University of Arizona
Encyclopedia
The University of Arizona (also referred to as UA (spoken as U of A), or Arizona) is a land-grant
and space-grant
public
institution of higher education
and research
located in Tucson, Arizona
, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university
in the state of Arizona
, founded in 1885 (twenty-seven years before the Arizona Territory achieved statehood). The university includes the University of Arizona College of Medicine
which is one of three medical schools and the only MD
granting medical school in Arizona. As of Fall 2010, total enrollment was 39,086 students. The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents
. The mission of the University of Arizona is, "To discover, educate, serve, and inspire." Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities
(an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group.
.jpg)
The University of Arizona was approved by the Arizona Territory's "Thieving Thirteenth" Legislature in 1885. The city of Tucson had hoped to receive the appropriation for the territory's mental hospital, which carried a $100,000 allocation instead of the $25,000 allotted to the territory's only university (Arizona State University was also chartered in 1885, but at the time it was created as Arizona's normal school
, and not a university). Tucson's contingent of legislators was delayed in reaching Prescott
due to flooding on the Salt River
and by the time they arrived back-room deals allocating the most desirable territorial institutions had already been made. Tucson was largely disappointed at receiving what was viewed as an inferior prize. With no parties willing to step forth and provide land for the new institution, the citizens of Tucson prepared to return the money to the Territorial Legislature until two gamblers and a saloon keeper decided to donate the land necessary to build the school. Classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, the first building constructed on campus, and still in use to this day.
Because there were no high schools in Arizona Territory, the University maintained separate preparatory classes for the first 23 years of operation.
A downturn in Arizona's economy in the 2000s led to less money being allocated by the state legislature to Arizona's universities. Academic programs were hard-hit, and the university was forced to consider extensive changes, beginning in 2001. As a result, a reorganization known as Focused Excellence aimed to focus the mission of the university on research, graduate training, and more selective undergraduate education, in part, by eliminating and merging less popular and low-revenue academic departments. The closure of some programs, notably the innovative Arizona International College
and the School of Planning, provoked widespread protest. However, efforts to improve academic performance and to encourage new research areas were not enough to prevent a number of key departures from the faculty in the early 2000s, and budgets remain restricted. Focused Excellence was quietly wound up in 2006 and its website removed, but President Robert Shelton's Dec. 2006 message to the University suggested further retrenchment is essential in the light of funding cuts.
's programs in Accounting, Entrepreneurship
, Management Information Systems, Management and Organizations and Marketing
are ranked in the nation's top 25 by U.S. News & World Report. The Masters in MIS program has been ranked in the top 5 by U.S. News & World Report since the inception of the rankings. The Eller MBA program has ranked among the top 50 programs for 11 straight years by U.S. News & World Report. In 2005 the MBA program was ranked 40th by U.S. News & World Report. Forbes
Magazine ranked the Eller MBA program 33rd overall for having the best Return on Investment (ROI), in its fourth biennial rankings of business schools 2005. The MBA program was ranked 24th by The Wall Street Journal's 2005 Interactive Regional Ranking. The Council for Aid to Education ranked the UA 12th among public universities and 24th overall in financial support and gifts. Campaign Arizona, an effort to raise over $1 billion USD for the school, exceeded that goal by $200 million a year earlier than projected. The National Science Foundation
ranks UA 16th among public universities, and 26th among all universities nationwide in research funding.
The James E. Rogers College of Law
was ranked 42nd nationally and the University of Arizona College of Medicine
was ranked 51st nationally in primary care
by U.S. News & World Report in for 2011. The College of Medicine was also ranked No. 7 among the nation's medical schools for Hispanic students, according to Hispanic Business Magazine. The Systems and Industrial Engineering
(SIE) Department is ranked 10th in the 'America's Best Graduate Schools 2009' by US News and World Report. The analytical chemistry
program at UA is ranked 6th nationally by U.S. News & World Report (2010). The Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) Department is ranked 17th nationally by U.S. News & World Report (2010). The Geosciences program is ranked 1st nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2010. The Doctor of Pharmacy
program at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy
is ranked 9th nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. The Photography
program is ranked 9th nationally, also by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. The Philosophy
program is ranked 13th nationally by the Philosophical Gourmet Report
, and #1 in the world in Political Philosophy. Internationally, the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings
ranked University of Arizona 95th in the world and the 2011 QS World University Rankings
ranked this university 163rd. In its May 2009 issue, Playboy
magazine ranked UA the fifth best party school in the nation.
In 2009, the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture's (CALA) undergraduate program in architecture has been ranked 12th in the nation for all universities, public and private, as reported in Design Intelligence. The School of Landscape Architecture's graduate program has been ranked No. 1 in the Western United States. The 10th annual America's Best Architecture Schools study by the Design Futures Council ranks accredited undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners.
The School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona is one of the most highly ranked area studies programs focusing on the Middle East in the United States. In addition to offering language training in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian
, and Turkish
(both Modern and Ottoman
), it is collocated with the Middle East Studies Association.
UA students hail from all states in the U.S. While nearly 72% of students are from Arizona
, nearly 10% are from California
, followed by a significant student presence from Illinois
, Texas
, Washington, and New York (2007). The UA has over 2,200 international students representing 122 countries. International students comprise approximately 6% of the total enrollment at UA.
The University of Arizona Honors College is in affiliation with the University of Arizona and is headed by Dean Dr. Patricia MacCorquodale and Associate Dean Dr. Laura Berry. Under the Dean and Vice Dean are the offices of the Academic Advising Coordinator, Director of Nationally Competitive Scholarships, Director of Recruitment and Outreach, Director of Development, Program Coordinator for Career and Development and Community Engagement, Honors Professors, and Honors advisors.
The University of Arizona Honors College has a strong first-year program for its students that includes common reading materials and Colloquium/Paladin classes everyone must take as a freshman. The overall requirements for the program entail that each honors student must complete 30 credit hours of honors credit by graduation time and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5. To complete these credit hours, students may take courses specifically designated as honors at the University of Arizona or may turn a regular course into an honors course
through the use of an honors contract. Certain restrictions apply. In addition, they must collaborate with a faculty
member and write an honors thesis before graduating with honors from the University of Arizona.
The University of Arizona Honors College provides two on-campus dorms for their students, Yuma Hall and Árbol de la Vida. Yuma houses 184 men and women http://www.arizona.edu/buildings/yuma-residence-hall and is located near the Slonaker House on East North Campus Drive by the Maricopa Residence Hall. Meanwhile, Árbol de la Vida houses 719 men and women and is situated on the edge of campus on 6th street and Tyndall Avenue near the Park Student Union and the dorm, Arizona Sonora. The two halls offer different community feels for their students. Yuma presents a close-knit, small community while Árbol de la Vida provides a larger community of honors students with a newer, more modern living experience. Yuma was renovated and turned into an honors dorm in 1988, whereas Árbol de la Vida first opened to students in the Fall of 2011http://www.honors.arizona.edu.
There are additional resources available to honors students in the University of Arizona Honors College. Such resources include: longer library check-out dates, cheaper printing options at the Slonaker House, priority registration, additional honors advising, smaller class sizes taught by Honors faculty, clubs and organizations specifically available to only honors students such as the Honors Student Council and the Honors College Ambassadors, and additional scholarship opportunities. However, there is also a fee for participating in honors and an additional honors thesis is required of its students before graduation http://www.honors.arizona.edu.
"RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity)" university (formerly "Research 1" university). The university receives more than $600 million USD annually in research funding, generating around two thirds of the research dollars in the Arizona university system. 26th highest in the U.S. (including public and private institutions). The university has an endowment of $480.2 million USD as of 2010.
The U of A is awarded more NASA
grants for space exploration than any other university nationally. The UA was awarded over $325 million USD for its Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
(LPL) to lead NASA's 2007–08 mission to Mars
to explore the Martian Arctic. The LPL's work in the Cassini
spacecraft orbit around Saturn
is larger than that of any other university globally. The U of A laboratory designed and operated the atmospheric radiation investigations and imaging on the probe. The UA operates the HiRISE
camera, a part of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
. UA receives more NASA
grants annually than the next nine top NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory
-funded universities combined. As of June 2011, the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is actively involved in five spacecraft missions: Cassini; the Phoenix Mars Lander; the HiRISE camera orbiting Mars; the MESSENGER mission to Mercury and OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. sample return mission to an asteroid, which was just selected by NASA. UA students have been selected as Flinn, Truman, Rhodes, Goldwater
, Fulbright, and National Merit
scholars. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, UA is among the top 25 producers of Fulbright awards in the U.S.
UA is a member of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
, a consortium of institutions pursuing research in astronomy. The association operates observatories and telescopes, notably Kitt Peak National Observatory
located just outside of Tucson. UA is a member of the Association of American Universities
, and the sole representative from Arizona to this group. Led by Roger Angel, researchers in the Steward Observatory
Mirror Lab at UA are working in concert to build the world's most advanced telescope. Known as the Giant Magellan Telescope
, the instrument will produce images 10 times sharper than those from the Earth-orbiting Hubble Telescope. The telescope is set to be completed in 2016 at a cost of $500 million USD. Researchers from at least nine institutions are working to secure the funding for the project. The telescope will include seven 18-ton mirrors capable of providing clear images of volcanoes and riverbeds on Mars
and mountains on the moon at a rate 40 times faster than the world's current large telescopes. The mirrors of the Giant Magellan Telescope will be built at the U of A and transported to a permanent mountaintop site in the Chile
an Andes
where the telescope will be constructed.
Reaching Mars
in March 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
contained the HiRISE camera, with Primary Investigator is scientist
Alfred McEwen as the lead on the project. This NASA
mission to Mars carried a UA-designed camera expected to capture the highest-resolution images of the planet ever seen. The journey of the orbiter was 300 million miles. The project is expected to be in its Primary Science Phase in the month of October. Currently operating on the surface of Mars
is the Lander known as the Phoenix Scout Mission
, led by the U of A Scientist Peter Smith. The mission's purpose is to improve knowledge of the Martian Arctic. After a successful landing on Mars in May 2008, it is the first NASA mission completely controlled by a university. The Arizona Radio Observatory
, a part of Steward Observatory
, operates the 12 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak
and the Submillimeter Telescope
on Mount Graham
.
The National Science Foundation
funded the iPlant Collaborative
in 2008.
In June 2011, the University announced that it would assume full ownership of the Biosphere 2
scientific research facility in Oracle, Arizona
, north of Tucson, effective July 1. Biosphere 2 was constructed by private developers (funded mainly by Texas businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass) with its first closed system
experiment commencing in 1991. The University had been the official management partner of the facility for research purposes since 2007.
In 2005, the Association of Research Libraries
, in its "Ranked Lists for Institutions for 2005" (the most recent year available), ranked the UA libraries as the 33rd overall university library in North America (out of 113) based on various statistical measures of quality; this is one rank below the library of Duke University
, one rank ahead of that of Northwestern University
. (both these schools are members, along with the UA, of the Association of American Universities
).
As of 2009, the UA's library system contains over five million print volumes, 600,000 electronic books, and 54,000 electronic journals. The Main Library, opened in 1976, serves as the library system's reference, periodical, and administrative center; most of the main collections and special collections are housed here as well. The Main Library is located on the southeast quadrant of campus near McKale Center
and Arizona Stadium
.
In 2002, a $20 million, 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) addition, the Integrated Learning Center (ILC), was completed; it is a home base for first-year students (especially those undecided on a major) which features classrooms, auditoriums, a courtyard with an alcove for vending machines, and a greatly expanded computer lab (the Information Commons) with several dozen Gateway
and Apple Macintosh G5 workstations (these computers are available for use by the general public (with some restrictions) as well as by UA students, faculty and staff). Much of the ILC was constructed underground, underneath the east end of the Mall; the ILC connects to the basement floor of the Main Library through the Information Commons. As part of the project, additional new office space for the Library was constructed on the existing fifth floor.
The Science and Engineering Library is in a nearby building from the 1960s that houses volumes and periodicals from those fields. The Music Building (on the northwest quadrant of campus where many of the fine arts disciplines are clustered) houses the Fine Arts Library, including reference collections for architecture, music (including sheet music, recordings and listening stations), and photography. There is a small library at the Center for Creative Photography
, also in the fine arts complex, devoted to the art and science of photography. The Law Library is in the law building (James E. Rogers College of Law), located at the intersection of Speedway Boulevard and Mountain Avenue.
The Arizona Health Sciences Library, built in 1996, is located on the Health Sciences Center on the north end of campus and in Phoenix on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The library serves the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health, the University of Arizona Health Network, and is a resource for health professionals and citizens across the state.
is among the nation’s finest and most extensive collections of contemporary poetry. It is the largest such collection that is "open shelf".
buildings (one of them the 1927 main library) and Centennial Hall, were designed by Roy Place
, a prominent Tucson architect. It was Place's use of red brick that set the tone for the red brick facades that are a basic and ubiquitous part of nearly all UA buildings, even those built in recent decades. Indeed, almost every UA building has red brick as a major component of the design, or at the very least, a stylistic accent to harmonize it with the other buildings on campus.
The campus is roughly divided into quadrants. The north and south sides of campus are delineated by a grassy expanse called the Mall, which stretches from Old Main eastward to the campus' eastern border at Campbell Avenue (a major north-south arterial street). The west and east sides of campus are separated roughly by Highland Avenue and the Student Union Memorial Center (see below).
The science and mathematics buildings tend to be clustered in the southwest quadrant; the intercollegiate athletics facilities to the southeast; the arts and humanities buildings to the northwest (with the dance department being a major exception as its main facilities are far to the east end of campus), with the engineering buildings in the north central area. The optical and space sciences buildings are clustered on the east side of campus near the sports stadiums and the (1976) main library.
Speedway Boulevard, one of Tucson's primary east-west arterial streets, traditionally defined the northern boundary of campus but since the 1980s, several university buildings have been constructed north of this street, expanding into a neighborhood traditionally filled with apartment complexes and single-family homes. The University has purchased a handful of these apartment complexes for student housing in recent years. Sixth Street typically defines the southern boundary, with single-family homes (many of which are rented out to students) south of this street.
Park Avenue has traditionally defined the western boundary of campus, and there is a stone wall which runs along a large portion of the east side of the street, leading to the old Main Gate, and into the driveway leading to Old Main. Along or adjacent to all of these major streets are a wide variety of retail facilities serving the student, faculty and staff population (as is the case in other similar university neighborhoods throughout the United States): shops, bookstores, bars, banks, credit unions, coffeehouses and major chain fast-food restaurants such as Wendy's
, McDonald's
and Pei Wei
. The area near University Boulevard and Park Avenue, near the Main Gate, has been a major center of such retail activity going back to the university's early decades; many shops dating from the 1920s have been renovated since the late 1990s, other new retail shops have been built in recent years, and a nine-story Marriott
hotel was built in this immediate district in 1996.
The oldest campus buildings are located west of Old Main. Most of the buildings east of Old Main date from the 1940s to the 1980s, with a few recent buildings constructed in the years since 1990.
The Student Union Memorial Center, located on the north side of the Mall east of Old Main, was completely reconstructed between 2000 and 2003, replacing a 270000 square feet (25,083.8 m²) structure originally opened in 1951 (with additions in the 1960s). The new $60 million student union has 405000 square feet (37,625.7 m²) of space on four levels, including 14 restaurants (including a food court
with such national chains as Burger King, Panda Express
, Papa John's Pizza
and Chick-fil-A), a new two-level bookstore (that includes a counter for Clinique
merchandise as well as an office supplies section sponsored by Staples with many of the same Staples-branded items found in their regular stores), 23 meeting rooms, eight lounge areas (including one dedicated to the USS Arizona
), a computer lab, a U.S. Post Office
, a copy center named Fast Copy, and a video arcade. A bell
housed on the USS Arizona
, one of the two bells rescued from the ship after the attack on Pearl Harbor
, has a permanent home in the clock tower of the Student Union Memorial Center on campus. The bell first arrived on campus in July 1946. The bell is rung seven times on the third Wednesday of every month at 12:07 pm – symbolic of the battleship's sinking on Dec. 7, 1941 – to honor individuals at the UA, as well as after home football games.
Much of the main campus has been designated an arboretum
. Plants from around the world are labeled along a self-guided plant walk. The Krutch Cactus Garden includes the tallest Boojum tree
in the state of Arizona. (The university also manages Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park
, located in rural Pinal County
about 85 miles (137 km) north of the main campus.) Two herbaria are located on the University campus and both are referred to as "ARIZ" in the Index Herbariorum
The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, opened in 2003 (across the Mall from McKale Center
) as a 28600 square feet (2,657 m²) dedicated performance venue for the UA's dance program, one of the most highly regarded university dance departments in the United States. Designed by Gould Evans, a Phoenix-based architectural firm, the theatre was awarded the 2003 Citation Award from the American Institute of Architects
, Arizona Chapter.
The Computer Science
department has setup a webcam
that provides a live feed of the campus as seen from the top of the Gould Simpson building.
The Berger Memorial Fountain at the west entrance of Old Main honors the UA students who lost their lives in World War I
, and dates back to 1919.
The University of Arizona generates renewable energy with solar panels that have been installed on campus buildings. In 2011, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the university a College Sustainability Report Card grade of "B."
and Northern Arizona University
, is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents
or the ABOR, a 12-member body. According to information published by the ABOR office and available on their Web site, eight volunteer members are appointed by the Governor to staggered eight-year terms; two students serve on the Board for two-year appointments, with the first year being a nonvoting apprentice year. The Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction serve as voting ex-officio members. The ABOR provides "policy guidance" and oversight to the three major degree-granting universities, as provided for by Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
.
The current interim president is Eugene G. Sander, who had been UA vice provost and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Sander began his service as president in August 2011 and will serve until a permanent president is named by the Board of Regents. The previous president, Robert N. Shelton
, began his tenure in 2006 and resigned in the summer of 2011 to accept the presidency of the Fiesta Bowl
, (a BCS
college football
tournament played annually in the Phoenix area). Shelton's predecessor, Peter Likins
, vacated his post at the conclusion of the 2005–06 academic term. Notable past UA presidents include Likins, Manuel Pacheco (the first person of Hispanic
descent to lead the university and for whom the Integrated Learning Center is named), Homer L. Shantz, Henry Koffler, John Schaefer, and Richard Harvill.
champions Occidental College
, where the L.A. Times asserted that, "the Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats." The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA
's Division I-A in the Pacific-12 Conference, which it joined in 1978.
team has been one of the nation's most successful programs since Lute Olson
was hired as head coach in 1983, and is still known as a national powerhouse in Division I men's basketball. Between 1985 and 2009, the team reached the NCAA Tournament 25 consecutive years, which is the second-longest streak in NCAA history, 2nd only to North Carolina's
record of 27 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 2001. The Wildcats have reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1988
, 1994
, 1997
, and 2001
. In 1997, Arizona defeated the University of Kentucky
, the defending national champions, to win the NCAA National Championship (NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
) by a score of 84–79 in overtime; Arizona's first national championship victory. The 1997 championship team became the first and only in NCAA history to defeat three number-one seeds en route to a national title (Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky—the North Carolina game being the final game for longtime UNC head coach Dean Smith). Point guard Miles Simon
was chosen as 1997 Final Four MVP
(Simon was also an assistant coach under Olson from 2005 to 2008). The Cats also boast the third highest winning percentage in the nation over the last twenty years. Arizona has won a total of 21 conference championships in its programs history. Since the institution of the two-round draft system in 1989 by the NBA, no school has had more draft picks than Arizona.
The Wildcats play their home games at the McKale Center
in Tucson. A number of former Wildcats have gone on to pursue successful professional NBA careers (especially during the Lute Olson era), including Gilbert Arenas
, Richard Jefferson
, Mike Bibby
, Jason Terry
, Sean Elliott
, Damon Stoudamire
, Luke Walton
, Hassan Adams
, Salim Stoudamire
, Andre Iguodala
, Channing Frye
, Brian Williams (later known as Bison Dele
), Sean Rooks, Jud Buechler, Michael Dickerson, Chase Budinger
, Jordan Hill, Jerryd Bayless, Derrick Williams and Steve Kerr
. Kenny Lofton
, now best known as a former Major League Baseball star, was a four year letter winner as a Wildcat basketball player (and was on the 1988 Final Four team), before one year on the Arizona baseball team. Another notable former Wildcat basketball player is Eugene Edgerson
, who played on the 1997 and 2001 Final Four squads, and is currently one of the primary stars of the Harlem Globetrotters
as "Wildkat" Edgerson.
Before Lute Olson's hire in 1983, Arizona was the first major Division I school to hire an African American
head coach in Fred Snowden
, in 1972. After a 25-year tenure as Arizona head coach, Olson announced his retirement from the Arizona basketball program in October 2008. After two seasons of using interim coaches, Arizona named Sean Miller
, head coach at Xavier University, as its new head basketball coach in April 2009.
The football
team began at The University of Arizona in 1899 under the nickname "Varsity" (a name kept until the 1914 season when the team was deemed the "Wildcats").
The football team was notably successful in the 1990s, under head coach Dick Tomey
; his "Desert Swarm" defense was characterized by tough, hard-nosed tactics. In 1993, the team had its first 10-win season and beat the University of Miami
Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl
by a score of 29–0. It was the bowl game's only shutout in its then 23-year history. In 1998, the team posted a school-record 12–1 season and made the Holiday Bowl
in which it defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Arizona ended that season ranked 4th nationally in the coaches and API poll. The 1998 Holiday Bowl was televised on ESPN
and set the now-surpassed record of being the most watched of any bowl game in that network's history (the current record belongs to the 2005 Alamo Bowl
between Michigan
and Nebraska). The program was led by Mike Stoops
, brother of Bob Stoops
, the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma
. Mike Stoops was fired on October 10, 2011. Rich Rodriguez
was hired on November 21, 2011 to lead the Wildcats. Announcement was made by athletic director Greg Byrne via Twitter.
team had its first season in 1905. The baseball
team has captured three national championship titles in 1976, 1980, and 1986, all coached by Jerry Kindall
. Arizona baseball teams have appeared in the NCAA National Championship title series a total of six times, including 1956, 1959, 1963, 1976, 1980, and 1986 (College World Series
). The team is currently coached by Andy Lopez
; aided by Assistant Coach Mark Wasikowski, Assistant Coach Jeff Casper and Volunteer Assistant Coach Keith Francis. Arizona baseball also has a student section named The Hot Corner. Famous UA baseball alums include Terry Francona
, Kenny Lofton
, Shelley Duncan
, Trevor Hoffman
, Mark Melancon
, Chip Hale
, Craig Lefferts
, J. T. Snow
, Don Lee, Carl Thomas, Mike Paul
, Dan Schneider
, Rich Hinton
, Ed Vosberg
, Hank Leiber
, Ron Hassey
, Brad Mills, and Joe Magrane
.
team is among the top programs in the country and a perennial powerhouse. The softball team has won eight NCAA
Women's College World Series titles, in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2007 under head coach Mike Candrea
(NCAA Softball Championship). The team has appeared in the NCAA
National Championship in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2024 1998, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2010 (a feat second only to UCLA), and has reached the College World Series 19 of the past 20 years. Coach Candrea, along with former Arizona pitcher Jennie Finch
, led the 2004 U.S. Olympic softball team to a gold medal in Athens, Greece. The Wildcat softball team plays at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
.
teams have also been notably successful. The men's team won a national championship in 1992 (NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
), and has produced a number of successful professionals, most notably Jim Furyk
. The women's team won national championships in 1996 and 2000 (NCAA Women's Golf Championship
). Few if any women's golf programs can boast two more illustrious alumni than the Wildcats' two greatest products—Annika Sörenstam
and Lorena Ochoa
.
, an Arizona graduate and football player. In 1998 Carl retired after twenty-eight years at Towson University
in Maryland
.
. The school's club hockey team, known as the Icecats, has won over 600 games since its inception in 1978. The Icecats defeated Penn State for the National Collegiate Club Hockey National Championship in 1985. They are now part of ACHA
Division I. Robert M. Tanita was a nationally ranked collegiate wrestler who reached the NCAA finals tournament as WAC champion in 1963.
Three national championships for synchronized swimming
were won in 1980, 1981, and 1984, though these championships were in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, and not the NCAA
. Along with winning three national championships in the pool for synchronized swimming, the Wildcats have also won their first NCAA Championship in men and women’s swimming and diving for the seasons of 2007–2008. Topping off these weekends Frank Busch
, the men and women’s head coach, was named NCAA Swimming Coach of the Year. Arizona men became the first team to claim a first-time title since UCLA’s win in 1982. Also, the men ended Texas and Auburn’s winning streak since 1998. At the end of the meet, University of Texas took second while 2007’s champion, Auburn University
, took fifth. For the women, Arizona worked on the disappointment of 2007’s defeat. The women were winning until the last day when Auburn grasped the title. Unlike 2007, Arizona’s women did not let anyone come close. The Wildcats won with 484 team points while Auburn University
came in second with 348 and Stanford University
in third with 343. Student-athletes from the women's swimming and diving team have been particularly heralded by the NCAA. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award
was won by UA swimmers Whitney Myers, Lacey Nymeyer and Justine Schluntz in 2007, 2009 and 2010 respectively. The three awards and the 1994 award won by track and field athlete Tanya Hughes are the highest number of Woman of the Year awards won by a single university.
. These include Amanda Beard
in 2001 for swimming
and Annika Sörenstam
in 1991 in golf
. The men's cross country
has also produced two individual national titles in 1986 (Aaron Ramirez) and 1994 (Martin Keino) (NCAA Men's Cross Country Champions). The women's cross country also produced two individual national titles in 1996 (Amy Skieresz) and 2001 (Tara Chaplin) (NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
). Another notable individual was football standout Vance Johnson
who won the NCAA long jump in 1982.
Arizona's first NCAA Individual Champion in the sport of Men's Swimming came in 1981 when Doug Towne won the 500 yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Another individual champion occurred in 1989 when Mariusz Podkoscielny swimming
won the 1650-yard (mile) at the NCAA National Championships held at the IUPUI Natatorium.
located in Tempe
. The UA leads the all-time record against ASU in men's basketball (138–73), football (44–35–1), and baseball (224–189–1) as of January 2006. The football rivalry game between the schools is known as "The Duel in the Desert." The trophy awarded after each game, the Territorial Cup
, is the nation's oldest rivalry trophy, distinguished by the NCAA. Rivalries have also been created with other Pac-12 teams, especially University of California, Los Angeles
which has provided a worthy softball
rival and was Arizona's main basketball
rival in the early and mid-1990s.
named Wilbur and Wilma. The identities of Wilbur and Wilma are kept secret through the year as the mascots appear only in costume. In 1986, Wilbur married his longtime wildcat girlfriend, Wilma. Together, Wilbur and Wilma appear along with the cheerleading
squad at most Wildcat sporting events. Arizona's first mascot was a real desert bobcat
named "Rufus Arizona", introduced in 1915.
Wilbur was originally created by Bob White as a cartoon character in the University's humor magazine, Kitty Kat. From 1915 through the 1950s the school mascot was a live bobcat
, a species known locally as a wildcat. This succession of live mascots were known by the common name of Rufus Arizona, originally named after Rufus von Kleinsmid, president of the university from 1914 to 1921. 1959 marked the creation of the first incarnated Wilbur, when University student John Paquette and his roommate, Dick Heller, came up with idea of creating a costume for a student to wear. Ed Stuckenhoff was chosen to wear the costume at the homecoming game in 1959 against Texas Tech and since then it has become a long-standing tradition. Wilbur celebrated his 50th birthday in November 2009.
).
Officially implemented in 2003, Zona Zoo is the official student section and student ticketing program for the University of Arizona Athletics. The Zona Zoo program is co-owned by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA) and Arizona Athletics, the program is run by a team of spirited individuals called the Zona Zoo Crew. Zona Zoo is one of the largest and most spirited in NCAA Division I Athletics and the largest in the PAC12.
, which opened in 1973, is currently used by men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, and women's volleyball. The official capacity has changed often. The largest crowd to see a game in McKale was 15,176 in 1976 for a game against the University of New Mexico
, a main rival during that period. In 2000, the floor in McKale was dubbed Lute Olson Court, for the basketball program's winningest coach. During a memorial service in 2001 for Lute's wife, Bobbi, who died after a battle with ovarian cancer, the floor was renamed Lute and Bobbi Olson Court. In addition to the playing surface, McKale Center is host to the offices of the UA athletic department. McKale Center is named after J.F. Pop McKale, who was athletic director and coach from 1914 through 1957. Joe Cavaleri ("The Ooh-Aah Man") made his dramatic and inspiring appearances there. Arizona Stadium
, built in 1928 and last expanded in 1976, seats over 56,000 patrons. It hosts American football
games and has also been used for university graduations. The turf is bermuda grass, taken from the local Tucson National Golf Club. Arizona football's home record is 258–139–12. The largest crowd ever in Arizona Stadium was 59,920 in 1996 for a game against Arizona State University. Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium
hosts baseball
games. Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
hosts softball
games.
chapters that are recognized by the University of Arizona. As of 2006, approximately 10.3% of male UA students were members of campus fraternities, and 10.8% of female students were members of sororities. The fraternities and sororities are governed by 4 governing councils. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) represents 25 fraternities, the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) represents 6 historically African-American fraternities and sororities, the Panhellenic Association (PHC) represents 20 sororities and the United Sorority and Fraternity Council (USFC) represents 10 multicultural and multi-interest Greek organizations. Delta Chi Lambda is an Asian American sorority that was established at the University of Arizona in 2000.
, in Wollongong
, Australia where a sister program, the Black Opal Leadership Development Program began in February, 2005. Structure, curriculum, students and even staff are exchanged between the two institutions in a unique international leadership development initiative. Also located in the CSIL is the office of Camp Wildcat
, a student-run non-profit service organization that was started in 1965. Through funding from the CSIL and the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, clubs are given the resources and encouragement to explore unusual interests.
In 2008 University of Arizona students started their own branch (reinstated as of April 21, 2010) of the Arizona Students for Life (ASFL) pro-life
association, whose goal is to help pregnant college women and raise awareness about elective abortion
, of which college women are half all those affected.
The University of Arizona is also home to one of the oldest Model United Nations organizations in the United States, which each year hosts several hundred students high school students in a bilingual simulation of the United Nations
and other international bodies.
is a sketch and improv comedy group at the University of Arizona. Started in 1979 by Adam Goldstein, it claims to be the nation's oldest weekly college sketch and improv comedy group, though in recent years it has branched out into doing previously videotaped comedy bits and shorts as well. Comedy Corner was the first documented college sketch comedy troupe to incorporate improvisation into its weekly shows, a practice that has become more common in recent years.
, and since 1914 the "A" remains a Tucson and Wildcat landmark. The "A" is now painted Red, White and Blue until all troops in foreign wars steming from the September 11 attacks return home. This was passed by the ASUA student government body shortly after the war in Afghanistan began in 2001. Later in the school year, Spring Fling, an ASUA Student Government program, and the largest student-run carnival in the U.S., has been held annually by UA students since 1965, under a different name: The Rites of Spring. The event occurs every April, and brings together the U of A community and the Tucson community. The UA club, Camp Wildcat
, initially began the festival as a fundraiser and continued to do so until the event was taken over by ASUA in 1975.
, named The Pride of Arizona
, played at the halftime of the first Super Bowl
. Most recently, the Pride was named one of the top five marching bands in the nation. They are directed by Professor Jay C. Rees. Instrumentation includes woodwinds, brass, and a marching percussion section, as well as a pomline, twirling line, and color guard.
In 1997, the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) split from the ASUA and has since become the de-facto body to represent issues specific to graduate and professional students. Each year (usually in late March or early April), the graduate and professional students elect 30 representatives by constituency in accordance to College graduate and/or professional student population, with three of those representatives elected at large. The Vice President and President are also elected at large by the graduate and professional student body. Much like ASUA, the GPSC appoints representatives to serve on various University of Arizona Faculty and Administrative Committees and 1 Director to serve on the Arizona Students' Association.
On-Campus residents also have their own Student Leadership Organization known as the "Hall Association". Anyone who lives on campus is automatically a member of RHA. The individual subunits of RHA consist of the hall councils of all 21 residence halls. Each Hall Council is composed of a President, a Director of Programming (for social events), a Director of Operations (for administrative duties), a Director of Sustainability (for recycling duties), and two RHA Representatives who are sent to represent their hall at RHA General Body Meetings. At these meetings, the gathered representatives and RHA Executive Board, elected from within the RHA General Body, discuss issues and make decisions concerning all 6,000 on campus residents. The RHA Executive Board consists of 7 different elected positions (President, Vice President of Public Relations, National Communications Coordinator, Vice President of Finances, Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Services, and Vice President of Programming) along with an appointed Parliamentarian position and an advisor known as the Coordinator for Student Leadership.
The University of Arizona Residence Hall Association has hosted 3 regional IACURH Residence Hall Conferences, which were hosted in 1961, 1997, and 2004. In 2005, the University of Arizona's Residence Hall Association was voted by NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) as the National School of the Year out of over 400 schools across the United States. In May 2009, the University of Arizona hosted the NACURH National Residence Hall Conference (also hosted in 1963), bringing more than 2,200 on-campus residents from over 250 schools across the United States and Canada for 3 days of school spirit and learning how to become more sustainable and socially just. The conference theme (Our Place in Time) focused on sustainability and social justice within the residence halls.
(1984) was filmed at the University of Arizona. In the movie, the Alpha Beta "jock" house is the real-life home to the UA chapter of the Beta Theta Pi
Fraternity. The dorm room (with the balcony) seen in the film is located on the third floor of historic Cochise Hall
on campus. When the characters are moving in at the beginning of the movie, the dorm behind the post office drop is Yuma Hall. In the 1994 film Speed, Dennis Hopper
refers to Sandra Bullock
's character as a Wildcat because of the emblem on her sweater. In the 1989 film "Leviathan
", Peter Weller
's character, Steven Beck, frequently wears an Arizona Wildcats hat. In the 2006 film You, Me and Dupree
, produced by Arizona Alum Scott Stuber, several characters are watching the Arizona Wildcats play football against Washington State University
. While playing in their blue uniforms, Arizona scores on a fumble recovery. The film Eating Out was shot around the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. An episode of Little House on the Prairie
, entitled "A Wiser Heart," used Old Main as a prominent backdrop throughout. The final scene of the film Night of the Lepus
(1972) features views of the University.
The University has also been the setting for portions of David Foster Wallace
's novel Infinite Jest
takes place at the University of Arizona campus, including a scene in the administration building satirizing the school's bureaucracy
. Wallace was an alumnus of UA.
; U.S. Representative (Arizona's 7th congressional district) Raúl M. Grijalva; the creator of the television series Sesame Street
and founder of the Children's Television Workshop Joan Ganz Cooney
; popular female singer Linda Ronstadt
, who is perhaps best known for her chart-topping songs You're No Good
and Blue Bayou
; Brian Schmidt
winner of 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics (1989), Barbara Kingsolver
(Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1981), American author awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000; American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom as the first host of E!'s Talk Soup Greg Kinnear
; the Chairman of the California Delegation on the 2nd White House Conference on Library and Information Services (1991) and two-term Mayor of Palm Springs, California
(1995–1999 and 1999–2003) William G. Kleindienst; and several NASA
astronauts. Nicole Richie
, daughter of Lionel Richie
and reality-television star, also attended but did not graduate. Nobel laureates
on the faculty include two members of the College of Optical Sciences: Dr. Nicolaas Bloembergen
(Physics, 1981) and Dr. Willis E. Lamb (Physics, 1955). The UA has eight Pulitzer Prize
winners (alumni and faculty), and more than 50 faculty as elected members of exclusive academies including Britain's Royal Society
, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, among others. Two current UA professors were also recently named to Popular Science
magazine's list of "Brilliant 10." Also, well-known motion picture producer Jerry Bruckheimer
attended the University, receiving a degree in psychology. Many other famous names attended the University, such as socialite Kourtney Kardashian
, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton
, NBA player Richard Jefferson
and Dallas Mavericks
star Jason Terry
.
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....
and space-grant
Space grant colleges
The space-grant colleges compose a network of 52 consortia, based at universities across the United States, for outer space-related research. Each consortium is based in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia or Puerto Rico and consists of multiple independent institutions, with one of the...
public
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
institution of higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
and research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
located in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the state of Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, founded in 1885 (twenty-seven years before the Arizona Territory achieved statehood). The university includes the University of Arizona College of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine
The University of Arizona College of Medicine is the only MD granting medical school in the state of Arizona. It has two campuses: the Tucson campus is located at the Arizona Health Sciences Center and University Medical Center, and the Phoenix campus is located at the historic Phoenix Union High...
which is one of three medical schools and the only MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
granting medical school in Arizona. As of Fall 2010, total enrollment was 39,086 students. The University of Arizona is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents
Arizona Board of Regents
The Arizona Board of Regents is the governing body of Arizona's public university system, providing policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and their branch campuses.-Organization:...
. The mission of the University of Arizona is, "To discover, educate, serve, and inspire." Arizona is one of the elected members of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
(an organization of North America's premier research institutions) and is the only representative from the state of Arizona to this group.
History
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, and not a university). Tucson's contingent of legislators was delayed in reaching Prescott
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
due to flooding on the Salt River
Salt River (Arizona)
The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...
and by the time they arrived back-room deals allocating the most desirable territorial institutions had already been made. Tucson was largely disappointed at receiving what was viewed as an inferior prize. With no parties willing to step forth and provide land for the new institution, the citizens of Tucson prepared to return the money to the Territorial Legislature until two gamblers and a saloon keeper decided to donate the land necessary to build the school. Classes met for the first time in 1891 with 32 students in Old Main, the first building constructed on campus, and still in use to this day.
Because there were no high schools in Arizona Territory, the University maintained separate preparatory classes for the first 23 years of operation.
A downturn in Arizona's economy in the 2000s led to less money being allocated by the state legislature to Arizona's universities. Academic programs were hard-hit, and the university was forced to consider extensive changes, beginning in 2001. As a result, a reorganization known as Focused Excellence aimed to focus the mission of the university on research, graduate training, and more selective undergraduate education, in part, by eliminating and merging less popular and low-revenue academic departments. The closure of some programs, notably the innovative Arizona International College
Arizona International College
Arizona International College was a American liberal arts college in Tucson, Arizona that existed from 1996-2005.-Background:In the 1990s Arizona's public university system hosted two large public universities in Tucson and Phoenix , the smaller Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, and a...
and the School of Planning, provoked widespread protest. However, efforts to improve academic performance and to encourage new research areas were not enough to prevent a number of key departures from the faculty in the early 2000s, and budgets remain restricted. Focused Excellence was quietly wound up in 2006 and its website removed, but President Robert Shelton's Dec. 2006 message to the University suggested further retrenchment is essential in the light of funding cuts.
Academics
The University of Arizona offers 334 fields of study leading to bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. Academic departments and programs are organized into colleges and schools. The university maintains a current list of colleges and schools at http://www.arizona.edu/index/colleges.php. The University of Arizona is the only remaining Pac-10 conference school to not award plus and minus grades for courses. Currently, grades are given on a strict 4-point scale with "A" worth 4, "B" worth 3, "C" worth 2, "D" worth 1 and "F" worth zero points. In 2004, there were discussions with students and faculty may lead the UA toward using a plus-minus grading system in the future. the university still uses the 4-points scale.Rankings
In 2011, U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Arizona as the 59th best public university in the United States. The Eller College of ManagementEller College of Management
The Eller College of Management is a business and public administration school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona. The Eller College of Management began in 1913 as bachelor's degree program in commerce before becoming the University of Arizona School of Business and Public...
's programs in Accounting, Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which can be defined as "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response...
, Management Information Systems, Management and Organizations and Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
are ranked in the nation's top 25 by U.S. News & World Report. The Masters in MIS program has been ranked in the top 5 by U.S. News & World Report since the inception of the rankings. The Eller MBA program has ranked among the top 50 programs for 11 straight years by U.S. News & World Report. In 2005 the MBA program was ranked 40th by U.S. News & World Report. Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
Magazine ranked the Eller MBA program 33rd overall for having the best Return on Investment (ROI), in its fourth biennial rankings of business schools 2005. The MBA program was ranked 24th by The Wall Street Journal's 2005 Interactive Regional Ranking. The Council for Aid to Education ranked the UA 12th among public universities and 24th overall in financial support and gifts. Campaign Arizona, an effort to raise over $1 billion USD for the school, exceeded that goal by $200 million a year earlier than projected. The National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
ranks UA 16th among public universities, and 26th among all universities nationwide in research funding.
The James E. Rogers College of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law
James E. Rogers College of Law is the law school at the University of Arizona located in Tucson, Arizona and was the first law school founded in the State of Arizona, opening its doors in 1915. Formerly known as University of Arizona College of Law, it was renamed in 1999 in honor of noted...
was ranked 42nd nationally and the University of Arizona College of Medicine
University of Arizona College of Medicine
The University of Arizona College of Medicine is the only MD granting medical school in the state of Arizona. It has two campuses: the Tucson campus is located at the Arizona Health Sciences Center and University Medical Center, and the Phoenix campus is located at the historic Phoenix Union High...
was ranked 51st nationally in primary care
Primary care
Primary care is the term for the health services by providers who act as the principal point of consultation for patients within a health care system...
by U.S. News & World Report in for 2011. The College of Medicine was also ranked No. 7 among the nation's medical schools for Hispanic students, according to Hispanic Business Magazine. The Systems and Industrial Engineering
Industrial engineering
Industrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...
(SIE) Department is ranked 10th in the 'America's Best Graduate Schools 2009' by US News and World Report. The analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry is the study of the separation, identification, and quantification of the chemical components of natural and artificial materials. Qualitative analysis gives an indication of the identity of the chemical species in the sample and quantitative analysis determines the amount of...
program at UA is ranked 6th nationally by U.S. News & World Report (2010). The Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) Department is ranked 17th nationally by U.S. News & World Report (2010). The Geosciences program is ranked 1st nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2010. The Doctor of Pharmacy
Doctor of Pharmacy
A Doctor of Pharmacy is a professional doctorate degree in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a first professional degree, and a prerequisite for licensing to exercise the profession of pharmacist.-Kenya :...
program at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy
University of Arizona College of Pharmacy
The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy is the pharmacy school of the University of Arizona, a public university in Tucson, Arizona. The college is the only college of pharmacy at an public university in Arizona, and one of two colleges of pharmacy in the state. In fall 2010, there were 387...
is ranked 9th nationally by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. The Photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
program is ranked 9th nationally, also by U.S. News & World Report in 2008. The Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
program is ranked 13th nationally by the Philosophical Gourmet Report
Philosophical Gourmet Report
The Philosophical Gourmet Report edited by Philosophy and Law professor Brian Leiter — in response to the Gourman Report — is a ranking of philosophy departments in the English-speaking world, based on a survey of philosophers who are nominated as evaluators by the Report's Advisory...
, and #1 in the world in Political Philosophy. Internationally, the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
ranked University of Arizona 95th in the world and the 2011 QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
ranked this university 163rd. In its May 2009 issue, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine ranked UA the fifth best party school in the nation.
In 2009, the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture's (CALA) undergraduate program in architecture has been ranked 12th in the nation for all universities, public and private, as reported in Design Intelligence. The School of Landscape Architecture's graduate program has been ranked No. 1 in the Western United States. The 10th annual America's Best Architecture Schools study by the Design Futures Council ranks accredited undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners.
The School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Arizona is one of the most highly ranked area studies programs focusing on the Middle East in the United States. In addition to offering language training in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, and Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
(both Modern and Ottoman
Ottoman Turkish language
The Ottoman Turkish language or Ottoman language is the variety of the Turkish language that was used for administrative and literary purposes in the Ottoman Empire. It borrows extensively from Arabic and Persian, and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
), it is collocated with the Middle East Studies Association.
Admissions
The UA is considered a "selective" university by U.S. News and World Report. Sixty-nine freshman students were National Merit Scholars.UA students hail from all states in the U.S. While nearly 72% of students are from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, nearly 10% are from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, followed by a significant student presence from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Washington, and New York (2007). The UA has over 2,200 international students representing 122 countries. International students comprise approximately 6% of the total enrollment at UA.
Honors College
The University of Arizona Honors College provides a program for over 3,000 students that creates a smaller community feel, like that of a liberal arts college, within a large, research institution. It started in 1962 with an acceptance of seventy-five students and has since grown to 3,316 in the academic year 2010-2011 http://www.honors.arizona.edu. The main offices for the University of Arizona Honors College are located near Park Ave. and 2nd Street, near the Harvill Lecture Hall building. These offices are known as the Slonaker House.The University of Arizona Honors College is in affiliation with the University of Arizona and is headed by Dean Dr. Patricia MacCorquodale and Associate Dean Dr. Laura Berry. Under the Dean and Vice Dean are the offices of the Academic Advising Coordinator, Director of Nationally Competitive Scholarships, Director of Recruitment and Outreach, Director of Development, Program Coordinator for Career and Development and Community Engagement, Honors Professors, and Honors advisors.
The University of Arizona Honors College has a strong first-year program for its students that includes common reading materials and Colloquium/Paladin classes everyone must take as a freshman. The overall requirements for the program entail that each honors student must complete 30 credit hours of honors credit by graduation time and maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5. To complete these credit hours, students may take courses specifically designated as honors at the University of Arizona or may turn a regular course into an honors course
Honors course
Honors course is a distinction applied in the United States to certain classes to distinguish them from standard course offerings. The difference between a regular class and the honors class is not necessarily the amount of work, but the type of work required and the pace of studying...
through the use of an honors contract. Certain restrictions apply. In addition, they must collaborate with a faculty
Faculty
Faculty may refer to:In education:* Faculty , a division of a university* Faculty , academic staff of a university or collegeIn other uses:...
member and write an honors thesis before graduating with honors from the University of Arizona.
The University of Arizona Honors College provides two on-campus dorms for their students, Yuma Hall and Árbol de la Vida. Yuma houses 184 men and women http://www.arizona.edu/buildings/yuma-residence-hall and is located near the Slonaker House on East North Campus Drive by the Maricopa Residence Hall. Meanwhile, Árbol de la Vida houses 719 men and women and is situated on the edge of campus on 6th street and Tyndall Avenue near the Park Student Union and the dorm, Arizona Sonora. The two halls offer different community feels for their students. Yuma presents a close-knit, small community while Árbol de la Vida provides a larger community of honors students with a newer, more modern living experience. Yuma was renovated and turned into an honors dorm in 1988, whereas Árbol de la Vida first opened to students in the Fall of 2011http://www.honors.arizona.edu.
There are additional resources available to honors students in the University of Arizona Honors College. Such resources include: longer library check-out dates, cheaper printing options at the Slonaker House, priority registration, additional honors advising, smaller class sizes taught by Honors faculty, clubs and organizations specifically available to only honors students such as the Honors Student Council and the Honors College Ambassadors, and additional scholarship opportunities. However, there is also a fee for participating in honors and an additional honors thesis is required of its students before graduation http://www.honors.arizona.edu.
Research
Arizona is classified as a Carnegie FoundationCarnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education is a framework for classifying, or grouping, colleges and universities in the United States. The primary purpose of the framework is for educational research and analysis, where it is often important to identify groups of roughly...
"RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity)" university (formerly "Research 1" university). The university receives more than $600 million USD annually in research funding, generating around two thirds of the research dollars in the Arizona university system. 26th highest in the U.S. (including public and private institutions). The university has an endowment of $480.2 million USD as of 2010.
The U of A is awarded more NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
grants for space exploration than any other university nationally. The UA was awarded over $325 million USD for its Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is a research center for planetary science located in Tucson, Arizona. It is also a graduate school, constituting the Department of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona...
(LPL) to lead NASA's 2007–08 mission to Mars
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...
to explore the Martian Arctic. The LPL's work in the Cassini
Cassini-Huygens
Cassini–Huygens is a joint NASA/ESA/ASI spacecraft mission studying the planet Saturn and its many natural satellites since 2004. Launched in 1997 after nearly two decades of gestation, it includes a Saturn orbiter and an atmospheric probe/lander for the moon Titan, although it has also returned...
spacecraft orbit around Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
is larger than that of any other university globally. The U of A laboratory designed and operated the atmospheric radiation investigations and imaging on the probe. The UA operates the HiRISE
HiRISE
High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is a camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The 65 kg , $40 million instrument was built under the direction of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp....
camera, a part of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
. UA receives more NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
grants annually than the next nine top NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
-funded universities combined. As of June 2011, the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory is actively involved in five spacecraft missions: Cassini; the Phoenix Mars Lander; the HiRISE camera orbiting Mars; the MESSENGER mission to Mercury and OSIRIS-REx, the first U.S. sample return mission to an asteroid, which was just selected by NASA. UA students have been selected as Flinn, Truman, Rhodes, Goldwater
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
, Fulbright, and National Merit
National Merit Scholarship Program
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and college scholarships administered by National Merit Scholarship Corporation , a privately funded, not-for-profit organization. The program began in 1955...
scholars. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, UA is among the top 25 producers of Fulbright awards in the U.S.
UA is a member of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy is a consortium of universities and other institutions that operates astronomical observatories and telescopes...
, a consortium of institutions pursuing research in astronomy. The association operates observatories and telescopes, notably Kitt Peak National Observatory
Kitt Peak National Observatory
The Kitt Peak National Observatory is a United States astronomical observatory located on 2,096 m Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono O'odham Nation, southwest of Tucson...
located just outside of Tucson. UA is a member of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
, and the sole representative from Arizona to this group. Led by Roger Angel, researchers in the Steward Observatory
Steward Observatory
The University of Arizona's Steward Observatorys main office is located on the University's campus and is closely tied to the Department of Astronomy. Established in 1916 by its first director, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, and a $60,000 bequest made by Lavinia Steward in memory of her late husband...
Mirror Lab at UA are working in concert to build the world's most advanced telescope. Known as the Giant Magellan Telescope
Giant Magellan Telescope
The Giant Magellan Telescope is a ground-based extremely large telescope planned for completion in 2018. It will consist of seven diameter primary segments, with the resolving power of a primary mirror and collecting area equivalent to one...
, the instrument will produce images 10 times sharper than those from the Earth-orbiting Hubble Telescope. The telescope is set to be completed in 2016 at a cost of $500 million USD. Researchers from at least nine institutions are working to secure the funding for the project. The telescope will include seven 18-ton mirrors capable of providing clear images of volcanoes and riverbeds on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
and mountains on the moon at a rate 40 times faster than the world's current large telescopes. The mirrors of the Giant Magellan Telescope will be built at the U of A and transported to a permanent mountaintop site in the Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
where the telescope will be constructed.
Reaching Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
in March 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is a NASA multipurpose spacecraft designed to conduct reconnaissance and Exploration of Mars from orbit...
contained the HiRISE camera, with Primary Investigator is scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
Alfred McEwen as the lead on the project. This NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
mission to Mars carried a UA-designed camera expected to capture the highest-resolution images of the planet ever seen. The journey of the orbiter was 300 million miles. The project is expected to be in its Primary Science Phase in the month of October. Currently operating on the surface of Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
is the Lander known as the Phoenix Scout Mission
Phoenix (spacecraft)
Phoenix was a robotic spacecraft on a space exploration mission on Mars under the Mars Scout Program. The Phoenix lander descended on Mars on May 25, 2008...
, led by the U of A Scientist Peter Smith. The mission's purpose is to improve knowledge of the Martian Arctic. After a successful landing on Mars in May 2008, it is the first NASA mission completely controlled by a university. The Arizona Radio Observatory
Arizona Radio Observatory
The Arizona Radio Observatory , a part of Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, operates the 12 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak and the Submillimeter Telescope on Mount Graham....
, a part of Steward Observatory
Steward Observatory
The University of Arizona's Steward Observatorys main office is located on the University's campus and is closely tied to the Department of Astronomy. Established in 1916 by its first director, Andrew Ellicott Douglass, and a $60,000 bequest made by Lavinia Steward in memory of her late husband...
, operates the 12 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak
Kitt Peak
Kitt Peak is a mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the location of the Kitt Peak National Observatory. The radio telescope at the Observatory is one of ten dishes comprising the Very Long Baseline Array ....
and the Submillimeter Telescope
Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope
The Submillimeter Telescope , formerly known as the Heinrich Hertz Submillimeter Telescope, is a submillimeter wavelength radio telescope located on Mount Graham, Arizona. It is a 10-meter-wide parabolic dish inside a building to protect it from bad weather. The building front doors and roof are...
on Mount Graham
Mount Graham
Mount Graham is a mountain in southeastern Arizona in the United States, in the Coronado National Forest. It is the highest mountain in the Pinaleño Mountains. As the name "Mount Graham" is often used by locals to refer to the entire mountain range, the peak itself is frequently referred to as...
.
The National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
funded the iPlant Collaborative
IPlant Collaborative
The iPlant Collaborative is a virtual organization created by a cooperative agreement funded by the US National Science Foundation to create cyberinfrastructure for the plant sciences . The NSF compared cyberinfrastructure to physical infrastructure, ".....
in 2008.
In June 2011, the University announced that it would assume full ownership of the Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 is a structure originally built to be an artificial, materially-closed ecological system in Oracle, Arizona by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture whose principal officers were John P. Allen, inventor and Executive Director, and Margret Augustine, CEO...
scientific research facility in Oracle, Arizona
Oracle, Arizona
- Geology :Oracle and the surrounding area sit largely on a slab of granite called "Oracle granite" that is visible as red or grey-and-white speckled "boulders" rising over the scrub and grass. It is mostly porphyritic biotite Precambrian granite with large microcline phenocrysts, and has...
, north of Tucson, effective July 1. Biosphere 2 was constructed by private developers (funded mainly by Texas businessman and philanthropist Ed Bass) with its first closed system
Closed ecological system
Closed ecological systems are ecosystems that do not rely on matter exchange with any part outside the system.The term is most often used to describe small manmade ecosystems...
experiment commencing in 1991. The University had been the official management partner of the facility for research purposes since 2007.
Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...
, in its "Ranked Lists for Institutions for 2005" (the most recent year available), ranked the UA libraries as the 33rd overall university library in North America (out of 113) based on various statistical measures of quality; this is one rank below the library of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, one rank ahead of that of Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
. (both these schools are members, along with the UA, of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
).
As of 2009, the UA's library system contains over five million print volumes, 600,000 electronic books, and 54,000 electronic journals. The Main Library, opened in 1976, serves as the library system's reference, periodical, and administrative center; most of the main collections and special collections are housed here as well. The Main Library is located on the southeast quadrant of campus near McKale Center
McKale Center
McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large...
and Arizona Stadium
Arizona Stadium
Arizona Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pacific-12 Conference, and its current seating capacity is 57,803....
.
In 2002, a $20 million, 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) addition, the Integrated Learning Center (ILC), was completed; it is a home base for first-year students (especially those undecided on a major) which features classrooms, auditoriums, a courtyard with an alcove for vending machines, and a greatly expanded computer lab (the Information Commons) with several dozen Gateway
Gateway, Inc.
Gateway Computer Corporation, is a computer hardware company headquartered in Irvine, California, USA which develops, manufactures, supports, and markets a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories...
and Apple Macintosh G5 workstations (these computers are available for use by the general public (with some restrictions) as well as by UA students, faculty and staff). Much of the ILC was constructed underground, underneath the east end of the Mall; the ILC connects to the basement floor of the Main Library through the Information Commons. As part of the project, additional new office space for the Library was constructed on the existing fifth floor.
The Science and Engineering Library is in a nearby building from the 1960s that houses volumes and periodicals from those fields. The Music Building (on the northwest quadrant of campus where many of the fine arts disciplines are clustered) houses the Fine Arts Library, including reference collections for architecture, music (including sheet music, recordings and listening stations), and photography. There is a small library at the Center for Creative Photography
Center for Creative Photography
The Center for Creative Photography , established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American photographers including those of Edward Weston, Harry Callahan and Garry...
, also in the fine arts complex, devoted to the art and science of photography. The Law Library is in the law building (James E. Rogers College of Law), located at the intersection of Speedway Boulevard and Mountain Avenue.
The Arizona Health Sciences Library, built in 1996, is located on the Health Sciences Center on the north end of campus and in Phoenix on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The library serves the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health, the University of Arizona Health Network, and is a resource for health professionals and citizens across the state.
Academic organizations and centers
The University of Arizona Poetry CenterUniversity of Arizona Poetry Center
The is among the nation’s finest and most extensive collections of contemporary poetry. It is the largest such collection which is "open shelf."-History of the Collection and the Center:...
is among the nation’s finest and most extensive collections of contemporary poetry. It is the largest such collection that is "open shelf".
Campus
The main campus sits on 380 acres (1.5 km²) in central Tucson, about one mile (1.6 km) northeast of downtown. There are 179 buildings on the main campus. Many of the early buildings, including the Arizona State MuseumArizona State Museum
The Arizona State Museum , founded in 1893, was originally a repository for the collection and protection of archaeological resources. Today, however, ASM stores artifacts, exhibits them and provides education and research opportunities. It was formed by authority of the Territorial Legislature...
buildings (one of them the 1927 main library) and Centennial Hall, were designed by Roy Place
Roy Place
Roy W. Place was a Tucson, Arizona architect.Born in San Diego in 1887, Place moved to Tucson in 1917 after working in Chicago and the Boston firm of Sheply, Rutan and Coolidge. Place partnered with John Lyman in 1919, together constructing over 20 buildings in Tucson. Place worked independently...
, a prominent Tucson architect. It was Place's use of red brick that set the tone for the red brick facades that are a basic and ubiquitous part of nearly all UA buildings, even those built in recent decades. Indeed, almost every UA building has red brick as a major component of the design, or at the very least, a stylistic accent to harmonize it with the other buildings on campus.
The campus is roughly divided into quadrants. The north and south sides of campus are delineated by a grassy expanse called the Mall, which stretches from Old Main eastward to the campus' eastern border at Campbell Avenue (a major north-south arterial street). The west and east sides of campus are separated roughly by Highland Avenue and the Student Union Memorial Center (see below).
The science and mathematics buildings tend to be clustered in the southwest quadrant; the intercollegiate athletics facilities to the southeast; the arts and humanities buildings to the northwest (with the dance department being a major exception as its main facilities are far to the east end of campus), with the engineering buildings in the north central area. The optical and space sciences buildings are clustered on the east side of campus near the sports stadiums and the (1976) main library.
Speedway Boulevard, one of Tucson's primary east-west arterial streets, traditionally defined the northern boundary of campus but since the 1980s, several university buildings have been constructed north of this street, expanding into a neighborhood traditionally filled with apartment complexes and single-family homes. The University has purchased a handful of these apartment complexes for student housing in recent years. Sixth Street typically defines the southern boundary, with single-family homes (many of which are rented out to students) south of this street.
Park Avenue has traditionally defined the western boundary of campus, and there is a stone wall which runs along a large portion of the east side of the street, leading to the old Main Gate, and into the driveway leading to Old Main. Along or adjacent to all of these major streets are a wide variety of retail facilities serving the student, faculty and staff population (as is the case in other similar university neighborhoods throughout the United States): shops, bookstores, bars, banks, credit unions, coffeehouses and major chain fast-food restaurants such as Wendy's
Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food chain restaurant founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company decided to move its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. It has been owned by Triarc since 2008...
, McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
and Pei Wei
Pei Wei Asian Diner
Pei Wei Asian Diner is a restaurant chain in the United States. Owned by P. F. Chang's China Bistro , it offers a modest selection of freshly prepared Asian items influenced by the cuisines of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand...
. The area near University Boulevard and Park Avenue, near the Main Gate, has been a major center of such retail activity going back to the university's early decades; many shops dating from the 1920s have been renovated since the late 1990s, other new retail shops have been built in recent years, and a nine-story Marriott
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
hotel was built in this immediate district in 1996.
The oldest campus buildings are located west of Old Main. Most of the buildings east of Old Main date from the 1940s to the 1980s, with a few recent buildings constructed in the years since 1990.
Food court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...
with such national chains as Burger King, Panda Express
Panda Express
Panda Express is a fast casual restaurant chain serving American Chinese cuisine. It operates mainly inside the United States, in casinos, shopping malls, supermarkets, airports, train stations, strip plazas, theme parks, stadiums, college campuses and The Pentagon...
, Papa John's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza
Papa John's Pizza is the third largest take-out and delivery pizza restaurant chain in the United States, behind Pizza Hut and Domino's Pizza. It is based in Louisville, Kentucky. Papa John's slogan is "Better Ingredients. Better pizza. Papa John's"...
and Chick-fil-A), a new two-level bookstore (that includes a counter for Clinique
Clinique
Clinique is a manufacturer of skincare, cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances, owned by the Estée Lauder Corporation.- History :In 1967, American Vogue magazine published an article called “Can Great Skin Be Created?”, written by beauty editor Carol Phillips with Dr. Norman Orentreich, discussing...
merchandise as well as an office supplies section sponsored by Staples with many of the same Staples-branded items found in their regular stores), 23 meeting rooms, eight lounge areas (including one dedicated to the USS Arizona
USS Arizona (BB-39)
USS Arizona, a , was built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside...
), a computer lab, a U.S. Post Office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
, a copy center named Fast Copy, and a video arcade. A bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
housed on the USS Arizona
USS Arizona (BB-39)
USS Arizona, a , was built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside...
, one of the two bells rescued from the ship after the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, has a permanent home in the clock tower of the Student Union Memorial Center on campus. The bell first arrived on campus in July 1946. The bell is rung seven times on the third Wednesday of every month at 12:07 pm – symbolic of the battleship's sinking on Dec. 7, 1941 – to honor individuals at the UA, as well as after home football games.
Much of the main campus has been designated an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
. Plants from around the world are labeled along a self-guided plant walk. The Krutch Cactus Garden includes the tallest Boojum tree
Boojum tree
Fouquieria columnaris, the Boojum tree or cirio is a tree in the family Fouquieriaceae, whose other members include the ocotillos. It is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula, with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora, Mexico...
in the state of Arizona. (The university also manages Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park
Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park
Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is an arboretum and state park of Arizona, USA, located in Superior.-Description:Boyce Thompson Arboretum Park consists of a botanical collection that includes a wide range of habitats and a main loop walking trail. Founded in 1925, the arboretum is the...
, located in rural Pinal County
Pinal County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*72.4% White*4.6% Black*5.6% Native American*1.7% Asian*0.4% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*3.8% Two or more races*11.5% Other races*28.5% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
about 85 miles (137 km) north of the main campus.) Two herbaria are located on the University campus and both are referred to as "ARIZ" in the Index Herbariorum
The Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, opened in 2003 (across the Mall from McKale Center
McKale Center
McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large...
) as a 28600 square feet (2,657 m²) dedicated performance venue for the UA's dance program, one of the most highly regarded university dance departments in the United States. Designed by Gould Evans, a Phoenix-based architectural firm, the theatre was awarded the 2003 Citation Award from the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
, Arizona Chapter.
The Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
department has setup a webcam
Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds its images in real time to a computer or computer network, often via USB, ethernet, or Wi-Fi.Their most popular use is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to act as videophones or videoconference stations. This common use as a video camera...
that provides a live feed of the campus as seen from the top of the Gould Simpson building.
The Berger Memorial Fountain at the west entrance of Old Main honors the UA students who lost their lives in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and dates back to 1919.
The University of Arizona generates renewable energy with solar panels that have been installed on campus buildings. In 2011, the Sustainable Endowments Institute gave the university a College Sustainability Report Card grade of "B."
Organization
The University of Arizona, like its sister institutions Arizona State UniversityArizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
and Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University
Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. It is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, and has 39 satellite campuses in the state of Arizona. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees.As of...
, is governed by the Arizona Board of Regents
Arizona Board of Regents
The Arizona Board of Regents is the governing body of Arizona's public university system, providing policy guidance to Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and their branch campuses.-Organization:...
or the ABOR, a 12-member body. According to information published by the ABOR office and available on their Web site, eight volunteer members are appointed by the Governor to staggered eight-year terms; two students serve on the Board for two-year appointments, with the first year being a nonvoting apprentice year. The Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction serve as voting ex-officio members. The ABOR provides "policy guidance" and oversight to the three major degree-granting universities, as provided for by Title 15 of the Arizona Revised Statutes
Arizona Revised Statutes
The Arizona Revised Statutes is the name given to the statutory laws in the state of Arizona. The ARS went into effect on January 9, 1956. It was most recently updated in second regular session of the 49th legislature. There are currently 49 titles, although three have been repealed.-External...
.
The current interim president is Eugene G. Sander, who had been UA vice provost and dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Sander began his service as president in August 2011 and will serve until a permanent president is named by the Board of Regents. The previous president, Robert N. Shelton
Robert N. Shelton
Robert N. Shelton was the president of the University of Arizona. Before beginning his position on 1 July 2006, he served as the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His starting salary at Arizona is reportedly $550,000...
, began his tenure in 2006 and resigned in the summer of 2011 to accept the presidency of the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
, (a BCS
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
tournament played annually in the Phoenix area). Shelton's predecessor, Peter Likins
Peter Likins
Peter William Likins was president of the University of Arizona from 1997 until his retirement in summer 2006.Previous posts in order of most recent were:*President of Lehigh University...
, vacated his post at the conclusion of the 2005–06 academic term. Notable past UA presidents include Likins, Manuel Pacheco (the first person of Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
descent to lead the university and for whom the Integrated Learning Center is named), Homer L. Shantz, Henry Koffler, John Schaefer, and Richard Harvill.
Athletics
Like many large public universities in the U.S., sports are a major activity on campus, and receive a large operating budget. Arizona's athletic teams are nicknamed the Wildcats, a name derived from a 1914 football game with then CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
champions Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
, where the L.A. Times asserted that, "the Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats." The University of Arizona participates in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
's Division I-A in the Pacific-12 Conference, which it joined in 1978.
Men's basketball
The men's basketballBasketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
team has been one of the nation's most successful programs since Lute Olson
Lute Olson
Robert Luther "Lute" Olson is a retired American men's basketball coach. He was most recently head coach at the University of Arizona for a period of 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for 9 years and California State University, Long Beach for one season...
was hired as head coach in 1983, and is still known as a national powerhouse in Division I men's basketball. Between 1985 and 2009, the team reached the NCAA Tournament 25 consecutive years, which is the second-longest streak in NCAA history, 2nd only to North Carolina's
North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball
The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and is considered one of the most successful programs in NCAA history...
record of 27 consecutive appearances from 1975 to 2001. The Wildcats have reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament in 1988
1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City, Missouri...
, 1994
1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1994 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina...
, 1997
1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1997 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 1997, and ended with the championship game on March 31 in Indianapolis, Indiana...
, and 2001
2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2001 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 13, 2001 with the play-in game, and ended with the championship game on April 2 in...
. In 1997, Arizona defeated the University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky , a founding member of the Southeastern Conference...
, the defending national champions, to win the NCAA National Championship (NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
) by a score of 84–79 in overtime; Arizona's first national championship victory. The 1997 championship team became the first and only in NCAA history to defeat three number-one seeds en route to a national title (Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky—the North Carolina game being the final game for longtime UNC head coach Dean Smith). Point guard Miles Simon
Miles Simon
Miles Julian Simon is a retired American professional basketball player.Simon was born in Stockholm to an American father and a Norwegian mother. He played guard for the University of Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team, where he formed a formidable backcourt duo with current Miami Heat point...
was chosen as 1997 Final Four MVP
NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player
At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships , the Associated Press selects a Most Outstanding Player. The MOP need not be, but almost always is a member of the Championship team, especially since the third place game was eliminated after 1981...
(Simon was also an assistant coach under Olson from 2005 to 2008). The Cats also boast the third highest winning percentage in the nation over the last twenty years. Arizona has won a total of 21 conference championships in its programs history. Since the institution of the two-round draft system in 1989 by the NBA, no school has had more draft picks than Arizona.
The Wildcats play their home games at the McKale Center
McKale Center
McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large...
in Tucson. A number of former Wildcats have gone on to pursue successful professional NBA careers (especially during the Lute Olson era), including Gilbert Arenas
Gilbert Arenas
Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . He plays as a point guard and shooting guard....
, Richard Jefferson
Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jefferson is a 6 ft 7 in American professional basketball player currently playing for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association...
, Mike Bibby
Mike Bibby
Michael "Mike" Bibby is an American professional basketball player who most recently played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He is a 6'2" point guard, and he attended Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix, Arizona and played collegiately at the University of Arizona. In...
, Jason Terry
Jason Terry
Jason Eugene Terry is an American professional basketball player playing with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He plays shooting guard, although he also can play point guard. His nickname, "JET," derives from his initials...
, Sean Elliott
Sean Elliott
Sean Michael Elliott is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA.-Early life:Elliott was born in Tucson, Arizona and was youngest of three boys. He was a very intelligent boy growing up and attended the G.A.T.E. program at Toleson Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona...
, Damon Stoudamire
Damon Stoudamire
Damon Lamon Stoudamire is a retired American professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team. The , point guard was selected with the 7th overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 NBA Draft and won the 1995–96 NBA Rookie of the...
, Luke Walton
Luke Walton
Luke Theodore Walton is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His primary position is at small forward. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father Hall of Famer Bill Walton became the first and only father and son to...
, Hassan Adams
Hassan Adams
Hassan Olawale Adams is an American professional basketball player currently playing for Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association.-High school career:...
, Salim Stoudamire
Salim Stoudamire
Charles Salim Stoudamire is an American professional basketball player. He is a cousin of former NBA point guard and 1996 NBA Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire and current University of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball player Terrence Jones.Stoudamire was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the...
, Andre Iguodala
Andre Iguodala
Andre Tyler Iguodala is an American professional basketball player who plays small forward for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association . Iguodala is listed at 6 ft 6 in and 207 lbs. . Iguodala played his high school basketball for Lanphier High School in Springfield, Illinois...
, Channing Frye
Channing Frye
Channing Thomas Frye is an American professional basketball player and currently plays for the Phoenix Suns. His positions are center and power forward. He attended the University of Arizona...
, Brian Williams (later known as Bison Dele
Bison Dele
Bison Dele formerly known as Brian Carson Williams, was an American professional basketball player who finished his career as a center for the NBA's Detroit Pistons...
), Sean Rooks, Jud Buechler, Michael Dickerson, Chase Budinger
Chase Budinger
Chase Andrew Budinger is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association...
, Jordan Hill, Jerryd Bayless, Derrick Williams and Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr
Stephen Douglas "Steve" Kerr is a retired American professional basketball player. He shot .454 from three point range over his career and currently holds the record as the most accurate three-point shooter in NBA history...
. Kenny Lofton
Kenny Lofton
Kenneth Lofton is a former Major League Baseball outfielder known for his great speed on the base paths as well as in the field, award-winning defensive play , timely hitting, and playful spirit. He batted and threw left-handed...
, now best known as a former Major League Baseball star, was a four year letter winner as a Wildcat basketball player (and was on the 1988 Final Four team), before one year on the Arizona baseball team. Another notable former Wildcat basketball player is Eugene Edgerson
Eugene Edgerson
Eugene Edgerson is an American basketball player who presently performs with the Harlem Globetrotters. As is tradition with the Globetrotters, Edgerson has a nickname: "Wildkat", presumably in honor of his alma mater, the University of Arizona.Edgerson spent 1996-2001 as a member of the Arizona...
, who played on the 1997 and 2001 Final Four squads, and is currently one of the primary stars of the Harlem Globetrotters
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...
as "Wildkat" Edgerson.
Before Lute Olson's hire in 1983, Arizona was the first major Division I school to hire an African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
head coach in Fred Snowden
Fred Snowden
Frederick Snowden was an American businessman and men's basketball coach at the University of Arizona. Nicknamed "The Fox" for his cool demeanor, he was the first African-American head coach at a major university...
, in 1972. After a 25-year tenure as Arizona head coach, Olson announced his retirement from the Arizona basketball program in October 2008. After two seasons of using interim coaches, Arizona named Sean Miller
Sean Miller
Sean Miller is an American college basketball coach, and currently the head men's basketball coach at the University of Arizona.-Early years:...
, head coach at Xavier University, as its new head basketball coach in April 2009.
Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team began at The University of Arizona in 1899 under the nickname "Varsity" (a name kept until the 1914 season when the team was deemed the "Wildcats").
The football team was notably successful in the 1990s, under head coach Dick Tomey
Dick Tomey
-External links:* *...
; his "Desert Swarm" defense was characterized by tough, hard-nosed tactics. In 1993, the team had its first 10-win season and beat the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl
Fiesta Bowl
The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Frito-Lay and named with their Tostitos brand, is a United States college football bowl game played annually at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Between its origination in 1971 and 2006, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil...
by a score of 29–0. It was the bowl game's only shutout in its then 23-year history. In 1998, the team posted a school-record 12–1 season and made the Holiday Bowl
Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I-A college football bowl game that has been played annually at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California, since 1978. Beginning with the 2010 playing the bowl will officially be known as the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl after...
in which it defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Arizona ended that season ranked 4th nationally in the coaches and API poll. The 1998 Holiday Bowl was televised on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
and set the now-surpassed record of being the most watched of any bowl game in that network's history (the current record belongs to the 2005 Alamo Bowl
Alamo Bowl
The Alamo Bowl is a major American college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the 65,000-seat Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. It matches the second choice team from the Pacific-12 Conference and the third choice team from the Big 12 Conference.Traditionally, the Alamo Bowl has been...
between Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
and Nebraska). The program was led by Mike Stoops
Mike Stoops
Michael J. Stoops is a former American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at the University of Arizona, a position he held from 2003 until his firing in 2011. Stoops previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, Kansas State University, and the...
, brother of Bob Stoops
Bob Stoops
Robert Anthony "Bob" Stoops is the head coach of the University of Oklahoma football team. During the 2000 season, Stoops led the Sooners to an Orange Bowl victory and a national championship....
, the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. Mike Stoops was fired on October 10, 2011. Rich Rodriguez
Rich Rodriguez
Richard A. "Rich" Rodriguez is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Arizona. Rodriguez previously served as the head football coach at Salem University , Glenville State College , West Virginia University , and the University...
was hired on November 21, 2011 to lead the Wildcats. Announcement was made by athletic director Greg Byrne via Twitter.
Baseball
The baseballBaseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team had its first season in 1905. The baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
team has captured three national championship titles in 1976, 1980, and 1986, all coached by Jerry Kindall
Jerry Kindall
Gerald Donald Kindall , is a retired professional baseball player who played second base in the major leagues from 1956-1965 for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins. Kindall was originally signed up by the Chicago Cubs as a bonus baby...
. Arizona baseball teams have appeared in the NCAA National Championship title series a total of six times, including 1956, 1959, 1963, 1976, 1980, and 1986 (College World Series
College World Series
The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...
). The team is currently coached by Andy Lopez
Andy Lopez
Andy Lopez is an American college baseball coach. He is currently the head baseball coach at the University of Arizona, and he has previously served as the head baseball coach at California State University Dominguez Hills, Pepperdine University and the University of Florida...
; aided by Assistant Coach Mark Wasikowski, Assistant Coach Jeff Casper and Volunteer Assistant Coach Keith Francis. Arizona baseball also has a student section named The Hot Corner. Famous UA baseball alums include Terry Francona
Terry Francona
Terry Jon Francona , nicknamed "Tito," is a former Major League Baseball manager and a former player. He was a first baseman and outfielder in the majors from 1981 to 1990. After retiring as a player, he managed several minor league teams in the 1990s before managing the Philadelphia Phillies for...
, Kenny Lofton
Kenny Lofton
Kenneth Lofton is a former Major League Baseball outfielder known for his great speed on the base paths as well as in the field, award-winning defensive play , timely hitting, and playful spirit. He batted and threw left-handed...
, Shelley Duncan
Shelley Duncan
David Shelley Duncan is a Major League Baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians.-Personal:Duncan is the oldest son of Dave Duncan, a MLB catcher and pitching coach...
, Trevor Hoffman
Trevor Hoffman
Trevor William Hoffman is a former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher. During his 18-year career from 1993 to 2010, he pitched for the Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, and the Milwaukee Brewers, spending years of his career with the Padres. A long-time closer, he is the Major...
, Mark Melancon
Mark Melancon
Mark David Melancon is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Houston Astros.-Early years:...
, Chip Hale
Chip Hale
Walter William "Chip" Hale is an American former Major League Baseball second baseman and third baseman and current coach for the Oakland Athletics...
, Craig Lefferts
Craig Lefferts
Craig Lindsay Lefferts was a relief pitcher for the Chicago Cubs , San Diego Padres , San Francisco Giants , Baltimore Orioles , Texas Rangers and California Angels...
, J. T. Snow
J. T. Snow
Jack Thomas "J. T." Snow, Jr. is a former Major League Baseball player. He played all but two games in his career as a first baseman, and played nine of his 13½ seasons with the San Francisco Giants...
, Don Lee, Carl Thomas, Mike Paul
Mike Paul
Michael George Paul is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1968 to 1974 for the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs....
, Dan Schneider
Dan Schneider (baseball)
Daniel Louis Schneider is an American former professional baseball player who played in the Major Leagues between and .-Career:...
, Rich Hinton
Rich Hinton
Richard Michael Hinton is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of six seasons between and , including three separate stints with the Chicago White Sox.-Draft history:...
, Ed Vosberg
Ed Vosberg
Edward John Vosberg is a former left-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career...
, Hank Leiber
Hank Leiber
Henry Edward Leiber was an American professional baseball player. He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from to with the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs.-Early life:...
, Ron Hassey
Ron Hassey
Ronald William Hassey is a retired Major League Baseball catcher. Hassey began his career with the Cleveland Indians after the Indians drafted him in the 18th round of the 1976 MLB amateur draft...
, Brad Mills, and Joe Magrane
Joe Magrane
Joseph David Magrane is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and is currently a color commentary broadcaster for the MLB Network. He was teamed with play-by-play announcer Dewayne Staats from 1998 to 2008 as part of the Tampa Bay Rays television team.Magrane served as an analyst for NBC Sports'...
.
Softball
The Arizona softballSoftball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
team is among the top programs in the country and a perennial powerhouse. The softball team has won eight NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Women's College World Series titles, in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2007 under head coach Mike Candrea
Mike Candrea
Mike Candrea is the head softball coach at The University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. He was also the head coach of the United States women's national softball team.-Collegiate Coaching Record:...
(NCAA Softball Championship). The team has appeared in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
National Championship in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2024 1998, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2010 (a feat second only to UCLA), and has reached the College World Series 19 of the past 20 years. Coach Candrea, along with former Arizona pitcher Jennie Finch
Jennie Finch
Jennie Lynn Finch , who occasionally uses her husband's surname Daigle, is a former American softball player who pitched for the USA national softball team and the Chicago Bandits. Finch helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics...
, led the 2004 U.S. Olympic softball team to a gold medal in Athens, Greece. The Wildcat softball team plays at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium is the softball stadium for the University of Arizona. The stadium is on-campus and can seat 2,956 people.Hillenbrand Stadium, as it is more commonly known, was completed in 1993 and is named for the sister of the late William G. Hillenbrand...
.
Men's and women's golf
The university's golfGolf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
teams have also been notably successful. The men's team won a national championship in 1992 (NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. It is a stroke play team competition, starting in 2009 the competition changed to a stroke play/match play competition with the top 8 teams after 54 holes of...
), and has produced a number of successful professionals, most notably Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk
James Michael Furyk is an American professional golfer, 2010 FedEx Cup champion, and 2010 PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2003 U.S. Open. Furyk is known for consistently playing at the top level and for a visibly unconventional, looping golf swing...
. The women's team won national championships in 1996 and 2000 (NCAA Women's Golf Championship
NCAA Women's Golf Championship
NCAA Champions for women's golf:-Division I:-Division II-III combined:-Division II:-Division III:-Team:The following schools have won more than one team championship:*15: Methodist*7: Arizona State*5: Duke, Rollins*4: Florida Southern...
). Few if any women's golf programs can boast two more illustrious alumni than the Wildcats' two greatest products—Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
and Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa
Lorena Ochoa Reyes is a Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010, and was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for over three years, from April 2007 to her retirement in May 2010...
.
Men's lacrosse
The lacrosse team is a club team, not a varsity sport at Arizona, affectionately known as the “Laxcats”. Its existence, since the mid-sixties, is saturated with a rich tradition of success. In the 60’s, Arizona was a Division I Varsity program, coached by the legendary Carl RunkCarl Runk
-Towson University:Runk coached Towson men's lacrosse for 31 years. He compiled a overall record of 261–161–0. In 1974 he led the Tigers to the National Championship by defeating Hobart 18–17, making them the College Division National Lacrosse Champions. Towson moved to Division I in 1980 and had...
, an Arizona graduate and football player. In 1998 Carl retired after twenty-eight years at Towson University
Towson University
Towson University, often referred to as TU or simply Towson for short, is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S...
in Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
.
Other
Many other Wildcats have met with success at the University. Alix Creek and Michelle Oldham won the NCAA Women's Doubles Tennis title in 1993, defeating Texas in the Final. Although surprising to some, the University of Arizona has a noteworthy history in ice hockeyIce hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
. The school's club hockey team, known as the Icecats, has won over 600 games since its inception in 1978. The Icecats defeated Penn State for the National Collegiate Club Hockey National Championship in 1985. They are now part of ACHA
Acha
Acha is a HINDI word for OK.Acha is also an Ewokese word for OK. Ewokese is a language used in the Star Wars Ewok Adventures: Caravan Of Courage / The Battle For Endor* Acha, Argyll and Bute, Scotland...
Division I. Robert M. Tanita was a nationally ranked collegiate wrestler who reached the NCAA finals tournament as WAC champion in 1963.
Three national championships for synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming
Synchronized swImming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music....
were won in 1980, 1981, and 1984, though these championships were in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, and not the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. Along with winning three national championships in the pool for synchronized swimming, the Wildcats have also won their first NCAA Championship in men and women’s swimming and diving for the seasons of 2007–2008. Topping off these weekends Frank Busch
Frank Busch
Frank Busch is a national-team and Olympic swimming coach from the USA. He as a coach for the USA Olympic teams in 2004 and 2008.In May 2011 he began serving as USA Swimming's National Team Director. Prior to USA Swimming, Busch was the Swimming Head Coach for Arizona Wildcats at the University of...
, the men and women’s head coach, was named NCAA Swimming Coach of the Year. Arizona men became the first team to claim a first-time title since UCLA’s win in 1982. Also, the men ended Texas and Auburn’s winning streak since 1998. At the end of the meet, University of Texas took second while 2007’s champion, Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
, took fifth. For the women, Arizona worked on the disappointment of 2007’s defeat. The women were winning until the last day when Auburn grasped the title. Unlike 2007, Arizona’s women did not let anyone come close. The Wildcats won with 484 team points while Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
came in second with 348 and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in third with 343. Student-athletes from the women's swimming and diving team have been particularly heralded by the NCAA. The NCAA Woman of the Year Award
NCAA Woman of the Year Award
The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was created to honor a senior female student-athlete who has distinguished herself throughout her collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Each year, ten finalists are selected from a larger pool of...
was won by UA swimmers Whitney Myers, Lacey Nymeyer and Justine Schluntz in 2007, 2009 and 2010 respectively. The three awards and the 1994 award won by track and field athlete Tanya Hughes are the highest number of Woman of the Year awards won by a single university.
Individual national championships
A number of notable individuals have also won national championships in the NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
. These include Amanda Beard
Amanda Beard
Amanda Ray Beard is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist . She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke ....
in 2001 for swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam
Annika Sörenstam is a Swedish-American professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer...
in 1991 in golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
. The men's cross country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
has also produced two individual national titles in 1986 (Aaron Ramirez) and 1994 (Martin Keino) (NCAA Men's Cross Country Champions). The women's cross country also produced two individual national titles in 1996 (Amy Skieresz) and 2001 (Tara Chaplin) (NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
NCAA Women's Cross Country Championship
Each autumn, beginning in 1981, the National Collegiate Athletic Association has hosted women's cross country championships for each of its three divisions...
). Another notable individual was football standout Vance Johnson
Vance Johnson
Vance Edward Johnson , is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft. A 5'11", 174 lb...
who won the NCAA long jump in 1982.
Arizona's first NCAA Individual Champion in the sport of Men's Swimming came in 1981 when Doug Towne won the 500 yard freestyle at the NCAA championships. Another individual champion occurred in 1989 when Mariusz Podkoscielny swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
won the 1650-yard (mile) at the NCAA National Championships held at the IUPUI Natatorium.
Rivalries
A strong athletic rivalry exists between the University of Arizona and Arizona State UniversityArizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
located in Tempe
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
. The UA leads the all-time record against ASU in men's basketball (138–73), football (44–35–1), and baseball (224–189–1) as of January 2006. The football rivalry game between the schools is known as "The Duel in the Desert." The trophy awarded after each game, the Territorial Cup
Territorial Cup
The Territorial Cup is a trophy that is awarded to the winner of an American college football rivalry game, commonly referred to as "The Duel in the Desert," played annually between the Arizona State Sun Devils football team of Arizona State University and the Arizona Wildcats football team of the...
, is the nation's oldest rivalry trophy, distinguished by the NCAA. Rivalries have also been created with other Pac-12 teams, especially University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
which has provided a worthy softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
rival and was Arizona's main basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
rival in the early and mid-1990s.
Mascot
The University's mascots are a pair of anthropomorphized wildcatsBobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
named Wilbur and Wilma. The identities of Wilbur and Wilma are kept secret through the year as the mascots appear only in costume. In 1986, Wilbur married his longtime wildcat girlfriend, Wilma. Together, Wilbur and Wilma appear along with the cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
squad at most Wildcat sporting events. Arizona's first mascot was a real desert bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
named "Rufus Arizona", introduced in 1915.
Wilbur was originally created by Bob White as a cartoon character in the University's humor magazine, Kitty Kat. From 1915 through the 1950s the school mascot was a live bobcat
Bobcat
The bobcat is a North American mammal of the cat family Felidae, appearing during the Irvingtonian stage of around 1.8 million years ago . With twelve recognized subspecies, it ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, including most of the continental United States...
, a species known locally as a wildcat. This succession of live mascots were known by the common name of Rufus Arizona, originally named after Rufus von Kleinsmid, president of the university from 1914 to 1921. 1959 marked the creation of the first incarnated Wilbur, when University student John Paquette and his roommate, Dick Heller, came up with idea of creating a costume for a student to wear. Ed Stuckenhoff was chosen to wear the costume at the homecoming game in 1959 against Texas Tech and since then it has become a long-standing tradition. Wilbur celebrated his 50th birthday in November 2009.
Fight song
In 1952 Jack K. Lee, an applicant for the UA's band directorship, departed Tucson by air following an interview with UA administration. From his airplane window, Lee observed the huge letters on the roof of the UA gymnasium reading "BEAR DOWN." Inspired, Lee scribbled down the music and lyrics to an up-tempo song. By the time his plane landed, he had virtually finished it. A few weeks later Lee was named the UA band director, and in September 1952, the UA band performed "Bear Down, Arizona!" in public for the first time. Soon thereafter, "Bear Down, Arizona!" became accepted as UA's fight song (Bear DownBear Down
"Bear Down" is the official motto of the University of Arizona , located in Tucson, Arizona. It is the inspiration for "Bear Down, Arizona!," the unofficial fight song of the school's Arizona Wildcats...
).
Zona Zoo
The Official Student Section and Student Ticketing Program for University of Arizona AthleticsOfficially implemented in 2003, Zona Zoo is the official student section and student ticketing program for the University of Arizona Athletics. The Zona Zoo program is co-owned by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA) and Arizona Athletics, the program is run by a team of spirited individuals called the Zona Zoo Crew. Zona Zoo is one of the largest and most spirited in NCAA Division I Athletics and the largest in the PAC12.
Notable venues
The McKale CenterMcKale Center
McKale Memorial Center is an athletic arena located at 1756 E University Blvd on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. It is primarily used for basketball, but also features state-of-the-art physical training and therapy facilities. Its construction is marked with a large...
, which opened in 1973, is currently used by men's and women's basketball, women's gymnastics, and women's volleyball. The official capacity has changed often. The largest crowd to see a game in McKale was 15,176 in 1976 for a game against the University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
, a main rival during that period. In 2000, the floor in McKale was dubbed Lute Olson Court, for the basketball program's winningest coach. During a memorial service in 2001 for Lute's wife, Bobbi, who died after a battle with ovarian cancer, the floor was renamed Lute and Bobbi Olson Court. In addition to the playing surface, McKale Center is host to the offices of the UA athletic department. McKale Center is named after J.F. Pop McKale, who was athletic director and coach from 1914 through 1957. Joe Cavaleri ("The Ooh-Aah Man") made his dramatic and inspiring appearances there. Arizona Stadium
Arizona Stadium
Arizona Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States. It is the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pacific-12 Conference, and its current seating capacity is 57,803....
, built in 1928 and last expanded in 1976, seats over 56,000 patrons. It hosts American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
games and has also been used for university graduations. The turf is bermuda grass, taken from the local Tucson National Golf Club. Arizona football's home record is 258–139–12. The largest crowd ever in Arizona Stadium was 59,920 in 1996 for a game against Arizona State University. Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium
Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium
Jerry Kindall Field at Frank Sancet Stadium is a college baseball stadium in Tucson, Arizona, on the campus of the University of Arizona. Until 2011, it was the home field of the Arizona Wildcats of the Pac-10 Conference....
hosts baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
games. Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium
Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium is the softball stadium for the University of Arizona. The stadium is on-campus and can seat 2,956 people.Hillenbrand Stadium, as it is more commonly known, was completed in 1993 and is named for the sister of the late William G. Hillenbrand...
hosts softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
games.
Recognized fraternities and sororities of the Greek System
There are currently (2005) 44 fraternity and sororityFraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
chapters that are recognized by the University of Arizona. As of 2006, approximately 10.3% of male UA students were members of campus fraternities, and 10.8% of female students were members of sororities. The fraternities and sororities are governed by 4 governing councils. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) represents 25 fraternities, the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) represents 6 historically African-American fraternities and sororities, the Panhellenic Association (PHC) represents 20 sororities and the United Sorority and Fraternity Council (USFC) represents 10 multicultural and multi-interest Greek organizations. Delta Chi Lambda is an Asian American sorority that was established at the University of Arizona in 2000.
Recognized student clubs and organizations
As mentioned earlier, a new and expansive Student Union building, opened in 2003; it is the largest student union in the U.S. not affiliated with a hotel. The University of Arizona is home to more than 500 philanthropic, multi-cultural, social, athletic, academic, and student clubs and campus organizations. A listing is found at Center For Student Involvement and Leadership (CSIL) through the Student Union. CSIL also houses the Arizona Blue Chip Program one of the largest collegiate-level leadership development programs in the United States, with over 500 active students at any one time throughout the 4 years of the program. Blue Chip was founded in 1999 and has formed a partnership with the University of WollongongUniversity of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...
, in Wollongong
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, Australia where a sister program, the Black Opal Leadership Development Program began in February, 2005. Structure, curriculum, students and even staff are exchanged between the two institutions in a unique international leadership development initiative. Also located in the CSIL is the office of Camp Wildcat
Camp Wildcat
Camp Wildcat is a non-profit youth organization based in Tucson, Arizona which has served local disadvantaged youth since 1965. The organization is entirely operated by college students and is a recognized club at The University of Arizona....
, a student-run non-profit service organization that was started in 1965. Through funding from the CSIL and the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, clubs are given the resources and encouragement to explore unusual interests.
In 2008 University of Arizona students started their own branch (reinstated as of April 21, 2010) of the Arizona Students for Life (ASFL) pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
association, whose goal is to help pregnant college women and raise awareness about elective abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, of which college women are half all those affected.
The University of Arizona is also home to one of the oldest Model United Nations organizations in the United States, which each year hosts several hundred students high school students in a bilingual simulation of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
and other international bodies.
Performance groups
The campus comedy group, Comedy CornerComedy Corner
Comedy Corner is a weekly student-run comedy troupe at the University of Arizona in Tucson with roots going back to 1979. The core group consists of about ten regular writers and performers. Comedy Corner claims to be the nation's oldest weekly college sketch, standup, and improv comedy group....
is a sketch and improv comedy group at the University of Arizona. Started in 1979 by Adam Goldstein, it claims to be the nation's oldest weekly college sketch and improv comedy group, though in recent years it has branched out into doing previously videotaped comedy bits and shorts as well. Comedy Corner was the first documented college sketch comedy troupe to incorporate improvisation into its weekly shows, a practice that has become more common in recent years.
Traditions
At the beginning of each school year, freshmen repaint the "A" on "A" MountainSentinel Peak (Arizona)
Sentinel Peak, more commonly known as "A" Mountain, is a prominent ridgein the Tucson Mountains west of Tucson, Arizona.Sentinel Peak rises 2,897 feet into the air to the west of the Santa Cruz River. The underground ridge of rock, running to the east, once forced groundwater to the surface...
, and since 1914 the "A" remains a Tucson and Wildcat landmark. The "A" is now painted Red, White and Blue until all troops in foreign wars steming from the September 11 attacks return home. This was passed by the ASUA student government body shortly after the war in Afghanistan began in 2001. Later in the school year, Spring Fling, an ASUA Student Government program, and the largest student-run carnival in the U.S., has been held annually by UA students since 1965, under a different name: The Rites of Spring. The event occurs every April, and brings together the U of A community and the Tucson community. The UA club, Camp Wildcat
Camp Wildcat
Camp Wildcat is a non-profit youth organization based in Tucson, Arizona which has served local disadvantaged youth since 1965. The organization is entirely operated by college students and is a recognized club at The University of Arizona....
, initially began the festival as a fundraiser and continued to do so until the event was taken over by ASUA in 1975.
Marching band
The University of Arizona marching bandMarching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
, named The Pride of Arizona
The Pride of Arizona
The Pride of Arizona is the University of Arizona's marching band. The band was founded in 1902 as the UA ROTC Band and contained 12 members. Over the years, the band has performed in prestigious venues such as Super Bowl I and the Inaugural Parade of President James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. ...
, played at the halftime of the first Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. Most recently, the Pride was named one of the top five marching bands in the nation. They are directed by Professor Jay C. Rees. Instrumentation includes woodwinds, brass, and a marching percussion section, as well as a pomline, twirling line, and color guard.
School colors
The current school colors are UA Red and UA Blue, recognized in the Pantone Matching System, with the PMS number 200 and 281, respectively. In CMYK system, process color for the UA Red is C: 0 M:100 Y:65 K:15, and C:100 M:72 Y:0 K:38 for the UA Blue. Before 1900, the colors were sage green and silver. The switch was made when a lucrative discount on red and blue jerseys became available.Student government representation
Overall, students at the University of Arizona have been represented by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA) since 1913. Every year (usually in March), the students elect 10 Senators At-Large, an Administrative Vice President, an Executive Vice President and President to 1-year terms. The ASUA oversees the ZonaZoo and UA Spring Fling programs, while holding administrative oversight for the nearly 500 student clubs on campus. The organization appoints 4 Directors to serve on the student funded and led Arizona Students' Association. Each of the 10 Senators and all Administrative Officers also are appointed to serve on the various University of Arizona Faculty and Administrative Committees.In 1997, the Graduate and Professional Student Council (GPSC) split from the ASUA and has since become the de-facto body to represent issues specific to graduate and professional students. Each year (usually in late March or early April), the graduate and professional students elect 30 representatives by constituency in accordance to College graduate and/or professional student population, with three of those representatives elected at large. The Vice President and President are also elected at large by the graduate and professional student body. Much like ASUA, the GPSC appoints representatives to serve on various University of Arizona Faculty and Administrative Committees and 1 Director to serve on the Arizona Students' Association.
On-Campus residents also have their own Student Leadership Organization known as the "Hall Association". Anyone who lives on campus is automatically a member of RHA. The individual subunits of RHA consist of the hall councils of all 21 residence halls. Each Hall Council is composed of a President, a Director of Programming (for social events), a Director of Operations (for administrative duties), a Director of Sustainability (for recycling duties), and two RHA Representatives who are sent to represent their hall at RHA General Body Meetings. At these meetings, the gathered representatives and RHA Executive Board, elected from within the RHA General Body, discuss issues and make decisions concerning all 6,000 on campus residents. The RHA Executive Board consists of 7 different elected positions (President, Vice President of Public Relations, National Communications Coordinator, Vice President of Finances, Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Services, and Vice President of Programming) along with an appointed Parliamentarian position and an advisor known as the Coordinator for Student Leadership.
The University of Arizona Residence Hall Association has hosted 3 regional IACURH Residence Hall Conferences, which were hosted in 1961, 1997, and 2004. In 2005, the University of Arizona's Residence Hall Association was voted by NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) as the National School of the Year out of over 400 schools across the United States. In May 2009, the University of Arizona hosted the NACURH National Residence Hall Conference (also hosted in 1963), bringing more than 2,200 on-campus residents from over 250 schools across the United States and Canada for 3 days of school spirit and learning how to become more sustainable and socially just. The conference theme (Our Place in Time) focused on sustainability and social justice within the residence halls.
Arizona in film and literature
The University has made itself known through many films and television appearances. The film Revenge of the NerdsRevenge of the Nerds
Revenge of the Nerds is a 1984 comedy film satirizing social life on a college campus. The film stars Robert Carradine and Anthony Edwards, with Curtis Armstrong, Ted McGinley, Julia Montgomery, Brian Tochi, Larry B. Scott, John Goodman, and Donald Gibb...
(1984) was filmed at the University of Arizona. In the movie, the Alpha Beta "jock" house is the real-life home to the UA chapter of the Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
Fraternity. The dorm room (with the balcony) seen in the film is located on the third floor of historic Cochise Hall
Cochise Hall
Cochise Hall is a dormitory at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, United States.Large Roman pillars adorn the front of the building. Fire escapes are highly visible from the courtyard of the edifice, and are frequently involved in practical jokes among residents. Cochise Hall is most...
on campus. When the characters are moving in at the beginning of the movie, the dorm behind the post office drop is Yuma Hall. In the 1994 film Speed, Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
refers to Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
's character as a Wildcat because of the emblem on her sweater. In the 1989 film "Leviathan
Leviathan
Leviathan , is a sea monster referred to in the Bible. In Demonology, Leviathan is one of the seven princes of Hell and its gatekeeper . The word has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature...
", Peter Weller
Peter Weller
Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
's character, Steven Beck, frequently wears an Arizona Wildcats hat. In the 2006 film You, Me and Dupree
You, Me and Dupree
You, Me and Dupree is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, written by Mike LeSieur, and produced by Mary Parent, Scott Stuber, and Owen Wilson....
, produced by Arizona Alum Scott Stuber, several characters are watching the Arizona Wildcats play football against Washington State University
Washington State University
Washington State University is a public research university based in Pullman, Washington, in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest. Founded in 1890, WSU is the state's original and largest land-grant university...
. While playing in their blue uniforms, Arizona scores on a fumble recovery. The film Eating Out was shot around the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. An episode of Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
, entitled "A Wiser Heart," used Old Main as a prominent backdrop throughout. The final scene of the film Night of the Lepus
Night of the Lepus
Night of the Lepus, also known as Rabbits, is a 1972 American science fiction horror film based on the 1964 science fiction novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit. Released theatrically on October 4, 1972, it focuses on members of a small Arizona town who battle thousands of mutated, carnivorous killer...
(1972) features views of the University.
The University has also been the setting for portions of David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace
David Foster Wallace was an American author of novels, essays, and short stories, and a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California...
's novel Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest is a 1996 novel by David Foster Wallace. The lengthy and complex work takes place in a semi-parodic future version of North America, and touches on tennis, substance addiction and recovery programs, depression, child abuse, family relationships, advertising and popular entertainment,...
takes place at the University of Arizona campus, including a scene in the administration building satirizing the school's bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
. Wallace was an alumnus of UA.
Notable alumni and staff
Notable alumni include a former U.S. Secretary of the Interior, the former U.S. Surgeon General, five-term U.S senator and 1964 Republican presidential nominee Barry GoldwaterBarry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
; U.S. Representative (Arizona's 7th congressional district) Raúl M. Grijalva; the creator of the television series Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
and founder of the Children's Television Workshop Joan Ganz Cooney
Joan Ganz Cooney
Joan Ganz Cooney is an American television producer. She is one of the founders of the Children's Television Workshop , the organization famous for the creation of the children's television show Sesame Street. Cooney received her B.A...
; popular female singer Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, who is perhaps best known for her chart-topping songs You're No Good
You're No Good
"You're No Good" is a song written by Clint Ballard, Jr. which first charted for Betty Everett in 1963 and in 1975 was a #1 hit for Linda Ronstadt....
and Blue Bayou
Blue Bayou
"Blue Bayou" is the title of a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison.-Roy Orbison version:A plaintive ballad, it was originally released by Orbison as a 45rpm single on the Monument Records label in August 1963 ."Blue Bayou" also appears on Orbison's 1963 album, In Dreams...
; Brian Schmidt
Brian Schmidt
Brian L. Schmidt is a music composer for various video games and pinball games. He began in the video game music and sound industry in 1987 as a composer/sound designer and programmer for Williams Electronic Games in Chicago writing music and creating sound effects for pinball machines and coin...
winner of 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics (1989), Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the former Republic of Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona and worked as a freelance writer before...
(Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1981), American author awarded the National Humanities Medal by U.S. President Bill Clinton in 2000; American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom as the first host of E!'s Talk Soup Greg Kinnear
Greg Kinnear
Gregory "Greg" Kinnear is an American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom in 1991. He has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in As Good as It Gets.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Logansport, Indiana, the son of...
; the Chairman of the California Delegation on the 2nd White House Conference on Library and Information Services (1991) and two-term Mayor of Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs, California
Palm Springs is a desert city in Riverside County, California, within the Coachella Valley. It is located approximately 37 miles east of San Bernardino, 111 miles east of Los Angeles and 136 miles northeast of San Diego...
(1995–1999 and 1999–2003) William G. Kleindienst; and several NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronauts. Nicole Richie
Nicole Richie
Nicole Camille Richie is an American fashion designer, author, actress, singer and television personality. Her father was Peter Michael Escovedo, a musician who played for a brief time with Lionel Richie, and her mother Karen was the executive assistant for Sheila Escovedo...
, daughter of Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
and reality-television star, also attended but did not graduate. Nobel laureates
Nobel Prize laureates by university affiliation
This list of Nobel laureates by university affiliation shows the university affiliation of winners of the Nobel Prize...
on the faculty include two members of the College of Optical Sciences: Dr. Nicolaas Bloembergen
Nicolaas Bloembergen
Nicolaas Bloembergen is a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate.He received his Ph.D. degree from University of Leiden in 1948; while pursuing his PhD at Harvard, Bloembergen also worked part-time as a graduate research assistant for Edward Mills Purcell at the MIT Radiation Laboratory...
(Physics, 1981) and Dr. Willis E. Lamb (Physics, 1955). The UA has eight Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winners (alumni and faculty), and more than 50 faculty as elected members of exclusive academies including Britain's Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, among others. Two current UA professors were also recently named to Popular Science
Popular Science
Popular Science is an American monthly magazine founded in 1872 carrying articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. Popular Science has won over 58 awards, including the ASME awards for its journalistic excellence in both 2003 and 2004...
magazine's list of "Brilliant 10." Also, well-known motion picture producer Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon "Jerry" Bruckheimer is an American film and television producer. He has achieved great success in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. His best known television series are CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Eleventh Hour, Without a Trace, Cold Case, The...
attended the University, receiving a degree in psychology. Many other famous names attended the University, such as socialite Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Kardashian
Kourtney Mary Kardashian is an American businesswoman, socialite, model, actress and reality television personality who gained fame as a cast member of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, and Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami.She is the oldest child of Kris Jenner and...
, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luke Walton
Luke Walton
Luke Theodore Walton is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . His primary position is at small forward. After the 2010 NBA Finals, Walton and his father Hall of Famer Bill Walton became the first and only father and son to...
, NBA player Richard Jefferson
Richard Jefferson
Richard Allen Jefferson is a 6 ft 7 in American professional basketball player currently playing for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association...
and Dallas Mavericks
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks are a professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association , and the reigning NBA champions, having defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.According to a 2011...
star Jason Terry
Jason Terry
Jason Eugene Terry is an American professional basketball player playing with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks. He plays shooting guard, although he also can play point guard. His nickname, "JET," derives from his initials...
.
See also
- Optics ValleyOptics ValleyOptics Valley is a nickname for a region in southern Arizona, centered on Tucson, that includes a concentration of optics companies, spawned by the optics work at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences...
- University of Arizona Museum of ArtUniversity of Arizona Museum of ArtThe University of Arizona Museum of Art is an art museum in Tucson, Arizona, operated by the University of Arizona. The museum's permanent collection includes some 5,000 works of art, including paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings....
- University Medical Center (Tucson, Arizona)
External links
- Official website,
- Official athletics website, arizonaathletics.com
- Official Honors College website, honors.arizona.edu