Located in the community of Hyde Park on Chicago's South Side, just 15
minutes from the city center, the University of Chicago is uniquely
positioned to contribute to, and draw from, the strength and diversity
of this world-class metropolis. We have also made an indelible mark on
the world at large.
Changing the World
Our faculty and students are pioneers, discoverers, teachers, scholars,
and change agents. We ask tough questions, engage the world around us,
and pursue knowledge with rigor because we believe in the transformative
power of ideas.
Shaping Minds
Our undergraduate program is known for its emphasis on critical thinking
and broad interdisciplinary exposure to the full range of intellectual
discovery. Our College classrooms have a reputation for being hotbeds of
exhilarating discourse. Discussions that start in the classroom often
move to the dormitory hall, to the lunch table, and into the community. A
Chicago education is a life-changing experience.
Creating New Disciplines
As the nation's celebrated teacher of teachers, we place particular
emphasis at the graduate level on the training of students for careers
in academia and research. Committed to scholarship of the highest order,
our faculty has made major contributions to existing bodies of
knowledge and to the creation of new fields of study. Chicago scholars
seek to break down artificial disciplinary barriers and frequently
explore research and coursework outside their selected fields. We have
long thrived in an atmosphere of free and open inquiry, which has led to
classic studies of literary criticism and urban sociology, the
development of ecology, and the study of religions as an academic field.
Leading in Law and Economics
Our legal scholars have pioneered the analysis of legal issues from an
economic point of view; and more than any other university in the world,
ours has made its mark in the reshaping of modern economics.
Leading in the Sciences
It was at Chicago that REM sleep was discovered and carbon 14 dating was
developed. Our scientists laid the mathematical foundations of genetic
evolution; executed the first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain
reaction; conceived the study of black holes; and performed the nation's
first living-donor liver transplant. Researchers here have also
expanded our understanding of dinosaur evolution; reconstructed the
evolution of the early universe in astonishing detail; proved that
chromosomal defects can lead to cancer; and pioneered scientific
archaeology of the ancient Near East.
Winning Awards and Accolades
Eighty-five recipients of the Nobel Prize have been students,
researchers, or faculty here. Since 1979, 13 of Chicago's faculty have
been honored with the prize-four in physics, eight in economics, and one
in literature. Our creative writers and scholars have recently won the
Pulitzer prize, the National Medal of Science, the Grammy award, and the
MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, among other major awards. Even
undergraduates have the opportunity to study with a Nobel laureate here.
Changing the Face of Education
Our impact on American higher education is legendary. It was here that
the four-quarter system was developed and adult extension courses in the
liberal arts were first conceived. We forever changed business
education with the first executive MBA program, in 1943. Our coherent
program of general education for undergraduates has been copied all over
the nation, and college curricula throughout the country reflect our
conception of the liberal arts undergraduate education.
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