Northwestern University is a private university seated in Evanston, Illinois, on a 240 acre (970,000 m²) campus along the shores of Lake Michigan. The university's professional schools are located in Chicago, on a 25 acre (101,000 m²) campus near the Magnificent Mile. Many of the university's departments are consistently ranked among the top 10 or 20 universities.

The university was founded in 1851 by methodists and opened in 1855. The University's name, Northwestern, came from its founders' desire to serve the citizens of the United States' newly acquired Northwest Territory.

Northwestern University enrolls approximately 17,000 students and employs nearly 6,800 faculty and staff members.

Northwestern's athletic teams are nicknamed the Wildcats. Before 1924, they were known as "The Purple" and unofficially as "The Fighting Methodists." Northwestern University is a private member of the Big Ten Conference for athletics.

Northwestern University's official color is purple. (For this reason, the Chicago Transit Authority's elevated train running through Evanston is called the Purple Line. (The Purple Line stations that serve Northwestern University are Davis, Foster, and Noyes.) The phrase on Northwestern University's seal is "Quaecumque sunt vera" -- in Latin, "Whatsoever things are true."

Northwestern University's newspaper is The Daily Northwestern; its radio station is WNUR 89.3 FM.

Nearly 40 percent of Northwestern students belong to a fraternity or sorority, the highest percentage of any Big Ten university. There is also at least one secret society, The Order of Basiliaz, and a senior honorary society, DERU.

Schools, colleges and departments

• Judd A. and Marjorie Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences (founded 1851)
• School of Communication (1878)
• School of Continuing Studies (1933)
• School of Education and Social Policy (1926)
• Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science (1909)
• Department of Computer Science
• Graduate School (1910)
• Medill School of Journalism (1921)
• School of Law (1859)
• J. L. Kellogg School of Management (1908)
• Feinberg School of Medicine (1859)
• School of Music (1859)
• Dental School (1891-2001)

Notable alumni

• George Ball, former Undersecretary of State
• Saul Bellow, author and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
• Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois
• William Jennings Bryan, politician
• Nick Chabraja , chairman and CEO, General Dynamics
• Salem Chalabi, General Director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal
• Dick Gephardt, outgoing House minority leader
• Otto Graham, athlete
• Howard Hanson, composer
• Sheldon Harnick, lyricist (Fiddler on the Roof)
• Sherry Lansing, chairman, Paramount Pictures
• Charles H. Mayo , doctor (Mayo Clinic)
• George McGovern, South Dakota Senator and 1972 Democratic candidate for president.
• Newton Minow, former chair of the Federal Communications Commission
• Patrick Ryan, chairman and CEO, Aon Corporation
• Graham Spanier, president, Pennsylvania State University
• John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court justice
• Adlai Stevenson, politician
• Harold Washington, first black Chicago mayor

Actors and other celebrities

• Warren Beatty, actor
• Zach Braff, actor, director, screenwriter (Scrubs, Garden State)
• Stephen Colbert, actor, comedian (The Daily Show)
• Cindy Crawford, model (never graduated)
• Stephanie D'Abruzzo , actor, puppeteer (Avenue Q)
• Ana Gasteyer, actor, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
• Marg Helgenberger, actor (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
• Charlton Heston, actor
• Laura Innes, actor (ER)
• Cloris Leachman, actor (The Facts of Life)
• Shelley Long, actor, (Cheers)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actor (Seinfeld)
• Paul Lynde, actor, comedian (Hollywood Squares)
• Garry Marshall, director, producer
• Todd Martin, Professional Tennis Player
• Brent Musburger, sports announcer, (American_Broadcasting_Company)
• Ann-Margret Olsson (Class of 1963), actress and singer (never graduated)
• Charlotte Rae, actor (The Facts of Life)
• Tony Randall, actor, (The Odd Couple) (never graduated)
• Jeri Ryan, actress ( Boston Public, Star Trek: Voyager)
• David Schwimmer, actor (Friends)
• Katherine Shindle , Miss America 1998
• Jerry Springer, host of The Jerry Springer Show, former mayor of Cincinnati
• Nicole Sullivan, actor (MAD TV)
• Michael Wilbon, ESPN analyst (Pardon the Interruption)
• Noah Wyle, actor

External links

• Official Northwestern University website
• Northwestern athletics site
• Kellogg School of Management
• WNUR 89.3 FM
• The Daily Northwestern

For other schools named Northwestern please see the Northwestern College article.