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Academics and History UW

In 2006, the University of Washington research budget passed the $1 billion milestone. Virtually all of the funding came from peer-reviewed research proposals. UW research budget consistently ranks among the top 5 both in public and private universities in the United States. UW is also the largest recipient of federal research funding among public universities and second among all public and private universities in the country, a position that the university has held each year since 1974. The university is an elected member of the Association of American Universities.

The University opened branch campuses in Bothell and Tacoma in 1990. These campuses offered curricula for students seeking bachelor’s degrees who have already completed two years of higher education.

Among the faculty, there are eight Nobel Laureates, 50 members in the National Academy of Sciences, 13 members in the National Academy of Engineering, members in the institute of Medicine of the National Academies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The city of Seattle was one of the several settlements in the mid to late 19th century vying for primacy in the newly formed Washington territory. In 1861, scouting began for an appropriate 10 acre site in Seattle to serve as the campus for a new university. The UW opened officially on the 4th November 1861 as the Territorial University of Washington. The very next year, the legislature passed articles formally incorporating the University and establishing a Board of Regents. The school had to close three times for lack of students and due to shortage of funds in 1863, 1867 and again in 1876.