Graduate Student Handbook

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History

Before 1900, only a handful of American universities had formal graduate schools. The University of Minnesota awarded its first graduate degree in 1880. Its first Ph.D. degree (in the field of history) was awarded in 1888 to Charles Burke Elliot. Like many Minnesota graduates who have followed him, he went on to a distinguished career. He became a Minnesota State Supreme Court justice and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.


At the time of its establishment by the Regents in 1905, The Graduate School enrolled 95 students. Between 1913 and 1938, Guy Stanton Ford, a historian and future president of the University, was dean of The Graduate School. Believing that graduate education begins with able faculty, he worked to attract some of the most distinguished teachers and researchers to Minnesota. At the same time, graduate student enrollment increased to 3,299.


Ford obtained funding for research, libraries, laboratories, and financial aid for graduate students. When he left the deanship, the organizational structure and traditions that govern graduate education at the University of Minnesota had been established. He stated, "With the organization of The Graduate School upon an independent basis, the University of Minnesota may be said to have attained its majority."


Campus expansion at the University has mirrored the growth of The Graduate School. Beginning with a little-used St. Paul farm and a single Minneapolis location containing 5 buildings, the Twin Cities campus has grown to over 250 structures housing 17 colleges.


Today, The Graduate School has almost 11,000 students and 2,400 tenured and tenure-track faculty members. It offers nearly 3,800 graduate-level courses and degrees in approximately 150 fields. Its administrative offices are located on the third floor of Johnston Hall on the East Bank of the Twin Cities campus.


In honor of the 100th anniversary of The Graduate School, there was a year-long celebration in 2005. The festivities began at the spring 2005 Graduate School commencement, when a new centennial fanfare composed by Graduate School alumnus Wayne Peterson was premiered.


The fall 2005 commencement featured the premiere performance of a new chamber music piece composed for the centennial by Graduate School alumna Yoon-Hee Hwang.


Other centennial events included a symposium in the fall of 2005 that addressed the next 100 years of graduate education, and a special presentation for the annual Guy Stanton Ford Memorial Lecture. Clay Jenkinson, well-known for his recreations of historic figures, portrayed Thomas Jefferson discussing higher education with Regents Professor Thomas Clayton, Department of English.

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