University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is among the most elite and well-respected universities in the world. The graduate schools of Jurisprudence, Business, and Economics, and the undergraduate departments of Sociology, Linguistics, Political Science (Social Thought), International Studies, Economics, and Physics are considered among the best in the country.

The school was founded in 1890 with heavy support from John D. Rockefeller (of Standard Oil fame). Persons affiliated with the University have obtained a total of seventy-three Nobel Prizes (the most by any institution in the world except Cambridge University).

The school's more important contributions to science include the 1909 Millikan Oil Drop experiment, which determined the charge of the electron; the first self-sustaining nuclear reaction, carried out by Enrico Fermi and his colleagues as part of the Manhattan Project on December 2, 1942; and the Miller-Urey experiment (Miller experiment), considered to be the classic experiment on the origin of life.

The school is also known for its important contributions to modern sociology, economics, international relations, and archaeology.

The school's sports teams are called the Maroons. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and in the University Athletic Association. At one time, the University of Chicago's football teams were among the best in the country, but the school, once a member of the Big Ten Conference, de-emphasized varsity athletics in 1939. In 1935, Chicago's Jay Berwanger was the winner of the first-ever Heisman Trophy[?].

The university publishes The Chicago Manual of Style, which is the definitive guide to American English usage.

Its current president is Don Michael Randel.

One of the more famous traditions of the university is the annual Scavenger Hunt, a multiple day event that pits teams (often composed of hundreds) against each other with the goal of getting all of the 300-plus items on the list. While items such as Michael Jordan have not appeared, in 1999 two students built a working nuclear reactor for Scavenger Hunt.

Some Notable Alumni of the University of Chicago

• John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
• Saul Bellow, author
• Robert Bork, judge, United States Supreme Court nominee
• Ahmed Chalabi, leader, Iraqi National Congress
• Carol Moseley-Braun, first female African-American United States Senator, and 2004 Presidential Candidate
• Milton Friedman, economist
• Philip Glass, composer
• Katherine Graham[?], publisher, Washington Post
• Patsy Mink[?], Representative (D-HI), United States House of Representatives
• Philip Roth, author
• Carl Sagan (AB, PhD), astronomer and author
• John Paul Stevens, United States Supreme Court Justice
• Mark Strand[?], poet
• Kurt Vonnegut, author
• James Watson, biologist
• Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy United States Secretary of Defense

External Link

• http://www.uchicago.edu -- U of C website