In the early years of the United States, higher education was a privilege reserved for the wealthy. In 1787, Benjamin Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania as a private institution to train young men in science and engineering. Two decades later, another private university – Princeton – was established in New Jersey. These two institutions set the standard for American higher education and laid the foundation for what would become one of the most respected public university systems in the world – The State University of New York (SUNY).
The first state-funded university in America was The College of William & Mary, which opened its doors in Virginia in 1693. Massachusetts followed suit with Harvard College in 1636 and Yale University in 1701. These three Ivy League schools remain among the most prestigious universities in America today.
In 1850, California became home to the very first land-grant university – UC Berkeley. This new type of institution was created as part of President Abraham Lincoln’s Morrill Act, which provided federal funding for colleges that focused on agriculture and engineering. Today, there are nearly 200 land-grant universities across America, including all four schools that make up SUNY: Cornell University, Syracuse University, SUNY Buffalo, and SUNY Stony Brook.
The City of Pittsburgh is home to one of America’s premier public research universities: The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt). Established in 1787 as Pitt Academy by Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Pitt is one of only nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution still in operation today. It is also one of only 25 “Colonial Colleges” founded prior to 1776 that now form part of a state university system.
Pitt has long been recognized as a leader in medical research and patient care. In 1883, Drs. William Halsted and William Osler pioneered surgical residency training at Pitt’s affiliate hospitals; this model quickly spread throughout America and is still used today. In 1909, Drs.$thinspace$Frederick$thinspace$Moffett$thinspace$and$thinspace$Franklin$$thinspace$Costello performed some of the earliest successful blood transfusions at Allegheny General Hospital; their work paved the way for modern blood banking practices.$linebreak $And over at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC), German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin began classifying mental illness into distinct categories – an approach that remains central to psychiatric diagnosis even after more than a century.$linebreak $Today, Pitt’s Schools of Medicine$, thinspace Nursing$, thinspace Dentistry$, thinspace Health Sciences$, thinspace Pharmacy$, & $ Public Health are collectively ranked 11th overall by U.S. News & World Report$. $ And WPIC is consistently ranked among America’s top psychiatric hospitals$. $linebreak $But it’s not just our medical researchers who are making waves$. $ Our faculty members across all disciplines are engaged in pathbreaking scholarship that is transforming lives both here Pittsburgh and around globe$. $ Here are just few examples: \
•Anthony Atala , M.D. , director WPI’s Regenerative Medicine Institute , is using 3D printing technology to create custom organs from patients’ own cells \ \ •Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute Director Illah Nourbakhsh led team created robot named Sharkie equipped with GPS collar track great white sharks ocean \ \ •Heinz School Dean Mark Krabbenhoft leading development “smart grid” technologies help utilities companies manage electricity demand more efficiently \ \ •Kathleen Donohue studies how plant hormones interact regulate growth processes – findings could lead improved crop yields pest resistance .