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University of Miami
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The University of Miami (also known as UM, Miami of Florida, or just The U) is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 in the city of Coral Gables, Florida, United States, a historic suburb of Miami.
The university currently enrolls 15,449 students in approximately 115 undergraduate, 114 master’s, 51 doctoral, and two professional areas of study. The University’s students represent all 50 states and 148 foreign countries.
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Encyclopedia
The University of Miami (also known as UM, Miami of Florida, or just The U) is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 in the city of Coral Gables, Florida, United States, a historic suburb of Miami.
The university currently enrolls 15,449 students in approximately 115 undergraduate, 114 master’s, 51 doctoral, and two professional areas of study. The University’s students represent all 50 states and 148 foreign countries. There are currently 2,348 full-time faculty members whose ranks include Fulbright Scholars, Guggenheim Fellows, and National Science Foundation award recipients. Of this distinguished faculty, 97% hold doctorates or terminal degrees in their field. With more than 13,000 full and part-time faculty and staff, UM is the largest private employer in Miami-Dade County.
The University of Miami is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and 23 additional professional and educational accrediting agencies. UM is a member of the American Association of University Women, the American Council on Education, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Association of American Colleges, the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities, and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
"Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami" was a fundraising effort launched in 2003 with the goal of raising $1 billion to improve facilities, recruit world-renowned faculty and expand the number of endowed student scholarships.
At the close of the campaign, UM became the youngest university in the nation and the first in Florida to reach the billion dollar mark, raising $1.4 billion as of February 2008. Of the 56 universities that have run billion dollar campaigns, UM is the only private institution and one of only four established in the 20th Century to achieve this milestone.
History
The University of Miami was chartered in 1925 by a group of citizens who felt an institution of higher learning was needed for the development of their young and growing community. The South Florida land boom was at its peak, resources appeared ample, optimism flowed, and expectations were high. Supporters of the institution believed that the community offered unique opportunities to develop inter-American studies, to further creative work in the arts and letters, and to conduct teaching and research programs in tropical studies.
The University began in earnest in 1926 when George E. Merrick gifted and nearly $4 million dollars to the effort. By the fall of that year, when the first class of 560 students enrolled at the University of Miami, the land boom had collapsed, and hopes for a speedy recovery were dashed by a major hurricane. In the next 15 years the University barely kept afloat. The construction of the first building on campus, now known as the Merrick Building, was put on hold for over two decades due to economic hard times. In the meantime, classes were held at the nearby Anastasia Hotel, with partitions separating classrooms, giving the University the short-lived nickname of "Cardboard College."
The University survived early turmoil during the leadership of its first president Bowman Foster Ashe (1926-1952). During his presidency, the University added the School of Law (1928), the School of Business Administration (1929), the School of Education (1929), the Graduate School (1941), the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (1943), the School of Engineering (1947), and the School of Medicine (1952).
One of Ashe's longtime assistants, Jay F. W. Pearson, assumed the presidency in 1952. A charter faculty member and a marine biologist by trade, Pearson ushered in a decade of unprecedented growth for the University. Enrollment increased by more than 4,000 during his tenure, which ended in 1962.
Henry King Stanford became Miami's 3rd president in 1962. The Stanford presidency saw increased emphasis on research, reorganization of administrative structure and construction of new facilities. Among the new research centers established were the Center for Advanced International Studies (1964), the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Evolution (1964), the Center for Theoretical Studies (1965), and the Institute for the Study of Aging (1975).
In 1981, Edward T. Foote II became the school's fourth president. Under Foote's leadership, the university was elected to the nation's most prestigious honor society, Phi Beta Kappa, and on campus student housing was converted into a system of residential colleges. In addition, Foote initiated a five year $400 million campaign that began in 1984 and surpassed its goal with a $517.5 million dollar commitment.
Foote was succeeded by Donna Shalala, who assumed the presidency in 2001. Shalala served in the Clinton Administration as Secretary of Health and Human Services from 1993-2001, becoming the longest serving HHS Secretary in U.S. history. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President George W. Bush in June 2008.
Profile
Unlike some private universities that are located within their namesake city, UM's main campus spans 260 acres (1 km²) in Coral Gables, an affluent suburb located immediately south of the city of Miami. Several university satellite campuses are located off the primary campus, including the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (located on Virginia Key) and the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (located at Jackson Memorial Hospital in downtown Miami). UM is the second largest private employer in South Florida.
There were nearly 20,000 applications for 2,000 slots in the fall 2008 freshman class. The mean SAT scores and high school GPAs for entering freshmen were the highest ever. Sponsored research expenditures for fiscal year 2007 reached a record of more than $274 million.
As of 2007, the university has a total student body of 15,449. In 2008, the average weighted grade point average for students granted admission to the university was 4.2 and the average SAT score was 1282. Sixty-six percent of UM students ranked in the top 10% of their high school class. As of the 2008–09 academic school year, UM's undergraduate tuition (excluding room and board) is $34,834 per year.. The school colors are orange, green and white, representing the fruit, leaves, and blossoms of the orange tree. UM is also home to the Iron Arrow Honor Society, a prestigious and selective honor organization for University of Miami students and the university's highest honor.
In 2004, UM's BankUnited Center (formerly the Convocation Center) was the site of the first nationally televised U.S. presidential debate of the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, featuring President George W. Bush and U.S. Senator John Kerry.
Rankings
The University of Miami is routinely ranked in the top academic tier of national rankings of colleges and universities:
U.S. News & World Report
In the 2009 issue of U.S. News & World Reports "America's Best Colleges," the University of Miami is included among the magazine's elite "Top Tier" universities and ranks as the 51st most academically prestigious among all national universities. U.S. News & World Reports 2008 ranking of U.S. medical schools ranks the University of Miami's Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine the 52nd best medical school in the nation. U.S. News & World Reports 2008 ranking of U.S. law schools ranks the University of Miami School of Law the 82nd best law school in the nation.
In 2008, for the fifth year in a row, the University of Miami's Bascom Palmer Eye Institute is ranked the best hospital in the country for ophthalmology in the 19th annual survey of "America's Best Hospitals," published by U.S. News & World Report. Three other specialties at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital, geriatric care, neurology/neurosurgery and otolaryngology, are also ranked among the nation's best. The School of Medicine ranks among the top 50 U.S. medical centers in research funding.
A 2009 U.S. News & World Report survey of deans and senior faculty of music schools ranks the University of Miami School of Music masters programs one of the top twenty-five in the nation, and ranks the school's jazz program the second best such program in the nation.
U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Miami School of Education graduate program as the 45th best in the nation and the University of Miami Earth Sciences graduate program as the 43rd best such program in the nation.
The Princeton Review
In the 2008 edition of Best 366 Colleges, The Princeton Review ranks UM one of the "Best Southeastern Colleges" and ranks it fifth in the nation in its "Diverse Student Population" category, 16th in the nation in its "Lots of Race/Class Interaction" category, 18th in the nation in its "Best Career/Job Placement Services" category, 18th in the nation it its "Best Athletic Facilities" category and 18th in the nation in its "Most Beautiful Campus" category.
Business Week
BusinessWeek includes UM's School of Business Administration in its "Top 50" U.S. collegiate business programs, ranking UM the 44th best U.S. undergraduate business program in the nation and the best such program in the state of Florida. The Wall Street Journal, also in 2006, ranked the UM School of Business Administration 14th in its regional ranking category.
Financial Times
The Financial Times ranks the University of Miami MBA program as one of the top 100 MBA programs worldwide.
The Executive MBA (EMBA) program at the University of Miami School of Business Administration, in 2008, was ranked the best Executive MBA program among all Florida colleges and universities in the Financial Times annual EMBA rankings. The University of Miami's EMBA program, offered at UM’s main campus, across Florida and abroad, is ranked 33rd among all such programs in North and South America and 76th among all EMBA programs worldwide. The research ranking of the UM School of Business Administration, which is a measure of the caliber of its faculty, is ranked 31st among all programs worldwide.
Academic Analytics
The University of Miami’s School of Education has three of its academic programs ranked in the top four spots in an annual report on universities by Academic Analytics. The teaching and learning program at UM's School of Education is ranked the best in the nation under the "Curriculum and Instruction" category. The school’s mathematics and science education program is ranked third best in the nation in the "Math Education" category. The school’s research, measurement, and evaluation program is ranked fourth best in the nation "Educational Evaluation and Research Category."
Hirsch Rankings, Philosophical Gourmet Report
The University of Miami’s philosophy department is ranked fifth in the nation among top Ph.D. programs whose faculty members are frequently cited in scholarly journals. According to the 2008 Philosophical Gourmet Report, UM has the 32nd best graduate program in philosophy in the nation.
Hispanic Business
The University of Miami’s business, law, and medical schools all hold top rankings in Hispanic Business magazine’s lists of top ten schools for hispanics. The School of Business Administration ranks fourth on its list of top business schools in the nation, while the Miller School of Medicine ranks third on the list of all medical schools and UM’s School of Law ranks second in the nation among all law schools.
Lawdragon
Lawdragon, Inc. ranks the University of Miami's School of Law 18th in the nation on its list of "Top 25 Leading Law Schools."
New Urban News
The University of Miami’s School of Architecture is ranked first in the nation for the study of New Urbanism in a survey conducted by New Urban News and was awarded the John Nolen Medal for Contributions to Urbanism in Florida in 2007.
Organization
Most of the University of Miami's academic programs are located on the main campus in Coral Gables, which houses seven schools and two colleges including the University of Miami School of Law. A few graduate and undergraduate programs are located off of the Coral Gables campus. A partnership with nearby Florida International University also allow UM and FIU students to take graduate classes at either university, allowing graduate students to take a wider variety of courses.
The Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine has its own campus at the University of Miami's Jackson Memorial Medical Center complex in downtown Miami. The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science is located on Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay. Several other programs, including bilingual Continuing and International Education classes, are offered at the Koubek Center in Miami's Little Havana, the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami, and the South and Richmond campuses in southwest Miami-Dade county.
Undergraduate and Graduate
- ;Endowed
Graduate Only
- ;Endowed
- ;Contract
- Division of Continuing and International Education
- Executive Education
The UM Department of Community Service, staffed by volunteer medical students and physicians from UM's Leonard M. School of Medicine, provides free medical and other community services in Miami and surrounding communities. The university also has a campus theater, the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre, which is used for student plays and musicals. A campus arboretum and botanical garden, the John C. Gifford Arboretum, is located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Coral Gables.
Athletics
The university's sports teams are nicknamed the "Hurricanes" and compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The university is particularly well known for having the most successful Division I collegiate football program of the past three decades, winning more national championships during this period than any other Division I team. Despite this extraordinary success, however, the program has deteriorated substantially since 2002, with the team failing to make a BCS bowl for four consecutive years and, in 2007, failing to qualify for any bowl game at all after a 48-0 drubbing at the hand of Virginia during their last home game ever played at the Orange Bowl. For all of 2007 and most of 2008, under new coach Randy Shannon, the team failed to appear among the Associated Press' ranking of the nation's top 25 Division I football programs. The team was a mainstay in the AP Top 25 for three decades during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Its 2008 football recruiting class was ranked best in the nation by ESPN.
Until 2007, the University of Miami played its home football games at the historic Orange Bowl, in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami. The university refused to renew a contract with the Orange Bowl, and the stadium was torn down in late 2007. In 2008, the University of Miami began playing its home games at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens; the university has signed a 25-year contract to play at Dolphin Stadium through 2033. A smaller stadium, Cobb Stadium, is located on the University of Miami campus and is used by the university's women's soccer and men's and women's track and field teams. UM's men's and women's basketball teams play their home games at BankUnited Center at 1245 Dauer Drive on the UM campus.
Their traditional athletic rivals include the Florida State University Seminoles and the University of Florida Gators. Since 1987, however, the Hurricanes have only played the Florida Gators four times (three times during the regular season and once for a bowl game in the 2004 Peach Bowl).
In order to comply with Title IX equality requirements, the university only fields 15 athletic teams. Men's teams compete in football, baseball, basketball, cross-country, diving, tennis, and track and field. Women's teams compete in basketball, cross-country, diving, golf, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. Notably, unlike most Division I universities, UM does not field a men's golf, soccer, or wrestling team and had to dismantle both its men's rowing and men's swimming and diving teams (which had produced a number of Olympic medalists, including Greg Louganis), in order to comply with Title IX.
Team colors are green, orange, and white, representing the three colors of the orange tree. The school mascot is Sebastian the Ibis. The ibis was selected as the school's mascot because, according to university legend, it is the last animal to flee an approaching hurricane and the first to reappear after the storm, making it a symbol of leadership and courage.
The school's athletics logo is a simple green and orange letter "U." Nike is the official supplier of uniforms, apparel, and various athletic equipment to all University of Miami sports teams.
Student housing
Housing at the University of Miami is run by the Department of Residence Halls. There are five residential colleges at UM, one apartment area and the University Village.
| UM residence halls | Year built | Room capacity |
|---|
| Apartment Area | 1948 | est. 500 | | Eaton Residential College | 1954 | 400 | | Mahoney Residential College | 1958 | 750 | | Pearson Residential College | 1962 | 750 | | Hecht Residential College | 1968 | 900 | | Stanford Residential College | 1968 | 900 | | University Village | 2006 | 800 | | Total | - | 5,000 students |
Libraries
The University of Miami Libraries rank among the top research libraries in North America. The Otto G. Richter Library, the University of Miami's main library, houses collections that serve the arts, architecture, humanities, social sciences, and the sciences. It is a depository for federal and state government publications. Rare books, maps, manuscript collections, and the University of Miami Archives are housed in the Special Collections Division and in the Cuban Heritage Collection
In addition to the Richter Library, the Libraries include facilities that support programs in architecture, business, marine science, and music:
- Judi Prokop Newman Information Resources Center (Business)
- Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library
- Paul Buisson Reference Library (Architecture)
- Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science Library
The University also has specialized libraries for medicine and law:
- Louis Calder Memorial Library (Medicine)
- University of Miami Law Library
Within the Miller School of Medicine, there are two specialized departmental libraries for ophthalmology and psychiatry that are open to the public:
- Mary and Edward Norton Library (Ophthalmology)
- Pomerance Library (Psychiatry)
Combined holdings of the libraries include over 3.1 million volumes, 15,375 print serial subscriptions, 4 million microforms, and access to more than 42,800 e-journals and 479,000 e-books and databases.
Notable alumni
Notable faculty
See also
The Miami Hurricane – University of Miami official student newspaper.WVUM – University of Miami radio station.
External links
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