Washington University in St. Louis is a private, independent institution of higher learning in St. Louis, Missouri. The university was founded in 1853 as Eliot Seminary. In 1854, the board of directors changed the school’s name to Washington Institute in St. Louis. The board named the school for George Washington, the first president of the United States. The state of Missouri approved the university’s charter on Washington’s birthday. The university changed its name to Washington University in 1857. In 1976, the university’s trustees added the words “in St. Louis” to the official name. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical schools in the world. It is known for its research in such areas as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, diagnostic imaging, genetics, immunology, and neuroscience. The university’s athletic teams are called the Bears.
Notable graduates of Washington University include former secretary of defense Clark M. Clifford; author Fannie Hurst; Nobel Prize-winning scientists Edwin G. Krebs, W. E. Moerner, Daniel Nathans, and Earl W. Sutherland, Jr.; conservative leader Phyllis Schlafly; and William H. Webster, former director of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The university’s website at https://wustl.edu/ offers additional information.
