Founded in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered prior to the American Revolution. The university has four undergraduate schools — Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Science, Nursing, and Wharton — as well as 12 graduate and professional schools. It is also home to a number of world-renowned research centers and institutes, including the Penn Medicine complex, which comprises eight hospitals and clinics; the Perelman School of Medicine; and the Schools of Dental Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Nursing. With an endowment of over $13 billion, Penn is one of the wealthiest universities in the world.
The University of Pennsylvania’s history begins with its founder, Benjamin Franklin. A leading figure in early American society, Franklin was a polymath who excelled in many fields. He was a printer by trade, but he also wrote Poor Richard’s Almanack and published several works on science and politics. He served as Postmaster General under British rule and as Deputy Postmaster General under the Continental Congress. He was a delegate to both the First Continental Congress in 1774 and the Second Continental Congress in 1775. In addition to his work as a politician and publisher, Franklin was also an inventor; among his most famous inventions are bifocals and the lightning rod.
In 1749, at age 42, Franklin proposed “An Academy for Young Men” to be located in Philadelphia. His idea was met with some skepticism from fellow Philadelphians—after all, there were already several established institutions of higher learning in Philadelphia—but he persevered nonetheless. In 1751