Rockford University is a private American liberal arts college in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name to Rockford Collegeb> in 1892, and to Rockford University in 2013. The university is known as the alma mater of Nobel Peace Prize winner Jane Addams, who was a member of the class of 1881.
History
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Rockford University was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary. It was the sister college of Beloit College, which had been founded the year before. The seminary's initial campus was on the east side of the Rock River, south of downtown Rockford. In 1890, the seminary's trustees voted to offer a full college curriculum, which led to the name changing to Rockford College in 1892. Men were first granted admission to the university at the beginning of the 1955-56 school year. At about this time, the school requested that the City of Rockford close parts of a street adjoining the campus.
In January 2008, Dr. Robert L. Head was named the university's seventeenth president, effective July 2008. On October 2, 2012, the board of trustees voted unanimously to take on university status. This was done to accurately reflect the fact that they have many different academic departments. On July 1, 2013, the institution officially became Rockford University. In February 2016, Dr. Eric W. Fulcomer was named the university's eighteenth president, effective July 2016, and inaugurated on November 4, 2016.
Academics
The University offers approximately 80 majors, minors and concentrations, including the adult accelerated degree completion program for a B.S. in Management Studies. Through its Graduate Studies department, degrees are extended to include the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a Master of Education (MEd). Rockford University is home to one of only 11 Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) chapters in Illinois, the most prestigious honor society in the United States. Rockford University is consistently recognized by The Princeton Review as a Best Midwestern College, a US News & World Report Best in the Midwest Tier One University, is named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and designated a Military Friendly School®. Rockford University currently serves approximately 1,280 full-and part-time students.
The University is organized into three colleges:
- Arts and Humanities
- Science, Math, and Nursing
- Social Sciences, Commerce and Education
The University offers an Honors Program in Liberal Arts & Sciences. Also housed within the University are the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and the Center for Learning Strategies.
Departments
- Anthropology & Sociology
- Art & Art History
- Biology
- Chemical & Biological Sciences
- Classics
- Computer Science
- Economics, Business & Accounting
- Education
- English
- History
- Mathematics
- Modern & Classical Languages
- Nursing
- Performing Arts
- Philosophy
- Physical Education
- Physics
- Political Science
- Psychology
Honor societies
- Phi Beta Kappa - Scholastic
- Eta Sigma Phi - Classics
- Omicron Delta Epsilon - Economics
- Phi Alpha Theta - History
- Phi Sigma Iota - Foreign Language
- Pi Lambda Theta - Education
- Psi Chi - Psychology
- Sigma Beta Delta - Business
Athletics
The Rockford University Regents are Division III members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Teams compete independently or as members of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference.,
The university fields men's teams in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer, and track and field, and women's teams in basketball, cross country, soccer, softball, track and field, and volleyball. Their football team is the only team in college football since 2000 to score 100 points in a single game, beating Trinity Bible, 105-0 in 2003.
Recreational and intramural club sports (including basketball and dodgeball) are also available on campus.
Board of Trustees
The Trustees set general policy for the university. James Keeling: Chair of the Board.
Commencement speakers
- 1989: Sandra Day O'Connor, then Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- 2003: Chris Hedges, American journalist specializing in American politics and society
- 2007: Susan Whealler Johnston, Executive Vice President and COO, Association of Governing Boards of Universities & Colleges
- 2008: Robert W. Hansen, Class of 1963, retired Chief of the Southern Europe Analysis Division of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State
- 2009: Jonathan L. Fiechter, Class of 1969, Deputy Director, International Monetary Fund
- 2010: Mark Pedowitz, Class of 1974, former television executive
- 2011: Thomas S. Johnson, Class of 1964. Partner, WilliamsMcCarthy, LLP
- 2012: Erin Brockovich, President, Brockovich Research & Consulting
- 2013: Bill Kurtis, Documentary Host and Producer
- 2014: Dr. Mae Jemison, American Physician and NASA Astronaut
- 2015: Laura Ling, Journalist, Author
- 2016: 19th Surgeon General Vice Admiral (VADM) Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A.
- 2017: Barbara Pierce Bush, daughter of 43rd President George W. Bush and co-founder and CEO of Global Health Corps.
Notable Alumni
- Jane Addams, activist and social worker
- Sandy Cole, politician
- Roger Cooper, politician
- Hind Rassam Culhane, professor
- Yvonne D'Arle, opera singer
- Jeannette Howard Foster, important lesbian theme writer/researcher
- Barbara Giolitto, politician
- Vivian Hickey, educator/politician
- Joyce Holmberg, educator/politician
- Betty Ann Keegan, politician
- Julia Lathrop, social reformer
- Doris Lee, artist
- Helen Douglas Mankin, politician
- Catherine Waugh McCulloch, suffragist
- Ellen Spencer Mussey, pioneer in field of women's rights to education
- Mark Pedowitz, television executive
- Roland Poska, artist
- Barbara Santucci, children's author
- Robin Schone, author
- Ellen Gates Starr, activist and social reformer
- Deb Patterson, women’s basketball coach
See also
- Female seminaries
- Women in education in the United States
Further reading
- Weaks-Baxter, Mary, et al. We Are a College at War: Women Working for Victory in World War II (Southern Illinois University Press; 2010) 237 studies the mobilization of students in support of the war effort.
References
External links
- Official website
- Rockford University athletics website