BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

private, coeducational institution of higher learning located in Provo, Utah, U.S. The university is supported by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). It is composed of nine colleges, the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott School of Management, and the J. Rueben Clark Law School. Graduate degree programs are available in most areas of study. Important research facilities include laboratories for nuclear, plasma, and solid-state physics, aquatic ecology, and veterinary pathology. The university is also the site of the Benson Agriculture and Food Institute and the CAM Software Research Institute. Total enrollment is approximately 27,000. The university was founded in 1875 by Mormon president Brigham Young, who had led the settlement of the church in Utah. Originally named Brigham Young Academy, the school's mission was to train teachers for public schools. Instruction began in 1876. The school was elevated to university status in 1903.