Fordham University (FU)

When John Hughes, coadjutor bishop (later archbishop) of New York, established Fordham as St. John’s College on June 24, 1841, he considered it a “daring and dangerous undertaking”—not least because he initially lacked the funds to purchase t ecause he initially lacked the funds to purchase the land where he saw a great university taking root. But he persevered. He understood instinctively that education is the key to first-class citizenship for immigrants and to success for all. And he was determined to establish the first Catholic institution of higher education in the Northeastern United States. Thus, a small college in a farming village was transformed into the Jesuit University of New York. Inspired by the archbishop’s spirit, thousands upon thousands of students, faculty, and alumni have come together through the years—all in the shared pursuit of wisdom and learning in the service of others. Our colleagues from many fields and around the world work closely with Fordham's president and senior administrators as integral advisors, trustees, and directors. Their time, energy, and passion for the University are invaluable. Fordham University[note 1] is a private Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university in the northeastern United States[11] and the third-oldest university in New York State.[12] Founded as St. John's College by John Hughes, then a coadjutor bishop of New York, the college was placed in the care of the Society of Jesus shortly thereafter, and has since become a Jesuit-affiliated independent school under a lay board of trustees. While governed independently of the church since 1969, every president of Fordham University between 1846 and 2022[note 2] was a Jesuit priest, and the curriculum remains influenced by Jesuit educational principles.[13] Fordham enrolls approximately 15,300 students from more than 65 countries,[14] and is composed of ten constituent colleges, four of which are undergraduate and six of which are postgraduate, across three campuses in southern New York State: the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, the Lincoln Center campus in Manhattan's Upper West Side, and the Westchester campus in West Harrison, New York. The university also maintains a study abroad center in London and field offices in Spain and South Africa. The university offers degrees in over 60 disciplines.[15] The university's athletic teams, the Rams, include a football team that boasted a win in the Sugar Bowl, two Pro Football Hall of Famers, two All-Americans, two Canadian Football League All-Stars, and numerous NFL players; the Rams also participated in history's first televised college football game in 1939 and history's first televised college basketball game in 1940.[16][17] Fordham's baseball team played the first collegiate baseball game under modern rules in 1859, has fielded 56 major league players, and holds the record for most NCAA Division I baseball victories in history.[18] Fordham's alumni and faculty include current President Donald Trump,[note 3][19] U.S. Senators and representatives, four cardinals of the Catholic Church, several U.S. governors and ambassadors, a number of billionaires, two directors of the CIA, Academy Award and Emmy-winning actors, royalty, a foreign head of state, a White House Counsel, a vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army,[20] a U.S. Postmaster General,[21] a U.S. Attorney General,[22] a President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,[23] and the first female vice presidential candidate of a major political party in the United States. ...view more