FLORIDA, UNIVERSITY OF

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Gainesville, Fla., U.S. It is a comprehensive research university with land-grant status. The university consists of 16 colleges, the Fisher School of Accounting, the M.E. Rinker, Sr., School of Building Construction, the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Division of Military Science. Among the colleges are professional colleges of law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine. Important research facilities include the Brain Institute, Whitney Marine Laboratory, the Center for Exercise Science, and a wildlife sanctuary. Total enrollment exceeds 35,000. The University of Florida is the oldest and largest university in the state. Its history began in 1853, when the Kingsbury Academy in Ocala was acquired by the state-supported East Florida Seminary. After the American Civil War the college was moved to Gainesville. In 1906 it was consolidated with Florida Agricultural College, a land-grant college in Lake City, to form the University of Florida. Women were first admitted to the university in 1947.