University of Memphis Information

The University of Memphis, colloquially known as U of M, is a public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 21,000 students.

The university maintains The Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI), The Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, the former Lambuth University campus (now a branch campus of The University of Memphis), The Loewenberg College of Nursing, The School of Public Health, The College of Communication and Fine Arts, The FedEx Institute of Technology, The Advanced Distributed Learning Workforce Co-Lab, and The Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology.

The University of Memphis is associated with the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) system, consisting of 18 Board Members. However, as of May 2017, it is governed by an institutional Board of Trustees. Within this framework, the President of the University of Memphis is the day-to-day administrator of the university.

The University of Memphis today comprises a number of different colleges and schools:

The University of Memphis is host to several centers of advanced research:

The University of Memphis Foundation, founded in 1964, manages the university endowment and accepts, manages and disburses private support to the university.

In 1909, the Tennessee Legislature enacted the General Education Bill. This bill stated that three colleges be established, one within each grand division of the state and one additional school for African-American students. After much bidding and campaigning, the state had to choose between two sites to build the new college for West Tennessee: Jackson and Memphis. Memphis was chosen, one of the main reasons being the proximity of the rail line to the site proposed to build the new college for West Tennessee. This would allow professors and students to go home and visit their relatives. The other three schools established through the General Education Act evolved into East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), and Tennessee State University (TSU).

Prior to the establishment of the West Tennessee Normal School[clarification needed] pursuant to the General Education Bill, a number of higher education departments existed in Memphis under the banner of the University of Memphis. This earlier University of Memphis was formed in 1909 by adding to an already existing medical schools departments of pharmacy, dentistry, and law.

On September 10, 1912, West Tennessee Normal School opened in Memphis; its first president was Seymour A. Mynders. By 1913 all departments of the earlier University of Memphis, except the law school, had been taken over by West Tennessee Normal School. After Mynders death in 1913, John Willard Brister was chosen to take his place. After Bristers resignation in 1918, Andrew A. Kincannon became president. In 1924, Brister returned to his post as president of the school.

The name changed in 1925 to West Tennessee State Teachers College. In 1931, the campus first newspaper, The Tiger Rag, was established. In 1939, Richard C. Jones became president of WTSTC. In 1941, the name was changed to Memphis State College, when the college expanded its liberal arts curriculum. In 1943, Dr. Jennings B. Sanders succeeded Jones as president. Three years later, the first alumnus to become president, J. Millard (Jack) Smith, was appointed. In 1951 MSC awarded its first B.A. degrees. In 1957 the school received full University status and changed its name accordingly to Memphis State University.

In 1959, five years after Brown v. Board of Education the university admitted its first black students. Racial segregation was the norm throughout the South at the time. The Memphis State Eight, as they were known, were admitted to Memphis State University. Their presence on campus was the focus not only of intense media scrutiny, but severe criticism from much of the local public. Ostensibly for the black students safety and to maintain an air of calm on the campus, University administrators placed certain restrictions on where and when the black students could be on campus. They were to go only to their classes, not to any of the public places on campus, such as the cafeteria; and they were to leave the campus immediately after they had finished their last class. These limitations were lifted after the novelty of their presence on campus had subsided and the publics focus on their presence there had lessened, and as more and more black students were admitted to the university. Today, black students make up more than one-third of the campus student body and participate in all campus activities.

Cecil C. Humphreys became president of MSU, succeeding Smith, in 1960. In 1966, the school began awarding doctoral degrees. Humphreys resigned as MSU president to become the first chancellor of the newly formed State University and Community College System, later renamed the Tennessee Board of Regents. John Richardson was appointed interim president.

In 1973, Dr. Billy Mac Jones became president. Also that year, the Memphis State Tiger mens basketball team reached the finals of the NCAA tournament, only to fall at the hands of a UCLA team led by future NBA superstar and Hall of Famer Bill Walton in The NCAA Basketball Championship Game in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1980, Thomas Carpenter became president of MSU; he was succeeded by V. Lane Rawlins in 1991. On July 1, 1994, Memphis State University changed its name again, to the University of Memphis.

V. Lane Rawlins served from 1991 to 2000; Dr. Ralph Faudree filled in as interim president for one year after V. Lane Rawlins departure. In 2001, The U of M installed its first female president, Shirley Raines, who retired in the summer of 2013. After a yearlong search, Dr. M. David Rudd was confirmed as the 12th president on May 1, 2014.

The University of Memphis campus is located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of downtown in the University District neighborhood of east Memphis. It has an area of 1,160 acres (4.7 km2), although this figure does not include the law school in the former United States federal customshouse in downtown Memphis, which opened in January 2010. The historical core of campus encompasses approximately 30 acres (120,000 m2).

Campus planners have significantly increased the amount of green space and the number of walkways over the past several years, while maintaining the original historic architecture of the campus.

Surrounding the universitys main campus are several historic neighborhoods to the north and east, as well as the University District neighborhood and the commercial Highland Strip to the west. Many University of Memphis college students also reside in housing south of the main campus.

The University of Memphis campus is set out in a rectilinear format, planned as a geometric design similar to the Jeffersonian style of the University of Virginia.

Despite gradual expansion of the campus to the West and South, the campus is fairly compact and retains a park-like, tree-lined setting. The farthest distance on campus takes about twenty-five minutes to walk. According to the most recent master plan, the University of Memphis is projected to expand and redevelop additional areas one block west of the main campus current western boundary of Patterson St., making Highland Avenue the "de facto" entrance to the university.

The center of the main campus comprises buildings that made up the original campus. The first college buildings, including Scates Hall, Manning Hall, and The Administration Building, were erected in the early 20th century. This section stretches from Deloach Ave. south to the end of the main campus at Walker Ave., with most buildings surrounding The Alumni Mall and Student Plaza. The majority of the buildings of the arts and humanities departments, as well as those of the Physics and Astronomy departments of the College of Arts and Science, are located in the original areas of campus.

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