Overview of university

The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The university's campus is in the city's southern portion and spans 388 acres on both sides of the Great Miami River. The campus is noted for the Immaculate Conception Chapel and the University of Dayton Arena.

In the fall of 2020, the university enrolled 11,347 full-time students from a variety of religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. It offers more than 80 academic programs in arts and sciences, business administration, education and health sciences, engineering and law. In 2009, UD offered what it believes to be one of the first undergraduate degree programs in human rights. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".

The university's notable alumni include: Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted; humorist Erma Bombeck; engineer David Bradley; architect Bruce Graham; Super Bowl-winning coaches Jon Gruden and Chuck Noll; first female Premier of New South Wales Kristina Keneally; sportscaster Dan Patrick; and the 1987 Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Charles J. Pedersen.

Starting in the 1960s, the university began acquiring hundreds of single-family homes and duplexes in the neighborhoods adjacent to the campus for student housing, extending the campus to Brown Street. In 2007, the university built five new townhouses and renovated four homes in a Citirama project with the Home Builders Association of Dayton.

In 2005, the university acquired a 49-acre parcel of land for $25 million that had once housed the cash register factory complex of the NCR Corp. The purchase extended the university's boundaries west to the Great Miami River and increased the total acreage to 216 acres.

In 2009, the university announced the purchase of another 115 acres from NCR for $18 million, including the former NCR World Headquarters and Old River Park, the former NCR employees' recreation area, extending the campus to 373 acres. The former NCR world headquarters, renamed as the 1700 South Patterson Building, now houses the University of Dayton Research Institute, classrooms, offices, and meeting space.

In 2010, GE Aviation announced it would build the $51 million GE Aviation Dayton Electrical Power Research Lab research and development facility on eight acres of the campus, becoming the first major new development on the former NCR land.

In 2012, the campus totaled approximately 388 acres and included 38 academic, research, athletic and administrative buildings, five residence halls, 18 student apartment complexes, and 473 residences, including 347 university-owned residences.

Enrollment grew to about 1,000 when World War II broke out. It reached more than 3,500 in 1950 with the return of the veterans and grew steadily. When the baby boomers hit college age, the university's enrollment topped 10,000. However, local enrollment decreased in the 1960s when Wright State University was established and Sinclair Community College was expanded, moving UD toward becoming a national university. In 2012, more than half of the undergraduates were from states other than Ohio. International enrollment has grown as well. In 2012 a record of more than 1,500 international students were enrolled.

References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Dayton

Official Website: https://udayton.edu/