George Washington University is a private, independent institution of higher education in Washington, D.C. The United States Congress originally chartered the university as Columbian College in the District of Columbia. It was renamed Columbian University in 1873. The university adopted its present name in 1904 in honor of George Washington, the first U.S. president. The main campus is in the area of Washington nicknamed Foggy Bottom.
The university also offers courses and degree programs at nearby Mount Vernon College, which became affiliated with George Washington University in 1996. Courses are also offered at off-campus locations throughout the Washington metropolitan area. In 2014, George Washington University took over operation of one of the nation’s leading art schools, the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, and its landmark Beaux Arts building. The merger dissolved the nearly 150-year-old art college as an independent institution. The college became the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design within George Washington’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
Well-known graduates of George Washington University include U.S. Senators J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii, Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming, and Harry Reid of Nevada; and former Cabinet members Henry G. Cisneros, John Foster Dulles, Patricia Roberts Harris, and David M. Kennedy. Other notable alumni include Julius Axelrod, a Nobel Prize-winning medical researcher; J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former first lady; U.S. Army General Colin L. Powell; professional sports executive Jerry Reinsdorf; and Independent Counsel Kenneth W. Starr.
The university’s website at http://www.gwu.edu offers additional information.
