University of Cincinnati Information

The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,000 students, making it the second largest university in Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio.

In 1819, Cincinnati College and the Medical College of Ohio were founded in Cincinnati. Local benefactor Dr. Daniel Drakefounded and funded the Medical College of Ohio. William Lytle of the Lytle family donated the land, funded the Cincinnati College and Law College, and served as its first president. The college survived only six years before financial difficulties forced it to close. In 1835, Daniel Drake reestablished the institution, which eventually joined with the Cincinnati Law School.

In 1858, Charles McMicken died of pneumonia and in his will he allocated most of his estate to the City of Cincinnati to found a university. The University of Cincinnati was chartered by the Ohio legislature in 1870 after delays by livestock and veal lobbyists angered by the liberal arts-centered curriculum and lack of agricultural and manufacturing emphasis. The universitys board of rectors changed the institutions name to the University of Cincinnati.

By 1893, the university expanded beyond its primary location on Clifton Avenue and relocated to its present location in the Heights neighborhood. As the university expanded, the rectors merged the institution with Cincinnati Law School, establishing the University of Cincinnati College of Law. In 1896, the Ohio Medical College joined Miami Medical College to form the Ohio-Miami Medical Department of the University of Cincinnati in 1909. As political movements for temperance and suffrage grew, the university established Teachers College in 1905 and a Graduate School in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1906. The Queen City College of Pharmacy, acquired from Wilmington College (Ohio), became the present James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy.

In 1962, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music was acquired by the university. The Ohio legislature in Columbus declared the university a "municipally-sponsored, state-affiliated" institution in 1968. During this time, the University of Cincinnati was the second oldest and second-largest municipal university in the United States.

By an act of the legislature, the University of Cincinnati became a state institution in 1977.

In 1989, President Joseph A. Steger released a Master Plan for a stronger academy. Over this time, the university invested nearly $2 billion in campus construction, renovation, and expansion ranging from the student union to a new recreation center to the medical school. It included renovation and construction of multiple buildings, a campus forest, and a university promenade.

Upon her inauguration in 2005, President Nancy L. Zimpher developed the UC|21 plan, designed to redefine Cincinnati as a leading urban research university. In addition, it includes putting liberal arts education at the center, increasing research funding, and expanding involvement in the city.

In 2009, Gregory H. Williams was named the 27th president of the University of Cincinnati. His presidency expanded the accreditation and property of the institution to regions throughout Ohio to compete with private and specialized state institutions, such as Ohio State University. His administration focused on maintaining the integrity and holdings of the university. He focused on the academic master plan for the university, placing the academic programs of UC at the core of the strategic plan. The university invested in scholarships, funding for study abroad experiences, the universitys advising program as it worked to reaffirm its history and academy for the future. Neville Pinto is the current and 30th president of the university.

In 2010, Kelly Brinson died after being tased by University of Cincinnati police officers at the universitys hospital. Five year later, Sam DuBose was shot and killed by University Police Officer Raymond Tensing. DuBose had been stopped near the intersection of Vine and Thill Street for driving without a front license plate. Body camera footage contradicted Officer Tensings account of the incident. Officer Tensing was indicted for murder and the university reached a settlement of over $5 million with the Dubose family although Judge Leslie Ghiz declared a second mistrial on the case.

The Uptown campus includes the West (main), Medical, and Victory Parkway campuses.

UC Online offers over 80 graduate, undergraduate and certificate programs through an online platform. Each program is delivered 100% online and holds the same accreditation and academic excellence as the university’s on campus programs.

The university has had a strategic plan for the last decade for new architecture to be built by "signature architects." In recent years, the university has received attention from architects and campus planners as one of the most beautiful in the world.

In recent years the University of Cincinnati has made significant strides to include more green initiatives and encourage sustainability among students, faculty, and staff. In autumn of 2010, the University of Cincinnati maintained its position in green and sustainability initiatives by being named one of only 286 "Green Colleges" by The Princeton Review. The university has received this distinction each year since. UC was the only public university in Ohio and the only university in the Southern Ohio region included on this list. Some of the programs that helped achieve this distinction include: a bike share program where UC students can rent bikes from the university, an expanded recycling program, improved and expanded campus transportation options, the addition of vehicle charging stations, fuel pellet use in place of coal, greatly decreased energy and water use throughout campus, and the addition of 6 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings since 2005. In 2007, former university president Nancy Zimpher signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, which confirms the universitys dedication to reducing its environmental impact and take the necessary steps to become climate neutral.

In 2010, UC opened up a privately funded athletic practice facility and womens lacrosse stadium named Sheakley Athletic Complex. As a continued effort to go green, a chilled water thermal energy storage tank was placed under the fields and at night water is chilled and then used to air-condition buildings on campus. The storage tank helps the university reach annual energy savings of about $1 million. In the fall of 2010, the university began placing "All Recycling" containers throughout campus. This expansion of recycling efforts and receptacles provides a greater opportunity for students, staff, and visitors to participate in recycling a broader range of materials. In 2010, UC recycled just over 4,600 tons of material, which was a 23 percent increase over the previous year.

The student group Environmental Students for Activism Volunteering and Education, or E-SAVE, launched the first environmental sustainability campus campaign in 2000–2002. In a meeting with then President Joe Stegler, students secured a commitment to create an presidents committee environmental sustainability.

UC is the originator of the co-operative education (co-op) model. The concept was invented at UC in 1906 by Herman Schneider, Dean of the College of Engineering at the time. The program generally consists of alternating semesters of coursework on campus and outside work at a host firm, giving students over one year of relevant work experience by the time they graduate. All programs in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, Architecture and all design programs in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, and Information Technology in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services, require co-operative education experience to graduate.

In the 2019 U.S. News and World Report rankings, UC was listed as tied for the 189th best global university, tied for 147th ranked national university, and tied for 75th best public university (U.S.).

The university has some 14 colleges and schools: