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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
- Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University -- founded by
- Albany State University, Georgia -- founded by
- Alcorn State University, Mississippi - founded by
- Amherst College, Massachusetts -- co-founded by Samuel Fowler Dickinson, Zephaniah Swift Moore, and Noah Webster
- Arizona State University -- founded by Charles T. Hayden
B
- Babson College, Massachusetts -- founded by Roger W. Babson
- Baldwin Wallace University, Ohio -- founded by John Baldwin
- Baker University, Kansas -- founded by John Baldwin
- Bard College, New York -- co-founded by John Bard and Margaret Taylor Bard (Johnston)
- Bates College, Maine -- founded by Oren Burbank Cheney
- Battle Creek College (1923-1938), Michigan -- founded by John Harvey Kellogg
- Baylor University, Texas -- co-founded by Robert. E. M. Baylor
- Bennett College, North Carolina -- founded by
- Binghamton University, State University of New York -- co-founded by Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
- Bennington College, Vermont -- founded by William Heard Kilpatrick, PhD
- 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
- Bowie State University, Maryland -- founded by
- 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
- Butler University, Indiana -- founded by Ovid Butler
C
- Case Western Reserve University, Ohio -- founded by Leonard Case, Jr.
- Claflin University, South Carolina -- founded by
- Clark University, New York -- founded by Jonas Gilman Clark
- Clark Atlanta University, Georgia -- founded by
- Clemson University, South Carolina -- founded by Thomas Green Clemson
- Cornell University, New York -- co-founded by Andrew Dickson White
- Creighton University, Nebraska -- founded by Edward Creighton
- Curtis Institute of Music, Pennsylvania -- founded by Mary Louise Curtis Bok
D
- Dartmouth College, New Hampshire -- founded by Rev. Eleazar Wheelock
- Delaware State University -- founded by
- University of Delaware -- co-founded by Sen. John Wales
- University of Denver, Colorado -- co-founded by Gov. John Evans
- Dickinson College, Pennsylvania -- founded by Benjamin Rush
- Dillard University, Louisiana -- founded by
E
- Elizabeth City State University, North Carolina -- founded by
F
- Fayetteville State University, North Carolina -- founded by
- Fisk University, Tennessee -- cofounded by Rev. Erastus Milo Cravath, D.D.
- Florida A&M University -- founded by
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
- Hamilton College, New York -- founded by Rev. Samuel Kirkland
- Hampton University, Virginia -- founded by
- Howard University, District of Columbia -- co-founded by Maj. General Oliver O. Howard
- University of Hartford, University of Hartford
- Hartford Art School which commenced operation in 1877, was founded by a group of women in Hartford, including --- founded by Harriet Beecher Stowe and Olivia Louise Clemens
- The Hartt School of Music , which was founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, is among the most recognized schools for music, dance, and theatre in the United States.
- Harvey Mudd College, California -- founded by George Charles Sumner Benson
J
- Jackson State University, Mississippi -- founded by
- Johns Hopkins University, Maryland -- founded by Daniel Coit Gilman
- Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina -- founded by
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
- Lincoln University, Pennsylvania -- founded by
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
- University of Maryland, Eastern Shore -- founded by
- Mills College, California -- co-founded by Rev. Cyrus Mills and Susan Tolman Mills
- University of Mississippi -- co-founded by James Moorman Howry
- Morehouse College, Georgia -- founded by
- Morgan State University, Maryland -- founded by
- Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts -- founded by Mary Lyon
N
- University of New Hampshire -- co-founded by Gov. Frederick Smyth
- New York University -- cofounded by Albert Gallatin and John Johnston
- University of North Carolina -- founded by William Richardson Davie
- North Carolina A&T State University -- founded by
- North Carolina Central University -- founded by
- Northwestern University, Illinois -- co-founded by Gov. John Evans
- Norwich University, Vermont -- founded by Alden Partridge
O
- Oberlin College, Ohio -- founded by Rev. John Jay Shipherd
- Ohio University -- co-founded by Rev. Manasseh Culter
- Olivet College, Michigan -- founded by Rev. John Jay Shipherd
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
- Pitzer College, California -- founded by George Charles Sumner Benson
- Pomona College, California -- co-founded by Rev. Charles Burt Sumner, D.D. and Henry Austin Palmer
- Princeton University, New Jersey -- co-founded by Rev. Jonathan Dickinson and Edward Shippen
R
- Regent University, Virginia -- founded by Pat Robertson
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, New York -- co-founded by Amos Eaton
- 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
- Sarah Lawrence College, New York -- founded by William Van Duzer Lawrence
- 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 South Carolina State University -- founded by
- Spelman College, Georgia -- founded by
- Stanford University, California -- founded by Amasa Leland Stanford
- Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania -- co-founded by Lucretia Coffin Mott and Joseph Wharton
T
- Tennessee State University -- founded by
- Tougaloo College, Mississippi -- founded by
- Trinity College, Connecticut -- founded by the Rt. Rev. Thomas Church Brownell
- Tuskegee University, Alabama -- founded by
U
- University of California at Berkeley - founded by the Rev. Henry Durant
V
- Valdosta State University, Georgia -- co-founded by U.S. Sen. William Stanley West
- Vassar College, New York -- founded by Matthew Vassar
- University of Vermont -- founded by Ira Allen
- University of Virginia -- founded by Thomas Jefferson
W
- Washington University, Missouri -- founded by William Greenleaf Eliot, Jr.
- 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
- Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina -- founded by
- Wofford College, South Carolina -- founded by the Rev. Benjamin Wofford
X
- Xavier University of Louisiana -- founded by
Y
- Yale University, Connecticut -- founded by Rev. James Pierpont
Z
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!