New York University (NYU) is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Chartered in 1831 by the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
,
NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan– American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...
.
In 1832, the
non-denominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
Overview
The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...
all-male institution began its first classes near
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
based on a curriculum focused on a
secular education
Secular education is a system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation between religion and state.
An example of a secular educational system would be the French public educational system, where conspicuous reli ...
.
The university moved in 1833 and has maintained its main campus in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
surrounding
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...
.
Since then, the university has added an engineering school in
Brooklyn's MetroTech Center
Brooklyn Commons, formerly MetroTech Center, is a business and educational center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City.
Location
Brooklyn Commons lies between Flatbush Avenue Extension and Jay Street, north of the Fulton Street Mall and south o ...
and graduate schools throughout
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. NYU has become the largest private university in the United States by enrollment, with a total of 51,848 enrolled students, including 26,733 undergraduate students and 25,115 graduate students, in 2019.
NYU also receives the most applications of any private institution in the United States and admission is considered
highly selective.
NYU is organized into ten undergraduate schools, including the
College of Arts & Science,
Gallatin School
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study (commonly referred to as Gallatin) is a small interdisciplinary college within New York University (NYU). Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary program that meets their specific interests a ...
,
Steinhardt School,
Stern School of Business
The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...
,
Tandon School of Engineering
Tandon (or Tandan, Tanden, or Tondon) is a surname found among Hindu Khatris and Sikhs of Punjab, India. It is derived from a Khatri clan.
Notable people
Notable people include:
Activists
*Purushottam Das Tandon, ''Bharat Ratna'', Indian freed ...
, and
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
.
NYU's 15 graduate schools include the
Grossman School of Medicine,
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
,
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service is the public policy school of New York University in New York City, New York. The school is named after New York City former mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. in 1989.
History
In 1938, NYU of ...
,
School of Professional Studies,
Silver School of Social Work, and
Rory Meyers School of Nursing.
The university's internal academic centers include the
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...
,
Center for Data Science,
Center for Neural Science
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
,
Clive Davis Institute,
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) is a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education at New York University. ISAW's mission is to cultivate comparative, connective investigations of the ancient world from the ...
,
Institute of Fine Arts
The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...
, and the
NYU Langone Health System
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States. The health system consists of New York University Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Islan ...
. NYU is a global university with degree-granting campuses at
NYU Abu Dhabi
New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD, ar, جامعة نيويورك أبوظبي) is a degree granting, portal campus of New York University serving as a private, liberal arts college, located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Together with ...
and
NYU Shanghai
New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai) is China's first Sino-US research university and the third degree-granting campus of New York University (NYU). Jointly established by NYU and East China Normal University with the support of the city o ...
, and academic centers in
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Past and present
faculty and
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
include 39 Nobel Laureates, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31
MacArthur Fellows
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...
, 26
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winners, 3
heads of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...
, a
U.S. Supreme Court justice
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
, 5
U.S. governors
The following is a list of current governors (or mayor) of U.S. states, territories, and the federal district. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive officer of a state or a territory. As of November 2022, there are 28&nb ...
, 4
mayors of New York City
The mayor of New York City is the chief executive of the Government of New York City, as stipulated by New York City's charter. The current officeholder, the 110th in the sequence of regular mayors, is Eric Adams, a member of the Democratic Pa ...
, 12
U.S. Senators
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and powe ...
, 58 members of the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, two
Federal Reserve Chairmen, 38
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winners, 30
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winners, 25
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
winners, 12
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winners, 17
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
s, and
seven Olympic medalists.
History
Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Genevan– American politician, diplomat, ethnologist and linguist. Often described as "America's Swiss Founding Father", he was a leading figure in the early years ...
,
Secretary of the Treasury
The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...
under
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
, declared his intention to establish "in this immense and fast-growing city ... a system of rational and practical education fitting and graciously opened to all."
A three-day-long "literary and scientific convention" held in
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
in 1830 and attended by over 100 delegates debated the terms of a plan for a new university. These New Yorkers believed the city needed a university designed for young men who would be admitted based upon merit rather than birthright or social class.
On April 18, 1831, the institution that would become NYU was established with the support of a group of prominent New York City residents from the city's
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
s,
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
s, and
traders.
Albert Gallatin was elected as its first president.
On April 21, 1831, the new institution received its
charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
and was incorporated as the University of the City of New York by the
New York State Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
; older documents often refer to it by that name. The university has been popularly known as New York University since its inception and was officially renamed New York University in 1896.
In 1832, NYU held its first classes in rented rooms of four-story Clinton Hall, situated near City Hall.
In 1835, the
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
, NYU's first professional school, was established. Although the impetus to found a new school was partly a reaction by
evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
s to what they perceived as the
Episcopalianism
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
of
Columbia College,
[ pp. 531–532] NYU was created
non-denominational
A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination.
Overview
The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...
, unlike many American colleges at the time.
The
American Chemical Society
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...
was founded in 1876 at NYU.
Soon after its founding, it became one of the nation's largest universities, with an enrollment of 9,300 in 1917. The university purchased a campus at
University Heights in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
because of overcrowding on the old campus. NYU also had a desire to follow New York City's development further uptown. NYU's move to the Bronx occurred in 1894, spearheaded by the efforts of Chancellor
Henry Mitchell MacCracken
Henry Mitchell MacCracken (September 28, 1840 – December 24, 1918) was an American educator and academic administrator.
Biography
Henry MacCracken was born in Oxford, Ohio on September 28, 1840. He graduated from Miami University in Ohio ...
.
The University Heights campus was far more spacious than its predecessor was. As a result, most of the university's operations, along with the undergraduate
College of Arts and Science and School of Engineering, were housed there. NYU's administrative operations were moved to the new campus, but the graduate schools of the university remained at Washington Square. In 1914, Washington Square College was founded as the downtown undergraduate college of NYU. In 1935, NYU opened the "Nassau College-Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island." This extension would later become a fully independent
Hofstra University
Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of Ne ...
.
In 1950, NYU was elected to the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ( ...
, a nonprofit organization of leading public and private research universities.
Financial crisis gripped the New York City government in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the troubles spread to the city's institutions, including NYU.
Feeling the pressures of imminent bankruptcy, NYU President
James McNaughton Hester
James McNaughton Hester (19 April 1924 – 31 December 2014) was an internationally recognized educator.
Hester was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. He spent his boyhood at various stations to which his father, a United States Navy Chaplain, was ...
negotiated the sale of the University Heights campus to the
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
, which occurred in 1973.
In 1973, the New York University School of Engineering and Science merged into
Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn
The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...
,
which eventually merged back into NYU in 2014, forming the present
Tandon School of Engineering
Tandon (or Tandan, Tanden, or Tondon) is a surname found among Hindu Khatris and Sikhs of Punjab, India. It is derived from a Khatri clan.
Notable people
Notable people include:
Activists
*Purushottam Das Tandon, ''Bharat Ratna'', Indian freed ...
. After the sale of the Bronx campus, University College merged with Washington Square College. In the 1980s, under the leadership of President
John Brademas
Stephen John Brademas Jr. (March 2, 1927 – July 11, 2016) was an American politician and educator originally from Indiana. He served as Majority Whip of the United States House of Representatives for the Democratic Party from 1977 to 1981 at ...
, NYU launched a billion-dollar campaign that was spent almost entirely on updating facilities. The campaign was set to complete in 15 years, but ended up being completed in 10.
In 1991,
L. Jay Oliva Lawrence Jay Oliva (September 23, 1933 – April 17, 2014), known as L. Jay Oliva, was the 14th President of New York University.
Born in Walden, New York he earned a B.A. from Manhattan College (1955) and a M.A. (1957)/Ph.D. (1960) from Syracuse U ...
was inaugurated the 14th president of the university. Following his inauguration, he moved to form the
League of World Universities The League of World Universities is an international organization consisting of rectors and presidents from urban universities across six continents. The league and its 47 representatives gather every two years to discuss global issues in education. ...
, an international organization consisting of
rectors and
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
s from
urban
Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to:
* Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas
* Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities
Urban may also refer to:
General
* Urban (name), a list of people ...
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
across six continents. The league and its 47 representatives gather every two years to discuss global issues in
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
.
In 2003, President
John Sexton
John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American lawyer, academic, and author. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as t ...
launched a $2.5 billion campaign for funds to be spent especially on faculty and financial aid resources. Under Sexton's leadership, NYU also began its radical transformation into a global university.
In 2009, the university responded to a series of interviews in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' that showed a pattern of labor abuses at its fledgling Abu Dhabi location, creating a statement of labor values for Abu Dhabi campus workers. A 2014 follow-up article found that while some conditions had improved, contractors for the university were still frequently subjecting their workers to third-world labor conditions. The article documented that these conditions included confiscation of worker passports, forced overtime, recruitment fees and cockroach-filled dorms where workers had to sleep under beds. According to the article, workers who attempted to protest the NYU contractors' conditions were promptly arrested.
Reports also claimed that those arrested by police were later abused at the police station. Many workers who were not local were then deported to their home countries. The university quickly responded to the reports with an apology to the workers. Though the campus construction costs were entirely funded by the Abu Dhabi government, as will be the operational costs and any future expansions, in 2015, NYU additionally compensated thousands of migrant workers on its Abu Dhabi complex.
From 2007 to 2018, NYU experienced a 114% increase in applications to its university system, increasing from around 35,000 applicants to more than 100,000 in 2020.
This has also caused the acceptance rate to drop significantly, with a record-low acceptance rate of 15% in 2020.
In parallel to NYU's expansion in the early 1900s, the university similarly expanded vigorously in the early 2000s, becoming the largest private university in the United States with a combined undergraduate/graduate enrollment of over 59,000 students as of 2018.
In August 2018, the
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
announced it would be offering full-tuition scholarships to all current and future students in its MD program regardless of need or merit, making it the only top-10 medical school in the United States to do so.
In Spring 2022, President
Andrew D. Hamilton
Andrew David Hamilton (born 3 November 1952) is a British American chemist and academic who is the 16th and current President of New York University. From 2009 to 2015, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Before leadi ...
announced that the 2023 academic year would be his last, returning to research.
University logo
The university logo, the upheld
torch
A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. In ...
, is derived from the
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
, signifying NYU's service to New York City. The torch is depicted on both the NYU seal and the more abstract NYU logo, designed in 1965 by renowned graphic designer
Tom Geismar
Thomas H. Geismar (born July 15, 1931) is an American graphic designer.
Biography
Thomas H. Geismar was born on July 15, 1931 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.
Geismar studied concurrently at the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. H ...
of the branding and design firm
Chermayeff & Geismar
Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv (formerly Brownjohn, Chermayeff & Geismar and Chermayeff & Geismar) is a New York-based branding and graphic design firm. It is currently led by partners Tom Geismar and Sagi Haviv.
About
It was founded in 1957 ...
. There are at least two versions of the possible origin of the university color,
violet
Violet may refer to:
Common meanings
* Violet (color), a spectral color with wavelengths shorter than blue
* One of a list of plants known as violet, particularly:
** ''Viola'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
Places United States
* Viol ...
. Some believe that it may have been chosen because
violets
Violet identifies various plant taxa, particularly species in the genus ''Viola'', within which the common violet is the best known member in Eurasia and the common blue violet and common purple violet are the best known members in North America ...
are said to have grown abundantly in Washington Square and around the buttresses of the Old University Building. Others argue that the color may have been adopted because the violet was the flower associated with
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, the center of learning in
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
.
Cultural setting
Washington Square and
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
have been hubs of
cultural life in New York City since the early 19th century. Much of this culture has intersected with NYU at various points in its history.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
s of the
Hudson River School
The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by Romanticism. The paintings typically depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, ...
, the United States' first prominent school of painters, settled around Washington Square.
Samuel F.B. Morse
Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...
, a noted artist who also pioneered the telegraph and created the Morse Code, served as the first chair of Painting and Sculpture. He and
Daniel Huntington were early tenants of the Old University Building in the mid-19th century. (The university rented out studio space and residential apartments within the "academic" building.) As a result, they had notable interaction with the cultural and academic life of the university.
In the 1870s, sculptors
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...
and
Daniel Chester French
Daniel Chester French (April 20, 1850 – October 7, 1931) was an American sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for his 1874 sculpture ''The Minute Man'' in Concord, Massachusetts, and his 1920 monume ...
lived and worked near the Square. By the 1920s, Washington Square Park was nationally recognized as a focal point for artistic and moral rebellion. As such, the Washington Square campus became more diverse and bustled with urban energy, contributing to academic change at NYU.
Famed residents of this time include
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...
,
John Sloan
John French Sloan (August 2, 1871 – September 7, 1951) was an American painter and etcher. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Ashcan school of American art. He was also a member of the group known as The Eight. He is best known ...
, and
Maurice Prendergast
Maurice Brazil Prendergast (October 10, 1858 – February 1, 1924) was an American artist who painted in oil and watercolor, and created monotypes. His delicate landscapes and scenes of modern life, characterized by mosaic-like color, are ...
. In the 1930s, the abstract expressionists
Jackson Pollock
Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
and
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning (; ; April 24, 1904 – March 19, 1997) was a Dutch-American abstract expressionist artist. He was born in Rotterdam and moved to the United States in 1926, becoming an American citizen in 1962. In 1943, he married painter El ...
, and the realists
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an American realist painter and printmaker. While he is widely known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching.
Hopper created subdued drama ...
and
Thomas Hart Benton had studios around Washington Square. In the 1960s the area became one of the centers of the beat and folk generation, when
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
and
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
settled there. This led to tension with the university, which at the time was in the midst of an aggressive facilities expansion phase.
In 1975, the university opened The
Grey Art Gallery
The Grey Art Gallery is New York University’s fine art museum, located on historic Washington Square Park, in New York City's Greenwich Village. As a university art museum, the Grey Art Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, in ...
at 100 Washington Square East, housing the NYU art collection and featuring museum quality exhibitions.
Budget and fundraising
NYU has successfully completed a seven-year, $2.5 billion campaign, surpassing expectations by raising more than $3 billion over the seven-year period. Started in 2001, this campaign was the university's largest in its history, in which they planned to "raise $1 million per day for scholarships and financial aid, faculty building, new academic initiatives, and enhancing NYU's physical facilities."
The campaign included a $50 million gift from the Tisch family (after which one building and the
art school
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...
are named) and a $60 million gift from six
trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
s called "The Partners Fund", aimed at hiring new faculty.
On October 15, 2007, the university announced that the Silver family donated $50 million to the
School of Social Work
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
, which will be renamed as a result. This is the largest donation ever to a school of social work in the United States.
The 2007–2008 academic year was the most successful fundraising year to date for NYU, with the school raising $698 million in only the first 11 months of the year, representing a 70% increase in donations from the prior year. The university also recently announced plans for NYU's Call to Action, a new initiative to ask alumni and donors to support financial aid for students at NYU.
The university has announced a 25-year strategic development plan, scheduled to coincide with its bicentennial in 2031. Included in the "NYU 200" plans are increasing resident and academic space, hiring additional faculty, and involving the New York City community in a transparent planning process. Additionally, NYU hopes to make their buildings more environmentally friendly, which will be facilitated by an evaluation of all campus spaces. As a part of this plan, NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City.
For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours.
As a result, the
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge.
NYU consistently ranks as one of the top fundraising institutions in the country, raising $506.4 million in 2015 and $648 million in 2016. NYU is also the 19th wealthiest university in America with $5.3 billion in cash and investments in fiscal year 2014.
Campus
NYU's
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
campus includes more than 171 buildings spread between
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
. Most of the school's buildings in Manhattan are located across a roughly area bounded by
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River in t ...
to the south,
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
to the east,
14th Street to the north, and
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
(Avenue of the Americas) to the west. The core of NYU consists of buildings that surround Washington Square Park.
In addition to its New York campus, NYU has 49 additional buildings overseas located throughout two 'portal' campuses and 12 Global Academic Centers.
Washington Square campus
Since the late 1970s, the central part of NYU has been its Washington Square campus in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Washington Square Arch is an unofficial symbol of NYU. Until 2007, NYU had held its commencement ceremonies in Washington Square Park, but because of renovations to Washington Square moved the 2008 ceremonies to the
original Yankee Stadium and all subsequent ones to the
current Yankee Stadium.
The
Silver Center for Arts and Science, home to the
College of Arts & Science and the
Graduate School of Arts & Science, is one of the main academic buildings on the Washington Square campus. It is located on Washington Square East, between Washington Place and
Waverly Place
Waverly Place is a narrow street in the Greenwich Village section of the New York City borough of Manhattan, that runs from Bank Street to Broadway. Waverly changes direction roughly at its midpoint at Christopher Street, turning about 120 deg ...
, and many individual departments of the two schools it houses are located in its vicinity. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt Hall, the main building for the
School of Law
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
, is located near the southwest corner of Washington Square between
Macdougal Street
MacDougal Street is a one-way street in the Greenwich Village and SoHo neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The street is bounded on the south by Prince Street and on the north by West 8th Street; its numbering begins in the south. Betw ...
and
Sullivan Street
Sullivan Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, which previously ran north from Duarte Square at Canal Street, but since around 2012 begins at Broome Street, to Washington Square South, through the neighborhoods of Hudson Square, SoHo, the So ...
on
Washington Square South
4th Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City. It starts at Avenue D (Manhattan), Avenue D as East 4th Street and continues to Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway, where it becomes West 4th Street. It continues west until the Sixth Avenue ...
. The Kimmel Center for University Life is also on Washington Square South, and is the primary hub for student life at the university, providing event and meeting space for student organizations and other gatherings. Located closer to the eastern edge of the campus along Broadway are the main buildings for the
Tisch School of the Arts
The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University.
Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...
and the
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
The Gallatin School of Individualized Study (commonly referred to as Gallatin) is a small interdisciplinary college within New York University (NYU). Students at Gallatin design an interdisciplinary program that meets their specific interests a ...
, as well as the main office for
Liberal Studies
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
and NYU's Bookstore and
Student Health
College health is a desired outcome created by a constellation of services, programs and policies directed at advancing the health and wellbeing of individuals enrolled in an institution of higher education, while also addressing and improving bot ...
Center. Other nearby university buildings and complexes of note include 5 Washington Place, which houses NYU's distinguished
Department of Philosophy, 7 East 12th Street, which serves as the main building for the
School of Professional Studies, the
Brown Building, which was the location of the infamous
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on Saturday, March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The ...
before its acquisition by NYU, as well as
Washington Square Village and
University Village University Village may mean:
* University Village, Albany, California
*University Village, Chicago, Illinois
*University Village, Grand Forks, North Dakota
* University Village, New York
* University Village, Riverside, California
*University Villa ...
, two housing complexes for faculty members and graduate students. Undergraduate
residence halls
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
in the immediate surroundings of Washington Square include Goddard Hall, Lipton Hall, and Weinstein Hall, while those that are slightly farther but still nearby include Brittany Hall and Rubin Hall.
In the 1990s, NYU became a "two square" university by building a second community around
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
, in close proximity to Washington Square. NYU's Union Square community primarily consists of the priority residence halls of Carlyle Court,
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
Residence Hall, Alumni Hall, Coral Tower, Thirteenth Street Hall, University Hall, Third North Residence Hall, and Founders Hall.
On its Washington Square campus, NYU operates theaters and performance facilities that are often used by the Tisch School of the Arts as well as the university's
music conservatory
A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...
, which is within the
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
The New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (commonly referred to as Steinhardt) is the secondary liberal arts and education school of New York University. It is one of the only schools in the world of i ...
. External productions are also occasionally held in NYU's facilities. The largest performance accommodations at NYU are the
Skirball Center for Performing Arts
The Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, generally known as NYU Skirball, is an 850-seat theater at 566 LaGuardia Place in Manhattan, New York, owned by New York University. It was named after philanthropist Jack H. Skirball. The the ...
(850 seats) at 566 LaGuardia Place, just south of Washington Square South, and the Eisner-Lubin Auditorium (560 seats) in the Kimmel Center. Notably, the Skirball Center has hosted important speeches on foreign policy by
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
and
Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
. The Skirball Center is the largest performing arts facility south of
42nd Street.
NYU also has international houses meant to foster the study of particular cultures and languages on its Washington Square campus, including the Deutsches Haus,
La Maison Française,
Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò, the Glucksman Ireland House, the
King Juan Carlos I of Spain
Juan Carlos I (;,
* ca, Joan Carles I,
* gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...
Center, the
Hagop Kevorkian
Hagop Kevorkian ( hy, Յակոբ Գեւորգեան; 1872 – 1962) was an Armenian-American archeologist, connoisseur of art, and collector. Originally from Kayseri, and a graduate of the American Robert College in Istanbul, he settled in New Yo ...
Center, an Africa House, and a China House. Most of these international houses are located on
Washington Mews
Washington Mews is a private gated street in New York City between Fifth Avenue and University Place just north of Washington Square Park. Along with MacDougal Alley and Stuyvesant Street, it was originally part of a Lenape trail which connected ...
, a private street north of Washington Square Park.
The closest
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
stations servicing the Washington Square campus are
Eighth Street–New York University and
West Fourth Street–Washington Square
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. In addition, NYU runs its own shuttle service, University Transportation Services, linking the Washington Square campus to other university locations and major transit hubs.
Gould Plaza
The Jeffrey S. Gould Plaza, located between
Washington Square East and
Mercer Street on West 4th Street, is surrounded by the buildings for some departments of the College of Arts and Science as well as the main buildings for the
Stern School of Business
The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...
and the
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU), and is among the most prestigious mathematics schools and mathematical sciences research cente ...
. Other NYU buildings near the plaza include the Bonomi Family
Admissions Center, the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, the Alumni Relations building, Goddard Hall, Frederick Loewe Theatre, and the main building for the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, as well as unrelated religious institutions such as
Judson Memorial Church
The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It ...
, the
Islamic Center at NYU, and
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved th ...
. Because of its high student traffic during the academic year, Gould Plaza has become a popular meeting spot for NYU students and a performance area for
street musicians and buskers.
Bobst Library
The Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, built between 1967 and 1972, is the largest library at NYU and one of the largest academic libraries in the United States. Designed by
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the pos ...
and
Richard Foster, the 12-story, structure sits on the southern edge of Washington Square Park (at 70 Washington Square South) and is the flagship of an eight-library, 4.5 million-volume system. Bobst Library offers one Multidisciplinary Reference Center, a Research Commons, of open-stacks shelving, and approximately 2,000 seats for student study. The library is visited by more than 6,800 users each day, and circulates more than one million books annually.
Bobst's Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media is one of the world's largest academic media centers, where students and researchers use more than 95,000 audio and video recordings per year.
Bobst Library is also home to many special collections. The
Fales Collection houses collections of English and American fiction in the United States, the unique Downtown Collection, documenting the New York literary avant-garde arts scene from the 1970s to the present, and the Food and Cookery Collection, which documents American food history with a focus on New York City. Bobst Library also houses the Tamiment Library, which holds collections in labor history, socialism, anarchism, communism, and American radicalism for scholarly research. Tamiment includes the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, the Archives of Irish America, the Center for the Cold War and the U.S., and the Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center.
Bobst Library made headlines in the early 2000s when
Steven Stanzak, who is also known as "Bobst Boy", gained a following for living in Bobst Library after he was unable to pay for board at the university and began to write about his life on a self published blog. The story was reported by ''
Washington Square News
''Washington Square News (WSN)'' is the weekly student newspaper of New York University (NYU). It has a circulation of 10,000 and an estimated 55,000 online readers. It is published in print on Monday, in addition to online publication Tuesday thr ...
'' before becoming an overnight national sensation, which helped Stanzak receive financial assistance from NYU until graduation.
Brooklyn campus
NYU's Brooklyn campus is located at
MetroTech Center
Brooklyn Commons, formerly MetroTech Center, is a business and educational center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York City.
Location
Brooklyn Commons lies between Flatbush Avenue Extension and Jay Street, north of the Fulton Street Mall and south o ...
, an urban academic-industrial
research park
The following is a list of science park, technology parks and biomedical parks of the world, organized by continent.
Asia
ASEAN Economic Community
Report listing all the Economic Zones in the ASEAN Economic Community froUNIDO Viet Nam China
...
.
It sits on top of the
Jay Street–MetroTech station
The Jay Street–MetroTech station is a New York City Subway station complex on the IND Fulton Street, IND Culver, and BMT Fourth Avenue lines. The complex is located in the vicinity of MetroTech Center (near Jay and Willoughby Streets) in ...
, is only a few blocks from the Brooklyn Bridge, and is connected to NYU's Manhattan campus via the NYU Shuttle Bus System. It houses the Tandon School of Engineering, the
Center for Urban Science and Progress
The NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (commonly referred to as CUSP) is a degree-granting technology and research institute in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. It is a graduate school of New York University focusing on urban informatics ...
and also several of Tisch School of the Arts
and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development's degree programs.
MetroTech Commons, the 3.5-acre (14,000 m
2)
privately owned public space
Privately owned public space (POPS), or alternatively, privately owned public open spaces (POPOS), are terms used to describe a type of public space that, although Private property, privately owned, is legally required to be open to the public un ...
at the heart of the MetroTech complex, functions as a quad for students at the Brooklyn campus in much the same way that Washington Square Park does for students at the main campus, hosting events including concerts, health fairs, chess tournaments and holiday celebrations. Bounded by Lawrence and Duffield Streets, the square is frequently adorned by modern art exhibits. Two pieces called ''Alligator'' and ''Visionary'' are part of the Commons' permanent public art collection by the well-known sculptor
Tom Otterness
Tom Otterness (born 1952) is an American sculptor best known as one of America's most prolific public artists. Otterness's works adorn parks, plazas, subway stations, libraries, courthouses and museums around the world, notably in New York City's ...
.
The Brooklyn campus is home to NYU's Game Center Open Library, which is the largest collection of games held by any university in the world,
as well as the NYU MakerSpace and Design Lab, which allows all NYU students who undergo training sessions to access advanced
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
,
prototyping
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...
,
CNC machining
Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a piec ...
, and
stress testing
Stress testing (sometimes called torture testing) is a form of deliberately intense or thorough testing used to determine the stability of a given system, critical infrastructure or entity. It involves testing beyond normal operational capacity, ...
devices.
In 2014,
NYU Langone Medical Center
NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and m ...
acquired a healthcare facility in Brooklyn. Quickly following this announcement, NYU announced in 2017 that it would invest over $500 million in the coming years to renovate and expand its Brooklyn campus, including
370 Jay Street, which opened in December 2017.
Other NY metropolitan area facilities
The NYU Langone Health medical center is situated near the East River waterfront at 550 First Avenue between East
30th and
34th Streets. The campus hosts the
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School o ...
, Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, Hassenfeld Children's Hospital, and the
Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine
Rusk Rehabilitation is the world's first and among the largest university-affiliated academic centers devoted entirely to inpatient/outpatient care, research, and training in rehabilitation medicine for both adults and pediatric patients. The syst ...
. Other NYU and NYU-affiliated medical centers across the city include the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, the
NYU Langone Hospital — Brooklyn, and the
Bellevue Hospital
Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...
. In Mineola, Long Island, the
NYU Langone Hospital — Long Island
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, ...
campus is home to NYU's second medical school, the NYU Long Island School of Medicine.
NYU's Silver School of Social Work (formerly Ehrenkranz School of Social Work) manages branch campus programs in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
at
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...
and in
Rockland County
Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of th ...
at
St. Thomas Aquinas College.
In
Sterling Forest, near
Tuxedo
Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element fo ...
, NYU has a research facility that contains various institutes, in particular the Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine. The Midtown Center at 11 West 42nd Street is home to the NYU Schack Institute of Real Estate. The
Woolworth Building
The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...
in the financial district is home to some of NYU's professional studies and education programs.
NYU has two units located on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
. The
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW) is a center for advanced scholarly research and graduate education at New York University. ISAW's mission is to cultivate comparative, connective investigations of the ancient world from the ...
, a discrete entity within NYU, independent of any other school or department of the university, is located on East 84th Street, while the
Institute of Fine Arts
The Institute of Fine Arts (IFA) of New York University is dedicated to graduate teaching and advanced research in the history of art, archaeology and the conservation and technology of works of art. It offers Master of Arts and Doctor of Philoso ...
, a graduate school of art history and fine arts, is located at the
James B. Duke House
The James B. Duke House is a mansion at 1 East 78th Street, on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Horace Trumbauer, who drew heavily upon the design of in Bo ...
at 1 East 78th Street. Additionally, the nearby Stephen Chan House at 14 East 78th Street houses the Conservation Center of the Institute of Fine Arts, which boasts the oldest graduate degree-granting
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
program in the world.
Global campuses and sites
NYU has a host of foreign facilities used for
study away programs, referred to as Global Academic Centers. , NYU operates 12 academic sites in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America, including undergraduate academic-year and summer study away programs in
Accra
Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
One of the most noteworthy sites is the campus of NYU Florence, located at
Villa LaPietra
Villa La Pietra is a renaissance villa in the hills outside Florence, in Tuscany in central Italy. It was formerly the home of Arthur Acton and later of his son Harold Acton, on whose death in 1994 it was bequeathed to New York University. The vi ...
in Italy. The estate was bequeathed by the late Sir
Harold Acton
Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton (5 July 1904 – 27 February 1994) was a British writer, scholar, and aesthete who was a prominent member of the Bright Young Things. He wrote fiction, biography, history and autobiography. During his stay in Ch ...
to NYU in 1994, and at the time it was the largest donation to a university in history. In spring 2014, NYU Paris moved to a new campus, formerly occupied by the
École Spéciale des Travaux Publics
École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, du bâtiment et de l'industrie (ESTP Paris) is a French engineering school and grande école located in Paris.
History
The ESTP was founded in 1891 by Léon Eyrolles and was officially recognized by the St ...
(ESTP Paris), in the student area of the
Quartier Latin
The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne.
Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...
, where NYU Law also set up an EU Regulatory Policy Clinic in partnership with
HEC Paris
HEC Paris (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Paris) is a business school, and one of the most prestigious and selective grandes écoles, located in Jouy-en-Josas, France. HEC offers Master in Management, MSc International Fi ...
taught by
Alberto Alemanno
Alberto Alemanno (born 30 April 1975 in Turin, Italy) is an academic, author, public interest lawyer, and civic entrepreneur. He is Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris since 2009, permanent Visiting Professor at the University of Toky ...
and
Vincent Chauvet
Vincent Chauvet (born 24 October 1987) is a French politician serving as Mayor of Autun since 2017. A member of the Democratic Movement (MoDem), he has presided over the party's Saône-et-Loire federation since 2015. Chauvet is the co-founder of ...
.
In addition to the Global Academic Centers, NYU also maintains 10 Global Research Initiative Institutes, 9 of them are located in the academic centers at Berlin, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, and Washington DC, with the other being located in Athens. Meant to provide faculty and graduate students with NYU infrastructural support while conducting international research projects, those who are interested can apply for fellowships at all sites during the academic-year and a limited number of sites during the summer.
Abu Dhabi campus
In fall 2010, NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) opened as the university's first overseas "Portal Campus" with an inaugural class of 150 students. Unlike NYU's other study abroad centers, NYUAD functions as a separate liberal arts college within a university, offering complete degree programs to students admitted directly to NYUAD. NYUAD recruits students from all over the world and describes itself as the "World's Honor College". The main campus for NYUAD is on
Saadiyat Island
Saadiyat Island ( ar, جزيرة السعديات; ', for "Island of Happiness") is a natural island and a tourism-cultural project for nature and Emirati heritage and culture that is located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The project i ...
and opened in 2014. Until then, the school operated from a campus located in downtown Abu Dhabi. The campus construction costs were entirely funded by the Abu Dhabi government, as will be the operational costs and any future expansions.
Shanghai campus
In 2011, NYU announced plans to open another portal campus, NYU Shanghai, for the fall semester of 2013. It was set to have about 3,000 undergraduate students, the majority of whom would be Chinese people, Chinese. It was approved by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China in January 2011. NYU's local partner would be East China Normal University (ECNU). ECNU's president Yu Lizhong would be the chancellor and play a major role in government relations while Jeffrey S. Lehman, former president of Cornell amongst other positions, would serve as vice chancellor and have "free rein in academic affairs". Since late summer of 2014, NYU Shanghai has been based in Pudong, Pudong, Shanghai, at 1555 Century Ave. The main campus is contained in a single building, the Academic Center, a new 15-story building with two underground floors. On May 30, 2019, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new campus building in the Qiantan International Business Zone (Shanghai), Qiantan International Business Zone. The Qiantan campus building will also be located in Pudong, and is being designed and built by architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox, Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF). The design features four buildings arranged in a pinwheel shape reminiscent of NYU Shanghai's logo, that are connected as one building above the fifth floor. The university hopes to move up to 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students into the new campus by 2022.
Former global campuses
Tisch School of the Arts, Asia was NYU's first branch campus abroad. The result of a partnership between Tisch School of the Arts and the Singapore Government, it offered Master of Fine Arts degrees in animation and digital arts, dramatic writing, film and international media producing. The campus opened in fall 2007 with the intention to enroll approximately 250 students. Anticipated enrollment figures were not achieved, financial irregularities were alleged, and President Pari Sara Shirazi was dismissed from her post by NYU in November 2011. She subsequently announced her intention to commence legal proceedings against NYU alleging wrongful termination and defamation. In a letter to the Tisch Asia community dated November 8, 2012, Dean Mary Schmidt Campbell announced that the campus would close after 2014 with recruitment and admission of new students suspended with immediate effect. In 2016, three former students of the now defunct Tisch Asia sued NYU.
Before moving to its current location at the former campus of ESTP Paris, NYU Paris was located in a small building in the historic neighborhood of Passy.
Residence halls
NYU houses approximately 12,000 undergraduate and graduate residents,
and had the seventh-largest university housing system in the U.S. , and one of the largest among private schools.
NYU's undergraduate housing system consists of more than 20 residence halls and is governed by the Residence hall association, Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC), an umbrella student council organization.
Uniquely, many of NYU's residence halls are converted apartment complexes or old hotels. In general, NYU residence halls receive favorable ratings, and some are opulent. Many rooms are spacious and contain amenities considered rare for individual college residence hall rooms, such as kitchens, lavatories, living rooms and common areas. The university operates its own transit system to transport its students by bus to its campus. A few of the residence halls are considered to be among the nicest in the nation, being furnished with granite counter-tops, stainless-steel appliances, in-hall gyms, wood flooring, marble bathroom fixtures, large floor lounges, floor to ceiling windows and extensive views of lower and midtown Manhattan.
Undergraduate students are guaranteed housing during their enrollment at NYU and are split into two categories, FYRE (First-Year Residential Experience) and TRUE (The Residential Upperclassmen Experience). Most FYRE halls are located near the Washington Square area. While nearly all TRUE halls are located near the Union Square area, two former residence halls were located in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District and one is still in use in Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown. Two residence halls are located in and around the MetroTech Commons, intended to serve NYU's Brooklyn Campus.
In 2007, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH) named NYU the National School of the Year for IRHC and NRHH's strong efforts over the past year. In addition, NYU was named the National Program of the Year for UltraViolet Live, the annual inter-hall competition that raises funds for Relay For Life.
Sustainability
NYU has made the greening of its campus a large priority. For example, NYU has been the largest university purchaser of wind energy in the U.S. since 2009.
With this switch to renewable power, NYU is achieving benefits equivalent to removing 12,000 cars from the road or planting 72,000 trees. In May 2008, the NYU Sustainability Task Force awarded $150,000 in grants to 23 projects that would focus research and efforts toward energy, food, landscape, outreach, procurement, transportation and waste.
These projects include a student-led bike-sharing program modeled after Paris' Velib program with 30 bikes free to students, staff, and faculty. NYU received a grade of "B" on the College Sustainability Report Card 2010 from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
NYU purchased 118 million kilowatt-hours of wind power during the 2006–2007 academic year – the largest purchase of wind power by any university in the country and any institution in New York City.
For 2007, the university expanded its purchase of wind power to 132 million kilowatt-hours.
The EPA ranked NYU as one of the greenest colleges in the country in its annual College & University Green Power Challenge.
NYU 2031
In 2007, NYU created a strategic plan for a six billion-dollar, 25-year, expansion scheduled to conclude by the university's bicentennial in 2031.
Details of the plan include of additional on-campus housing and of modern academic spaces spread between NYU's New York City campuses.
The expansion started in earnest in 2017 with the groundbreaking o
181 Mercer Street a new multi-purpose building that will act as the flagship athletic facility for NYU, while also accompanying a 350-bed Residence Hall, 58 general purpose classrooms and a 350-seat theater. The roughly , $1.1 billion building is directly adjacent to the south eastern corner of the Washington Square campus and represents a significant focus on the university owned super blocks. Work on the plans second project, 370 Jay Street, a addition to the Brooklyn campus is scheduled to conclude in 2019. The building will house 'the digital arts and sciences' such as the Tandon School of Engineering departments of Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering; the Tisch School of the Arts Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music and Game Center and various other NYU initiatives such as the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) and NYU Wireless (5G research).
To date, NYU has confirmed specific construction details for its NYU 2031 plan to the tune of at a cost of $1.6 billion with roughly 12 years to go until the university's bicentennial. In order to meet the plans outlined goals on time, the university would have to significantly increase spending, fundraising and construction over the next decade.
Academics
Admissions and scholarships
Admission to NYU is highly selective. For the undergraduate first-year class of 2026, 12.2% were admitted from an applicant pool of more than 100,500.
In 2021, NYU became the first private university in the US to top 100,000 applications.
The College of Arts and Science had an acceptance rate of 7% and the Stern School of Business had a 5.6% acceptance rate for the class of 2025.
Of those admitted, about 6,500 made up the total enrollment for the class, representing 102 countries, all 50 US states, and the District of Columbia. Most freshmen have a typical unweighted GPA of 3.7/A (90–95%) and are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. The median SAT score was 1540 out of 1600 (within the 99th percentile).
The student-to-faculty ratio at the New York campus is 9:1, and less than that at the Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses. The average scholarship amount awarded to freshmen is over $35,000, and 20% of freshmen received Pell Grants.
, NYU's graduate schools have acceptance rates of 1.8% to the School of Medicine, 23% to the School of Business,
28% to the School of Engineering, 29% to the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and 34% to the School of Law.
Average MCAT score of students at the School of Medicine is 522, average GMAT score of graduate students at the School of Business is 723, and the median LSAT score of students at the School of Law is 170.
Schools and leadership
NYU is a private, global, non-sectarian and Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit institution of higher education organized into 10 undergraduate schools and 15 graduate/professional schools, with a roughly even split of students between the divisions. Arts and Science is currently NYU's largest academic division. It has three subdivisions: the College of Arts and Science, the Graduate School of Arts and Science, and the Liberal Studies program.
The College of Arts and Science and Liberal Studies program are undergraduate divisions, and the former has existed since the founding of NYU.
According to NYU, it has created a "global network university" with its primary campus, two "portal" campuses, and 12 academic sites. The portal campuses at New York University Shanghai, NYU Shanghai and NYU Abu Dhabi function as full-fledged colleges, allowing students to study all four years of their undergraduate studies and receive a degree, never having set foot on NYU's traditional campus in New York. The academic sites at Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C. function as study away sites, allowing students to spend up to a year away from their home campus. NYU, citing a report by the Institute of International Education, asserts that it has sent more students abroad and brought more international students in than any other university for five continuous years.
List of Presidents of New York University, The President of New York University, is selected by the board of trustees and serves as the primary executive officer of the university for an unspecified term length. On March 18, 2015,
Andrew D. Hamilton
Andrew David Hamilton (born 3 November 1952) is a British American chemist and academic who is the 16th and current President of New York University. From 2009 to 2015, he served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Before leadi ...
became the 16th and current President of NYU.
Research
NYU is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and research expenditures totaled $917.7 million in 2017. The university was the founding institution of the American Chemical Society. The NYU Grossman School of Medicine received $305 million in external research funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2014. NYU was granted 90 patents in 2014, the 19th most of any institution in the world. NYU owns the fastest supercomputer in New York City. , NYU hardware researchers and their collaborators enjoy the largest outside funding level for hardware security of any institution in the United States, including grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Office of Naval Research, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the United States Army Research Laboratory, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Semiconductor Research Corporation, and companies including Twitter, Boeing, Microsoft, and Google.
In 2019, four NYU Arts & Science departments ranked in Top 10 of Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, Academic Rankings of World Universities by Academic Subjects (Economics, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology).
Rankings
Nationally, NYU is ranked 17th in the ''Center for World University Rankings'', 9th by ''QS World University Rankings,'' 17th in the ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'', 27th by ''Business Insider'', and 25th by ''U.S. News & World Report''.
Globally, NYU is ranked 23 in the ''Center for World University Rankings'',
25th in the ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'', 26th in the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', and 35th in the ''QS World University Rankings''. Additionally, NYU is ranked 26th in the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' Reputation Rankings.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranks NYU's graduate schools 6th for law, 10th for public policy, 9th for mathematics (1st for applied mathematics), 8th for Occupational therapy under Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, 10th for business, 11th for economics, 12th for political science, 4th for medical school research, 10th for education, 19th for nursing doctorate, 38th for physical therapy, 30th for computer science, 36th for psychology, and 38th for engineering.
Globally, NYU's social sciences are ranked 8th by the ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'', 15th by the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', and 16th by the ''QS World University Rankings''. NYU is globally ranked 11th for psychology by the ''QS World University Ranking''. The Social Psychology Network ranks NYU 5th for industrial/organizational psychology, 14th for clinical psychology, and ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranks NYU 9th for social psychology and 9th for behavioral neuroscience.
''U.S. News & World Report'' ranks the New York University School of Law 1st for tax law, 1st for international law, 1st for business and corporate law (tie), and 1st in criminal law. The publication also ranks The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service 10th in public policy. The NYU Department of Philosophy is globally ranked 1st by ''The Philosophical Gourmet Report'' and the ''QS World University Rankings''. NYU is ranked 1st for New Ivies by college resource guide Unigo. In 2006, NYU was named by Kaplan, Inc., Kaplan as one of the "New Ivies". The annual Global Employability Survey in ''The New York Times'' ranks NYU 11th nationally and 29th globally for employability. NYU is consistently ranked as a "Top 10 Dream College" for both parents and students according to The Princeton Review. Alongside Stanford University, Harvard College, Princeton University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NYU is one of few universities to regularly appear in the top 10 list for both parents and students.
NYU ranks 19th in the world based on the number of patents generated.
Globally, NYU is ranked 7th by the ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' for producing alumni who are millionaires, 5th among universities with the highest number of alumni worth $30 million or more, and 4th by Wealth-X for producing ultra high net-worth and billionaire alumni.
Student life
Student government
The Student Government Assembly (SGA) is the students' union, governing student body at NYU. The SGA has been involved in controversial debates on campus, including a campus-wide ban on the sale of Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola products in 2005, and the Graduate Student Organizing Committee unionization in 2001 and subsequent strike in 2005. This ban was lifted by the University Senate on February 5, 2009. SGA consists of 75 voting members from subsidiary student government organs including the Student Senators Council of New York University, Student Senators Council (SSC) and the Presidents Council, which are elected from their respective individual undergraduate and graduate colleges.
In 2018, the structure of the university's student government was called into question by students through school newspapers and social media pages calling for "sweeping changes to its wikt:Byzantine, byzantine structure." Advocates claimed the structure of SGA failed to represent all students, wasted university funds and operated in an undemocratic manner. Opponents claimed that advocates were merely motivated by legislation supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, BDS movement that was likely to pass.
Student organizations
NYU has over 450 student clubs and organizations on campus. In addition to the sports teams, fraternities, sororities, and study clubs, there are many organizations on campus that focus on entertainment, arts, and culture.
Journalism, media, and broadcast organizations
These organizations include various student media clubs: for instance, the daily student newspaper the ''Washington Square News'', the ''NYU Local'' daily blog, ''The Plague (magazine), The Plague'' comedy magazine, "''Washington Square Local'' web-based satire news source, and the literary journals ''Washington Square Review'' and ''The Minetta Review'', as well as student-run event producers such as the NYU Program Board and the Inter-Residence Hall Council. It also operates radio station WNYU-FM 89.1 with a diverse college radio format, transmitting to the entire New York metropolitan area from the original campus, and via booster station WNYU-FM1 which fills in the signal in lower Manhattan from atop one of the Silver Towers, next to the American football field, football field at the Washington Square campus.
Students publish a campus comedy magazine, ''The Plague''. Like many college humor magazines, this often pokes fun at popular culture as well as campus life and the idiosyncrasies of New York University.
''The Plague'' was founded in 1978 by Howard Ostrowsky along with Amy Burns, John Rawlins, Joe Pinto and Dan Fiorella, and is currently published once per semester.
It is not NYU's first humor magazine, as ''The Medley'' was a humor magazine published by the Eucleian Society from 1913 to 1950.
Debate team
Since winning the national championship in the 2003–2004 season, the NYU Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) debate team is considered one of the perennial collegiate policy debate teams in the country. For the 2020–21 season, they placed 5th in the nation at CEDA Open Nationals and 2nd in the nation at JV Nationals, along with students named the 1st and 4th place speakers at Novice Nationals. In 2021, they ranked 10th in the nation, finishing ahead of Harvard and Cornell. This marked 14 years of Top 20 National finishes dating back to the 2007 season.
Mock trial team
The New York University Mock Trial team is consistently ranked as one of the best collegiate mock trial teams in the country. NYU has qualified for the National Championship Tournament for 10 consecutive seasons and placed in the top 10 during each of those years. In the 2009–2010 season, NYU won the 26th National Championship Tournament in Memphis over rival Harvard. The following season, they qualified for the final round once more only to be the runners-up to UCLA. In the American Mock Trial Association's 2015–2016 power rankings, NYU ranks third, behind Harvard and Yale.
Campus traditions
NYU has traditions which have persisted across campuses. Since the beginning of the 20th century initiation ceremonies have welcomed incoming NYU freshmen. At the Bronx University Heights Campus, seniors used to grab unsuspecting freshmen, take them to a horse-watering trough, and then dunk them head-first into what was known colloquially as "the Fountain of Knowledge". This underground initiation took place until the 1970s. Today freshmen take part in university-sponsored activities during what is called "Welcome Week". In addition, throughout the year the university traditionally holds Apple Fest (an apple-themed country fest that began at the University Heights campus), the Violet Ball (a dance in the atrium of Bobst Library), Strawberry Fest (featuring New York City's longest Shortcake, Strawberry Shortcake), and the semi-annual midnight breakfast where Student Affairs administrators serve free breakfast to students before final examination, finals.
A cappella groups
NYU is home to a number of student-run a cappella groups, several of which compete regularly at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). Most notable of these groups is The NYU N'Harmonics, who won the ICCA title in 2019. In 2020, The A Cappella Archive ranked The NYU N'Harmonics at #6 among all ICCA-competing groups.
Greek life
Some of the first Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the country were formed at NYU.
Greek life first formed on the NYU campus in 1837 when Psi Upsilon chartered its Delta Chapter.
The first fraternities at NYU were social ones. With their athletic, professional, intellectual, and service activities, later groups sought to attract students who also formed other groups. Since then, Greek letter organizations have proliferated to include 25 social fraternities and sororities. , approximately 13% of NYU undergraduate students are members of fraternities or sororities.
Four governing boards oversee Greek life at the university. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) has jurisdiction over all twelve recognized fraternities on campus. Eight sororities are under the jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Council (PhC), which features seven national sororities (ΔΦΕ, ΑΕΦ, ΑΣΤ, ΠΒΦ, ΚΚΓ, ΖΤΑ, ΔΓ) and two local sororities (ΑΦΖ and ΘΦΒ). Five multicultural organizations maintain membership in the Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), including two fraternities and three sororities. All three of the aforementioned boards are managed under the auspices of the Inter-Greek Council.
Greek organizations have historical significance at NYU. Delta Phi Epsilon (social), Delta Phi Epsilon, Zeta Psi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Tau Delta Phi, Alpha Kappa Psi and Delta Sigma Pi were founded at NYU. Zeta Psi was chartered in 1847,
Delta Sigma Pi in 1907,
[ and] Alpha Epsilon Pi in 1913 Delta Phi Epsilon was founded in 1917. The NYU Gamma chapter of Delta Phi, founded in 1841, is the longest continuously active fraternity chapter in the world, having never gone inactive since its establishment. Delta Phi is also the oldest continuously active fraternity in the United States, being the only organization in the original Union Triad to remain active since its institute. The NYU Gamma chapter of Zeta Beta Tau is the oldest active ΖΒΤ chapter in the country.
Secret societies
During the University Heights era, an apparent rift evolved with some organizations distancing themselves from students from the downtown schools. The exclusive Philomathean Society at New York University, Philomathean Society operated from 1832 to 1888 (formally giving way in 1907 and reconstituted into the Andiron Club). Included among the Andiron's regulations was "Rule No.11: Have no relations save the most casual and informal kind with the downtown schools." The Eucleian Society, rival to the Philomathean Society, was founded in 1832. The Knights of the Lamp was a social organization founded in 1914 at the School of Commerce. This organization met every full moon and had a glowworm as its mascot. The Red Dragon Society, founded in 1898, is thought to be the most selective society at NYU.
In addition, NYU's first yearbook was formed by fraternities and "secret societies" at the university. There have been several attempts to restart old societies by both former and incoming undergraduate classes.
ROTC
NYU does not have an ROTC program on campus. However, NYU students may participate in the U.S. Army ROTC program through NYC Army ROTC (Yankee Battalion), headquartered at Fordham University. Students may also participate in the U.S. Air Force ROTC program through AFROTC Detachment 560 headquartered at Manhattan College.
Athletics
NYU's sports teams are referred to as the NYU Violets, the colors being the trademarked hue "NYU Violet" and white. Since 1981, the school mascot has been a bobcat, whose origin can be traced back to the abbreviation then being used by the Bobst Library computerized catalog—short: Bobcat. NYU's sports teams include baseball, men's and women's varsity basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. Most of NYU's sports teams participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division III (NCAA), Division III and the University Athletic Association, while fencing and ice hockey participate in NCAA Division I, Division I. While NYU has had All-American football players, the school has not had a varsity American football, football team since 1952.
NYU students also compete in club and intramural sports, including badminton, baseball, basketball, Rowing (sport), crew, cycle sport, cycling, equestrianism, ice hockey, lacrosse, martial arts, rugby football, rugby, softball, Squash (sport), squash, tennis, triathlon, and Ultimate (sport), ultimate. Th
Palladium Athletic Facilityserves as the home base of NYU's Varsity and Club intercollegiate athletic teams, while NYU's 404 and Brooklyn athletic facilities offer additional space for the NYU fitness community. Many of NYU's varsity teams play their games at various facilities and fields throughout Manhattan because of the scarcity of space for playing fields near campus. NYU is currently in the process of building a new billion dollar flagship athletic facility known a
When complete, the new home of NYU Athletics will host a six-lane swimming pool, four full basketball courts, a complete in-door running track and other sports related offerings.
Notable faculty
Notable alumni
As of 2020, multiple
heads of state
A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...
, royalty, one List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court justice, five
U.S. governors
The following is a list of current governors (or mayor) of U.S. states, territories, and the federal district. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive officer of a state or a territory. As of November 2022, there are 28&nb ...
, 17 List of universities by number of billionaire alumni, billionaires, 38 Nobel Laureates, 8 Turing Award winners, 5 Fields Medalists, 31
MacArthur Fellows
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...
, 167 Guggenheim Fellows, three astronauts, seven Abel Prize winners, seven Lasker Award winners, a Crafoord Prize winner, 26
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winners, 37
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winners, 30
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winners, 25
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
winners, 12
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winners, multiple Forbes 30 Under 30, ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 and Time 100, ''Time'' 100 notables, and numerous members of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, National Academies of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, United States Congress, and Foreign Service Officer, U.S. diplomats have been affiliated with
faculty or
alumni
Alumni (singular: alumnus (masculine) or alumna (feminine)) are former students of a school, college, or university who have either attended or graduated in some fashion from the institution. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for grou ...
.
Multiple Rhodes Scholarship, Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Schwarzman Scholars and a Mitchell Scholarship, Mitchell Scholar are affiliated with the university, with NYU Abu Dhabi producing more Rhodes Scholars per student than any university in the world.
File:Jack Dorsey 2014.jpg, Jack Dorsey, American billionaire and internet entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Twitter and Square, Inc.; New York University College of Arts & Science, CAS (dropped out)
File:Director Robert S. Mueller- III.jpg, Robert Mueller, Robert Muller III, American public official; lead director of the Mueller special counsel investigation, Special Counsel investigation, author of the Mueller Report, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science, GSAS '67
File:Alan Greenspan color photo portrait.jpg, Alan Greenspan, American economist and public official; former long-time Chair of the Federal Reserve, Chairman of the Federal Reserve; New York University Stern School of Business, Stern '48, '50, '77
File:CarolBellamy.jpg, Carol Bellamy, American politician; former executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); New York University School of Law, Law '68
File:中華民國第12、13任總統馬英九先生官方肖像照.jpg, Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwanese politician; Former President of the Republic of China; New York University School of Law, Law '76
File:Jonas Salk candid.jpg, Jonas Salk, American biologist; creator of the polio vaccine; founder of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Salk Institute; New York University School of Medicine, Medicine '39
File:Martin Scorsese (8250485096).jpg, Martin Scorsese, American filmmaker, director and actor; AFI Life Achievement Award winner, 20-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner, 23-time British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA winner, 11-time Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globes winner; New York University College of Arts & Science, CAS '64, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Steinhardt '68
File:Spike Lee (8162083699).jpg, Spike Lee, American filmmaker, director and producer; two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner; two-time Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '83
File:Ang Lee - 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra).jpg, Ang Lee Order of Brilliant Star, OBS, Taiwanese film director; three-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner; two-time Golden Lion winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '83
File:Alan Menken 2013 (cropped).jpg, Alan Menken, American composer, songwriter, and record producer; one of only sixteen people to have won List of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards, an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Tony; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, Steinhart '71
File:Suzanne Collins David Shankbone 2010 (cropped).jpg, Suzanne Collins, American television writer and author; Author of ''The New York Times'' best-selling series ''The Underland Chronicles'' and The Hunger Games trilogy, ''The Hunger Games'' trilogy; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '89
File:Alec Baldwin by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Alec Baldwin, American actor, writer, comedian and philanthropist; three-time Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
winner; three-time Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '94
File:Lady Gaga A Star is Born premire.png, Lady Gaga, American singer, songwriter, and actress; nine-time Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
winner; thirteen-time MTV Video Music Award winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch (dropped out)
File:Angelina Jolie by Gage Skidmore.jpg, Angelina Jolie, American actress and humanitarian; three-time Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award winner; Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch (non-degree seeking)
File:Mahershala Ali (29953410761).jpg, Mahershala Ali, American actor; two-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner; Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award winner; three-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '00
File:Woody-Allen-2015-07-18-by-Adam-Bielawski.jpg, Woody Allen, American director, actor and comedian; four-time Academy Awards, Academy Award winner; nine-time British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch (dropped out)
File:Adam Sandler 2011 (Cropped).jpg, Adam Sandler, American actor, director and comedian; five-time MTV Movie & TV Awards, MTV Movie & TV Award winner; eight-time People's Choice Awards, People's Choice Award winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '88
File:Donald Glover TIFF 2015.jpg, Donald Glover, American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and singer; two-time Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award winner; five-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner; New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch '06
File:Anne Hathaway at MIFF (cropped).jpg, Anne Hathaway, American actress; Academy Awards, Academy Award and Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award winner; Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Gallatin (dropped out)
File:Tom Ford cropped 2009.jpg, Tom Ford, American fashion designer and filmmaker; former creative director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent (brand), Yves Saint Laurent; New York University College of Arts & Science, CAS (dropped out)
NYU has more than 500,000 living alumni . As of October 2020, 38 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated with NYU. The university is also associated with a great number of important inventions and discoveries, such as cardiac defibrillator and artificial cardiac pacemaker (Barouh Berkovits), closed-chest cardiac defibrillator (William B. Kouwenhoven), laser (Gordon Gould), atom bomb (Frederick Reines), polio vaccine (Albert Sabin), Radio-frequency identification, RFID (Mario Cardullo), handset#telehony, telephone handset (Robert G. Brown), wireless microphone (Hung-Chang Lin), first digital image scanner (Russell A. Kirsch), television (Benjamin Adler), light beer (Joseph Owades), Non-stick surface, non-stick cookware (John Gilbert (scientist), John Gilbert), black hole thermodynamics (Jacob Bekenstein), polymer science (Herman Francis Mark), microwave (Ernst Weber (engineer), Ernst Weber), X-ray crystallography (Paul Peter Ewald), barcode (Jerome Swartz), structure of the DNA (Francis Crick), tau lepton (Martin Lewis Perl), processes for creating food coloring, decaffeination and sugar substitute (Torunn Atteraas Garin), processes for the mass production of penicillin (Jasper H. Kane), X-ray generator and rotational radiation therapy (John G. Trump), nuclear reactor and hydrogen bomb (John Archibald Wheeler), and contact lenses (Norman Gaylord), among many others. Alumnus Fred Waller who invented Cinerama and the Waller Gunnery Trainer, also obtained the first patent for a water ski. The first patents for touch screen cash machine (Richard J. Orford), and zoom lens (Leonard Bergstein), were also obtained by NYU alumni.
Some of the most prolific inventors in American history are NYU alumni, for example Jerome H. Lemelson whose 605 patents involved the cordless telephone, fax machine, videocassette recorder and camcorder, among others; Samuel Ruben whose inventions include electric battery; James Wood (engineer), James Wood who invented cable-lift elevator, fabricated the steel cables for the Brooklyn Bridge and contributed to the development of Lock (security device), lockmaking, submarine, electric generator, electric motor, transformer and the design of the refrigerator; and Albert Macovski whose innovations include the single-tube color camera and real-time Phased array ultrasonics, phased array imaging for ultrasound. NYU is the birthplace of the tractor beam and 5G. Before and during World War II, NYU's Tandon School of Engineering worked on problems whose solution led to the development of radar, and later broke ground in electromagnetic theory, electronics in general, and solved re-entry problems of the crewed space capsules, as well as helped develop and design the NASDAQ Automated Quote System and trading floors. Developer of the early telephone systems in the United States Bancroft Gherardi Jr., developer of the submarine communications facilities Jack M. Sipress, inventor of Italy's first computer Mario Tchou, designer of the Panama Canal locks Henry C. Goldmark, designer of the Pentagon Hugh John Casey, designer of the Apollo Lunar Module Thomas J. Kelly (aerospace engineer), Thomas J. Kelly, as well as the designer of virtually every major bridge in New York City from the George Washington to the Verrazano, Leopold Just, are also NYU alumni.
Many of the world's most renowned companies, such as IBM (Charles Ranlett Flint), Twitter (Jack Dorsey), Bloomberg L.P. (Charles Zegar), Jacobs Engineering Group (Joseph J. Jacobs), Hudson Group (Robert B. Cohen), MTV (Tom Freston), Barnes & Noble (Leonard Riggio), Northrop Grumman (William T. Schwendler), Automatic Data Processing (Henry Taub), Duracell (Samuel Ruben), Bugle Boy (William C. W. Mow), Virgin Mobile USA (Dan Schulman), among many others, were founded or co-founded by NYU alumni. Many of the world's most famous companies were either owned or led by NYU alumni. These include, Lockheed Martin (Robert J. Stevens), Xerox (Ursula Burns), Yahoo! (Alfred Amoroso), TPV Technology (Jason Hsuan), 20th Century Fox (Marvin Davis), BAE Systems Inc (Mark Ronald), AECOM (John Dionisio), Pfizer (John Elmer McKeen), Ingersoll Rand (Herbert L. Henkel), General Motors (Alfred P. Sloan), and Sears (Arthur C. Martinez).
Others include ''The New York Times'' (Spencer Trask), Stanley Black & Decker (John Trani), American International Group (Harvey Golub), American Express (Edward P. Gilligan), Qwest (Joseph Nacchio), Chase Bank (Walter V. Shipley), CBS (Laurence Alan Tisch), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (Charles A. Heimbold, Jr.), Citigroup (Robert I. Lipp), Morgan Stanley (Robert A. Kindler), Marvel Entertainment (John Turitzin), ConocoPhillips (John Carrig), Deloitte (Barry Salzberg), Sony Pictures Entertainment (Peter Guber), GQ (Steven Florio), Viacom (2005–present), Viacom (Thomas E. Dooley), Liberty Media (John C. Malone), Verizon (Lawrence Babbio Jr.) and Chemtura (Vincent A. Calarco). A pioneer of Silicon Valley, Eugene Kleiner, and the World Trade Center site owner, Larry Silverstein, are also alumni.
See also
* Silicon Alley
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
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NYU Athletics website*
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