Crescat Scientia, Vita Excolatur ("Let knowledge increase so that life may be enriched")

The University of Chicago was founded in 1890 by oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, who later described the University of Chicago as "the best investment I ever made." The land for the new university, in the recently annexed suburb of Hyde Park, was donated by Marshall Field, owner of the former Chicago department store that bore his name.

William Rainey Harper, the first president, imagined a university that would combine an American-style undergraduate liberal arts college with a German-style graduate research university. The University of Chicago quickly fulfilled Harper's dream, becoming a national leader in higher education and research.

Incorporated: 1890
First Classes: 1892
Founder: John D. Rockefeller
Current President: Robert J. Zimmer