CHICAGO, UNIVERSITY OF

one of the outstanding private universities in the United States, founded in 1891 with the endowment of John D. Rockefeller. William Rainey Harper (president, 1891-1906) did much to establish what has come to be regarded as the traditional outlook and character of the university. Internationally recognized as a centre for research and advanced study, it was also a pioneer in adult education and has influenced undergraduate programs elsewhere through its "Chicago plan," which was designed to avoid excessive academic and vocational specialization. Under the administration of Robert M. Hutchins (president, 1929-45; chancellor, 1945-51), the college attracted national attention for such innovative policies as measuring student achievement by comprehensive examinations and stressing the reading of original sources. The university has fostered events of both academic and world significance. In 1892 it established the world's first department of sociology. In 1942 it was the site of the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, achieved under the direction of the physicist Enrico Fermi. Other notable achievements by Chicago scholars include the development of carbon dating and the isolation and first weighing of the element plutonium (1942). The university has several professional schools and a number of centres for advanced scholarship and research, including the Oriental Institute (Middle Eastern studies); Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wis.; the McDonald Observatory at Fort Davis, Texas, staffed by the University of Chicago in cooperation with the University of Texas; the James Franck Institute; the Enrico Fermi Institute for Nuclear Studies; the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs; the Center for International Study; and the Center for Policy Study. Under contract with the U.S. government, the university employs the staff and operates the Argonne National Laboratory, southwest of the city.