January 18, 2018 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Romel |date=June 1, 2014 |title=The Minister Who Shaped a College—And a City |url=https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/articles/2014/thomas-lamb-eliot.html |access-date= |website=Reed Magazine |language=en-us |archive-date=June 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609081000/https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/articles/2014/thomas-lamb-eliot.html |url-status=live }} Alumni also include the former presidents of Johns Hopkins,{{Cite news |last=Altman |first=Lawrence K. |date=November 18, 1999 |title=Daniel Nathans, 71, Pioneer in DNA Research |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/18/us/daniel-nathans-71-pioneer-in-dna-research.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230232438/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/18/us/daniel-nathans-71-pioneer-in-dna-research.html |archive-date=December 30, 2023 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Clemson,{{Cite web |last=Trotter |first=Stephanie |date=August 1, 2022 |title=Tiger Town Legends |url=https://towncarolina.com/tiger-town-legends-james-barker-and-marcia-barker/ |access-date= |website=TOWN Carolina |language=en-US}} Wake Forest,{{Cite web |date=January 22, 2005 |title=Hatch named next president of Wake Forest University |url=https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/2005/01/22/hatch-named-next-president-of-wake-forest-university/29745396007/ |access-date= |website=Spartanburg Herald Journal |language=en-US}} Morehouse,{{Cite web |title=Walter E. Massey's Biography |url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/walter-e-massey-39 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912044619/https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/walter-e-massey-39 |archive-date=September 12, 2024 |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=The HistoryMakers |language=en}} Florida A&M University,{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Danielle J. |date=December 31, 2019 |title=Dr. Larry Robinson On The Science of a University |url=https://www.tallahasseemagazine.com/dr-larry-robinson-on-the-science-of-a-university/ |access-date= |website=Tallahassee Magazine |language=en-US}} Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,{{Cite news |last=Guttenplan |first=D.D. |date=October 16, 2011 |title=First, Catch Your Faculty: A Recipe for Excellence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/world/americas/17iht-educLede17.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241215101837/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/world/americas/17iht-educLede17.html |archive-date=December 15, 2024 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} University of Louisville,{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |date=November 30, 2022 |title=University Of Louisville Names Kim Schatzel As Its New President |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/11/30/university-of-louisville-names-kim-schatzel-as-its-new-president/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129040610/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/11/30/university-of-louisville-names-kim-schatzel-as-its-new-president/ |archive-date=January 29, 2023 |access-date= |website=Forbes |language=en}} San Francisco State University, and University of California.{{Cite web |last= |date=April 3, 2013 |title=Honorary Member: Edward S. Holden |url=https://www.rasc.ca/honorary-member-edward-s-holden |access-date= |website=The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada |language=en |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203120529/https://www.rasc.ca/honorary-member-edward-s-holden |url-status=live }}

Notable individuals who attended but did not graduate include Tennessee Williams (a renowned playwright who left after a prize dispute),{{Cite book |last=Schvey |first=Henry I. |author-link=Henry Schvey |title=Blue Song: St. Louis in the Life and Work of Tennessee Williams |publisher=University of Missouri Press |year=2021 |isbn=978-0826222305 |pages=xi}}{{Cite news |last=Coleman |first=Nancy |date=August 23, 2021 |title=Staging 'The Glass Menagerie' on the Fire Escapes That Inspired It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/theater/glass-menagerie-tennessee-williams-st-louis.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105210844/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/23/theater/glass-menagerie-tennessee-williams-st-louis.html |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |access-date= |work=The New York Times}} Robert Culp (I Spy, Everybody Loves Raymond),{{Cite news |last=Grimes |first=William |date=March 25, 2010 |title=Robert Culp, Star in ‘I Spy,’ Dies at 79 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/arts/television/25culp.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111084251/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/arts/television/25culp.html |archive-date=January 11, 2020 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} and Marilyn vos Savant (IQ-record holder who pursued family business interests).{{Cite web |date=September 29, 1985 |title=Meet the World's Smartest Person |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-09-29-8503060260-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731020151/https://www.chicagotribune.com/ |archive-date=July 31, 2022 |access-date= |website=Chicago Tribune}}

File:Robertbehnkenv2.jpg|Bob Behnken

File:Robert Guillaume 1977.JPG|Robert Guillaume

File:Jim Studio Headshow.jpeg|Jim McKelvey

File:HaroldRamisOct2009.jpg|Harold Ramis

File:Peter Sarsgaard (31957641966) (cropped).jpg|Peter Sarsgaard

File:Rochelle Walensky, CDC Director (cropped).jpg|Rochelle Walensky

File:William H Webster.jpg|William H. Webster

File:Tennessee Williams NYWTS.jpg|Tennessee Williams

{{See also|List of Washington University faculty and staff|Category:Washington University in St. Louis faculty}}

Notable faculty at Washington University have included Roger Nash Baldwin (American Civil Liberties Union cofounder{{Cite news |last=Pearson |first=Richard |date=August 27, 1981 |title=Roger Baldwin, a Founder of ACLU, Dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/08/27/roger-baldwin-a-founder-of-aclu-dies/7e59e24d-bbf9-448e-9b53-894c6e44f81e/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827161758/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1981/08/27/roger-baldwin-a-founder-of-aclu-dies/7e59e24d-bbf9-448e-9b53-894c6e44f81e/ |archive-date=August 27, 2017 |access-date=November 3, 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} and Washington University's first instructor in sociology),{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2017 |title=Looking back: Roger Nash Baldwin, Unitarian co-founder of ACLU |url=https://www.uuworld.org/articles/looking-back-roger-nash-baldwin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125125231/https://www.uuworld.org/articles/looking-back-roger-nash-baldwin |archive-date=January 25, 2025 |access-date= |website=UU World Magazine |language=en}} Gerty Cori (the first woman Nobel laureate in Physiology/Medicine),{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize {{!}} Women who changed science {{!}} Gerty Cori |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/gerty-cori |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331142429/https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/gerty-cori |archive-date=March 31, 2022 |access-date= |website=The Nobel Prize |language=en}} Rita Levi-Montalcini (Nobel laureate, co-discover of nerve growth factor),{{Cite web |title=The Nobel Prize {{!}} Women who changed science {{!}} Rita Levi-Montalcini |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/rita-levi-montalcini |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506000624/https://www.nobelprize.org/womenwhochangedscience/stories/rita-levi-montalcini |archive-date=May 6, 2022 |access-date= |website=The Nobel Prize |language=en}} Peter Mutharika (President of Malawi),{{Cite web |last=Cambria |first=Nancy |date=June 2, 2014 |title=New president of Malawi taught at Washington University law school for nearly 40 years |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/new-president-of-malawi-taught-at-washington-university-law-school-for-nearly-40-years/article_295d73e8-3438-5e73-acca-c5fdd9fa575c.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006225616/https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/new-president-of-malawi-taught-at-washington-university-law-school-for-nearly-40-years/article_295d73e8-3438-5e73-acca-c5fdd9fa575c.html |archive-date=October 6, 2021 |access-date= |website=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |language=en}} William Inge (Playwright, Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1953),{{Cite web |last=Preston |first=Dick |date=May 5, 2020 |title=Beyond the Trivia - William Inge |url=https://krcgtv.com/features/beyond-the-trivia/beyond-the-trivia-william-inge |access-date=April 20, 2025 |website=KRCG |language=en}}{{Cite web |last= |date=December 17, 2024 |title=William Inge |url=https://stlouiswalkoffame.org/william-inge/ |access-date= |website=St. Louis Walk of Fame |language=en-US}} Arthur Oncken Lovejoy (founded the American Association of University Professors),{{Cite web |date=June 28, 2016 |title=Arthur O. Lovejoy |url=https://philosophy.jhu.edu/about/early-hopkins-philosophers/lovejoy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109003505/https://philosophy.jhu.edu/about/early-hopkins-philosophers/lovejoy/ |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |access-date= |publisher=Johns Hopkins University |language=en-US}} Mona Van Duyn (Pulitzer Prize winner, National Book Award winner and first woman U.S. Poet Laureate),{{Cite web |title=Mona Van Duyn |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/n81147222/mona-van-duyn/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240920180357/https://www.loc.gov/item/n81147222/mona-van-duyn/ |archive-date=September 20, 2024 |access-date= |website=Library of Congress}}{{Cite web |title=Mona Van Duyn |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mona-van-duyn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331235436/https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/mona-van-duyn |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=Poetry Foundation}} Howard Nemorov (U.S. Poet Laureate, National Medal of Arts recipient, Bollingen Prize winner),{{Cite web |title=Howard Nemerov |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poets-laureate/item/n78084908/howard-nemerov/ |access-date=March 9, 2025 |website=Library of Congress}}{{Cite news |last=Pearson |first=Richard |date=July 7, 1991 |title=HOWARD NEMEROV, PULITZER-WINNING POET, DIES AT 71 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1991/07/07/howard-nemerov-pulitzer-winning-poet-dies-at-71/932aa8bb-d5b4-4084-ba39-f2e4e3bc6ec1/ |access-date=January 24, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} Joseph W. Kennedy (co-discoverer of the element plutonium),{{Cite web |title=Joseph W. Kennedy - Nuclear Museum |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/joseph-w-kennedy/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917080643/https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/joseph-w-kennedy/ |archive-date=September 17, 2024 |access-date= |website=Atomic Heritage Foundation |language=en-US}} Barbara A. Schaal (first woman VP of National Academy of Sciences),{{Cite web |last=Evangelou Strait |first=Julia |date=June 8, 2009 |title=Washington U. scientist Barbara Schaal named to presidential panel |url=https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2009-06-07/washington-u-scientist-barbara-schaal-named-to-presidential-panel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127065155/https://news.stlpublicradio.org/health-science-environment/2009-06-07/washington-u-scientist-barbara-schaal-named-to-presidential-panel |archive-date=November 27, 2022 |access-date= |website=STLPR |language=en}} Henry Smith Pritchett (Head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching),{{Cite web |last=Redmon |first=Michael |date=August 6, 2014 |title=Henry Smith Pritchett Head of the Carnegie Foundation Benefited the City in Many Ways |url=https://www.independent.com/2014/08/06/henry-smith-pritchett/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109003508/https://www.independent.com/2014/08/06/henry-smith-pritchett/ |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |access-date= |website=Santa Barbara Independent |language=en-US}} Virginia E. Johnson (co-author of Human Sexual Response),{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Margalit |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Virginia Johnson, Widely Published Collaborator in Sex Research, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/us/virginia-johnson-masterss-collaborator-in-sex-research-dies-at-88.html |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612185954/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/us/virginia-johnson-masterss-collaborator-in-sex-research-dies-at-88.html |url-status=live }} and Thomas Eagleton (United States senator from Missouri).{{Cite news |last=Clymer |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Clymer |date=March 5, 2007 |title=Thomas F. Eagleton, 77, a Running Mate for 18 Days, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/washington/05eagleton.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180922101606/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/washington/05eagleton.html |archive-date=September 22, 2018 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Hodgson |first=Godfrey |date=March 6, 2007 |title=Thomas Eagleton |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/06/guardianobituaries.obituaries |access-date=March 9, 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

File:Roger Nash Baldwin.jpg|Roger Nash Baldwin

File:Gerty Theresa Cori.jpg|Gerty Cori

File:Thomas Eagleton official portrait.jpg|Thomas Eagleton

File:Williaminge (cropped and cleaned).jpg|William Inge

File:Joseph W. Kennedy Los Alamos identity badge photo.jpg|Joseph W. Kennedy

File:Rita Levi Montalcini (cropped).jpg|Rita Levi-Montalcini

File:Arthur Peter Mutharika 2014 (cropped).jpg|Peter Mutharika

File:Mona Van Duyn.jpg|Mona Van Duyn

• Center for Social Development
• Central Institute for the Deaf
• Crow Observatory
• Tyson Research Center
• Washington University School of Dental Medicine
• Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}

• {{Cite book |last=O'Connor |first=Candice |author-link=Candace O'Connor |url=https://archive.org/details/beginninggreatwo0000ocon |title=Beginning a Great Work: Washington University in St. Louis, 1853–2003. |publisher=Washington University in St. Louis |year=2003 |isbn=978-0972096645}}
• {{Cite book |last=Morrow |first=Ralph E. |title=Washington University in St. Louis: a history |date= |publisher=Missouri Historical Society Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-883982-10-2 |edition=1st |location=St. Louis}}

{{Refend}}

• Morrow, Ralph E. Washington University in St. Louis: A History. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-1883982102}}
• Mumford, Eric. Modern Architecture in St. Louis: Washington University and Postwar American Architecture, 1948–1973. St. Louis: Washington University School of Architecture, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0972096652}}

• O'Connor, Candace. Beginning a Great Work: Washington University in St. Louis, 1853–2003. St. Louis: Washington University in St. Louis, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0972096645}}
• O'Connor, Candace. What We Believe: A History of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work 1909-2007. St. Louis: Washington University in St. Louis, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0981541518}}
• Pickens, Bufford. Washington University in St. Louis: Its Design and Architecture. St. Louis: Washington University, 1978. {{ISBN|978-0936316062}}

{{commons category}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://washubears.com/ Athletics website]
• {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Washington University|short=x}}
• {{Cite PSM|Washington University|volume=64|month-and-year=February 1904}}

{{WUSTL}}

{{Navboxes

|titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle|WUSTL Bears|color=white}}

|list =

{{George Washington}}

{{Colleges and universities in Missouri}}

{{Education in St. Louis County, Missouri}}

{{Education in St. Louis}}

{{Clayton, Missouri}}

{{QuestBridge}}

{{St. Louis Colleges}}

{{Association of American Universities}}

{{HCP Research Network}}

{{College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin navbox}}

{{University Athletic Association navbox}}

{{Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities}}

}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Universities and colleges established in 1853

Category:1853 establishments in Missouri

Category:Collegiate Gothic architecture in Missouri

Category:Private universities and colleges in Missouri

Category:Universities and colleges in St. Louis

Category:Universities and colleges in St. Louis County, Missouri

Category:Education in Clayton, Missouri

Category:Universities and colleges accredited by the Higher Learning Commission

Category:Need-blind educational institutions

Category:University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri