Ohio University is a public university located in Athens, Ohio, enrolling almost 20,000 students on its main 1,800 acre (7.3 km&sup2) campus. It is the oldest college in Ohio. Its 285 undergraduate majors, as well as master's and doctoral programs are organized into 11 degree granting units:

• College of Arts & Sciences
• College of Business
• College of Communication
• College of Education
• Russ College of Engineering and Technology
• College of Fine Arts
• College of Health & Human Services
• Honors Tutorial College
• University College
• College of Osteopathic Medicine
• Center for International Studies

More than 8,000 students attend OU's five regional campuses:

• Eastern (St. Clairsville)
• Zanesville
• Lancaster
• Southern (Ironton)
• Chillicothe

The school colors are hunter green and white; the mascot is the Bobcat. The Bobcats compete in NCAA Division I (I-A in football) as a member of the Mid-American Conference.

The school is nationally ranked among the nation's finest institutions of higher learning. [1] University libraries contain more than 2.4 million bound volumes. The university's student-run newspaper is The Post. WOUB radio and television stations, affiliated with NPR and PBS, originate in the telecommunications center.

History

The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 called for educational institutions as part of the settlement and eventual statehood of the Northwest Territory: "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." In 1797, settlers from Marietta traveled up the Hocking River to establish a location for the school. At first called American Western University, Ohio University was founded on February 18, 1804, a year after Ohio was admitted to the Union.

Famous Alumni

• Roger Ailes, president of FOX News
• Richard Dean Anderson, actor on MacGyver, Stargate SG-1, television producer
• Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart and several other characters on The Simpsons
• Jim Dine, pop artist
• Thomas Ewing, cabinet member under several U.S. presidents
• Arsenio Hall, comedian, former talk show host
• Leon Harris , news anchor, CNN and WJLA
• Sammy Kaye, celebrated bandleader
• Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC's The Today Show
• Piper Perabo, actress
• Edward James Roye, former president of Liberia
• Van Gordon Sauter , former head of CBS News
• Mike Schmidt, Hall of Fame third baseman
• Walter Tevis, author
• Betty Thomas , actress on Hill Street Blues, film director
• George Voinovich, U.S. Senator, former Ohio governor

External links

• http://www.ohio.edu Official university site
• http://www.ohio.edu/bicentennial/index.cfm Ohio University Bicentennial site
• http://www.ohiobobcats.com Official Ohio athletics site
• http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/facts.cfm Ohio University Fact Sheet
• http://www.thepost.ohiou.edu The Post Online