American College & University Founders

This project aims to gather together all of the Geni profiles of people who directly founded American colleges and universities. Anyone who solely founded an institution can be added.

Who Is a Founder?

Please read this section carefully before adding anyone to this project. Thanks!

A specific founder is usually listed on the "History" page of any major college or university's website. In many cases, an institution may have been founded by a small group of trustees or governors. Right now, we are most interested in the primary founders. (For example, while a small group of men founded Yale University, Rev. James Pierpont is universally considered the primary founder.)

If you have any questions about whether an individual is a founder, please feel free to use the Discussions area of this project.

Please note: Being the namesake, benefactor, or first president of an institution does NOT automatically mean having founded it. Many colleges named for people were not founded by those people. Harvard, for example, was founded by the Massachusetts legislature and not by John Harvard.

List of Founders (Alphabetical by College)

NOTE: Founders not in bold need to be added. If you collaborate on those profiles, please add them and then embolden their name. Thank you!

A

• Amherst College, Massachusetts -- co-founded by Samuel Fowler Dickinson, Zephaniah Swift Moore, and Noah Webster
• Arizona State University -- founded by Charles T. Hayden

B

• Bates College, Maine -- founded by Oren B. Cheney
• Battle Creek College (1923-1938), Michigan -- founded by John Harvey Kellogg
• Baylor University, Texas -- co-founded by Robert. E. M. Baylor
• Binghamton University, State University of New York -- co-founded by Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
• Boston University, Massachusetts -- co-founded by Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin, and Jacob Sleeper
• Bowdon College (1857-1936), Georgia -- co-founded by Col. Charles Addison McDaniel
• Bradley University, Illinois -- founded by Lydia Moss Bradley
• Brigham Young University, Utah -- founded by Karl G. Maeser
• Brown University, Rhode Island -- co-founded by John Brown, Moses Brown, Nicholas Brown, James Manning, and Gov. Samuel Ward
• University at Buffalo, State University of New York -- founded by Millard Fillmore

C

• Clemson University, South Carolina -- founded by Thomas Green Clemson
• Cornell University, New York -- co-founded by Andrew Dickson White
• Curtis Institute of Music, Pennsylvania -- founded by Mary Louise Curtis Bok

D

• Dartmouth College, New Hampshire -- founded by Rev. Eleazar Wheelock
• University of Denver, Colorado -- co-founded by Gov. John Evans
• University of Delaware -- co-founded by Sen. John Wales
• Dickinson College, Pennsylvania -- founded by Benjamin Rush

F

• Fisk University, Tennessee -- founded by Gen. Clinton B. Fisk

G

• Gallaudet University, District of Columbia -- co-founded by Amos Kendall
• George Washington University, District of Columbia -- founded by Luther Rice
• University of Georgia -- co-founded by Abraham Baldwin and U.S. Sen. John Milledge
  • University of Georgia School of Law -- co-founded by Joseph Lumpkin
• Grinnell College, Iowa -- co-founded by Josiah Bushnell Grinnell
• Guilford College, North Carolina -- founded by Nathan Hunt

H

• Howard University, District of Columbia -- co-founded by Maj. General Oliver O. Howard

J

• Johns Hopkins University, Maryland -- founded by Daniel Coit Gilman

K

• Kansas State University (originally Blue Mont Central College) -- co-founded by Rev. Joseph Denison and Isaac Goodnow
• Kenyon College, Ohio -- founded by Philander Chase

L

• Lawrence University, Wisconsin -- founded by Amos Lawrence
• Lesley University, Massachusetts -- founded by Edith Lesley
• Liberty University, Virginia -- founded by Jerry Falwell
• Lincoln Memorial University, Tennessee -- co-founded by Maj. General Oliver O. Howard

M

• Marietta College, Ohio -- co-founded by Mansfield French
• Mary Baldwin College, Virginia -- founded by Rufus William Bailey
• University of Maryland, College Park -- founded by Charles Benedict Calvert
• Mills College, California -- co-founded by Rev. Cyrus Mills and Susan Tolman Mills
• University of Mississippi -- co-founded by James Moorman Howry
• Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts -- founded by Mary Lyon

N

• University of New Hampshire -- co-founded by Gov. Frederick Smyth
• New York University -- founded by Albert Gallatin
• University of North Carolina -- founded by William Richardson Davie
• Northwestern University, Illinois -- co-founded by Gov. John Evans
• Norwich University, Vermont -- founded by Alden Partridge

O

• Ohio University -- co-founded by Rev. Manasseh Culter

P

• Park College, Missouri -- founded by John A. McAfee
• University of Pennsylvania -- founded by Benjamin Franklin
  • University of the State of Pennsylvania (merged into Penn in 1795) -- co-founded by Jonathan Bayard Smith
  • Wharton School of Business -- founded by Joseph Wharton
• Princeton University, New Jersey -- co-founded by Rev. Jonathan Dickinson and Edward Shippen

R

• Rice University, Texas -- founded by William Marsh Rice
• Rollins College, Florida -- co-founded by Franklin Fairbanks
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey -- co-founded by Rev. Aaron Burr

S

• Shaw University, North Carolina -- co-founded by Levi K. Fuller, Governor of Vermont
• Smith College, Massachusetts -- founded by Sophia Smith
• University of the South (Sewanee), Tennessee -- founded by Lt. Gen. Leonidas Polk
• University of South Carolina -- co-founded by Gov. John Drayton
• Stanford University, California -- founded by Amasa Leland Stanford
• Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania -- co-founded by Lucretia Coffin Mott and Joseph Wharton

T

• Trinity College, Connecticut -- founded by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Church Brownell

V

• University of Vermont -- founded by Ira Allen
• University of Virginia -- founded by Thomas Jefferson

W

• Washington University, Missouri -- founded by William Greenleaf Eliot
• Washington & Lee University, Virginia -- co-founded by Col. Sampson Mathews
• Wheaton College, Massachusetts -- co-founded by Mary Lyon
• Wilberforce University, Ohio -- co-founded by Mansfield French
• College of William & Mary, Virginia -- founded by Rev. James Blair
• William Mitchell College of Law, Minnesota -- co-founded by U.S. Sen. Moses E. Clapp
• Wofford College, South Carolina -- founded by the Rev. Benjamin Wofford

Y

• Yale University, Connecticut -- founded by Rev. James Pierpont

About This Project

This project was started in May 2011 by Ashley, a member of the History of Education Society. Feel free to contact her with any questions -- or, better yet, use the Discussions area to connect with all collaborators!