DRAKE UNIVERSITY

private, coeducational university in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. It consists of the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Public Administration, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences and the schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and of Education. In addition to undergraduate study, the university offers several master's degree programs and a doctoral program in education. The Drake Law School awards the Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. Total enrollment exceeds 6,000. The university was founded in 1881 by the Disciples of Christ church; the affiliation with the church has since ended. The famous Drake Relays, among the largest collegiate track-and-field meets in the world, were first held in 1910. After World War II the university enjoyed a period of substantial growth that included the construction of buildings designed by architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.