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, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things."

"To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."

, established = , endowment = $1.82 billion (2021)As of June 30, 2021. , budget = $1.79 billion (2022) , type =
Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
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 ...
, parent =
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
, accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliation = , president = Jere W. Morehead , provost =
S. Jack Hu Shixin Jack Hu (; born November 1963) is the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Georgia. He is also the UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural, and Mechani ...
, city =
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 ...
, state=
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, country = United States , coordinates = , faculty = 3,119 , students = 40,118 (Fall 2021) , undergrad = 30,166 (Fall 2021) , postgrad = 9,952 (Fall 2021) , free_label2 = Newspaper , free2 = '' The Red & Black'' , campus = Midsize city /
College town A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) that is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several sma ...
, campus_size = (main campus)
(total) , colors = , sports_nickname =
Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
FBSSEC , mascot = Uga XI (live
English Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
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 ...
with its main campus in
Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
. Chartered in 1785, it is one of the oldest public universities in the United States. It is the
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
school of the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
. In addition to the main campuses in Athens with their approximately 470 buildings, the university has two smaller campuses located in Tifton and
Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
. The university has two
satellite campus A satellite campus or branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or countr ...
es located in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and Lawrenceville. The total acreage of the university in 30
Georgia counties The U.S. state of Georgia is divided into 159 counties, more than any other state except for Texas, which has 254 counties. Under the Georgia State Constitution, all of its counties are granted home rule to deal with problems that are purely lo ...
is . The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity," and as having "more selective" undergraduate admissions. The
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
school of the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public universities in the United States. The University of Georgia's intercollegiate sports teams, commonly known by their
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
name compete in
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
(NCAA) Division I and the
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
(SEC). Among public universities, the University of Georgia has had more alumni as
Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
since 1990 than nearly all other public universities in the country. Alumni also include a
United States Poet Laureate The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...
,
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,
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, and multiple Super Bowl champions.


History


Antebellum history

In 1784,
Lyman Hall Lyman Hall (April 12, 1724 – October 19, 1790) was an American Founding Father, physician, clergyman, and statesman who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Georgia. Hall County is named after him. He ...
, a
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
graduate and one of three medical doctors to sign the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
, as
Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...
persuaded the Georgia legislature to grant as an
endowment Endowment most often refers to: *A term for human penis size It may also refer to: Finance *Financial endowment, pertaining to funds or property donated to institutions or individuals (e.g., college endowment) *Endowment mortgage, a mortgage to b ...
for the purposes of founding a "college or
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
of learning." Besides Hall, credit for founding the university goes to
Abraham Baldwin Abraham Baldwin (November 22, 1754March 4, 1807) was an American minister, Patriot, politician, and Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution. Born and raised in Connecticut, he was a 1772 graduate of Yale College. After the R ...
who wrote the original charter for University of Georgia. Originally from
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, Baldwin graduated from and later taught at Yale before moving to
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. The
Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...
approved Baldwin's charter on January 27, 1785, and the University of Georgia became the first university in the United States to gain a state charter. Considered one of the
Founding Fathers of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, known simply as the Founding Fathers or Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colonies, oversaw the Am ...
, Baldwin would later represent Georgia in the 1786 Constitutional Convention that created the
Constitution of the United States The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
and go on to be
President pro tempore of the United States Senate The president pro tempore of the United States Senate (often shortened to president pro tem) is the second-highest-ranking official of the United States Senate, after the Vice President of the United States, vice president. According to Articl ...
. The task of creating the university was given to the Senatus Academicus, which consisted of the Board of Visitors – made up of "the governor, all state senators, all superior court judges and a few other public officials" – and the Board of Trustees, "a body of 14 appointed members that soon became self-perpetuating." The first meeting of the university's board of trustees was held in
Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
, on February 13, 1786. The meeting installed Baldwin as the university's first president. For the first 16 years of the school's history, the University of Georgia only existed on paper. By the new century, a committee was appointed to find suitable land to establish a campus. Committee member
John Milledge John Milledge (1757February 9, 1818) was an American politician. He fought in the American Revolution and later served as United States Representative, 26th Governor of Georgia, and United States Senator. Milledge was a founder of Athens, Georgi ...
purchased 633 acres of land on the west bank of the
Oconee River The Oconee River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Accessed April 21, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its origin is in Hall County and it terminates where it joins ...
and immediately gave it to the university. This tract of land, now a part of the
consolidated city–county In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...
of
Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...
, was then part of Jackson County. , 37 acres of that land remained as part of the North Campus. Because Baldwin was elected to the
U.S. Senate 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 ...
, the school needed a new president. Baldwin chose his former student and fellow professor at Yale,
Josiah Meigs Josiah Meigs (August 21, 1757 – September 4, 1822) was an American academic, journalist and government official. He was the first acting president of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, Athens, where he implemented the universit ...
, as his replacement. Meigs became the school's president, as well as the first and only professor. After traveling the state to recruit a few students, Meigs opened the school with no building in the fall of 1801. The first school building patterned after Yale's
Connecticut Hall Connecticut Hall (formerly South Middle College) is a Georgian building on the Old Campus of Yale University. Completed in 1752, it was originally a student dormitory, a function it retained for 200 years. Part of the first floor became home to th ...
was built the year later. Yale's early influence on the new university extended into the classical curriculum with emphasis on
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
. By 1803, the students formed a debate society,
Demosthenian Literary Society The Demosthenian Literary Society is a literary society focused on extemporaneous debate at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It is among the oldest literary societies in the English-Speaking world and was founded on February 19, 1803 by ...
. Meigs had his first graduating class of nine by 1804. In 1806, the school dedicated the first legacy building, Franklin College (named after
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
). The building is now known as Old College. After the tenure of the next two presidents,
John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia * John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
(1811–1816) and
Robert Finley Robert Finley (1772 – November 3, 1817) was an American Presbyterian clergyman and educator who is known as one of the founders of the American Colonization Society, which established the colony of Liberia in West Africa as a place for free Af ...
(1817), a timeframe that saw enrollment drop, presidents
Moses Waddel Moses Waddel (June 20, 1770 – July 21, 1840) was an American educator and minister in antebellum Georgia and South Carolina. Famous as a teacher during his life, Moses Waddel was author of the bestselling book ''Memoirs of the Life of Miss C ...
(1819–1829) and
Alonzo Church Alonzo Church (June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, logician, philosopher, professor and editor who made major contributions to mathematical logic and the foundations of theoretical computer scienc ...
(1829–1859) worked to re-engage new students. By 1859, enrollment had risen to 100 students, and the university employed eight faculty members and opened a new law school. During this timeframe, the university erected the New College building followed by the Chapel in 1832. Church was the longest-serving president in UGA history. In 1859, the state legislature abolished the Senatus Academicus, leaving the board of trustees as the only official governing body. When Church retired, Andrew A. Lipscomb was appointed to the newly renamed position of chancellor in 1860.


Civil War era and late 19th century

The University of Georgia closed in September 1863 due to the
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and reopened in January 1866 with an enrollment of about 80 students including veterans using an award of $300 granted by the General Assembly to former soldiers under an agreement that they would remain in Georgia as teachers after graduation. The university received additional funding through the 1862
Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
, which was used to create
land-grant colleges A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. Signed by Abraha ...
across the nation. In 1872, the $243,000 federal allotment to Georgia was invested to create a $16,000 annual income used to establish the Georgia State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (A&M), initially separate and independent from the University of Georgia. However, A&M's funding was considered part of the university, which helped save it from bankruptcy during the
Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...
. As a land-grant school, UGA was required to provide military training, which the university began to offer in the 1870s. Several of the university's extracurricular organizations began in the late 1800s. In 1886, fraternities at UGA began publishing the school's yearbook, the ''Pandora''. The same year, the university gained its first intercollegiate sport when a baseball team was formed, followed by a football team formed in 1892. Both teams played in a small field west of campus now known as
Herty Field Herty Field, also known as Alumni Athletic Field, was the original on-campus playing venue for football and baseball at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia. It opened in the Fall of 1891 and hosting the first UGA home football gam ...
. The Demosthenian and Phi Kappa literary societies together formed the student paper, '' The Red & Black'', in 1883. In 1894, the University of Georgia joined six other southeastern schools to form the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...
(SIAA).


Early 20th century

The turn of the century brought many changes in the administration and organization of the university including the naming of a new chancellor in 1899. Walter B. Hill became the first UGA alumnus to lead the university. A progressive leader, his six-year tenure, before his death from pneumonia, was marked with increased enrollment, expansion of the university's course offerings, and the addition of state funding through appropriation, for the first time bringing the university's annual income to over $100,000 in 1902. Hill and his successors David C. Barrow (1906–1925), Charles Snelling (1926–1932), and Steadman Sanford (1932–1935) would grow the school to take on the role of a true university. Many of the university's schools and colleges were established during Barrow's tenure. The College of Education (1908), the
Graduate School Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...
(1910), the School of Commerce (1912), the
School of Journalism A journalism school is a school or department, usually part of an established university, where journalists are trained. 'J-School' is an increasingly used term for a journalism department at a school or college. Journalists in most parts of the ...
(1915), and the Division of Home Economics (1918) were all established during this period. In 1906, UGA also incorporated the College of Agriculture by bringing together A&M (agricultural and mechanical) courses. The college of science and engineering continued as formed in the previous century. Conner Hall became the first building built in South Campus and first of several buildings that housed the university's agriculture programs on what came to be known as "Ag Hill". In 1914, the first
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
chapter in the state of Georgia was founded at UGA. In 1923, another honor society,
Phi Kappa Phi The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi (or simply Phi Kappa Phi or ) is an honor society established in 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study, and to promote the "unity and democracy of education ...
, established a chapter at the university. In 1920, UGA's athletic program was among 14 of the 30 universities to leave the SIAA to form the
Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...
. With students limited to white males for the first century of its history, the University of Georgia began admitting white female students during the summer of 1903 as postgraduate students to the State Normal School established in 1893 a few miles west of the campus. When the University of Georgia established a graduate school in 1910, female students were permitted to attend summer classes and some were also unofficially allowed to attend regular classes, as well. However, at that time only junior college transfers majoring in Home Economics were integrated into regular courses. Before official admission of women to the university, several women were able to complete graduate degrees through credit earned during the summer sessions. The first white woman to earn such a degree was Mary Dorothy Lyndon. She received a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree in 1914. Women were admitted as full-time undergraduates in 1918. Mary Ethel Creswell earned a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in
home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...
in June 1919, becoming the first woman to earn an undergraduate degree at the university. Two UGA
dormitories 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 ...
were later named after these graduates: Mary Lyndon Hall and Creswell Hall. In 1932, the reorganization of the university's administrative structure continued through the establishment of the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
(USG), which brought UGA along with several other public colleges in the state under the control of a single board of regents. The State Normal School (later State Teachers College) was fully absorbed by the College of Education, with the former's previous campus becoming UGA's Coordinate Campus. UGA and
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
traded several school programs; all engineering programs (except agriculture) were transferred to Georgia Tech and UGA received Georgia Tech's commerce program in return. The title of the university's lead administrator was changed from chancellor back to the original title of president. Sanford was named UGA's first president since 1860 and was succeeded by Harmon Caldwell (1935–1948). In 1933, the Division of Home Economics was reorganized as the School of Home of Economics, with UGA's first female graduate, Creswell, appointed as dean. The university also became a founding member of the
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
and established the
University of Georgia Press The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and la ...
in 1938. Throughout this period, UGA's enrollment grew every year with student population reaching 3,000 by 1937 and almost 4,000 by 1941. Through President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, UGA received a $2 million infusion of funding and an additional $1 million from the state legislature. The university used the new funds to make a number of improvements to the campus from 1936 to the early 1940s. Many renovation projects were undertaken including the establishment of five new residence halls, a dining hall, eight new academic buildings, a nursery school, and several auxiliary facilities. An engineering professor Rudolph Driftmier and architect Roy Hitchcock were responsible for the design of several buildings in the
neoclassical style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The pr ...
, giving the campus a homogeneous and distinctive appearance. The funds were also used to pave roads, build sidewalks, and improve the campus's landscaping.


Racial integration and the mid-20th century

The dean of the College of Education in 1941,
Walter Cocking Walter D. Cocking (1891January 14, 1964) was an academic administrator. As Dean of the College Education of the University of Georgia, he was fired in 1941, rehired, and fired again for supporting racial integration. The episode is known as the C ...
, was fired by Georgia Governor
Eugene Talmadge Eugene Talmadge (September 23, 1884 – December 21, 1946) was an attorney and American politician who served three terms as the 67th governor of Georgia, from 1933 to 1937, and then again from 1941 to 1943. Elected to a fourth term in November ...
in a controversial decision known as the
Cocking affair The Cocking affair was an attempt in 1941 by Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge to exert direct control over the state's educational system, particularly through the firing of Professor Walter Cocking because of his support for racial integration, ...
. Talmadge was motivated by his belief that Cocking favored racial integration. The governor's interference in the workings of USG's board of regents prompted a response by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, which stripped UGA and nine other schools in the system of their accreditation. The issue became a major point of contention in Talmadge's 1942 re-election campaign. After his loss, a constitutional amendment passed by the state legislature gave the board independence from political interference which led to the schools quickly regaining their accreditation. As the United States entered
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, enrollment among male students dropped significantly, allowing female students to outnumber male students for the first time in the school's history. In 1945, UGA accepted a donation of about 100 paintings from the New York art collector Alfred Holbrook and created the
Georgia Museum of Art The Georgia Museum of Art is an art museum in Athens, Georgia, United States, associated with the University of Georgia (UGA). The museum is both an academic museum and, since 1982, the official art museum of the state of Georgia. The permanent co ...
. In 1946, the School of Veterinary Medicine was re-established as a separate school, 13 years after it was discontinued as part of the agricultural college. The following year, the quarterly literary journal ''
The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Fiction ...
'' began publication in 1947. After Jonathan Rogers' brief tenure as president (1949–1950),
Omer Clyde Aderhold Omer Clyde "O.C." Aderhold (November 7, 1899 – July 4, 1969) was President of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens from 1950 until 1967. The son of a Lavonia, Georgia, farmer, he graduated from the University of Georgia with an agriculture ...
started his 17-year-long stint as UGA president. During his tenure, the university sold Coordinate Campus to the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
. He opened the school's main library, the Ilah Dunlap-Little Memorial Library, in 1952, and in 1964, established 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 ...
. The university also built a new Science Center on South Campus consisting of six buildings. After UGA's pharmacy school moved to the new facility on the South Campus, the two portions of the campus took on distinct characteristics, with North Campus focused on arts, humanities, and law, and South Campus focused on natural sciences and agricultural programs. Until January 1961, Georgia state law required racial segregation in publicly funded higher education. On January 6, 1961, the District Court mandated that UGA immediately admit two African American teenagers,
Hamilton E. Holmes Hamilton E. Holmes (8 July 1941 – 26 October 1995) was an American orthopedic physician. He and Charlayne Hunter-Gault were the first two African-American students admitted to the University of Georgia. Additionally, Holmes was the first Afri ...
and
Charlayne Hunter Charlayne Hunter-Gault (born February 27, 1942) is an American civil rights activist, journalist and former foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN, and the Public Broadcasting Service. Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the ...
, who were previously denied admission in 1959 on the basis of race. This court order was quickly followed by an injunction preventing the enforcement of the segregation-mandating state law. On January 11, a riot formed outside Charlayne Hunter's dormitory window, which "shouted racial insults, and tossed firecrackers, bottles and bricks at the dormitory window". Dean Williams suspended the two students for "their personal safety", but they returned to classes on January 16 following a court order. The university faculty subsequently formed a night patrol to help ensure the peace. Holmes graduated
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
and was the first African-American student to attend the
Emory University School of Medicine The Emory University School of Medicine is the graduate medical school of Emory University and a component of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Before it was established as the Emory School of Medicine in 1915, the school fi ...
, where he earned his MD in 1967 and later became a professor of orthopedics and associate dean at Emory, the medical director at
Grady Memorial Hospital Grady Memorial Hospital, frequently referred to as Grady Hospital or simply Grady, is the public hospital for the city of Atlanta. It is the tenth-largest public hospital in the United States, and one of the busiest Level I trauma centers in th ...
, and a trustee of the University of Georgia Foundation, the university's private fund-raising organization. Hunter (later, Hunter-Gault) graduated with a degree in
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
and was awarded two
Emmys 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 ...
and a Peabody for excellence in broadcast journalism. Commemorating the 40th anniversary of when Holmes and Hunter "walked through the Arch and into the Academic Building" to register for classes on January 9, 1961, the university renamed the campus building where they registered as the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building. The university now presents the Holmes-Hunter Lectures series, which brings noted African-American speakers to the campus each year to discuss racial issues. In June 1961, Holmes and Hunter were joined by another African American, Mary Frances Early, who transferred to the school as a graduate student. Before Holmes and Hunter, Early became the first African American to graduate from UGA in 1962. The College of Education later established a professorship in her honor. In February 2020, the UGA College of Education was officially named in honor of Mary Frances Early.


Late 20th century

In 1968, Fred Davison was appointed UGA president and served in the position for 19 years. During his tenure, the school's research budget increased from $15.6 million to more than $90 million. UGA inaugurated the School of Environmental Design, was designated as a
Sea Grant College The National Sea Grant College Program is a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is a national network of 34 university-based Sea Grant programs involved in scientific re ...
, and built 15 new buildings on campus. By the 1970s, the University of Georgia ranked among the top 50 research universities in the U.S. and in 1973, the
Carnegie Commission on Higher Education The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most nota ...
designated UGA as a "Research 1 Doctoral University with very high research activity". By the time the school celebrated its bicentennial with a 15-month-long celebration, student enrollment had grown to about 25,000. In the end, Davison's tenure as president was marred by controversy surrounding the dismissal of
Jan Kemp Jan Kemp may refer to: *Jan Kemp (general) (1872–1946), South African Boer officer, rebel general, and politician *Jan Kemp (writer) Janet Mary Riemenschneider-Kemp (born 12 March 1949) is a New Zealand poet, short story writer and public p ...
, a faculty member who also tutored student athletes. Kemp filed a lawsuit against the university for her termination; it garnered national media attention and led to criticism of instances of lax academic standards for a few students participating in some of UGA's athletic programs. The courts finally awarded Kemp more than $1 million, leading to Davison's resignation in 1986 and student athlete academic standards revisions.
Henry King Stanford Henry King Stanford (April 22, 1916 – January 1, 2009) was the interim president of the University of Georgia (UGA) from 1986 through 1987 and the third president of the University of Miami from 1962 to 1981. Stanford's prior academic administ ...
served as interim president before the appointment of Charles Knapp in 1987. Together with UGA alumnus and Georgia Governor
Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...
, Knapp helped establish the state's
HOPE Scholarship The HOPE Program (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) created in 1993 under the supervision of Georgia Governor Zell Miller, is Georgia's scholarship and grant program that rewards students with financial assistance in degree, diploma, and c ...
in 1993 with funds appropriated from the new
state lottery In the United States, lotteries are run by 48 jurisdictions: 45 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Lotteries are subject to the laws of and operated independently by each jurisdiction, and there is no ...
. Knapp also was a founding member of the
Georgia Research Alliance The Georgia Research Alliance is an Atlanta, Georgia-based nonprofit organization that coordinates research efforts between Georgia's public and private sectors. While GRA receives a state appropriation for investment in university-based research op ...
, and construction projects totaling more than $400 million were started during his administration, including the Biological Sciences Complex (1992), Ramsey Student Center for Physical Activities (1995), the Performing Arts Center, Hodgson Hall (1996), the music building (1996), the Georgia Museum of Art (1996), Dean Rusk Hall (1996), and the UGA Welcome Center (1996). The campus hosted four events in the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
:
rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...
,
volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
, women's Gold Medal football match, and men's Gold Medal football match. In 1997, Knapp was succeeded by Michael Adams, who served as UGA president for 16 years, well into the 21st century. After his retirement as president, Knapp continued to serve by joining UGA's Institute of Higher Education as a part-time Distinguished Public Service Fellow and as a
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
of
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
in the university's
Terry College of Business The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The business college offers undergraduate programs, MBA programs, specialized master's programs and ...
.


21st century

Adams began a strategic plan to grow the university's academic programs in the new century. In 2001, UGA inaugurated the College of Environment and Design and the
School of Public and International Affairs 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 compul ...
, the first new schools to open since 1964. The strategic plan also chose medicine and health sciences as a major focus of growth and development. Together with Provost
Karen Holbrook Karen Ann Holbrook (born November 6, 1942, in Des Moines, Iowa) is the regional chancellor of University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee since January 2, 2018. Career Holbrook earned her B.S. and M.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, ...
and Arnett Mace (who succeed Holbrook), Adams opened the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, the UGA Cancer Center, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, and the Regenerative Bioscience Center. In 2005, the College of Public Health was created to bring together the various medical and health sciences programs. In 2011, UGA purchased back the former campus of the State Normal School from the U.S. Navy to create the UGA Health Sciences Campus. The Health Sciences Campus provides additional medical and health sciences programs, some in partnership with the
Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...
. The newly reacquired campus also became home to the College of Public Health. The
Odum School of Ecology The Odum School of Ecology is a school within the University of Georgia and the successor of the UGA Institute of Ecology. It is named after Eugene Odum, renowned UGA biologist, the father of ecosystem ecology, and the founder of the Institute. ...
(2007) and the
College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
(2012) became the fourth and fifth schools to open during Adams's tenure. After Adams's retirement on June 30, 2013,
Jere Morehead Jere Wade Morehead (born November 25, 1956) is the 22nd and current President of the University of Georgia. He continues as the Josiah Meigs Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, and was previously Se ...
was appointed as UGA's 22nd president. Morehead is an alumnus of UGA's law school and previously served as provost and vice president of academic affairs. Under Morehead, UGA continues its focus on research with a $458 million budget as of the 2017 fiscal year, placing 54th on the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
rankings. In 2015, the College of Veterinary Medicine moved its teaching hospital to a new off-campus facility, leaving its previous building available for research and other uses. In September 2017, UGA used a combination of private and public funds to complete the second of three phases to build the
Terry College of Business The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The business college offers undergraduate programs, MBA programs, specialized master's programs and ...
complex. The project has four buildings completed and will include a total of six buildings upon completion of the third phase. In 2020 the university concluded its fundraising campaign, after raising $1.45 billion.


Organization and administration

The university has seventeen schools and colleges, the titles "college" or "school" not indicating any distinction between them for the university. In addition to the colleges and schools, the university is home to the University of Georgia/Medical College of Georgia Medical Partnership that provides education leading to the
Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...
(
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
) degree from the University of Georgia as well as extensive facilities for medically related education and research at the University of Georgia. The President of the University of Georgia (
Jere Morehead Jere Wade Morehead (born November 25, 1956) is the 22nd and current President of the University of Georgia. He continues as the Josiah Meigs Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, and was previously Se ...
) is the head administrator and is appointed and overseen by the
Georgia Board of Regents The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education in the state. T ...
. University of Georgia has had 22 presidents since its founding in 1785. Each individual college and school is headed by a
dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...
. The university has a student-to-faculty ratio of 17 students per faculty member. According to the 2018–2019 estimated cost of attendance, based on a nine-month academic year for an average undergraduate student, the tuition and fees for
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
residents is $11,830, and $30,404 for non-residents. The tuition and fees for an average international undergraduate student (based on a nine-month academic year) is $30,392.


Campuses

The University of Georgia's main campus is made up of 465 buildings covering an area of about . The university owns an additional of land in 31 counties across Georgia. As of October 2016, UGA employed 10,665 people of which more than 3,000 are faculty members. The main campus sits across from Athens, a
consolidated city–county In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county ( parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it has the governmental powers o ...
located 60 miles northeast of downtown
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Georgia. The city is the hometown of several popular musical artists including the American rock bands
The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
and
R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...
''Rolling Stone'' magazine named UGA among "Top Ten Schools that Rock". In August 2015, ''
Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: General * Wilderness * Outside (Alaska), any non-Alaska location, as referred to by Alaskans Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, th ...
'' magazine named Athens sixth on a list of "The 16 Best Places to Live in the U.S." The campuses' dominant architectural themes are
Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
, Classical and
Antebellum Antebellum, Latin for "before war", may refer to: United States history * Antebellum South, the pre-American Civil War period in the Southern United States ** Antebellum Georgia ** Antebellum South Carolina ** Antebellum Virginia * Antebellum ar ...
style. Though there have been many additions, changes, and augmentations, the University of Georgia's campus maintains its historic character. In 2000, the entire campus was designated as an arboretum, the
University of Georgia Campus Arboretum The University of Georgia Campus Arboretum is an arboretum located across the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia. It is open daily without charge. Today's arboretum is the third near campus. The first (1833–1854) was located e ...
. It is estimated to be home to about 9,000 trees with over 154 identified species including native trees such
magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
s,
red oak The genus Oak, ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many List of the largest genera of flowering plants, large genera, is Taxonomic rank#Ranks in botany, divided into subgenus, subgen ...
s,
white oaks The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera '' ...
, and
beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
es, as well as non-native trees such as the North Africa
Atlas cedar ''Cedrus atlantica'', the Atlas cedar, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae, native to the Rif and Atlas Mountains of Morocco (Middle Atlas, High Atlas), and to the Tell Atlas in Algeria.Gaussen, H. (1964). Genre ''Cedrus''. Les F ...
, the Chinese
parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
and royal paulownia, and the Japanese
zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six species of deciduous trees in the elm family Ulmaceae, native to southern Europe, and southwest and eastern Asia. They vary in size from shrubs (''Z. sicula'') to large tr ...
and black pine.


North Campus

The North Campus is bounded by Baldwin Street to the south, Lumpkin Street to the west, Broad Street to the north and traditionally by Jackson Street to the east, but also extends past Jackson Street to East Campus Road. Several of the buildings that make up the old campus are designated as historic, covering part of the originally gifted to the university in 1801. The entire Old North Campus of the University of Georgia is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as a
historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...
. Located at a central location in North Campus and constructed in 1806 as the first permanent building, Old College is the oldest building in Athens and one of the oldest in
Northeast Georgia Northeast Georgia is a region of Georgia in the United States. The northern part is also in the north Georgia mountains, while the southern part (east of metro Atlanta) is still hilly but much flatter in topography. Northeast Georgia is also ser ...
. The building closely resembles Yale University's
Connecticut Hall Connecticut Hall (formerly South Middle College) is a Georgian building on the Old Campus of Yale University. Completed in 1752, it was originally a student dormitory, a function it retained for 200 years. Part of the first floor became home to th ...
. It was designed with identical front and back to allow the university to grow in either direction. Currently housing the
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences The Franklin College of Arts and Sciences is the oldest and largest college of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia. Established in 1801 following the American Revolution, the college was named in honor of American Founding Father B ...
, the building originally served both instructional and residential purposes. New College was built in 1823 as a residence hall and was rebuilt in 1832. Other historic buildings in the National Historic District include Waddel Hall, Demosthenian Hall, The chapel, Phi Kappa Hall, Lustrat Hall, Moore College, and Holmes–Hunter Academic Building. Named after UGA's fifth president, Waddell Hall is the second-oldest building on campus. Built in the
Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
of architecture in 1821, it is also one of the smallest buildings on campus. Home to the oldest student organization and debate society at UGA, the 1824 Demosthenian Hall houses the
Demosthenian Literary Society The Demosthenian Literary Society is a literary society focused on extemporaneous debate at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It is among the oldest literary societies in the English-Speaking world and was founded on February 19, 1803 by ...
named after the Greek orator
Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prow ...
. Founded in 1803, the Demosthenian is among the oldest literary societies in the English-speaking world. Located between New College and Demosthenian Hall, The chapel is a Greek Revival-style building which resembles a classic temple. Considered "the most beautiful building on campus", the interior features a large painting of the nave and aisles of the
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
, painted by the artist George Cooke. Also built in the Greek Revival style in 1836, Phi Kappa Hall is home to the university's second-oldest student organization and debate society,
Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...
, founded in 1820 to rival the Demosthenian Literary Society. The seventh-oldest building on campus, Lustrat Hall was originally built in 1847, north of its current location. Named after its last faculty occupant, it is the only remaining faculty residence house from Old North Campus. Used for a variety of purposes in the past, the building most recently houses the Office of Legal Affairs. Built in 1874, Moore College is the only remaining building constructed during post-Civil War
Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
. Originally home to the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Moore College currently houses the university's Honors Program. The Holmes/Hunter Academic Building was simply known as the Academic Building when it was originally assembled in 1905. Following a Beaux-Arts architectural design by engineering professor Charles Strahan, the building was constructed by inserting a new building in between the older Ivy Building and Old Library. In 2001, the building was renamed after the first two African-American students at UGA. It houses the Office of the Registrar, and several other administrative offices. Also listed in the National Register of Historic Places is the Founders Memorial Garden which is named in honor of the Ladies Garden Club of Athens. Founded in 1891, it was the first
garden club A garden club is an organized group of people with a shared interest in gardening, gardens, and plants. A flower club is a similar group with a focus on flowers. History The first and oldest organized garden club in the United States is the Ladie ...
in the United States. Throughout the historic buildings, several architectural, sculptural, and landscape features adorn the North Campus. Chief among them is The Arch which serves as the traditional entrance to the campus. Built in 1858 and modeled after the
Great Seal of the State of Georgia The Great Seal of the State of Georgia is a device that has historically been used to authenticate government documents executed by the state of Georgia. The first great seal of the state was specified in the State Constitution of 1777, and its ...
, the area near the three-columned gate is a popular venue for the staging of demonstrations, gatherings, protests, and rallies. Although the Seal's three pillars represent the state's three branches of government, the pillars of The Arch are usually taken to represent the Georgia Constitution's three principles of wisdom, justice, and moderation, which are engraved over the pillars of the Seal. On the opposite side of the Arch Quad, at the front of the Old College building sits a statue of the university's founder Abraham Baldwin, installed by the University of Georgia Alumni Association. The President's Club Garden, first planted in 1973 on the opposite side of the Old College building, honors the thousands of families who have made major financial contributions to the university. A fountain named after Hubert B. Owens and built in 1989 is tucked in the space between Old College, Lustrat House, and the Administration Building. Serving as a UGA faculty member for 45 years, Owen was responsible for initiating the university's landscape architecture program, which later grew into the College of Environment and Design. The Administration Building is another one of the later additions to the North Campus built in 1905 with $50,000 donated to the university from a major contributor, the philanthropist
George Foster Peabody George Foster Peabody (July 27, 1852 – March 4, 1938) was an American banker and philanthropist. Early life He was born to George Henry Peabody and Elvira Peabody (''née'' Canfield) as the first of four children. Both parents were New Eng ...
. It was the first building on campus designed to be fireproof in light of the fact that several fires in UGA's history have destroyed key buildings. Originally used as the location for a library, it houses the offices of the university president and other senior administrative offices. Hirsch Hall was built in 1932 in
Georgian style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...
and named after
Harold Hirsch Harold D. Hirsch (October 19, 1881 – September 25, 1939) was a student at the University of Georgia from 1898 to 1901 who also played football for his alma mater. After graduation from the University of Georgia, he studied law at Columbia Unive ...
who for a long period served as general counsel to
The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
. The building is home to the School of Law and the
Alexander Campbell King Alexander Campbell King (December 7, 1856 – July 25, 1926) was the 16th Solicitor General of the United States and a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. King was a ...
Law Library located in a north-side addition built in 1967. Hirsch Hall connects by way of an overhead bridge to the J. Alton Hosch Law Library Annex built in 1981 and named after the former dean of the law school. The university's main library, the Ilah Dunlap Little Memorial Library, was built with funds bequeathed by its namesake, the wife of a UGA alumnus who stipulated several design requirements including that it face north across the mall towards Old College. Home to the University of Georgia Press and the ''Georgia Review'', the library serves as the headquarters to a network of secondary libraries located throughout the campus. Following the addition of a seven-story annex in 1974, the library became the third-largest academic building at UGA and the largest in North Campus. The main library is part of a quad consisting of Hirsch Hall, Old College, Waddell Hall and Peabody Hall. Although the aforementioned George Foster Peabody also contributed to funds used to build Peabody Hall, the building is actually named after
George Peabody George Peabody ( ; February 18, 1795 – November 4, 1869) was an American financier and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as the father of modern philanthropy. Born into a poor family in Massachusetts, Peabody went into business in dry go ...
who in an 1869
testamentary trust A testamentary trust (sometimes referred to as a will trust or trust under will) is a trust which arises upon the death of the testator, and which is specified in their will. A will may contain more than one testamentary trust, and may address a ...
created a $2.25-million fund to benefit several universities in the South. The University of Georgia combined $40,000 from this fund with other contributions to construct Peabody Hall which houses the Departments of Religion and Philosophy and the Institute of Native American Studies.


South Campus

Located across Field Street from Central Campus to its north, South Campus is encircled by East Campus Road to its east, Pinecrest Drive to the south, and Lumpkin Street to the west. It is connected to the areas to its north by way of the Jim Gillis Bridge, named after the former director of the Georgia State Highway Board. South Campus is the largest of the five segments of the UGA campus, latitudinally stretching for more than a mile. Originally begun as an expansion to accommodate the growing agricultural programs in an area known as "Ag Hill", it is home most of the university's science and engineer programs. In 2006, work was completed on D. W. Brooks Mall to give the campus a more green aesthetic similar to North Campus, replacing parking lots and a section of the street by the same name which bisected the area lengthwise. Lumpkin House, also known as "Rock House", is the oldest building on South Campus, built in 1844. The building is named after its original owner,
Wilson Lumpkin Wilson Lumpkin (January 14, 1783 – December 28, 1870) was an American planter, attorney, and politician. He served two terms as the governor of Georgia, from 1831 to 1835, in the period of Indian Removal of the Creek and Cherokee peoples to In ...
, the former Georgia congressman, governor, and U.S. Senator who designed and built the house as his retirement home. In 1970, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The second-oldest building, named after the state legislator James J. Conner, sits on one of the highest points in Athens. Built in the
Renaissance Revival style Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
, Conner Hall also serves the CAES. Barrow Hall, built in 1911, is the third-oldest building in South Campus and serves a variety of academic programs. Originally known as the Farm Mechanics Building, the building was renamed after Chancellor David C. Barrow, during whose tenure it was constructed. Home to the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Dawson Hall was built in 1932 to house the university's growing home economics department, then part of the College of Agriculture. In 1971, the school added an annex to Dawson Hall and later renamed it after Mary Spiers who was dean of the School of Home Economics from 1954 to 1971. The College of Family and Consumer Sciences also has five other buildings, built in 1939 and 1940, known collectively as the McPhaul Center. On the curved hill between Dawson Hall and Sanford Stadium, a plan envisioned in 1953, proposed the construction of a Science Center to house the university's various scientific programs. Between 1959 and 1960, six buildings were constructed to each house studies in physics, Food Sciences, Geography–Geology, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, and Poultry Science. Located south of the Food Sciences Building, the Museum of Natural History manages several collections of artifacts and specimens from archaeology, biology, geology, and paleontology located throughout the buildings on campus. The Science Library was built south of Dawson Hall in 1968 to supplement the Science Center complex. Containing a thirteen-feet and over-2,500-pound skeleton of a giant North American
ground sloth Ground sloths are a diverse group of extinct sloths in the mammalian superorder Xenarthra. The term is used to refer to all extinct sloths because of the large size of the earliest forms discovered, compared to existing tree sloths. The Caribbe ...
, a foyer connects the Science Library with the Boyd Graduate Studies Building also built in 1968. Named after
U.S. Senator 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 ...
Paul D. Coverdell, the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences is a $40-million facility with of space, giving enough room for about 275 scientists, staff and graduate students. The center was specifically designed to maximize
energy efficiency Energy efficiency may refer to: * Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process ** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed ** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
and it was built with local and recycled materials. Laboratory intensive groups at the Coverdell Center include the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, and the Biomedical Health Sciences Institute. Former President
George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
spoke at the center's grand opening in 2006. In 2016, the university also opened the Science Learning Center, a facility located near
Stegeman Coliseum Stegeman Coliseum is a 10,523-seat multi-purpose arena in Athens, Georgia, United States. The arena opened in 1964 in honor of C. Sal Stegeman. It is home to the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball and gymnastics teams. It was also the venu ...
. The Driftmier Engineering Center, named after a campus engineer and the head of the former Agricultural Engineering Division of the College of Agriculture. Partnering with Roy Hitchcock, Rudolph H. Driftmier was responsible for the design and construction of 15 buildings on campus from 1930 to 1965. The building renamed after Driftmier in 1982 was constructed in 1966 and is now home to the
College of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
. The Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel is also located on South Campus. The building hosts many seminars and conferences every year. The Georgia Center was built in 1957. The center is also home to the WUGA, an affiliate of the
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
.


Central Campus

Bounded by Lumpkin Street to the west and East Campus Road to the east, Central Campus was developed on the remaining woodland area between the larger and older North and South Campuses. Development began in 1910 with
Memorial Hall A memorial hall is a hall built to commemorate an individual or group; most commonly those who have died in war. Most are intended for public use and are sometimes described as ''utilitarian memorials''. History of the Memorial Hall In the aft ...
which remained unfinished until 1925 due to financial constraints. Originally envisioned as a student athletic facility and constructed with a swimming pool and gymnasium, Memorial Hall has served a wide variety of purposes before becoming home to the offices of the vice president of student affairs and several other administrative offices. Several former athletic facilities were located in this area before they were replaced by newer academic buildings, student life centers, and residence halls. Of these athletic facilities, only
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
remains and continues to dominate Central Campus. Located in the northwest corner, the Fine Arts Building was modeled in the neoclassical architectural style and built in 1941 with funds from the
Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...
, part of the New Deal initiated in the 1930s. The building covers an area about the size of a city block, and the interior features a giant mural by French-American artist
Jean Charlot Louis Henri Jean Charlot (February 8, 1898 – March 20, 1979) was a French people, French-born United States, American Painting, painter and illustrator, active mainly in Mexico and the United States. Life Charlot was born in Paris. His father, ...
. At the time of its construction, it was the largest and most expensive academic building on campus. The Zell B. Miller Learning Center became the largest academic building in Central Campus when it was built in 2003 with a footprint of . With 26 classrooms and lecture halls and a total of 2,200 seats, the Learning Center is also probably the most heavily used by students. In 2009, the building was renamed in honor of UGA alumnus Zell B. Miller who went on to serve as the 79th Governor of Georgia and later as the U.S. Senator from Georgia. Another heavily used building is the Dean Tate Student Center built in 1983 and expanded in 2009. The LEED Gold-certified building features a
green roof A green roof or living roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane. It may also include additional layers such as a root barrier and drainage ...
and 75,000 gallon cistern to catch rainwater for use in irrigation and flushing toilets. The building was named after William Tate, the former dean of men. The Psychology and Journalism Building was built on grounds which formerly housed the university's tennis courts and gymnasium, Woodruff Hall. In 1967, a $6.1 million construction project created the building to house two of the largest departments at the university, the psychology department, part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, named after the former editor of ''
The Atlanta Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
''. Other buildings in the area include Clark Howell Hall, built in 1937 as a dormitory but which later became home to the UGA Career Center, and the UGA Bookstore built in 1968.


West Campus

Several residential halls are located in what is known as West Campus. It is made up of eight residence halls built in the 1960s and a pre-existing private residence hall, Oglethorpe House, which the university purchased in 1979. Lipscomb Hall, Mell Hall, Creswell Hall, Russell Hall, Brumby Hall, Hill Hall, Church Hall, and Boggs Hall are all named after former UGA presidents, deans, and administrators. Other notable buildings west of the campus include the Wray-Nicholson House, which was built in 1825, named after two businessmen who previously occupied the house and is now home to the UGA Alumni Association; The Richard B. Russell Jr. Special Collections Libraries Building, built in 2012, was named after the former Georgia governor and senator, and currently houses several archives and special collections. In 2013, the university began construction on Terry College of Business Complex. A total of six buildings were to be completed in a three-phase construction project. The first phase completed in 2015 led to the opening of Correll Hall. Phase II was completed in September 2017, opening Amos Hall, Benson Hall and Moore-Rooker Hall. All of the buildings were named after major contributors to the business school. Construction then began on the third phase of the project in 2018 to include two more buildings named Ivester and Orkin Hall which were completed in 2020.


East Campus

The newest addition to the campus, East Campus is demarcated by College Station Road to the south, East Campus Road to the west, River Road to the north and stretches to the Athens Perimeter or Loop 10 to the east. Its most northern building, the Performing Arts Center and its main concert hall, the 1,100-seat Hodgson Hall, has hosted the performances of notable orchestras such the
Royal Philharmonic The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...
and the
St. Petersburg Philharmonic The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (russian: Симфонический оркестр Санкт-Петербургской филармонии, ''Symphonic Orchestra of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia'') is a Russian orchestra based ...
, and regularly hosts seasonal performances by the
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center. History Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...
. The center also holds the smaller Ramsey Hall which stages performances by solo and small chamber groups. East Campus is also home to the Georgia Museum of Art located just south of the Performing Arts Center. The museum's collection began with a donation of paintings by American artists from the art collector Alfred Heber Holbrook who developed a close friendship with the head of UGA Art Department,
Lamar Dodd Lamar Dodd (September 22, 1909 - September 21, 1996) was a U.S. painter whose work reflected a love of the American South. Early life and education Born in Fairburn, Georgia, to Rev. Francis Jefferson Dodd and Etta Cleveland ( Ed Dodd, creator ...
. Holbrook subsequently moved to Athens to become the museum's director, donated more than 900 works, and served as director for 25 years. In 1982, the Georgia General Assembly designated the museum as the official state museum of art. The current building in which the museum is located was built in 1996 and expanded in 2011. The building received a Gold LEED certification its "use of materials and construction strategies to achieve environmental sustainability." The Ramsey Student Physical Activities Center is located on East Campus. It was built in 1995 and named in honor of Eugenia A. and
Bernard Ramsey Bernard Bruce Ramsey (November 10, 1915 – July 11, 1996) was an executive with Merrill Lynch, a brokerage firm, but is best known for his philanthropic contributions to the University of Georgia. A native of Macon, Georgia, United States, Rams ...
. The building has a footprint larger than Sanford Stadium and is the largest single structure on UGA's campus. The Ramsey Center has two gyms, three pools (one Olympic-sized, a diving well, and a lap pool), a indoor suspended rubberized track, a high climbing wall, outdoor bouldering wall, ten
racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...
courts, two squash courts, bicycle repair stands, eight full-length basketball courts, and of weight-training space. The Ramsey Center also contains the
Gabrielsen Natatorium Gabrielsen Natatorium is a swimming and diving facility at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, U.S.A. The natatorium is home to the university's varsity swimming and diving programs and seats almost 2,000 spectators. History Th ...
, home to the university's varsity swimming and diving programs. Located south of the Ramsey Center, the University Health Center provides health services to the university's student and faculty with a staff of more than 200 health professionals.


Off-campus facilities

The
State Botanical Garden of Georgia The State Botanical Garden of Georgia is a botanical garden of in the United States, with a conservatory operated by the University of Georgia. It is located at 2450 South Milledge Avenue, Athens, Georgia. The Garden contains eleven botanical ...
is a 313-acre
preserve The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...
set aside by the University of Georgia in 1968 for the study and enjoyment of flora, fauna and geographic systems. Located three miles south of campus, it is a living laboratory serving educational, research, recreational, and public service roles for the University of Georgia. The garden contains a number of specialized theme gardens and collections, over five miles of
nature trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. T ...
, and four major facilities including a tropical conservatory. In 1984, the Georgia General Assembly designated the area as Georgia's official botanical garden. Delta Hall is the UGA facility in the
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...
neighborhood on the east side of
Stanton Park Stanton Park, previously known as Stanton Square, is a national park in Washington D.C.Stanton Park
...
in
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, ...
The facility, which was purchased by the UGA Foundation in 2013, has undergone renovations to transform the space to a residence hall and learning community. The university's year-round residential study-abroad program is held at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
of
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in England, where students and faculty study, learn and teach at Trinity College and live in a three-story Victorian house near the heart of the city. The University of Georgia also owns one other international residential center in
Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓 ...
, Italy. The university previously owned a residential center in
Monteverde, Costa Rica Monteverde is the twelfth Cantons of Costa Rica, canton of the Puntarenas Province, Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is located in the Cordillera de Tilarán mountain range. Roughly a four-hour drive from the Costa Rican Central Valley, Ce ...
, but it was sold in 2019. Oconee Forest Park, Lake Herrick, and the Herrick Creek Loop are facilities for use and enjoyment of UGA students and staff. Lake Herrick was commissioned by the School in 1982 as a recreational resource for UGA. Besides recreation, the area is used as a living laboratory for research and as an interdisciplinary outdoor classroom for faculty and students in visual arts, communication studies, ecology, engineering, forestry and natural resources, landscape architecture, and other fields. The 56-acre UGA Health Sciences Campus has a landscaped green space with more than 400 trees and several historic buildings. The Health Sciences Campus include classrooms, rooms for small group and clinical skills teaching, lab space for gross anatomy, pathology and histology, a medical library, and faculty offices. The Medical Partnership administration is housed in Winnie Davis Hall, which was built in 1902. UGA has facilities in almost every county in Georgia. The university has extended campuses in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
and
Gwinnett County Gwinnett County ( ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It forms part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. In 2020, the population was 957,062, making it the second-most populous county in Georgia (after Fulton C ...
, as well as
Griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
and Tifton. The University of Georgia operates five
4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...
centers around the state: Fortson 4-H Center, in the southern
Atlanta metropolitan area Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...
,
Jekyll Island Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, s ...
4-H Center and
Tybee Island Tybee Island is a city and a barrier island located in Chatham County, Georgia, 18 miles (29 km) east of Savannah, United States. Though the name "Tybee Island" is used for both the island and the city, geographically they are not identical ...
4-H Center on the Georgia coast, Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, and Wahsega 4-H Center in the
North Georgia mountains The Georgia Mountains Region or North Georgia mountains or Northeast Georgia is an area that starts in the northeast corner of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, and spreads in a westerly direction. The mountains in this region are in ...
. The university is also responsible for two other land holdings. These centers, operated in part by the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) is the agricultural college of the University of Georgia, a public research university in Athens, Georgia. History Originally the state agricultural college, CAES was founded in 1859 b ...
, serve as educational facilitates for youth. Georgia 4-H specializes in educating young people about agricultural and
environmental issues Environmental issues are effects of human activity on the biophysical environment, most often of which are harmful effects that cause environmental degradation. Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment on t ...
, agriculture awareness, leadership, communication skills, foods and nutrition, health,
energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...
, and citizenship.


Other athletic facilities

Built for $360,000 to replace the former Sanford Field in nearby Central Campus,
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
was inaugurated on October 12, 1929, with a 15–0 victory over the
Yale Bulldogs football The Yale Bulldogs football program represents Yale University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA). Yale's football program is one of the oldest in the world, having begun competing ...
team. Originally constructed to accommodate 30,000 fans, a double deck addition in 1967 added 19,000 more seats, and a 1981 addition to encircle the field added another 19,000 seats. After several more renovations, the stadium now holds more than 93,000 spectators, making it one of the largest collegiate stadiums in the country and the thirteenth largest stadium in the world. The stadium is named for Steadman Sanford, a former president of the university and chancellor of the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
. Besides being the home of the
Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...
team, the stadium also serves as an event venue, the location of undergraduate graduation ceremonies, and was used for the medal competition of men's and women's Olympic football (soccer) at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. UGA's other athletic facilities are located in South Campus. The South Campus athletic complex consists of the Foley Baseball Field, Butts–Mehre Heritage Hall, Woodruff Practice Fields, (both used by the football team), William Porter Payne Indoor Athletic Facility (for indoor football and other sport practices),
Stegeman Coliseum Stegeman Coliseum is a 10,523-seat multi-purpose arena in Athens, Georgia, United States. The arena opened in 1964 in honor of C. Sal Stegeman. It is home to the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball and gymnastics teams. It was also the venu ...
, the Coliseum Training Facility, and Spec Towns Track. Built in 1964, Stegeman Coliseum is one of the oldest college basketball, gymnastics and volleyball venues in the South. Named after the former football coach
Herman J. Stegeman Herman James Stegeman (January 21, 1891 – October 22, 1939) was a player and coach of American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field athletics, and a college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Beloit C ...
and home to the
Georgia Bulldogs basketball The Georgia Bulldogs men's basketball program is the men's college basketball team representing the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Established in 1891, the team has competed in the Southeastern Conference since its inception in 1932. ...
,
Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball The Georgia Lady Bulldogs basketball team represents the University of Georgia in basketball. The Lady Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The "Lady Dawgs," as they are sometimes called, play in Stegeman Coliseum in Athen ...
, the women's gymnastics program,
Georgia Gymdogs The Georgia Gymdogs (officially the Georgia Bulldogs) is the women's gymnastics team of the University of Georgia. The team is part of NCAA Division I and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Gymdogs compete in Stegeman Coliseum in A ...
, and the women's volleyball teams, Bulldogs Volleyball, the Coliseum has a seating capacity of 10,523. The basketball, volleyball, and gymnastics teams also have a practice facility in the adjacent Coliseum Training Facility. Stegeman Coliseum was the venue for the 1996 Summer Olympics Volleyball and Rhythmic Gymnastics, A large black marble Olympics Monument on the west lawn of Stegeman Coliseum, erected in preparation for the 1996 Summer Olympics, commemorates the more than 115 UGA students who participated in the Olympics, including Forrest "Spec" Towns. The Spec Towns Track located nearby was constructed in 1964 and is home to UGA's track and field teams. The Dan Magill Tennis Complex, located south of Stegeman Coliseum, includes sixteen tennis courts with seating for a total of about 5,000 spectators. UGA also has its own University Golf Course that is a par 71
Robert Trent Jones Robert Trent Jones Sr. (June 20, 1906 – June 14, 2000) was a British–American golf course architect who designed or re-designed more than 500 golf courses in 45 U.S. states and 35 countries. In reference to this, Jones took pride in sayi ...
designed golf course.


Academics


Undergraduate admissions

Due to COVID-19, SAT and ACT test score submissions were optional for 2021. The university considers many factors in admissions decisions: high school grades, particularly the rigor of high school study—a student's studying in a school's "advanced" or "most difficult" curriculum, taking of advanced placement, College Board Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, early college enrollment and other rigorous classes; scores on standardized tests (SAT or ACT); academic and personal achievements; extracurricular activities; the mandatory school counselor evaluation letter as well academic letters of recommendation from teachers; the student's personal statement. It is
need-blind Need-blind admission is a term used in the United States denoting a college admission policy in which an institution does not consider an applicant's financial situation when deciding admission. This policy generally increases the proportion of ad ...
for domestic applicants. As a state university, UGA automatically admits applicants that graduate first or second in their class at an SACS-accredited high school in Georgia. Of the admitted class of 2026, 1,001 graduated first or second in their class (e.g., valedictorian or salutatorian), and most graduated within the top ten percent of their class. The overall average high school
GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
of all enrolled first-year students was 4.13, first year students had taken an average of nine high school advanced placement courses, and more than 98% were in their school's "advanced" or "most difficult" curriculum. In the 2020–2021 academic year, 69 freshman students were
National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
. For others who go through the traditional application process, selectivity is deemed "more selective" according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and by U.S. News & World Report. The Princeton Review places the university's average Admissions Selectivity Rating at 95 on 99-point scale. There were 39,615 applications for admission to the class of 2026 (enrolling fall 2022), 16,729 were admitted (under 40%) and over 6,200 enrolled. The mid-50% SAT range for admitted freshman was 1340-1480 out of 1600 (average 1410)(in the top 97th percentile nationally), the ACT range was 31-34 (average 32.5)(in the top 97th percentile nationally). For honors students, the mid-50% SAT range was 1510-1550 out of 1600 (average 1530) and the mid-50% ACT range was 34-35 (average 34.5), both in top 99th percentile nationally. The ACT Assessment Student Report places UGA student admissions in the "highly selective" category, the highest category. Incoming students include those from every state and 57 countries around the world. Among admitted students in the class of 2024, 15% were out-of-state, and the top 10 states (other than Georgia) were California, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.


Teaching and scholarship

The university has a student-to-faculty ratio of 17 students per faculty member, and 46 percent of its classes have fewer than 20 students. The average freshman retention rate is 95 percent. As of 2022, the university does not rank within the top 100 national universities in the United States for "Best Undergraduate Teaching" as scored by US News. , 25 UGA students have been named
Rhodes Scholars The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
including six since 2008. Among public universities, the University of Georgia is one of the nation's top three producers of Rhodes Scholars over the past two decades. UGA is also home to hundreds of other major scholarship winners including 140
Fulbright Scholars The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
(tied with universities such as Stanford), 57 Goldwater Scholars, 44 Boren Scholars, 20
Truman Scholars The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...
, 19 Udall Scholars, six Gates Cambridge Scholars, four
Schwarzman Scholars Schwarzman Scholars (), founded by American financier Stephen A. Schwarzman, is an international postgraduate award program for students to study at Tsinghua University. Awards are made to 100–200 applicants per year, worldwide. The program s ...
, three Mitchell Scholars, three Carnegie Endowment Gaither Fellows, two Soros Fellows, two Beinecke Scholars, a Knight-Hennessy Scholar, a Churchill Scholar, and students earning the
MacArthur Fellowship 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 MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...
(known as the "Genius Grant"). The University of Georgia has been among only seven of all universities nationwide with recipients of all three major national undergraduate scholarships: the Goldwater, Truman and Udall.


Honors College

The University of Georgia has an honors college that must be applied to separately after gaining acceptance to the university. Foundation Fellows and the Ramsey Scholars programs are housed within Morehead College. For the class of 2022 (enrolling at UGA in August 2018), the average
GPA Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...
of entering honors freshmen was 4.12, the average SAT score was 1530 out of 1600 and the average ACT Composite score was 34. Through the Honors College, students are able to participate in early registration for classes and register for special honors-only courses. Honors courses are taught by specially selected faculty with an average class size from 17 to 20 students. Those wishing to graduate with High or Highest Honors must complete a capstone experience consisting of graduate courses, a
senior thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
, or a special project prior to graduation. Honors students may elect to reside in the Myers Hall, which is reserved for honors students, or apply to reside in Rutherford Hall of the Franklin Residential College (FRC), a
residential college A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...
based on the
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
model. The program allows qualified undergraduates to pursue a curriculum leading to a
bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...
(AB/BS) and a
master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
(MA/MS) degree in four years. The Honors International Scholars Program (HISP) provides honors students with opportunities to study abroad on paid scholarship and internships.


Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities

The Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO), which is administered by the Honors Program, promotes opportunities for all of the undergraduate students at the University of Georgia to engage in research with faculty regardless of discipline, major or GPA. Through in-depth research with faculty members, students can explore questions and issues of interest as lines of inquiry develop through their undergraduate careers, earning academic credit in the process.


Study abroad

UGA is among the top-ranked universities in the US for the number of students studying abroad, with more than 100 programs in about 70 countries, and 25% of the student body participating in the program before graduation. UGA has faculty study abroad programs on every continent, including Antarctica. Additionally, UGA has signed agreements with several outside
study abroad organization Study abroad organizations, also referred to as study abroad providers, and third-party study abroad providers are independent organizations that facilitate or administer study abroad programs. Providers of study abroad vary enormously in terms of ...
s: the American Institute For Foreign Study, GlobaLinks Learning Abroad, the Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA), International Studies Abroad (ISA),
The School for Field Studies The School for Field Studies (SFS) is the United States' largest environmental study abroad program provider for undergraduate college students, offering fully accredited semester- and summer-long academic programs in over 10 countries around th ...
, and the
Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...
International Summer School. Just over 2,000 students, or 6% of the entire campus enrollment (graduate and undergraduate) study abroad in a given year. The university began its first year-round residential study-abroad program at
Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...
of
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in England, where students and faculty live in a three-story Victorian house owned by UGA and located in the heart of the city of
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
. Founded in 1987, the UGA at Oxford program began as a summer option and expanded to include spring in 1994. With the purchase of the house in 1999, the program became available throughout the academic year. The University of Georgia owns two other international residential centers: one in
Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓 ...
, Italy; the other, and UGA's largest, in
Monteverde, Costa Rica Monteverde is the twelfth Cantons of Costa Rica, canton of the Puntarenas Province, Puntarenas province of Costa Rica. It is located in the Cordillera de Tilarán mountain range. Roughly a four-hour drive from the Costa Rican Central Valley, Ce ...
. The
UGA Costa Rica UGA Costa Rica is one of the three international residential centers owned and operated by the University of Georgia. The largest of these centers—the other two located in Oxford, England and Cortona, Italy—UGA Costa Rica is used as a site for ...
campus comprises and over of built space nestled in the country's mountainous Monteverde Cloud Forest. In 2012, the Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program in Costa Rica recognized the University of Georgia's satellite campus in
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
as one of its "Four Leaves" level institutions operating in the country. Run by the
Costa Rican Tourism Board The Costa Rican Tourism Board ( es, Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) is the government agency responsible for promoting sustainable in Costa Rica. Originally the agency was created by decree in 1931 as the National Tourism Board, and by a law ...
, the CST awards excellence in natural, cultural, and social
resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...
.


Rankings

For 2022–2023, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked Georgia's undergraduate program 49th out of 443 Best National Universities, tied for 30th of Most Innovative Schools, and tied for 16th among 227 Top Public National Universities. For 2019–2020 worldwide ranked universities, Georgia is ranked in the top 20% of the 1,000 top ranked universities in the entire world by the
Center for World University Rankings College and university rankings order the best institutions in higher education based on factors that vary depending on the ranking. Some rankings evaluate institutions within a single country, while others assess institutions worldwide. Rankings ...
, is ranked as an A+ university, and in the top 12%, of top world universities ranked by
University Ranking by Academic Performance The University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) is a university ranking developed by the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. Since 2010, it has been publishing annual national and global college and university rankin ...
based on indicators of research performance, and is ranked 79th of the top 200 universities in the entire world in th
uniRank University Ranking
WalletHub WalletHub (formerly CardHub.com) is a personal finance website that was launched in August 2013. It is based in Miami and owned by Evolution Finance, Inc. WalletHub offers free consumer tools, such as its WalletLiteracy Quiz and its Financial ...
, in its 2020 ranking of the top-performing schools in the country that had the lowest possible costs to undergraduates, ranked the University of Georgia as 69th out of 1,003 schools with a 93 Percentile Score (with 99 being the maximum possible Percentile Score). The university is listed as a "
Public Ivy "Public Ivy" is a term that refers to prestigious Public university, public colleges and universities in the United States that provide a collegiate experience similar to those in the Ivy League.Richard Moll in his book ''Public Ivys: A Guide to ...
" in Greene's Guides as "successfully competing with the Ivy League schools in academic rigor ... attracting superstar faculty and competing for the best and brightest students of all races." The ''
Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
'' named the university as one of its "Top 10 Best Value Public Colleges" with UGA being one of the colleges designated as a best overall bargain based on cost and financial aid among the most academically outstanding colleges in the nation. In 2018, ''
Kiplinger Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice which is a subsidiary of Future plc. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations ...
'' ranked the University 12th in its list of the "100 Best Values in Public Colleges." ''
SmartMoney ''SmartMoney'' was ''The Wall Street Journal''s magazine of personal business. The finance magazine launched in 1992 by Hearst Corporation and Dow Jones & Company. Its first editor was Norman Pearlstine. In 2010, Hearst sold its stake to Dow Jone ...
,'' a publication by ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', named UGA as having the fourth best salary return on tuition as of October 2019. ''
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' named the university in its "25 Amazing Colleges" listing.
Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...
ranks UGA as an overall A+ university including high rankings for individual subjects taught at the university as well as ranking it #5 of 1,579 colleges in Best Student Life, #10 of 1,417 colleges in Best College Campuses, #13 of 1,385 colleges in Best College Food, and overall #14 of 132 colleges in Best Big Colleges as well as #14 of 668 universities in Best Public Universities. In the 2019–2020 ranking, the
American Council of Trustees and Alumni The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is a conservative non-profit organization whose stated mission is to "support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure t ...
ranked the University of Georgia one of only 23 “A” colleges and universities (grading was “A” through “F”) in its ''
What Will They Learn? ''What Will They Learn?'' is the annual rating system of American colleges and universities published by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative non-profit organization. The report, which evaluates the core academic requirement ...
'' study, an evaluation of the curricula of 1,070 U.S. colleges and universities. In 2022, the
Association of American Medical Colleges The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that was established in 1876. It represents medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic and scientific societies, while providing serv ...
ranked UGA 7th in the U.S. among undergraduate institutions supplying applicants to
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
, including 7th for the most
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
applicants, 10th for the most
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
applicants, 23rd for the most
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
applicants, and 50th for the most
Hispanic and Latino American Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...
applicants. The
University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs The School of Public and International Affairs, also referred to as SPIA, is a political science, international affairs and public policy school within The University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia, United States. It is the fourth ranked pub ...
was ranked fourth in the nation, while the Public Management Administration program was ranked first by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in 2019. The ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
'' has ranked the school seventh in the world. The University of Georgia ranks fifth in the entire nation in terms of number of Congressional staffers produced out of undergraduate universities. For the 2018–2019 season, a team from the University of Georgia was the top university varsity debate team in the United States in both the
American Debate Association The American Debate Association began in 1985 as an intercollegiate debate Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often o ...
and the
National Debate Tournament The National Debate Tournament is one of the national championships for collegiate policy debate in the United States. The tournament is sponsored by the American Forensic Association with the Ford Motor Company Fund. History of the NDT Th ...
team rankings. The university has two of the oldest
literary societies A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...
in the English-Speaking world focused on extemporaneous debate, the
Demosthenian Literary Society The Demosthenian Literary Society is a literary society focused on extemporaneous debate at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. It is among the oldest literary societies in the English-Speaking world and was founded on February 19, 1803 by ...
and the
Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...
. In 2019,
Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
named the executive MBA program in the university's
Terry College of Business The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The business college offers undergraduate programs, MBA programs, specialized master's programs and ...
14th in the nation. In the 2020 ranking, the School of Environment and Design was ranked first among programs for undergraduates in the nation. According to the study by
Law School Transparency Law School Transparency (LST) is a nonprofit consumer advocacy and education organization concerning the legal profession in the United States. LST was founded by Vanderbilt Law School graduates Kyle McEntee and Patrick Lynch. LST describes its m ...
, the
University of Georgia School of Law The University of Georgia School of Law (Georgia Law) is the law school of the University of Georgia, a Public university, public research university in Athens, Georgia. It was founded in 1859, making it among the oldest American university law sc ...
is ranked in the top ten nationally for employment outcomes, while the law school has been ranked 13th of the top best law schools by ''the National Jurist''. Georgia Law was ranked 20th of 196
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
(ABA) approved law schools in the 2023-24 edition of ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankings placing it in the top 10% of ABA law schools. The Law School has sent six
law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
s to serve justices of the
United States Supreme Court 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 o ...
in the last twelve years, is fourth among law schools for supplying these clerks for these prestigious Supreme Court positions from 2005 to 2020, and is tenth among all law schools in the country for the total number of federal court clerks accepted from Georgia Law. Serving as a judge's law clerk is considered to be one of the most prestigious positions in legal circles, and tends to open up wide-ranging opportunities in academia, law firm practice, and influential government work. Finally, based on outcome-driven factors such as average indebtedness, bar passage, and employment, Georgia Law has been ranked first as the best value in legal education in the entire United States by ''the National Jurist.'' The College of Veterinary Medicine was ranked tenth in the nation, and
College of Pharmacy This article is a list of pharmacy schools by country. A Albania Algeria Argentina Australia Austria B Bangladesh Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria C Cambodia Canada China Beijing Hong Kong Jia ...
was ranked 25th in the nation, in the 2019 edition of ''U.S. News & World Report'' rankings. Two UGA pharmacy students were selected for the U.S. Navy's Health Services Collegiate Program Medical Service Corps, a selective program that accepted only five recipients from applicants across the country.


Research

The University of Georgia is classified in the highest ranking, " R-1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity" with "comprehensive" doctoral programs across the arts, sciences, engineering, law, and medicine according to the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most nota ...
. According to the
National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
, the university spent $453 million on research and development in 2018, then ranking it 57th in the nation, spent $495 million on R&D in fiscal year 2020, and the latest report by
The Center for Measuring University Performance The Center for Measuring University Performance is a research center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. ''The Center'' is best known for an annual report it produces, The Top American Research Universities, that ranks American univers ...
ranked the University of Georgia 37th among the top research universities in the nation. The university has increased overall research and development funding by 41% since fiscal year 2013. More than 850 different products originating from UGA research are on the market. As of 2020, the university ranked No. 1 nationally for the number of research-based products brought to market—the university's fifth consecutive year in the top five. The University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF) has over 1000 active licenses with technologies licensed in countries on all continents. In 2020 UGARF held more than 684 US and foreign patents. The University of Georgia consistently ranks in the top ten among all universities for most licenses and options with industry as well as for the most licensing income. As of 2021, based on university research, over 200 companies have been launched by the University of Georgia, placing the university in the top 20 of universities for active startups. In November 2018, the University of Georgia launched a number of research initiatives funded by a $3 million NSF grant, including a project to transform the school's science education. The university also added a new Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (I-STEM) building that opened in 2021. In addition, Georgia has research centers and institutes that include the following among many others.


Institute of Bioinformatics

Founded in fall 2002, the institute is responsible for supporting campus-wide
bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
research at UGA. Institute members conduct bioinformatics research in a wide range of areas, ranging from
structural genomics Structural genomics seeks to describe the 3-dimensional structure of every protein encoded by a given genome. This genome-based approach allows for a high-throughput method of structure determination by a combination of experimental and modeling ...
and bioinformatics, plant genomics, microbial genomics,
biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)
and
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
bioinformatics and computational and statistical sciences for bioinformatics. The institute grants Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in bioinformatics as well as a graduate certificate in bioinformatics. In 2012, IOB Director
Jessica Kissinger Jessica Kissinger is a Distinguished Research Professor at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia and director of the Institute of Bioinformatics. Her research focus is on the evolution, assembly and data curation of proto ...
and IOB and Mathematics assistant professor Juan B. Gutierrez joined a collaborative effort on a
malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
host-pathogen interaction research center that was awarded up to $19.4 million by a
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
contract. The collaborative project is in conjunction with
Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...
,
Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, Emory's
Yerkes National Primate Research Center The Emory National Primate Research Center (formerly known as Yerkes National Primate Research Center) located in Atlanta, Georgia, owned by Emory University, is a center of biomedical and behavioral research, is dedicated to improving human and a ...
and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...
(CDC).


eHistory

Founded in 2011 by History Department faculty, eHistory is a digital collective. Projects include "Mapping the People of Early America," funded by the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
, "CSI:Dixie" funded by the
American Council of Learned Societies American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
and the inter-active time lapse map, "The Invasion of America," which shows nearly 500 cessations of Native Lands. The UGA & Slavery site explores the university's entanglements with slavery and legacies in Athens, Georgia. It aligns with the research of institutions across the South that have joined the Universities Studying Slavery consortium.


Marine Institute and Skidaway Institute of Oceanography

Sapelo Island Sapelo Island is a state-protected barrier island located in McIntosh County, Georgia. The island is accessible only by aircraft or boat; the primary ferry comes from the Sapelo Island Visitors Center in McIntosh County, Georgia, a seven-mil ...
, off the Georgia coast, is home to the
University of Georgia Marine Institute The University of Georgia Marine Institute (UGAMI) is a nearshore ecological and geological research station located on Sapelo Island off the coast of Georgia in the United States. This island lies between the Atlantic Ocean and a pristine salt m ...
, a nearshore ecological and geological research institute. The mission of the institute is to support and conduct research on coastal processes involving the unique ecosystems of coastlines. In 2012, UGA acquired the
Skidaway Institute of Oceanography The University of Georgia Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SkIO) is a marine science research and education institute located on Skidaway Island near Savannah, Georgia, USA. UGA Skidaway Institute faculty conduct oceanographic research acros ...
(SkIO), the marine science research institute that was founded in 1968, to join the University of Georgia Marine Institute that was founded in 1953.


Coastal Plain Research Arboretum

The Coastal Plain Research Arboretum () is an arboretum in
Tifton, Georgia Tifton is a city in Tift County, Georgia, United States. The population was 17,045 at the 2020 census. The city is the county seat of Tift County. The area's public schools are administered by the Tift County School District. Abraham Baldwin Ag ...
, located on the grounds of the Tifton Campus of the University of Georgia. The arboretum was established in 1987, with plant development and selection starting in 1991. It consists of stream-side forest and wetland, and is dedicated to
native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...
species of the
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...
. The arboretum contains
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
woods, a native
azalea Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and '' Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and Octob ...
collection, and approximately 280
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
of native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. It is one of several institutions active in efforts to conserve the
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
''
Torreya taxifolia ''Torreya taxifolia'', commonly known as Florida torreya or stinking-cedar, but also sometimes as Florida nutmeg or gopher wood, is an endangered subcanopy tree of the yew family, Taxaceae. It is native to only a small glacial refugium in the sou ...
''. The arboretum director is John M. Ruter, professor of horticulture at the university's Tifton campus.


University of Georgia–MCG medical partnership

In 2010, the University of Georgia partnered with the
Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the flagship medical school of the University System of Georgia, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established ...
(MCG) at Augusta University (formerly Georgia Health Sciences University) to create a four-year
medical education Medical education is education related to the practice of being a medical practitioner, including the initial training to become a physician (i.e., medical school and internship (medical), internship) and additional training thereafter (e.g., Re ...
program in Athens providing for the granting of
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
degrees at UGA to increase the number of opportunities for excellent students to become qualified
physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, as well as to increase
research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
on
disease prevention Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...
and treatment. The Augusta University's College of Nursing has a satellite campus in Athens, and the UGA College of Pharmacy has a satellite campus in Augusta. First and second-year UGA medical students study medical science and clinical skills in a program that is a hybrid curriculum that makes extensive use of small group learning, supplemented by large group interactive sessions. Then third and fourth-year rotations are provided at private practices, community clinics, and hospitals. In addition to increasing the number of opportunities for excellent students to become qualified physicians, the partnership will expand research collaborations between MCG and UGA, and create new insights by UGA into the prevention and treatment of diseases such as
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
,
heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
,
viral disease A viral disease (or viral infection) occurs when an organism's body is invaded by pathogenic viruses, and infectious virus particles (virions) attach to and enter susceptible cells. Structural Characteristics Basic structural characteristics, s ...
, and
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. UGA medical students, graduate students from UGA's College of Public Health, and visiting scholars reside on the University of Georgia's recently reacquired Health Sciences Campus in Athens. The 56-acre UGA Health Sciences Campus has an extensive landscaped green space with more than 400 trees and many historic buildings. The nearly 63,000 square-feet of building space on the new Health Sciences Campus include large and small classrooms, rooms for small group and clinical skills teaching, lab space for gross anatomy, pathology, histology, etc., a medical library, and faculty offices. The medical program administration is housed in Winnie Davis Hall which was built in 1902.


Bioenergy Systems Research Institute

The Bioenergy Systems Research Institute conducts research in bioenergy that recognize the entire lifecycle and environmental impact of biomass production, harvesting, transport, treatment, conversion, and recycling. In 2013, the Institute received a $20 million from the
United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
(DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency an ...
(EERE) and the Golden Field Office (GFO). The institute was established to help bolster the university's research expenditure in environmental science. The 2013 SEC Academic Symposium, an academic conference-type event intended to address a scholarly issue in an area of strength represented by all SEC universities, was organized and led by the University of Georgia and the UGA Bioenergy Systems Research Institute in
Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The topic of the Symposium was titled, the "Impact of the Southeast in the World's Renewable Energy Future."


Odum School of Ecology

In 2007, the
Odum School of Ecology The Odum School of Ecology is a school within the University of Georgia and the successor of the UGA Institute of Ecology. It is named after Eugene Odum, renowned UGA biologist, the father of ecosystem ecology, and the founder of the Institute. ...
became the first-stand alone college or school within a university dedicated to the study of
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
and
environmental science Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...
. The school was named after UGA professor and ecologist,
Eugene Odum Eugene Pleasants Odum (September 17, 1913 – August 10, 2002) was an American biologist at the University of Georgia known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology. He and his brother Howard T. Odum wrote the popular ecology textbook, ''Funda ...
, who pioneered the modern study of ecology. The university has since made several advancements in sustainability. Under the UGA Facilities Management Division, the Office of Sustainability was initiated in 2010 as part of a strategic directive to enhance conservation of resources and long-term sustainability at the university. Through long-term environmental initiatives, under President
Michael F. Adams Michael Fred Adams (born March 25, 1948) is president emeritus of the University of Georgia in the Georgia (U.S. state), U.S. state of Georgia. Adams began his career in education as a faculty member at Ohio State University from 1973 to 1975. H ...
the university established the office after support from students and faculty and residents of the Athens area. The Office of Sustainability's mission is to continue to improve
environmental sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...
in many different areas on campus. The initiative was a result of a 2009 Report of the Working Group on Sustainability at the University of Georgia and the Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) student-led campaign. The Green Initiative Fund modeled their funding campaign after a similar campaign by students at the
University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
. , the Office of Sustainability has awarded a total of $170,000 to fund 47 student-initiated sustainability projects at UGA The Campus Sustainability Grants Program has helped foster several student initiatives, including water bottle refilling stations in the Zell B. Miller Learning Center, "Dawgs Ditch the Dumpster" residence hall move-out donation program, Tanyard Creek Chew Crew prescribed grazing project for
invasive plant An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...
removal and Material Reuse Program, which uses salvaged items to construct school and community gardens. The university and Athens-Clarke County established a bicycle master plan to improve the mobility of students on campus while remaining environmentally consciousness. In 2009 the University of Georgia earned LEED certification from the
U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
with high marks for the expansion of the Tate Student Center. The renovated Tate Student Center became the sixth building on a university campus in the state of Georgia to be certified at the gold level and the second to be so designated in Athens. In 2012, Building 1516, a university housing complex constructed in 2010, became the first LEED-certified housing complex at the University of Georgia. In 2012, the College of Environmental Design's Visual Arts Building (now known as the Jackson Street Building) after a $9.9 million renovation became the first UGA building to incorporate a
water reclamation Water reclamation (also called wastewater reuse, water reuse or water recycling) is the process of converting municipal wastewater (sewage) or industrial wastewater into water that can be reused for a variety of purposes. Types of reuse include: ...
system and the first to utilize solar harvesting technology through
solar panels A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...
. In 2013 the university hosted the inaugural SEC Symposium in Atlanta. The topic is the Southeast's impact on the future of
renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
, and the participants are the 14 universities of the SEC, as supported by its new academic initiative,
SECU Secu is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the wes ...
. In the same year, the university was named by the National Arbor Foundation as a designated Tree Campus USA for the third time in a row as a result of the university's continued commitment to maintaining and adding new
foliage A leaf ( : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, ste ...
. The University of Georgia has more than 9,000 trees on campus, according to an ongoing tree-mapping project being conducted by the University Grounds Department. The number will continue to grow due to a partnership between Select Sustainable Tree Trust and UGA. In 2009, the Select Sustainable Tree Trust selected the university to receive a $1 million tree donation to "re-green" and impact the university campus with large-scale, sustainable shade trees. As of April 2019, UGA has entered into a contract to add up to 19 new electric buses. The 19 buses were put into service on campus in February 2020. In December 2019, as the university was awarded $7.46 million under the Federal Transit Administration's Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program, it was announced that 13 additional electric buses would be added to the fleet, which will bring the total number of electric buses on campus to 33. The electric buses will account for a third of the total fleet in 2021, when UGA begins to phase out and decommission older diesel buses.


Small Satellite Research Laboratory

The University of Georgia
Small Satellite Research Laboratory The University of Georgia Small Satellite Research Laboratory (SSRL), or UGA SSRL, is a research laboratory founded in late 2015 with the goal of launching a student-built spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The SSRL is currently building the Univers ...
(SSRL) was founded in 2016 by students with the help of researchers, scientists, and faculty associated the Center for Geospatial Research. The SSRL is funded by the
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
USIP (Undergraduate Student Instrument Project) to build a Cube Satellite for Low Earth Orbit. The SSRL is also part of the
Air Force Research Laboratory The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is a scientific research organization operated by the United States Air Force Materiel Command dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of aerospace warfighting technologies, pl ...
's (AFRL)
University Nanosatellite Program The University Nanosat Program is a satellite design and fabrication competition for universities. It is jointly administered by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the American Institute of ...
(UNP). The SSRL is student-led and will be building UGA's first satellite, a Cubesat, which will be sent to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
for deployment in late 2018.


Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry (CCQC)

The Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry (CCQC) is a research center in the department of
chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
, founded in 1987 by Professor Henry Schaefer, who continues to work there. Research at the CCQC employs
computational chemistry Computational chemistry is a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to assist in solving chemical problems. It uses methods of theoretical chemistry, incorporated into computer programs, to calculate the structures and properties of m ...
to elucidate and/or correlate many areas of chemical research.


Student life

The University of Georgia has registered almost 800 student organizations, academic associations, honor societies, student government organizations, cultural groups, sport teams, religious groups, publications, social groups and fraternities, volunteer and community service programs, philanthropic groups, and others that are all run by both graduate and undergraduate students and are integral parts of student life. In 2015 (the latest year), UGA was recognized by the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the
Corporation for National and Community Service AmeriCorps (officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in service through a variety of stipended volunteer work prog ...
. The honor is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement. The latest designation marks the ninth consecutive year UGA was named on the honor roll.


Student housing

Housing at the university is managed by the Department of University Housing. Student on-campus housing is divided into several communities: Brumby, Russell, Creswell, Hill, Myers, Reed, and the East Campus Village. Brumby, Creswell, and Russell halls are collectively known as the "freshman high-rises" due to their similarities in design and function. All three are located just off Baxter Street on West Campus. These are the biggest residence halls on campus and each house about 1,000 freshmen. The Hill community of residence halls consists of six building in West Campus near the freshman dorms. The community has a females-only residence (Hill Hall) and six coed residences: Boggs, Church, Lipscomb, Mell, and Oglethorpe Halls. The Myers community consists of four buildings in a quad located on South Campus. They are the coed residence halls Myers, Rutherford, and Mary Lyndon, along with Soule Hall which is reserved for female students. The Reed community is made up of four coed residence halls in North and Central Campus: Morris, Payne, Reed, and Building 1516. The East Campus Village consists of the apartment-style coed residences: Busbee, McWhorter, Rooker, and Vandiver.


Greek life

The University of Georgia maintains one of the South's oldest Greek systems, and the fraternity and sororities maintain homes both on and off campus. There are a number of
secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...
that exist at the university, such as Palladia and Gridiron. The Panhellenic sororities also have a secret society known as Trust of the Pearl, which inducts five accomplished sorority women each spring. The first Greek letter fraternity to charter at the university was
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...
in 1865, and the first sorority was
Phi Mu Phi Mu () is the second oldest female fraternal organization established in the United States. The fraternity was founded at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia as the Philomathean Society on , and was announced publicly on March 4 of the same ye ...
in 1921. In 2019, 20% of undergraduate men and 31% of undergraduate women were active members in UGA's Greek system.


Reserve Officer Training Corps

Under the
Morrill Act The Morrill Land-Grant Acts are United States statutes that allowed for the creation of land-grant colleges in U.S. states using the proceeds from sales of federally-owned land, often obtained from indigenous tribes through treaty, cession, or se ...
, as a land-grant university, UGA is required to include a military program as part of its available curriculum, which program is now known as the
Reserve Officer Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC ( or )) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. Overview While ROTC graduate officers serve in all ...
(ROTC). Many universities that are not land-grant have established ROTC programs such as the one at Harvard University. The University of Georgia ROTC is the official
officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
training and commissioning program at the university. Prior to the 1862 Morrill Act, UGA founded its military program in 1801, and it is one of the oldest such programs in the nation. Memorial Hall was built with funds that Georgia alumni raised following World War I and was dedicated in 1924 to those alumni and students who had given their lives in the war. Departments of the
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
and the
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
each maintain an ROTC detachment on campus.


Student Government Association

Executives of the University of Georgia's Student Government Association (SGA) make up the
Student Advisory Council The Student Advisory Council to the Georgia Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) is composed of 35 student representatives from the 26 public colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia. The organization act ...
, which is composed of
Student Government President The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...
s from every public college or university within the
University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...
. The Student Advisory Council is organized to advise the
Georgia Board of Regents The Georgia Board of Regents oversees the University System of Georgia as part of the state government of Georgia in the United States. The University System of Georgia is composed of all state public institutions of higher education in the state. T ...
, through the Chancellor, on issues that are important to students.


Student media

''The Red & Black'' (''R&B'') is UGA's independent daily newspaper. Established in 1893 and independent of the university since 1980, ''The Red & Black'' is the largest
college newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
in Georgia and the tenth largest newspaper in the state of Georgia. Students published its first issue on November 24, 1893, from offices in the Academic Building on North Campus. The paper is self-sufficient through the sale of advertising making it one of the few student newspapers to do so. ''The Red & Black'' has won numerous awards nationally. In 2012, the ''
Princeton Review The Princeton Review is an education services company providing tutoring, test preparation and admission resources for students. It was founded in 1981. and since that time has worked with over 400 million students. Services are delivered by 4,0 ...
'' named ''The Red & Black'' tenth among the nation's best student newspapers. ''R&B-TV'' is the photos and videos division of ''The Red & Black''. R&B-TV publishes various videos relating to the University of Georgia and the community at large.
WUGA-FM WUGA (91.7 MHz) is a public FM radio station serving Athens and much of the northeast part of Georgia. It is a member of Georgia Public Broadcasting's radio network, but is operated by the University of Georgia, with studios and offices located ...
is the radio station run by students of the University of Georgia. Just before 6:00 a.m. on the morning of August 28, 1987, WUGA-FM signed on for its first day of broadcasting to Athens and the surrounding area. WUGA-FM broadcasts with 6000 watts in an " omni-directional pattern." WUGA-FM radio is the third most listened to station in Athens market out of 18 stations reported. It is the most listened to station for people with managerial, administrative or professional occupations. Launched in 2011, ''Ampersand Magazine'' is a UGA monthly publication catered to
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 ...
residents. The magazine is a subsidized by ''The Red and Black.'' ''Stethoscope Magazine'' (formerly, ''PreMed Magazine'') is a “student-run publication at the University of Georgia dedicated to promoting science and providing relevant healthcare-related news.” It also has a website, as well as
Linktree Linktree is a freemium social media reference landing page developed by Alex Zaccaria, Anthony Zaccaria, and Nick Humphreys, headquartered in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. Founded in 2016, it serves as a landing page for a person or company's ...
,
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, and
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
accounts. The magazine further aims to help
pre-medical Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med course ...
and other pre-health students at the university achieve success in the medical field. Staffing for the magazine is open to students of all majors and concentrations. Topics range from student achievement in medicine and health science, to health science news, to recent innovations in biomedical sciences. Law students publish three legal journals: ''Georgia Law Review'', the ''Journal of Intellectual Property Law'', and the ''Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law''. In addition to the ''Georgia Law Review'', students publish the online component, the ''Georgia Law Review Online'', which features essays by practitioners, judges and professors focused primarily on timely legal issues in the U.S. Courts of Appeals. ''Pandora'' is the yearbook of the university of Georgia; its first issue was published in 1886.


Athletics

The University of Georgia varsity athletic teams participate in the NCAA's Division I FBS as a member of the
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...
. Since the 1997–1998 season, UGA has seven top ten rankings in the
National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 ins ...
(NACDA) Directors' Cup, a numerical ranking based on the success of universities in all
varsity sports In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...
. The university has won national championships in
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
, women's gymnastics, women's
equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...
,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
,
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
(men's and women's),
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
(men's and women's), indoor and outdoor track & field, and women's swimming and diving. The Gym Dogs, the university's women's
gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...
team, have an NCAA-leading 10 national championships in gymnastics, including five consecutive championships from 2005 to 2009. The Bulldogs' most historic rivalry is with the nearby
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...
. However, major rivalries have grown since, including the rivalry with the
Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
, and with the
Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...
, referred to as the "
Deep South's Oldest Rivalry The Auburn–Georgia football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs. The two teams first played each other in 1892, and the rivalry has been renewed annually since 1944 for a total of 126 gam ...
" in reference to the first football game played between the two teams in 1892 and the more than one hundred meetings since. In 2011, ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' named the
Florida–Georgia football rivalry The Florida–Georgia football rivalry is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the University of Florida Gators and the University of Georgia Bulldogs, both members of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conferenc ...
one of college football's top 10 rivalries. The university also hosts several non-varsity sports, including wrestling, men's
soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
,
crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...
, ultimate frisbee,
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
,
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
,
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
, and sailing. Georgia's men's
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
team has won the South Eastern Lacrosse Conference three times, in 1998, 2007, and 2008, and received an automatic bid to the
Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a national organization of non-NCAA men's college lacrosse programs. The MCLA oversees game play and conducts national championships for over 200 teams in ten conferences throughout the United S ...
national tournament, while the women's team earned an at-large bid to the WDIA National Tournament in 2007.


1996 Summer Olympic Games

The University of Georgia played an instrumental role in Atlanta's bid for the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. The University of Georgia conducted a majority of the preliminary studies for the economic impact of bringing the
Olympic games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
to Atlanta, and hosted many Olympic events. In 1987, Atlanta attorney and former football player at the University of Georgia, William "Billy" Payne, conceived the idea of hosting the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Atlanta mayor
Andrew Young Andrew Jackson Young Jr. (born March 12, 1932) is an American politician, diplomat, and activist. Beginning his career as a pastor, Young was an early leader in the civil rights movement, serving as executive director of the Southern Christian L ...
was among the first to join Payne in the quest to develop a bid and sell the proposal, first to local business leaders, then to the U.S. Olympic Committee, and finally to the members of the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC). The home of the Bulldogs hosted the medal round of the men's and women's Olympic football (soccer) in July 1996.
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
was temporarily converted into a soccer stadium which saw the removal of the privet hedges surrounding the playing field. The hedges had been symbolic to UGA since the early 1930s. The hedges were restored after the Olympic games. In 1996, UGA's High Point was selected as the training site for the U.S. Dressage Team, which competed in the Summer Olympic games at the International Horse Park in
Conyers, Georgia Conyers is an Atlanta suburb, the county seat of and only city in Rockdale County, Georgia, Rockdale County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is 24 miles (38.6 km) east of Atlanta, downtown Atlanta and is a part of t ...
. The university's basketball stadium,
Stegeman Coliseum Stegeman Coliseum is a 10,523-seat multi-purpose arena in Athens, Georgia, United States. The arena opened in 1964 in honor of C. Sal Stegeman. It is home to the University of Georgia Bulldogs basketball and gymnastics teams. It was also the venu ...
, was the venue for Volleyball and Rhythmic Gymnastics.


Traditions


School colors

The University of Georgia's original colors included
old gold Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from light olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow, generally on the darker side of this range. The first recorded use of ''old gold'' as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact ...
, until the intense rivalry between
Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
and Georgia around 1891 resulted in a skirmish over colors. Georgia students and alumni declared yellow an unfit color for the
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
, deeming it a cowardly color. After the 1893 football game against Georgia Tech, University of Georgia President,
Charles Herty Charles Holmes Herty Sr. (December 4, 1867 – July 27, 1938) was an American academic, scientist, and businessman. Serving in academia as a chemistry professor to begin his career, Herty concurrently promoted collegiate athletics including creat ...
, removed old gold as an official school color.
Crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, ''Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colo ...
(also referred to as "Good Old Georgia Red") and black have been the official colors ever since. The decision to include crimson red is also thought to be a tribute to the state of Georgia and a reminder of the university's flagship status.
Kaolinite Kaolinite ( ) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4. It is an important industrial mineral. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica () linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral ...
, commonly referred to as "Georgia red clay" is commonly found throughout the state, especially in the
Red Hills Region The Red Hills or Tallahassee Hills is a region of gently rolling hills in the southeastern United States. It is a geomorphic region and an ecoregion. Location The Red Hills physiographic region of northern Florida was defined in 1914 as most of ...
. The red color that is so evident in Georgia soils is due primarily to
iron oxides Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which ...
.


The mascot

Bulldogs have been on the sidelines for UGA athletic events since at least the 1800s. The origin of the
English Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, with whom UGA had strong ties in its early years. Many early buildings and campus plans followed the layout of Yale. The bulldog mascot stems from the university's founding father and first president,
Abraham Baldwin Abraham Baldwin (November 22, 1754March 4, 1807) was an American minister, Patriot, politician, and Founding Father who signed the United States Constitution. Born and raised in Connecticut, he was a 1772 graduate of Yale College. After the R ...
, who was a graduate of Yale. The Bulldog mascots were thought to be a tribute to Baldwin's alma mater. The term "Georgia Bulldogs" to identify a Georgia team was first coined on November 3, 1920, by ''
Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' writer Morgan Blake. After a 0–0 tie with the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
in Charlottesville on November 6, 1920, Atlanta Constitution writer Cliff Wheatley used the name "Bulldogs" in his story five times. This name for UGA teams caught on and has been used ever since. Uga the Bulldog is the official live mascot of the
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
. Uga is from a line owned by Frank W. (Sonny) Seiler of
Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
since 1956. The current line began with Uga I, a solid white English Bulldog who was the grandson of a former Georgia mascot who made the trip to the 1943 Rose Bowl. Perhaps the most famous Uga was Uga V who made appearances in the movie ''
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil ''Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'' is a non-fiction novel by John Berendt. The book, Berendt's first, was published in 1994 and follows the story of an antiques dealer on trial for the murder of a male prostitute. Subtitled ''A Savannah S ...
.'' Uga V was also featured on the cover of the April 1997 edition of
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
. Uga X became the mascot in 2015. The University of Georgia is the only major college that buries its mascots within the confines of its stadium. Ugas I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII and VIII are buried in marble vaults near the main gate in the embankment of the south stands of Sanford Stadium. Epitaphs to the dogs are inscribed in bronze, and before each home game, flowers are placed on their graves.


The Chapel Bell

The Chapel Bell is a historic monument and long-standing tradition of the University of Georgia. The Chapel Bell is located on the historic North Campus. Built in 1832, when Protestant orthodoxy dominated the campus region, the chapel was a center of campus activities. A daily religious service, which students were required to attend, were held there, as were assemblies and commencements. The bell was also rung to mark the beginning and the end of class. Over the years, the Chapel Bell has served as an athletic tradition at the University of Georgia. The ringing of the Chapel Bell after a Georgia victory is a tradition that has endured since the 1890s. In Georgia football's early days,
Herty Field Herty Field, also known as Alumni Athletic Field, was the original on-campus playing venue for football and baseball at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia. It opened in the Fall of 1891 and hosting the first UGA home football gam ...
was located only yards from the chapel, and first-year students were compelled to ring the bell until midnight in celebration of a Bulldog victory. Today, students, alumni, fans and townspeople still rush to the chapel to ring the bell after a victory. The bell is also utilized for University meetings and events, weddings and remembrance ringing. The bell was rung in memory of victims of the September 11 attacks in 2001. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, the University of Georgia partook in a nationwide mourning by ringing the Chapel Bell in honor of the victims of the shooting. On October 27, 2007, as tradition warrants, Georgia fans rang the Chapel Bell to celebrate the 42–30 win over the university's archrival, the
Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...
. The excitement caused the yoke holding the 877 lb. bell to give way, and it fell from the support platform. The university has returned the bell to its historic post and , it still rings daily across campus.


Founders Week

January 27, 1785, is the date the University of Georgia became the first public university to have a charter granted. Each year, January 27 is commemorated to honor UGA's place in the History of education in the United States, history of American colleges and universities. The tradition began in 2002 and is now celebrated as Founders Week. During Founders Week, a series of celebrations are hosted by various campus departments including the Student Alumni Association and the Student Government Association. The Emeriti Scholars, a group of retired faculty members especially known for their teaching abilities and continued involvement in the university's academic life, sponsor the Founders Day Lecture. The lecture is held in the UGA Chapel and has become a Founders Day tradition, drawing alumni, students, faculty, esteemed guests and members of the community.


The Arch

In 1857, the University of Georgia constructed a cast iron representation of the architectural elements featured on the obverse of the Great Seal of the state of Georgia. It stands at the north entrance of the campus, and has become known as The Arch. Fashioned from existing material, The Arch is a representation but not an exact replica of the architectural elements of the Seal. Originally serving both symbolic and practical functions, it was connected to a barrier which kept cows from roaming over parts of the campus, and was initially known as The Gate. It serves as the official icon and a historic landmark for the university. Since the 1900s, tradition has held that students may not pass beneath the Arch until they have received a diploma from the University of Georgia. Those who walked under the Arch prior to Commencement ceremony, graduation commencement were said never to graduate. The tradition began when Daniel Huntley Redfearn, Class of 1910, arrived as a freshman from Boston, Georgia and vowed not to pass beneath the Arch until he had graduated. One of Redfearn's professors heard the vow and repeated it to his class, and the tradition has stood ever since. Many freshmen, learning of the tradition during orientation or from other sources still choose to honor the century-old tradition. Years of following the tradition are visible on the concrete steps leading to the Arch. Steps to each side have been worn down over the years as undergraduates have kept their vows. The Arch has been a site of historic Demonstration (people), political demonstrations. In 1961, when UGA officials Desegregation, desegregated the university with the admission of its first two African-American students, Hamilton E. Holmes, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. The Arch was a witness to students protesting both for and against segregation in the protesting the Gulf War, Persian Gulf War and a demonstration following the Kent State shootings, 1970 shootings at Kent State University. In 2001, along with the Chapel Bell, the Arch was the site of a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks.


The fight song and "Alma Mater"

"Glory, Glory (fight song), Glory, Glory" is the rally song for the
Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...
. "Glory, Glory" is sung to the tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". It was sung at games as early as the 1890s, but arranged in its present form by musician-composer Hugh Hodgson in 1915. There have been many Bulldog songs through the years and at least two collections dating back to 1909 have been published, but "Glory, Glory" has been the most accepted among students and alumni. The only known original reference to the piece is in a history of the Redcoat Band written in 1962, which briefly mentions the march as "Georgia's first original school song" and notes that "all copies of the work have been lost." The document is kept in the university's Hargrett Library for rare and historic documents. Although "Glory, Glory" is generally thought to be the school's fight song, the official fight song is "Hail to Georgia". The fight song is played by the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band after touchdowns, field goals, and extra points scored by the football team. The Georgia Redcoat Marching Band is a 375-member marching band. First directed in 1905 by R.E. Haughey, the band has only had seven directors. The "Alma Mater", the official school song of the University of Georgia, is set to the tune of "Annie Lisle", a popular 1857 ballad by H. S. Thompson. The lyrics to "Alma Mater", penned by J.B. Wright, Jr., and Gail Carter Dendy, are unique to UGA. The song is sung at commencement and various official events of the University of Georgia.


Playing "Between the Hedges" and Sanford Stadium

Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
is the on-campus playing venue for American football, football at the University of Georgia in Athens. The 92,746-seat stadium is the List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums, seventh largest stadium in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
and has a grass (versus synthetic) field. The stadium is the eighth largest non-racing stadium in the United States and the 14th largest such stadium in the world. The stadium played host to the Olympic medal competition of men's and women's Olympic football (soccer) at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
. The University of Georgia playing "Between the Hedges" is a reference to
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
that dates back to the early 1930s. The famous Chinese privet hedges that surround Sanford's playing field were only one foot high when the stadium was dedicated in 1929 and were protected by a wooden fence. Sports writers, referring to an upcoming home game, were said to observe "that the Bulldogs will have their opponent "between the hedges." The phrase was coined by the Atlanta sportswriter Grantland Rice. Games played there are said to be played "Between the Hedges" due to the privet hedges, which had stood around the field since 1929, but removed in the summer of 1996 so that soccer could be played for the 1996 Summer Olympics; new, albeit considerably shorter, hedges were restored in the fall of 1996. The hedges have been dubbed Hedges II by UGA fans.


The Dawg Walk

The Dawg Walk is a Saturday football tradition and celebration at University of Georgia Home (sports), home games when UGA students and fans line up in the Tate Center parking lot to form a tunnel that greets the players and coaches as they enter
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
. The team enters the stadium through Gate 10 at
Sanford Stadium Sanford Stadium is the on-campus playing venue for football at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States (also known as UGA). The 92,746-seat stadium is the tenth-largest stadium in the NCAA. Architecturally, the stadium is kn ...
to the music of the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band, Redcoat Marching Band. The march is often led by the team's costumed mascot Hairy Dawg. The Dawg Walk is preceded by two show section shows. The Redcoat Sousaphones perform a warm up concert in the Tate Center assembly area, while the Redcoat Drumline performs a drumshow in the parking lot.


Notable alumni

University graduates include over 110 state and federal legislators, 70 federal judges, and numerous state supreme court justices, government officials, and ambassadors. Notable alumni include former acting United States Attorney General Sally Yates, Ertharin Cousin who was named to the Time 100, ''TIME'' 100 most influential people in the world list, John Archibald Campbell, a List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, and President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate Richard B. Russell Jr. Twenty-five University of Georgia alumni have become state governors, including six of the last seven Governors of Georgia: George Busbee, Joe Frank Harris,
Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American author and politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as lieutenant governor from 1975 to 1991, 79th Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as U.S ...
, Roy Barnes, Sonny Perdue, and Brian Kemp. Miller also served as United States Senator as did several other UGA alumni including Johnny Isakson, and Saxby Chambliss. Examples of some other alumni who served in high levels of government included Abdul Karim al-Iryani, the former prime minister of Yemen; Lloyd D. Brown, an Army major general who commanded the 28th Infantry Division (United States), 28th Infantry Division in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, William Tapley Bennett Jr. a U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Portugal, NATO, and the United Nations Security Council, Randy Evans, the former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, Eugene E. Habiger, an Air Force four-star general who served as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Strategic Command from 1996 to 1998, Chee Soon Juan, a neuropsychologist, research fellow at universities including the University of Chicago, a politician, and leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, and Phil Gramm, an economist and U.S. Senator from Texas. University of Georgia alumni who pursued a career in investing and banking include Eugene R. Black Sr., the World Bank#Presidents, President of the World Bank from 1949 to 1963, Eugene Robert Black, Chair of the Federal Reserve, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, economist Robert D. McTeer, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and Brown L. Whatley, chairman of Arvida Corp. and president of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Examples of others in the business world include
Bernard Ramsey Bernard Bruce Ramsey (November 10, 1915 – July 11, 1996) was an executive with Merrill Lynch, a brokerage firm, but is best known for his philanthropic contributions to the University of Georgia. A native of Macon, Georgia, United States, Rams ...
, an executive with the brokerage firm Merrill Lynch, Daniel P. Amos, the chairman and CEO of Aflac, M. Michele Burns, board member of Wal-Mart, Cisco Systems and Goldman Sachs, D.W. Brooks, founder and chairman of Gold Kist, A.D. "Pete" Correll, chairman of Georgia-Pacific and director of SunTrust Bank, Mirant and Norfolk Southern, and Tom Cousins, a real estate developer, sports patron, and philanthropist. Cousins is the owner of the Atlanta Hawks. William Porter Payne, who played football at UGA and was Vice Chairman of Bank of America became president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games and later chairman of Augusta National Golf Club. Payne was largely responsible for bringing the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
to Atlanta and the University of Georgia. In sports, particularly in the National Football League, NFL, a notable UGA alum is Terrell Davis, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Denver Broncos who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Other Bulldogs that went on to a professional career include Hines Ward, a wide receiver who played the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons, Champ Bailey, a consensus All-American drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1999 NFL Draft, 1999 Draft, and Reggie Brown (wide receiver), Reggie Brown, drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2005 NFL Draft, 2005 Draft. Alumni with careers in professional sports include Mitchell Boggs, a former baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers. Some University of Georgia alumni that have served in the scientific and medical fields include Alfred Blalock, an award-winning Chief executive officer, chief of surgery,
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
, and Executive director, director of the department of surgery of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, who ushered in the modern era of cardiac surgery, Cornelia Bargmann, an award-winning neurobiologist, who is Wiesel Professor of Genetics and Neurosciences at the Rockefeller University, investigator at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and president of science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Crawford Long, a surgeon and pharmacist best known for his first use of inhaled diethyl ether as an anesthetic, David Baulcombe, Sir David Baulcombe, Royal Society, FRS, a geneticist who is Professor of Botany, Cambridge University, Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge, Hervey M. Cleckley, a psychiatrist and pioneer in the field of psychopathy whose published work was the most influential clinical description of psychopathy in the twentieth century and who was co-author of ''The Three Faces of Eve'', Barbara Rothbaum, a psychologist, medical school professor, and pioneer in the treatment of anxiety-related disorders who has played a key role in the development of the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Eugene T. Booth a nuclear physicist who was a member of the historic team which made the first demonstration of nuclear fission in the United States, A. Jamie Cuticchia, a bioinformatics pioneer with expertise in the fields of genetics,
bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
, and genomics who was responsible for the groundbreaking collection of data constituting the human gene map and who is director of human genome database, and James E. Boyd (scientist), James E. Boyd, a physicist, mathematician, and founder of Scientific Atlanta, part of Cisco. UGA alumni have made significant contributions to the field of journalism and media. They include Henry W. Grady, a journalist and orator from the late 19th-century after whom the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, College of Journalism was named, and Clark Howell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who became the namesake of one of the buildings at his alma mater. Howell succeeded Grady as managing editor of the ''Atlanta Constitution''. More recent journalism alumni include Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a multiple
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 ...
and Peabody Award winning former reporter for ''The New York Times'', ''PBS NewsHour'' and CNN, Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, journalist, science writer and
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, John Holliman, a Broadcast journalism, broadcast journalist with CNN, known for his coverage of space exploration and reporting during the Gulf War, Persian Gulf War (
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
dedicated Launch Complex 39 Press Site facility at the Kennedy Space Center to him), Mary Katharine Ham, a journalist, political commentator and guest host of ''The View (US TV series), The View'', as well as a CNN and Fox News Channel contributor, Pat Mitchell, Mass media, media industry Chief executive officer, CEO, Television producer, producer,
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
, and author who worked at NBC (where she was the first woman to produce and host a national program) and other news broadcasters, and who has taught including at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Mark B. Perry, a television producer, television writer and Primetime Emmy Award winner, Deborah Norville, an anchor for ''Inside Edition'', and the ABC News television presenters Deborah Roberts and Amy Robach. Both Roberts and Robach appear on ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'' and ''Good Morning America''. A total of nine UGA graduates have received the Pulitzer Prize including Natasha Trethewey, Natasha Tretheway, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry who was appointed
United States Poet Laureate The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...
in 2012 and again in 2014. Other notable UGA alumni in print media include Tom Johnson (journalist), Tom Johnson, a former publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'', Sherrilyn Kenyon, author of over 100 novels and Stuart Woods, a prolific novelist with more than 60 books. Former UGA students in the music industry include Danger Mouse (musician), Danger Mouse, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, and several members of the bands
The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, p ...
and
R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...
After studying film at the university, Alton Brown became the director of photography on the music video for R.E.M.'s "The One I Love (R.E.M. song), The One I Love". Brown went on to create the Food Network television show ''Good Eats''. Examples of some other notable alumni in film, television, and radio include Kim Basinger, an actress winning the British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as Sonny Shroyer, Fred Newman (actor), Fred Newman, Matt Lanter, Kyle Chandler, IronE Singleton, Wayne Knight, Tituss Burgess, Parvati Shallow, and Ryan Seacrest.


See also

* President's House (University of Georgia), President's House * Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry (CCQC) *List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Atlanta


Notes


References


Further reading

* Boney, F. N. ''A Walking Tour of the University of Georgia.'' Athens, GA: University of Georgia. * * Dooley, Vince. ''History and Reminiscences of the University of Georgia''. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. * Johnson, Amanda. ''Georgia as Colony and State''. Atlanta, Georgia: Walter W. Brown Publishing Co., 1938, pp. 187, 247, 376, 429–430, 569–570. * Reed, Thomas Walter
''History of the University of Georgia''
Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1949. * Reed, Thomas Walter. ''"Uncle Tom" Reed's Memoir of the University of Georgia''. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1974.


External links

*
Georgia Athletics website
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