History of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Champaign, Illinois, and Urbana, Illinois. It is the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system and was founded in 1867. With over 53,000 students, the University of Illinois is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States. The university contains 16 schools and colleges and offers more than 150 undergraduate and over 100 graduate programs of study. The university holds 651 buildings on 6,370 acres (2,578 ha) and its annual operating budget in 2016 was over $2 billion. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also operates a Research Park home to innovation centers for over 90 start-up companies and multinational corporations.The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". In fiscal year 2019, research expenditures at Illinois totaled $652 million. The campus library system possesses the fourth-largest university library in the United States by holdings. The university also hosts the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and is home to the fastest supercomputer on a university campus.Illinois athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Fighting Illini. They are members of the Big Ten Conference and have won the second-most conference titles. Illinois Fighting Illini football won the Rose Bowl Game in 1947, 1952, 1964 and a total of five national championships. Illinois athletes have won 29 medals in Olympic events. The alumni, faculty members, or researchers of the university include 30 Nobel laureates, 27 Pulitzer Prize winners, two Fields medalists, and two Turing Award winners.

The Senior Memorial Chime, known more commonly as the Altgeld Chimes, is a 15-bell chime in Altgeld Hall Tower on the central campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, in Urbana, Illinois, United States. The chime was a gift from the graduating classes of 1914 through 1921 and the United States School of Military Aeronautics. They first rang at the University's tenth fall homecoming on October 30, 1920, and have since marked the hours and been used for chiming concerts. The chime is run and maintained by the university's School of Music as well as student and local volunteers.

The Alma Mater, a bronze statue by sculptor Lorado Taft, is a beloved symbol of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The 10,000-pound statue depicts a mother-figure wearing academic robes and flanked by two attendant figures representing "Learning" and "Labor", after the university's motto "Learning and Labor." Sited at the corner of Green and Wright Streets at the heart of the campus, the statue is an iconic figure for the university and a popular backdrop for student graduation photos. It is appreciated for its romantic, heraldic overtones and warmth of pose. The statue was removed from its site at the entrance to the university for restoration in 2012 and was returned to its site in the spring of 2014.

Altgeld Hall, located at 1409 West Green Street in Urbana, Illinois on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus, was built in 1896–97 and was designed by Nathan Ricker and James M. White of the university's architecture department in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. Planning for the building began during the Illinois governorship of John Peter Altgeld. The building was originally the University Library, and received major additions in 1914, 1919, 1926, and 1956. From 1927 to 1955 it was used by the College of Law, and from 1955 on by the Department of Mathematics and the Mathematics Library. The University Chime in the bell tower – which marks the hours, half hours, and quarter hours and plays a ten-minute concert every school day from 12:50–1:00 p.m. – was installed in 1920. The building was officially named "Altgeld Hall" in 1941. Altgeld Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970.

The Grainger College of Engineering is the engineering college of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was established in 1868 and is considered one of the original units of the school. Every engineering program in the college is ranked among the best in the US and in the world. The department has historically spearheaded worldwide innovation in technology, with inventions such as the transistor, the integrated circuit, the LED, the first web browsers (Mosaic and Netscape), and JavaScript all produced by students, faculty or alumni of the college. Engineering alumni founded Mozilla, AMD, PayPal, Yelp, YouTube, Tesla and Oracle.

Engineering Hall is an administrative building at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. It is located in the south end of the Bardeen Quadrangle on Green Street in Urbana, Illinois, facing the Illini Union. Engineering Hall serves all disciplines within the UIUC College of Engineering and is well known for representing the school's colors with its orange bricks and blue roof. In addition to many offices and conference rooms, Engineering Hall also includes two computer labs and four lecture halls. Engineering Hall also houses many engineering-based student organizations in its offices.

The Illini Union, located at 1401 West Green Street in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, is the student union for the University. The building was dedicated on November 1, 1941, as the campus's home for student organizations, meetings, and student programs and activities, replacing University Hall. It was constructed in cooperation with the University of Illinois Foundation, which secured funding for the construction through a $525,820 Public Works Administration grant and a $656,000 loan which was later repaid through student fees.Today, Illini Union contains the Illini Union Hotel, a credit union, a convenience store, information services, CITES (Campus IT) instructional facility, quick-service restaurants, a bowling alley, arcade, student performance spaces, and office space for Registered Student Organizations, student government, Student Legal Services, Student Tenant Union, LGBT Resource Center, and Union administration. The Illini Union Board serves as a campus-wide programming organization and as the advisory Board for the Illini Union Director.

The Engineering Campus is the colloquial name for the portions of campus surrounding the Bardeen Quadrangle and the Beckman Quadrangle at the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. It is an area of approximately 30 square blocks, roughly bounded by Green Street on the south, Wright Street on the west, University Avenue on the north, and Gregory Street on the east.

The Metal Shop, also known as Aeronautical Lab B, was a historic building located at 1022 South Burrill Avenue on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Built in 1895, the building served as a metal shop for the university's architecture and engineering students. Nathan Clifford Ricker, who later served as Dean of the College of Engineering, designed the building. The design was more functional than Ricker's other work on the campus; its only decorative element is a brick arched loggia in front of the entrance.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1986. It was demolished in 1993 but is still listed on the National Register.

The Carle Illinois College of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Called the "World's First Engineering-Based College of Medicine," the school trains physician-innovators by integrating several engineering and entrepreneurship approaches into its medical training, and awards the degree of M.D. upon graduation.

Harker Hall, also known as the Chemical Laboratory, is a historic building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in Urbana, Illinois. Built in 1877, the building originally served as the university's chemical laboratory. Architect Nathan Clifford Ricker designed the Second Empire building, which originally featured a mansard roof. In 1896, a lightning strike set the roof on fire, and architect James White replaced it with a hip roof. The building was named Harker Hall in honor of Oliver A. Harker, who served as dean of the university's law school from 1903 to 1916. Until it stopped hosting classes, the hall was the oldest classroom building at the university.The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 19, 1986.

The Kenney Gym and the Kenney Gym Annex are two buildings located at 1402-06 Springfield Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Although the two buildings have been physically connected since 1914, they were built separately. They were jointly added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 under the name Military Drill Hall and Men's Gymnasium.