Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1787 |
| Dean | N. John Cooper |
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Academic staff
|
1,012 |
| Undergraduates | 10,328 |
| Postgraduates | 1,511 |
| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Campus | Oakland (Main) |
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The School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), which students are now required to call the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in all communications, is one of the 17 schools and colleges of University of Pittsburgh located in Pittsburgh, PA. A direct descendent of the Pittsburgh Academy chartered in 1787, and the oldest part of the university, the school serves as the liberal arts core of the university and provides instruction in natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences for all students studying at the Oakland campus, including more than 10,000 students registered as Arts and Sciences undergraduates. In addition, the School of Arts and Sciences educates 15% (over 1,500) of the University’s graduate and graduate professional students, making it the largest graduate program in the Pittsburgh area.
Founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge as the Pittsburgh Academy and chartered in 1787, the School of Arts and Sciences may have originally grown out of a school that was active before the charter was granted, perhaps as early as 1770. Thus the SAS began its life as a preparatory school, presumably in a log cabin, in what is now downtown Pittsburgh, which was then on the frontier of the United States. The school was established on the principles of teaching the rudiments of the "sacred six" of the Scottish universities, as Brackenridge was himself Scottish. Within a short period, more advanced education in the area was needed, so in 1819 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania amended the school's 1787 charter to confer university status. The school took the name the Western University of Pennsylvania.
By the 1830s, the school faced severe financial pressure to abandon its traditional liberal education in favor of the state legislature's desire for it to provide more vocational training. The decision to remain committed to liberal education nearly ended the university, but it persevered despite its abandonment by the city and state. Similar pressure to abandon the liberal arts focus of the school occurred again between 1902 and 1908 when industrial development in the region was attracting more students to technical trades. Financial pressure mounted to abandon the traditional liberal arts curriculum and focus on more vocational training, but petitions from students, alumni, faculty and some trustees kept the original mission intact.
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