Miami.edu Official website of the University of Miami in Gables Florida
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM) is a private, non-sectarian university located in Miami, Florida. Its main campus is in Coral Gables, immediately south of Miami City, with several satellite campuses located around South Florida. It currently has 10,704 faculty and staff members and 15,600 students in the graduate and undergraduate levels. Its official colors are orange, green, and white, representing the fruit, leaves, and blossoms of the Florida orange tree.
National Ranking
UM ranks 54th among 254 national universities in the list of “America’s Best Colleges” (2006-07) provided by the US News & World Reports. It is also one of the Best Southeastern Colleges named by the Princeton Review in 2006. Several UM schools and institutes are also highly acclaimed, most notably the School of Business, School of Law, and the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
History
UM was officially chartered in 1925, at the peak of the South Florida land boom. Its supporters found the time and location conducive for inter-American education, tropical studies, and artistic development. The first classes were held in October 1926, with an initial enrollment of 560 students. Its first constituents were the School of Music, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Evening Division.
However, a national economic depression followed, the land boom collapsed, the world war ensured, and UM struggled for the next 15 years. Only the determination of its president, Dr. Bowman Ashe, kept the university afloat and eventually helped it recover from bankruptcy, reorganize, and after the war, enter a period of extensive growth. Under Ashe, UM gained seven schools and attracted more students.
UM grew further under its Ashe’s successor, marine biologist Dr. Jay F. W. Pearson. Pearson raised student enrolment by 4,000 and added new facilities to keep up, strengthening the research and extension efforts of the university. UM also developed an undergraduate core curriculum and added several graduate and postgraduate programs.
Several research centers and facilities were established under the third president, Dr. Henry King Stanford, and his successor, Edward T. Foote, added three new schools and initiated a $400-million five-year acceleration plan, which it later surpassed after only four years with a commitment of over $500 million.
UM is currently under its fifth president, Donna E. Shalala. In 2003, Shalala launched UM’s largest and most successful project to date, dubbed Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami. It was a drive to raise $1 billion by 2007 – a goal which it surpassed a year and a half early by January 2006. UM has set another goal to raise an additional $250 million in 2007.
Schools and Colleges
UM currently has 12 schools and colleges:
- School of Architecture
- College of Arts and Sciences
- School of Business Administration
- School of Communication
- School of Education
- College of Engineering
- Graduate School
- School of Law
- Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
- Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music
- School of Nursing and Health Studies
- Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science
Bilingual and special classes are offered at the Department of Continuing and International Education. It is hosted at the Koubek Center in Little Havana, a largely Cuban settlement in Miami.
Campuses and Facilities
The Coral Gables campus contains two colleges and eight schools, or ten out of the 12 academic departments. The campus spans about 240 acres and includes Lake Osceola, a sprawling lake visible from many of the academic buildings. The Rosenstiel School has a 16-acre campus in Virginia Key, Miami, while the Miller School of Medicine is housed at the nearby Jackson Memorial Hospital. Two other campuses, South and Richmond, are located in Miami-Dade country in the southwest.
The main library is the Otto G. Richter Library, which holds collections from the arts, sciences, humanities, social sciences, and architecture. There are also eight smaller libraries administered by the academic departments, two of which are under the Miller School of Medicine: the Pomerance Library for psychiatry and the Mary and Edward Norton Library for ophthalmology.
Athletics
UM has 15 athletic teams, known as the Miami Hurricanes, participating in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coastal Division. The Hurricanes have a long-standing rivalry with the University of Florida Gators and the Florida State University Seminoles. Its football program has been the most successful in its division (Division I) for the last 25 years, having won the most national championships. Its baseball and basketball programs are also worth noting – the baseball team has won four national championships and reached the College World Series 22 times, while the basketball team has produced three prominent NBA players.
Website
The UM website is constantly updated with campus news and developments, and provides useful information for current and prospective students. Live webcam views of each campus are provided on the About UM page, and a myUM online service offers online support for students.
Languages
English
Address
- 1365 Memorial Dr
- Coral Gables FL 33146 US
Contact
- University of Miami
-
- 305-284-1102
Additional Information
Related Domains
External Links
- Alexa: Miami.edu
