ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL UNIVERSITY

byname Alabama A&M University public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Normal, Alabama, U.S. The university comprises University College and the schools of Graduate Studies, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, and Engineering and Technology. It offers a range of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs. Research facilities include the Center of Excellence in Nonlinear Optics and Nonlinear Optical Materials, Howard A. Foster Center for Irradiation of Materials, and the Forestry Center of Excellence. Total enrollment is approximately 5,000. The university was founded in 1875 in Huntsville as the Huntsville Normal School. In 1891 the school was moved to Normal, designated a land-grant school for African-Americans, and renamed State Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. The college was re-formed as a junior college in 1919 and became a four-year college in 1939. Its name was changed to Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1948, and it was granted university status in 1969.