Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U., or WUSTL) is a private research university located in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853, and named after George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all 50 U.S. states and more than 120 countries. Twenty-two Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Washington University, nine having done the major part of their pioneering research at the university. Washington University's undergraduate program is ranked 7th in selectivity and 15th overall by U.S. News and World Report.The university is ranked 32nd in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.
Washington University is made up of seven graduate and undergraduate schools that encompass a broad range of academic fields.Officially incorporated as "The Washington University," the university is occasionally referred to as "WUSTL,"[pronunciation?] an acronym derived from its initials. More commonly, the school is referred to as "Wash. U." To prevent confusion over its location, the Board of Trustees added the phrase "in St. Louis" in 1976.

Washington University was conceived by 17 St. Louis business, political, and religious leaders concerned by the lack of institutions of higher learning in the Midwest. Missouri State Senator Wayman Crow and Unitarian minister William Greenleaf Eliot, grandfather of the poet T.S. Eliot, led the effort.

The university's first chancellor was Joseph Gibson Hoyt. Crow secured the university charter from the Missouri General Assembly in 1853, and Eliot was named President of the Board of Trustees. Early on, Eliot solicited support from members of the local business community, including John O'Fallon, but Eliot failed to secure a permanent endowment. Washington University is unusual among major American universities in not having had a prior financial endowment. The institution had no backing of a religious organization, single wealthy patron, or earmarked government support.