Miami University is a public institution of higher learning in Oxford, Ohio. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees at its Oxford campus and associate’s degrees at two-year branch campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio. The university’s Voice of America Learning Center, in West Chester, offers a graduate program in business administration.
The history of Miami University dates back to 1792, when the United States Congress set aside a township in the Miami River Valley north of the Ohio River to support an institution of higher learning. Using that land grant, the Ohio General Assembly founded Miami University in 1809 as a school for men. Construction of the campus was delayed because much fighting in the War of 1812 took place in Ohio. Classes finally began in 1824. The educator William H. McGuffey taught at the university from 1826 to 1836 and created the first schoolbooks in his series of McGuffey Eclectic Readers there. His restored home on campus is now the McGuffey Museum, a national historic landmark.
During the American Civil War (1861-1865), Miami University accumulated heavy debts because most of its students had left for military service. Financial problems forced the university to close in 1873, but it reopened in 1885 with the support of the state of Ohio. The university first admitted women in 1888. It merged with Oxford College for Women in 1928. In 1997, Miami University changed the nickname of its athletic teams from the Redskins to the RedHawks. Well-known Miami University alumni include President Benjamin Harrison, the journalist and diplomat Whitelaw Reid, the poet Rita Dove, and business leaders C. Michael Armstrong and John Smale.
The university’s website at https://miamioh.edu/ offers additional information.
