College of William and Mary in Virginia

College of William & Mary in Virginia

The College of William & Mary Coat of Arms
Latin: Collegium Gulielmi et Mariae in Virginia
Type	Royal (1693–1776) Private (1776–1906) Public (1906–present) Research university
Established	1693 (1693)
Affiliation	ORAU URA
Endowment	$803.7 million(2016)
Chancellor	Robert M. Gates '65
President	W. Taylor Reveley III
Provost	Michael R. Halleran
Rector	Todd Stottlemyer
Academic staff	595
Students	8,484 (Fall 2015)
Undergraduates	6,301 (Fall 2015)
Postgraduates	2,183 (Fall 2015)
Location	Williamsburg, Virginia, United States
Campus	Suburban 1,200 acres (4.9 km2)
Colors	W&M Green, W&M Gold, Spirit Gold & W&M Silver
Athletics	NCAA Division I – CAA
Nickname	Tribe
Mascot	Griffin
Website	www.wm.edu

The College of William & Mary in Virginia (also known as William & Mary, or W&M) is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Royally founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States after Harvard University, and the oldest in the American South.

William & Mary educated U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler as well as other key figures important to the development of the nation, including U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, sixteen members of the Continental Congress, and four signers of the Declaration of Independence, earning it the nickname "the Alma Mater of the Nation." A young George Washington also received his surveyor's license through the College. W&M students founded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society in 1776 and W&M was the first school of higher education in the United States to install an honor code of conduct for students. The establishment of graduate programs in law and medicine in 1779 makes it one of the first universities in the United States.