SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY

private, coeducational institution of higher learning in St. Louis, Mo., U.S. It is affiliated with the Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church. The university comprises the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Philosophy and Letters, Parks College, the Graduate School, and schools of business and administration, law, medicine, nursing, allied health professions, public health, and social service. The university has four campuses: Frost campus (main) and the Medical Center in St. Louis, Parks College in Cahokia, Ill., and a campus in Madrid, Spain. In addition to undergraduate studies, the university offers a range of graduate and professional degree programs. Research facilities include the Jefferson Smurfit Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and the Reis Biological Center. Total enrollment exceeds 11,000. The university was established in 1818 as St. Louis Academy. In 1820 it was made a college, and in 1827 it came under the control of the Jesuit order. The college was chartered as a university in 1832, the first university established west of the Mississippi River. Notable alumni include Broadway producer David Merrick, physician and writer Thomas Dooley, and sculptor Harriet Goodhue Hosmer.