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The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a
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 ''Öffentlichk ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
. It is the
flagship institution 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 ...
of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret () by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest institution of higher education. It received its current name in 1892, four years before Utah attained statehood, and moved to its current location in 1900. As of Fall 2019, there were 24,485
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
students and 8,333 graduate students, for an enrollment total of 32,818, making it the second largest public university in the state after
Utah Valley University Utah Valley University (UVU) is a public university in Orem, Utah. UVU offers master's, bachelor's, associate degrees, and certificates. Previously called Utah Valley State College, the school attained university status in July 2008. History ...
. Graduate studies include the
S.J. Quinney College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is the professional graduate Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the school was established in 1913. It is a member of the Association of American ...
and the School of Medicine, Utah's first
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, MB ...
. It is a member of the
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ...
(AAU) and is
classified Classified may refer to: General *Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive *Classified advertising or "classifieds" Music *Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper *The Classified, a 1980s American roc ...
among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". According to the National Science Foundation, the university received $552 million in research and development funding in 2018, ranking it 45th in the nation. In addition, the university's Honors College has been reviewed among 100 leading national Honors Colleges in the U.S. The university's health care system includes four hospitals, including the University of Utah Hospital and Huntsman Cancer Institute, along with twelve community clinics and specialty centers such as the Moran Eye Center. The university's athletic teams, the Utes, participate in
NCAA 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 and ...
Division I athletics ( FBS for football) as a member of the
Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
. Twenty-two Rhodes Scholars, four Nobel Prize winners, three
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
winners, eight MacArthur Fellows, various Pulitzer Prize winners, two astronauts,
Gates Cambridge Scholars The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships in 2000 with a $210 million donation to support outstanding graduate students' study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is one of the most competitiv ...
, and Churchill Scholars have been affiliated with the university as students, researchers, or faculty members in its history.


History

Soon after the
Mormon pioneers The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the ...
arrived in the Salt Lake valley in 1847,
Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
began organizing a Board of Regents to establish a university. The university was established on February 28, 1850, as the ''University of Deseret'' by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, and Orson Spencer was appointed as the first chancellor of the university. Early classes were held in private homes, or wherever space could be found. The university closed in 1853 due to a lack of funds and lack of feeder schools. Following years of intermittent classes in the Salt Lake City
Council House A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
, the university began to be re-established in 1867 under the direction of David O. Calder, who was followed by
John R. Park John Rockey Park (May 7, 1833 – September 29, 1900) was a prominent educator in the Territory and State of Utah in the late 19th century, and in many ways was the intellectual father of the University of Utah. Educating "intelligent, industri ...
in 1869. The university moved out of the council house into the Union Academy building in 1876 and into Union Square in 1884. In 1892, the school's name was changed to the University of Utah, and
John R. Park John Rockey Park (May 7, 1833 – September 29, 1900) was a prominent educator in the Territory and State of Utah in the late 19th century, and in many ways was the intellectual father of the University of Utah. Educating "intelligent, industri ...
began arranging to obtain land belonging to the U.S. Army's Fort Douglas on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, where the university moved permanently in 1900. Additional Fort Douglas land has been granted to the university over the years, and the fort was officially closed on October 26, 1991. Upon his death in 1900, Dr. John R. Park bequeathed his entire fortune to the university. The university grew rapidly in the early 20th century but was involved in an
academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...
controversy in 1915 when
Joseph T. Kingsbury Joseph Thomas Kingsbury (November 4, 1853 – April 10, 1937) was Acting President of the University of Deseret, now known as the University of Utah, from 1892 to 1894. In 1894 he was replaced by James E. Talmage, and then in 1897, was appointed P ...
recommended that five faculty members be dismissed after a graduation speaker made a speech critical of Utah governor William Spry. One third of the faculty resigned in protest of these dismissals. Some felt that the dismissals were a result of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
' influence on the university, while others felt that they reflected a more general pattern of repressing religious and political expression that might be deemed offensive. The controversy was largely resolved when Kingsbury resigned in 1916, but university operations were again interrupted by World War I, and later
The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...
and World War II. Student enrollment dropped to a low of 3,418 during the last year of World War II, but
A. Ray Olpin Albert Ray Olpin (June 1, 1898 – March 7, 1983) was president of the University of Utah from 1946 to 1964. During his presidency the university quadrupled in size and enrollment tripled from 4,000 to 12,000 students. To accommodate these new pup ...
made substantial additions to campus following the war, and enrollment reached 12,000 by the time he retired in 1964. Growth continued in the following decades as the university developed into a research center for fields such as computer science and medicine. During the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soó ...
, the university hosted the Olympic Village, a housing complex for the Olympic and Paralympic athletes, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. Multiple large improvements were made to the university prior to the events, including extensive renovations to the Rice-Eccles Stadium, a light rail line leading to downtown Salt Lake City, a new student center known as the Heritage Center, an array of new student housing, and what is now a 180-room campus hotel and conference center. The University of Utah Asia Campus opened as an international branch campus in the Incheon Global Campus in Songdo, Incheon, South Korea in 2014. Three other European and American universities are also participating. The Asia Campus was funded by the South Korean government. In 2015, the university helped open the Ensign College of Public Health in Kpong, Ghana. In 2019, the university was named a member of the
Association of American Universities The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 63 universities in the United States ...
.


Campus

Campus takes up , including the Health Sciences complex, Research Park, and Fort Douglas. It is located on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, close to the Wasatch Range and approximately 2 miles east of downtown Salt Lake City. Most courses take place on the west side of campus, known as lower campus due to its lower elevation.
Presidents Circle The University of Utah Circle, also known as Presidents Circle, is located on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as a historic district ...
is a loop of buildings named after past university presidents with a courtyard in the center. Major libraries on lower campus include the
J. Willard Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...
and the S.J. Quinney Law Library. The primary student activity center is the
A. Ray Olpin Albert Ray Olpin (June 1, 1898 – March 7, 1983) was president of the University of Utah from 1946 to 1964. During his presidency the university quadrupled in size and enrollment tripled from 4,000 to 12,000 students. To accommodate these new pup ...
University Union, and campus fitness centers include the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Complex (HPER) and the Eccles Student Life Center. Lower campus is also home to most public venues, such as the Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Jon M. Huntsman Center, and the
Utah Museum of Fine Arts The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is the region's primary resource for culture and visual arts. It is located in the Marcia and John Price Museum Building in Salt Lake City, Utah on the University of Utah campus near Rice-Eccles Stadium. Wor ...
, a museum with rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection of American, European, African, and Asian art. Venues for performing arts include
Kingsbury Hall Kingsbury Hall is a center for the performing arts located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. History Kingsbury Hall was designed by Edward O. Anderson and Lorenzo Snow Young and built in 1930. It was named after Joseph ...
, used for touring companies and concerts, Pioneer Memorial Theatre, used by the professional Pioneer Theatre Company, David P. Gardner Hall, used by the School of Music and for musical performances, and the Marriott Center for Dance. Red Butte Garden, with formal gardens and natural areas, as well as the new site of the
Utah Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) is a museum located in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The museum shows exhibits of natural history subjects, with an emphasis on Utah and the Intermountain West. The mission of the museum is to il ...
, is located on the far east side of campus. The health sciences complex, at the northeast end of campus, includes the
University of Utah Medical Center The University of Utah Hospital is a research and teaching hospital on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It serves as a major regional referral center for Utah and the surrounding states of Idaho, Nevada, Wyoming, Monta ...
, Primary Children's Medical Center, the Huntsman Cancer Institute, the Moran Eye Center, and th
Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library
South of the health sciences complex, several university residence halls and apartments are clustered together near Fort Douglas and the Heritage Center, which serves as a student center and cafeteria for this area. In addition, there are 1,115 university apartments for students, staff, and faculty across three apartment complexes on campus. At the southeast end of campus is Research Park, which is home to research companies including ARUP Laboratories, Evans & Sutherland, Sarcos, Biofire Diagnostics, and Myriad Genetics. Courses are also held at off-campus centers located in St. George and
Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Sandy (surname), a list of people *Sandy (singer), Brazilian singer and actress Sandy Leah Lima (born 1983) * (Sandy) ...
. In July 2017, the Academic Senate bestowed the designation of tobacco-free campus on the university, but rules were not enforced until 2018. The rule prohibits students and faculty from "smoking or using chewing tobacco, electronic cigarettes and all other recreational nicotine-delivery products on any property owned, leased or controlled by the University of Utah."


Student residences

The University of Utah provides student housing in a 34-building housing complex on campus. The complex consists of nine housing areas: Chapel Glen, Gateway Heights, Sage Point, Officer's Circle, Benchmark Plaza, Shoreline Ridge, the Donna Garff Marriott Honors Residential Scholars Community (MHC for short), the Lassonde Studios, and Kahlert Village. The MHC is a dormitory strictly for honors students and was completed in fall 2012. Built in 2016, the Lassonde Studios is part of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute and houses 400 students; the studios also feature a "creative garage" with 3D printers and spaces for startups. Kahlert Village, completed August 2020, houses 990 first-year students.


Transportation

A number of campus shuttles, running on biodiesel and used vegetable oil, circle the campus on six different routes. The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) runs several buses through the university area as well as the
TRAX Trax may refer to: Music * ''Trax'' (album), the debut album from Japanese electronic music group Ravex *TRAX (band), a Korean rock band *Trax Records, first house music label owned by Larry Sherman in Chicago * Trax (sequencer), an old MIDI sequ ...
Red Line ( light rail), which runs to South Jordan. Riders can travel downtown, to '' FrontRunner'' (
commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are co ...
), to West Valley, to the Salt Lake City International Airport, or to
Draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval peri ...
by transferring to the TRAX
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
or
Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
lines. Students and staff can use their university IDs to ride UTA buses, TRAX, and ''FrontRunner''. In 2012, the university unveiled a new plan for a more conducive campus for bicyclers called the "Bicycle Master Plan" which aims to transform the campus into a safer and more accessible place for bicyclers and to promote the increase of bicycle ridership. The plan emphasizes both campus pathways and on-street facilities that connect the core campus area with surrounding neighborhoods. The Bicycle Master Plan gives guidelines for facilities and programs that are within the University's jurisdiction. It also provides recommendations for the University to work with external entities such as UDOT, UTA, and Salt Lake City to improve bicycling conditions in locations that are important to the campus environment, but which are not under the University's direct control.


Sustainability

Sustainability efforts include a permanent sustainability office, a campus
cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
plant, building upgrades and energy efficient building standards, behavior modification programs, purchasing local produce for campus dining, a farmers market, and student groups, as well as a branch of the
Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective The Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is a bicycle cooperative in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Bicycle Collective refurbish donated used bikes and sells them to community members or donates them to individuals in need. The Bicycle Collective also of ...
. Sustainability and transportation are also a large part of the university's campus master plan. The Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the university a "B+" in its College Sustainability Report Card 2011, with A's for climate change and energy, food and recycling, student involvement, and transportation. The expanded recycling program launched on July 1, 2007. Since its launch, the program has continued to grow and refine its procedures to better accommodate a growing campus' needs. Currently there are programs in place for paper, cardboard, aluminum, batteries, glass, printer cartridges, wooden pallets and plastics #1 and #2.


Renewable energy

The university is ranked 8th by the
EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
for annual green power usage among universities, with 49% of its power coming from geothermal and
solar Solar may refer to: Astronomy * Of or relating to the Sun ** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun ** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels") ** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
sources. The university houses 10 solar array systems, including a 330-kilowatt system on the rooftop of the Natural History Museum of Utah and a 262-kilowatt system at the HPER East building. The combined arrays annually produce 1,096,340 kilowatt hours, and are supported by a student fee sustainability program established in 2008. On November 1, 2019, the university entered into a renewable energy partnership with Rocky Mountain Power and Cyrq Energy which allows the purchase of 20 megawatts of geothermal energy for 25 years. The contract offsets half of the electricity produced by the university and reduces the university's carbon emissions by 23%.


Organization

The University of Utah is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, 8 of whom are appointed by the Governor of Utah with the consent of the
Utah Senate The Utah State Senate is the upper house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The Utah Senate is composed of 29 elected members representing an equal number of senate districts. Each senate district is ...
. The President of the University of Utah Alumni Association serves as the 9th member, and the President of the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU) serves as the 10th member. The 8 appointed members serve for four-year terms, four expiring on June 30 of each odd-numbered year. The two
ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
s serve for the terms of their respective offices. The University of Utah and the other public colleges and universities of the Utah System of Higher Education are governed by the Utah Board of Higher Education (previously the Utah State Board of Regents) whose chief executive officer is the Commissioner of Higher Education. The chief executive officer of the University of Utah is the president, who reports to the Board of Higher Education and, with the approval of the trustees, submits budgets, tuition adjustments, and academic program plans, appoints faculty, and develops policy initiatives. Subject to the Board of Trustees, the university faculty have authority to legislate on matters of educational policy via the Academic Senate. The Senate is composed of 100 faculty members proportionally representing and elected by their respective colleges, 2 elected deans, and 18 students from the ASUU, one from each college and the ASUU president. The Senate also includes the
University President A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor i ...
, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, and all non-elected deans as
ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...
s who may debate and present motions but do not vote. Much of the actual Senate work is carried out by 12 Senate-elected
committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s which work on the central academic issues of the institution. The committees report to the full Senate and the Senate often acts on their proposals as well as on issues brought to its attention by the administration. As of 2014, the university's revenues totaled $3.6 billion, of which 44% comes from patient care, 19% from sales and services, 10% from grants and contracts, 8.2% from tuition and fees, 7.7% from state appropriations, 3.4% from auxiliary enterprises, and the rest from other revenues. Football income was $56 million in 2017-2018.


Academics and rankings

The University of Utah is a public flagship four-year research university accredited through the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since 1933. The U organizes its 150 academic departments and programs into 17 colleges and schools. The School for Cultural and Social Transformation is the university's newest college, with its first graduating class in 2018. * College of Architecture and Planning * David Eccles School of Business * School for Cultural and Social Transformation * School of Dentistry * College of Education * College of Engineering *
College of Fine Arts The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include: The Americas North America * Alabama School of Fi ...
* College of Health * University of Utah Honors College * College of Humanities *
S.J. Quinney College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is the professional graduate Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the school was established in 1913. It is a member of the Association of American ...
* College of Mines and Earth Sciences *
College of Nursing Nurse education consists of the theoretical and practical training provided to nurses with the purpose to prepare them for their duties as nursing care professionals. This education is provided to student nurses by experienced nurses and other med ...
* College of Pharmacy *
College of Science A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering v ...
* College of Social and Behavioral Science * College of Social Work The University operates on a semester calendar with the rest of the Utah higher education system. Undergraduate tuition and fees for 2015–2016 were $8,240 for Utah residents (about 325% the cost of tuition and fees in 2000, $2,534 for 13 credit hours per semester, 2 semesters), and $26,180 for non-residents per 12-credit-hour semester.


Admissions and demographics

For the Class of 2023 (enrolling Fall 2019), Utah received 24,404 applications and accepted 15,159 (62%), with 4,249 enrolling. The middle 50% range of SAT scores for enrolling freshmen was 572.5-680 for evidence-based reading and writing, 570-700 for math, and 1150-1370 for the composite. The middle 50% ACT score range was 22-28 for math, 21-31 for English, and 22-29 for the composite. The average high school grade point average ( GPA) was 3.66. The university uses a holistic admissions process and weighs ACT/SAT standardized test scores, GPA, grade trend, rigorous AP/IB/Honors classes taken in high school, academic achievements, along with other "personal achievements and characteristics". In Fall 2015, the undergraduate and graduate student body was 31,551, with 23,794
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...
students and 7,757 graduate students; 73% of students were full-time, 56% were male and 44% female, and 82% were Utah residents. The undergraduate student body was 69% white, 11% Hispanic, 6% non-resident alien, 5% Asian, 4% two or more races, 1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 1% black, and 1% Native American. Ethnicity or citizenship was unknown for 2%.


Notable programs


Ballet

The Department of Ballet offers the top ranked ballet and ballroom dance program in the United States and is one of the oldest and most reputable university ballet departments in the country. The Department was founded by
William F. Christensen Willam Farr Christensen (August 27, 1902 – October 14, 2001)Was born Christian William Christensen, until his mother changed his name to William Farr Christensen, to include her maiden name. As a professional dancer in San Francisco, Christensen ...
in 1951, who also founded the San Francisco Ballet and Ballet West
companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...
.


Biology

The university has made unique contributions to the study of
genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...
due in part to long-term
genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
efforts of the
LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
, which has allowed researchers to trace genetic disorders through several generations. The relative homogeneity of Utah's population also makes it an ideal laboratory for studies of population genetics. The university is home to the Genetic Science Learning Center, a resource which educates the public about genetics through its website.


Computer Science

The University of Utah was one of the original four nodes of
ARPANET The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the first wide-area packet-switched network with distributed control and one of the first networks to implement the TCP/IP protocol suite. Both technologies became the technical foun ...
, the world's first packet-switched network and embryo of the current worldwide Internet. The School of Computing produced many of the early pioneers in
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...
and graphics, including
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
winner
Alan Kay Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) published by the Association for Computing Machinery 2012 is an American computer scientist best known for his pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) d ...
, Pixar founder Ed Catmull, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, and
Adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for '' mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of ...
founder John Warnock. Notable innovations of computer science faculty and alumni include the first method for representing surface textures in graphical images, the Gouraud shading model, magnetic ink printing technology, the Johnson counter logic circuit, the oldest algebraic mathematics package still in use ( REDUCE), the Phong reflection model, the Phong shading method, and the rendering equation. Through the movement of Utah graduates and faculty, research at the University spread outward to laboratories like Xerox Parc, JPL, and the New York Institute of Technology. Present graphics research is focused on biomedical applications for visualization,
scientific computing Computational science, also known as scientific computing or scientific computation (SC), is a field in mathematics that uses advanced computing capabilities to understand and solve complex problems. It is an area of science that spans many disc ...
, and image analysis at the
Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute The Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute is a permanent research institute at the University of Utah that focuses on the development of new scientific computing and visualization techniques, tools, and systems with primary application ...
.


Dentistry

In March 2012, the university received unanimous approval from the board of trustees to create a new academic college, the School of Dentistry, which is the university's first new college in sixty years. The new school has received funding for a new structure and has started as a debt-free program. The new school enrolled its first students for the fall semester of 2013 and averages the same cost as the university's medical school tuition.


Law

The
S.J. Quinney College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is the professional graduate Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Utah. Located in Salt Lake City, Utah, the school was established in 1913. It is a member of the Association of American ...
, founded in 1913, was the only
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
in Utah until the 1970s. The law school was ranked the #37 best law school in the country in the 2023 U.S. News "Best Law Schools" rankings.


Medicine

The University of Utah ( University of Utah Hospital) has the only accredited allopathic
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, MB ...
in the State of Utah. The medical school has made several notable contributions to medicine, such as establishing the first Cerebrovascular Disease Unit west of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...
in 1970 and administering the world's first permanent artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, to Barney Clark in 1982.


Pharmacology

The University of Utah College of Pharmacy is 4th in the nation for NIH research grants. The department of Pharmacology and Toxicology within the School of Pharmacy is world-renowned for research in epilepsy treatment with their Anticonvulsant Drug Development (ADD) program.


Political Science

The university is host to the Neal A. Maxwell Lecture Series in Political Theory and Contemporary Politics, a forum for political theorists to share their newest theoretical work, and is home to the
Hinckley Institute of Politics The Hinckley Institute of Politics is a nonpartisan institute located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose is "to engage students in transformative experiences and provide political thought leadership" through inv ...
, which places more than 350 students every year in local, state, national, and global internships.


Turkish Studies Program and Armenian genocide denial

The university's Turkish Studies Program, funded by Turkish Coalition of America and headed by
M. Hakan Yavuz M. Hakan Yavuz (born 24 April 1964) is a Turkish political scientist and historian, a scholar of contemporary Islamic and Turkish studies. Early life and education Yavuz was born in Bayburt, Turkey in 1964. Kazım Yavuz, his father, was a politi ...
, has been criticized for promoting Armenian genocide denial. Nevertheless, the university had established itself as a "denialist beachhead" prior to the creation of the Turkish Studies Program. The University of Utah Press has published several books denying the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
, beginning with Guenter Lewy's '' The Armenian Massacres in Ottoman Turkey''. The book's publication by the University of Utah Press was arranged by Yavuz himself. Professor Keith David Watenpaugh charges the program with "promoting the falsification of history through its grants and political advocacy... the University of Utah has provided an institutional home to genocide denial." In 2020, regarding "a student complaint nd messages of concern from the Armenian communitta bout the content of an article written by and assigned in a class taught by Hakan Yavuz," the university made a statement, according to which: "The United States, the state of Utah and the University of Utah (as a state entity), recognize the historical events of 1915 as the Armenian genocide".


Athletics

The university has 9 men's and 11 women's varsity teams. Athletic teams include men's baseball, basketball, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, skiing, swimming/diving, and tennis and women's basketball, cross country, gymnastics, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming/diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball. The school's sports teams are called the Utes, though some teams have an additional nickname, such as "Runnin' Utes" for the men's basketball team. The university participates in the
NCAA 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 and ...
's Division I ( FBS for football) as part of the
Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...
. When they were in the same conference, there was a fierce BYU–Utah rivalry, and the Utah–BYU football game, traditionally the season finale, has been called the "Holy War" by national broadcasting commentators. The university fight song is "Utah Man", commonly played at athletic games and other university events. In 1996, Swoop was introduced as the new mascot of the University of Utah. Because of relationships with the local Ute Indians, Utah adopted a new mascot. While still known as the Utes, Utah is now represented by the Red-tailed Hawk known for the use of his tail feathers in Ute head-dresses, and said he "Reflects the soaring spirit of our state and school" In 2002, the university was one of 20 schools to make the '' U.S. News & World Report'' College Sports Honor Roll. In 2005, Utah became the first school to produce No. 1 overall draft picks in both the
NFL draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
and NBA draft for the same year. Alex Smith was picked first overall by the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
in the 2005 NFL Draft, and Andrew Bogut was picked first overall by the
Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
in the 2005 NBA Draft. The university has won thirteen NCAA Skiing Championships, most recently in 2022, as well as the 1977 AIAW National Women's Skiing Championship.


Men's basketball

The men's basketball team won the
NCAA 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 and ...
title in 1944 and the NIT crown in 1947. Arnie Ferrin, the only four-time All-American in Utah basketball history, played for both the 1944 and 1947 teams. He also went on to help the Minneapolis Lakers win NBA Championships in 1949 and 1951.
Wat Misaka Wataru Misaka (December 21, 1923 – November 20, 2019) was an American professional basketball player. A point guard of Japanese descent, he broke a color barrier in professional basketball by being the first non-white player and the first p ...
, the first person of Asian descent to play in the NBA, also played for Utah during this era. Utah basketball rose again to national prominence when head coach Rick Majerus took his team, including guard Andre Miller, combo forward Hanno Möttölä, and post player Michael Doleac, to the NCAA Final Four in 1998. After eliminating
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
to advance to the final round, Utah lost the championship game to
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...
, 78–69.


Football

In 2004–2005, the football team, coached by Urban Meyer and quarterbacked by Alex Smith, along with defensive great Eric Weddle, went 11–0 during the regular season and defeated
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
35–7 in the
2005 Fiesta Bowl The 2005 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, played on January 1, 2005, was the 34th edition of the Fiesta Bowl. The game was played between Utah and Pittsburgh, in front of 73,519 fans. It is notable for being the first BCS game to feature a team from a BCS ...
, becoming the first team from a conference without an automatic
Bowl Championship Series The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was a selection system that created four or five bowl game match-ups involving eight or ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of American college football, includ ...
(BCS) bid to go to a BCS bowl game. The team ended its perfect 12–0 season ranked 4th in AP polling. 2008–2009 was another undefeated year for the football team, coached by
Kyle Whittingham Kyle David Whittingham (born November 21, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at the University of Utah, a position he has held since 2005, and is the all-time leader in wins at Utah. Prior to bec ...
, as they finished the season 13–0 and defeated Alabama 31–17 in the 2009 Sugar Bowl. Utah finished the season 2nd in AP polling, their highest rank ever. At the end of the season, the Utes were the only unbeaten team in the country, with the nation's longest active streak of bowl victories (8). The Utah Utes moved to the Pac-12 Conference for the start of the 2011–2012 football season. They are in the South Division with University of Colorado,
University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...
,
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...
,
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
and
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...
. Their first game in the Pac-12 was at USC on September 10, 2011, and resulted in a 23–14 Utah loss.


Gymnastics

The women's gymnastics team, coached by Megan Marsden, has won ten national championships, including the 1981 AIAW championship, and placed 2nd nationally eight times. As of 2013, it has qualified for the NCAA championship every year since 1976, the only program to do so. The program has averaged over 11,000 fans per meet 1992–2010 and has been the NCAA gymnastics season attendance champions 16 of these 19 years. In 2010, there was an average of 14,213 fans per meet, the largest crowd being 15,030.


Marching band

The university marching band, known as the " Pride of Utah", perform at all home football games, as well as some away games and bowl games. They performed at the 2005 BCS Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the 2009 BCS Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Inaugural Parade of President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
. The band began as a military band in the 1940s. In 1948, university president
A. Ray Olpin Albert Ray Olpin (June 1, 1898 – March 7, 1983) was president of the University of Utah from 1946 to 1964. During his presidency the university quadrupled in size and enrollment tripled from 4,000 to 12,000 students. To accommodate these new pup ...
recruited Ron Gregory from
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...
to form a collegiate marching band. Support for the band dwindled in the 60s, and ASUU (the Associated Students of the University of Utah) discontinued its funding in 1969. The band was revived in 1976 after a fund raising effort under the direction of Gregg I. Hanson. As of 2011, the band is under the direction of Dr. Brian Sproul.


Student life

Close to 50% of freshmen live on campus, but most students choose to live elsewhere after their first year, with 13% of all undergraduates living on campus. The university is located in a large metropolitan area, but many students live in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the university. An additional 1,115 family apartments are available to students, staff, and faculty. One of the university's primary four goals for long-term campus growth is to increase student engagement through the addition of on-campus housing, intramural fields, athletic centers, and a new student activity center. The current student activity center, the
A. Ray Olpin Albert Ray Olpin (June 1, 1898 – March 7, 1983) was president of the University of Utah from 1946 to 1964. During his presidency the university quadrupled in size and enrollment tripled from 4,000 to 12,000 students. To accommodate these new pup ...
University Union, is a common gathering place for university-wide events such as Crimson Nights, roughly monthly student activity nights; PlazaFest, a fair for campus groups at the start of the school year; and the Grand Kerfuffle, a concert at the end of the school year. The building includes a cafeteria, computer lab, recreational facilities, and a ballroom for special events. The Union also houses the
Lowell Bennion Lowell Lindsay Bennion (July 26, 1908 – February 21, 1996) was an American educator, sociologist, and humanitarian. He wrote extensively on religious living in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and was an advocate f ...
Community Service Center, CESA (Center for Ethnic Student Affairs) which provides an inclusive space for students and houses various advising programs of the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Union Programming Council which is in charge of promoting student life on campus through events like Crimson Nights, and ASUU (the Associated Students of the University of Utah), which is responsible for appropriating funds to student groups and organizations on campus. ASUU holds primary and general elections each year for student representatives, typically with 10–15% of the student population voting. Due to the large number of
LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
members at the university, there is an LDS Institute of Religion building near main campus, as well as several LDS student groups and 46 campus wards. Approximately 650 students are part of 6 sororities and 8 fraternities at the university, most of which have chapter houses on "Greek Row" just off campus. The University of Utah has a dry campus, meaning that alcohol is banned on campus. In 2004,
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
became the first state with a law expressly permitting
concealed weapons Concealed carry, or carrying a concealed weapon (CCW), is the practice of carrying a weapon (usually a sidearm such as a handgun), either in proximity to or on one's person or in public places in a manner that hides or conceals the weapon's pr ...
on public university campuses. The University of Utah tried to uphold its gun ban but the Utah Supreme Court rejected the ban in 2006.


Media

The university has several public broadcasting affiliations, many of which utilize the Eccles Broadcast Center. These stations include PBS Utah (formerly branded as KUED channel 7), a PBS member station and producer of local documentaries; KUEN channel 9, an educational station for teachers and students from the Utah Education Network; KUER 90.1  FM, a public radio affiliate of
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 othe ...
, American Public Media, and Public Radio International; and
K-UTE K-UTE Radio is a college radio station broadcasting via the internet to the campus of the University of Utah and around the world. The station primarily plays music from independent artists and several student produced shows, which range from talk ...
1620. ''NewsBreak'' is the student-run television newscast on campus. During 2011, the program celebrated its 40th anniversary. Broadcasts air every Thursday night at 10 pm during the fall and spring semesters on KUEN. ''The Daily Utah Chronicle'', also referred to as the ''Chrony'', has been the university's independent, student-run paper since 1890. It publishes daily on school days during fall and spring semesters and weekly during summer semester. The paper typically runs between eight and twelve pages, with longer editions for weekend game guides. The paper converted to a broadsheet format in 2003 when the Newspaper Agency Corporation began printing it. The
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...
selected the newspaper as one of three finalists for best all-around daily student newspaper in the nation in both 2007 and 2008. Staff from the ''Chronicle'' feed into Utah journalism circles, some of them rising to considerable prominence, such as former editor Matt Canham, whose work with '' The Salt Lake Tribune'' earned him the Don Baker Investigative Reporting Award from the Utah Chapter of the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...
. The University of Utah Press, the oldest press in Utah and now part of the
J. Willard Marriott Library The J. Willard Marriott Library is the main academic library of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The university library has had multiple homes since the first University of Utah librarian was appointed in 1850. The current building ...
, publishes books on topics including the outdoors,
anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
and
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
,
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
,
creative nonfiction Creative nonfiction (also known as literary nonfiction or narrative nonfiction or literary journalism or verfabula) is a genre of writing that uses literary styles and techniques to create factually accurate narratives. Creative nonfiction contra ...
,
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
, Native American studies, and
Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...
,
Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into seve ...
, and Western history. The Wallace Stegner Prize in American Environmental or Western History is presented annually by the press. Its Utah Series in Middle East Studies has been criticized for "specializing" in "methodologically flawed accounts" of the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
that seek to reject the term genocide as being applicable to the event, and includes works by Guenter Lewy, Justin McCarthy, and Yücel Güçlü. The university is also home to a national literary journal, '' Quarterly West''.


Notable alumni and faculty

Notable alumni include politicians Rocky Anderson, Bob Bennett,
Marsha K. Caddle Marsha K. Caddle is a politician and economist from Barbados, who is a House of Assembly of Barbados, Member of Parliament and the Minister of Industry, Innovation, Science and Technology. She was formerly Minister of Economic Affairs and Investm ...
, Merrill Cook, E. Jake Garn, Jon Huntsman, Jr.,
Karen Morgan Karen W. Morgan (born May 2, 1952) is a Democratic politician from Utah. She was a member of the Utah State Senate representing the 8th District (portions of Salt Lake County)map from 2009 through 2013 and served as Minority Whip. Earlier (1 ...
,
Frank E. Moss Frank Edward "Ted" Moss (September 23, 1911 – January 29, 2003) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served as a United States Senator from Utah from 1959 to 1977. Early life and education Frank Moss was born in Holladay ...
,
Joshua Rush Joshua Rush (born December 14, 2001) When the Image is zoomed, for the DOB it shows December 14, 2001. is an American actor and activist. He is known for playing Cyrus Goodman on the Disney Channel drama series ''Andi Mack'' (2017–2019), who i ...
, and Karl Rove; recent
LDS Church The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
presidents Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and Russell M. Nelson; historian and Pulitzer Prize for History laureate Laurel Thatcher Ulrich; authors
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for bo ...
,
Stephen Covey Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is '' of Highly Effective People''. His other books include '' First Things First'', ''Pr ...
, Shannon Hale,
Everett Errol Murdock Everett may refer to: Places Canada * Everett, Ontario, a community in Adjala–Tosorontio, Simcoe County * Everett Mountains, a range on southern Baffin Island in Nunavut United States * Everett, Massachusetts, in Middlesex County, Massach ...
,
Terry Tempest Williams Terry Tempest Williams (born 8 September 1955), is an American writer, educator, conservationist, and activist. Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of Utah. Her work foc ...
, and
Wallace Stegner Wallace Earle Stegner (February 18, 1909 – April 13, 1993) was an American novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and historian, often called "The Dean of Western Writers". He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 and the U.S. National Boo ...
; R Adams Cowley, William DeVries, and Robert Jarvik in medicine; historian Richard Foltz; educators
Gordon Gee Elwood Gordon Gee (born February 2, 1944), known as E. Gordon Gee, is an American academic. As of 2020, he was serving his second term as President of West Virginia University; his first term was from 1981 to 1985. Gee has held more university ...
, Jonathan Westover, and Ann Weaver Hart; reporter Martha Raddatz;, writer and canoeist Neal Moore and speed reading innovator Evelyn Nielsen Wood. Notable science and engineering alumni include Jim Blinn;
Mark W. Fuller Mark W. Fuller is president and CEO of WET, a fountain and water feature design firm in Los Angeles, California. The experiential water features designed by his company can be found at landmarks around the world. Early life and education Fulle ...
, CEO of WET Design;
Andrea Russell Andrea Russell is an American chemist who is a professor at the University of Southampton. She is vice president of the International Society of Electrochemistry. Her research considers the use of spectroscopy to better understand the interface ...
, Vice President of the International Society of Electrochemistry; Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape Communications Corporation, myCFO, and Healtheon;
Gretchen W. McClain Gretchen W. McClain is an American business executive. She currently serves on the board of directors for Booz Allen Hamilton and Ametek. She served as the president and chief executive officer of Xylem Inc. (), and as the former chief director o ...
, former
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, succeedi ...
Deputy Associate Administrator of Human Space Exploration and Chief Director of the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...
; Henri Gouraud;
John C. Cook John Calhoun Cook (December 26, 1846 – June 7, 1920) was a 19th-century American politician, lawyer and judge from Iowa. He was twice elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 6th congressional district, each time under unus ...
who played a crucial role in establishing the field of ground-penetrating radar; Ralph Hartley; rocket scientist
Joseph Majdalani Joseph Majdalani is an Lebanese-American professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He began his career at Marquette University, before serving as both the Jack D. Whitfield Professor of High Speed Flows and Arnold Chair of Excellence at t ...
;
Alan Kay Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) published by the Association for Computing Machinery 2012 is an American computer scientist best known for his pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) d ...
; Simon Ramo; and John Warnock, co-founder of Adobe Systems. Notable entrepreneur and business leader alumni include Alan Ashton, co-founder of WordPerfect and Thanksgiving Point; Freestyle Skiër
Tom Wallisch Tom Wallisch ( ; born July 22, 1987 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a professional freeskier. Early life and education Wallisch began skiing in 1990 and competing in the sport in 2009. After graduating from high school, Wallisch moved to Sal ...
; Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese; Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar; J. Willard Marriott, founder of Marriott International; Robert A. "Bob" McDonald, CEO of
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
; David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue; and Telle Whitney, CEO and President of the Anita Borg Institute In athletics, notable alumni include baseball player Chris Shelton; basketball players Andrew Bogut, Kyle Kuzma, Andre Miller, and Keith Van Horn; football players Paul Kruger,
Star Lotulelei Starlite Lotulelei Jr. ( ; born December 20, 1989) is a Tongan professional American football defensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college foo ...
, Jamal Anderson, Kevin Dyson, Eric Weddle, Alex Smith, and Steve Smith Sr.; hall of fame karate grandmaster
Dan Hausel Dan Hausel (born 1949 in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.) a polymath of martial arts, geology, writing, astronomy, art, and public speaking. Hall-of-Fame 10th degree black belt grandmaster of Shorin-Ryu Karate and Kobudo, mineral exploration geolo ...
; and football coach LaVell Edwards. Notable members of the athletics faculty include
Sharrieff Shah Sharrieff Shah Sr. is an American football coach and former player as well as lawyer and NFLPA certified agent. He is currently the special teams coordinator and cornerbacks coach at the University of Utah. College football career Coming out of ...
, coach of the University of Utah football team and husband to Jen Shah, cast member of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Mykayla Skinner 2020 Olympic Gymnast and Vault Silver Medalist. Notable alumni also includes serial killer Ted Bundy, who briefly attended the College of Law before dropping out. Drag Queen Denali Foxx graduated from the University of Utah. Notable faculty in science and engineering include
David Evans David, Dave, or Dai Evans may refer to: Academics * Sir David Emrys Evans (1891–1966), Welsh classicist and university principal * David Evans (microbiologist) (1909–1984), British microbiologist * David Stanley Evans (1916–2004), British a ...
and Ivan Sutherland, founders of Evans and Sutherland; Bui Tuong Phong, pioneer of
computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great deal ...
; Henry Eyring, known for studying chemical reaction rates; Stephen Jacobsen, founder of Sarcos;
Jindřich Kopeček Jindřich Henry Kopeček was born in Strakonice, Czech Republic, as the son of Jan and Herta Zita (Krombholz) Kopeček. He is distinguished professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at the Unive ...
and
Sung Wan Kim Sung Wan Kim (August 21, 1940 – February 24, 2020) was a South Korean-American academic who worked as a distinguished professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Utah. He is the founder and co-director of the Un ...
, pioneers of polymeric drug delivery and gene delivery; Suhas Patil, founder of Cirrus Logic; Stanley Pons, who claimed to have discovered " cold fusion" in 1989; Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, later co-winner of the 2009
Nobel Prize in Chemistry ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
; Thomas Stockham, founder of Soundstream; and
David W. Grainger David William Grainger is a distinguished professor and chair of the department of biomedical engineering and distinguished professor of pharmaceutics and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Utah. His research focuses on biomaterials, ...
, Chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, winner of the “Excellence in Pharmaceutics” Award, and alumnus. In medicine, notable faculty include Mario Capecchi, the co-winner of the 2007
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( sv, Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or ...
; Willem Johan Kolff; and Russell M. Nelson. Biologist
Ralph Vary Chamberlin Ralph Vary Chamberlin (January 3, 1879October 31, 1967) was an American biologist, ethnographer, and historian from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a faculty member of the University of Utah for over 25 years, where he helped establish the Schoo ...
, founding dean of the Medical School, professor, and later historian of the University, was also an alumnus. File:MarioCapecchiFotoThalerTamas.JPG, Mario Capecchi, Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics and Biology, co-winner of the 2007
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( sv, Nobelpriset i fysiologi eller medicin) is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute, Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or ...
File:VES Awards 89 cropped.jpg, Ed Catmull, B.S. 1969, Ph.D. 1974, co-founder of Pixar, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios File:John Warnock 2008.jpg, John Warnock, B.S. 1961, M.S. 1964, Ph.D. 1969, co-founder of Adobe Systems Inc. File:James H. Clark.jpg, James H. Clark, Ph.D. 1974, founder of Netscape, Silicon Graphics, myCFO, Healtheon, co-author of the Catmull-Clark algorithm File:Nolan Bushnell 2013.jpg, Nolan Bushnell, B.S. 1968, founder of Chuck E. Cheese's, co-founder of Atari File:J Willard Marriott.jpg, J. Willard Marriott, A.B. 1926, founder of Marriott International File:Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (32803708014).jpg, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, B.A. 1960, received the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1991 File:Jake Garn.jpg, Jake Garn, B.S. 1955, U.S. Senator and Space Shuttle astronaut File:Alan Kay (3097597186).jpg,
Alan Kay Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) published by the Association for Computing Machinery 2012 is an American computer scientist best known for his pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) d ...
, M.S. 1968, Ph.D. 1969, father of Object-Oriented Programming, 2003
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
and 2004 Kyoto Prize winner File:William DeVries (cropped).jpg, William DeVries, B.S. 1966, M.D. 1970, performed the first transplant of a Total Artificial Heart using the Jarvik-7 model File:Robert A. McDonald Official Portrait.jpg,
Robert A. McDonald Robert Alan McDonald (born June 20, 1953) served as the eighth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He is the retired chairman, president, and CEO of Procter & Gamble. In 2014 he became Secretary of Veterans Affairs.Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...
, 8th United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs File:Hartley ralph-vinton-lyon-001.jpg, Ralph Hartley, A.B. 1909, invented the Hartley oscillator and the Hartley transform, recipient of the IEEE Medal of Honor File:Ivan Sutherland at CHM.jpg, Ivan Sutherland, past Professor of Computer Science from 1968-1974, winner of the
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in compu ...
in 1988, Kyoto Prize in 2012, co-founder of Evans and Sutherland File:Tom stockham.jpg, Thomas Stockham, past Professor of Electrical Engineering from 1968-1975, 1983-1994, father of digital recording, founder of Soundstream, won an
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 ...
,
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 pre ...
,
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
, served as a Nixon White House tapes investigator File:Stephen Covey 2010.jpg,
Stephen Covey Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book is '' of Highly Effective People''. His other books include '' First Things First'', ''Pr ...
, B.S. 1952, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People File:Russell M. Nelson.png, Russell M. Nelson, B.A. 1945, M.D. 1947, President of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ...
, past President of the Society for Vascular Surgery, past Director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery File:Edwards2010.jpg, LaVell Edwards, M.S. 1960, former head football coach of Brigham Young University File:Gordon Gee.jpg, E. Gordon Gee, B.A. 1968, past president of universities including Ohio State, Vanderbilt, Brown and University of Colorado File:Martha Raddatz.png, Martha Raddatz, non-graduate alumna,
ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...
Chief Global Affairs Correspondent, recipient of 4 Emmy Awards File:Ambassador Jon Huntsman.jpg, Jon Huntsman, Jr., non-graduate alumnus, U.S. Ambassador to China, Russia and Singapore, 16th Governor of Utah File:Karl Rove.jpg, Karl Rove, non-graduate alumnus, Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff in the George W. Bush administration File:Neeleman.jpg, David Neeleman, non-graduate alumnus, founder of JetBlue Airways, Azul Brazilian Airlines, co-founder of
WestJet Airlines WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...


Notes


References


External links

*
The University of Utah Athletics website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Utah, University Of University of Utah Utah, University of Flagship universities in the United States Economy of Salt Lake City Education in Salt Lake City Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Buildings and structures in Salt Lake City Universities and colleges in Salt Lake County, Utah Tourist attractions in Salt Lake City 1850 establishments in Utah Territory