Former names
|
Lawrence College (1913-64) Lawrence Institute (1847-49) |
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Motto | Light More Light! Veritas est lux |
Motto in English
|
Truth is Light |
Type | Private - liberal arts |
Established | 1847 |
Endowment | $318.2 million |
President | Mark Burstein |
Administrative staff
|
164 faculty |
Students | 1,555 undergraduates (fall 2013) |
Location |
Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S. Coordinates: 44°15′40″N 88°24′00″W / 44.261°N 88.400°W |
Campus |
Urban - 84 acres (34 ha) Björklunden - 425 acres (172 ha) |
Athletics |
Division III (NCAA) 23 varsity teams |
Affiliations |
Associated Colleges of the Midwest Annapolis Group |
Website | www |
Lawrence Vikings | |
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University | Lawrence University |
Conference |
Midwest Conference Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (hockey only) |
NCAA | Division III |
Athletic director | Christyn Abaray |
Location | Appleton, Wisconsin |
Varsity teams | 21 |
Football stadium | Banta Bowl (5,255) |
Basketball arena | Alexander Gymnasium |
Baseball stadium | Whiting Field |
Nickname | Vikings (1926) |
Fight song | "Go, Lawrence, Go" |
Colors | Navy and White |
Website | www |
Lawrence University is a liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1847, the school held its first classes on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the United States to be founded as a coeducational institution.
In a study by the National Science Foundation, Lawrence ranked 28th nationally in the percentage of graduates who go on to earn doctorates in science and engineering.
The 84-acre (34 ha) campus is located in downtown Appleton, divided into two parts by the Fox River. The academic campus is on the north shore of the river, and the major athletic facilities (including the 5000-seat Banta Bowl) are on the southeast shore. Lawrence also has a 425-acre (172 ha) northern estate called Björklunden (full name: Björklunden vid sjön), which serves as a site for retreats, seminars, concerts, and theatrical performances. It contains a chapel for weddings. Donald and Winifred Boynton of Highland Park, Illinois, donated the property in Door County to Lawrence in 1963.
In the mid-1980s, the Physics Department built a $330,000 small laser laboratory (known as the "laser palace"), which includes 800 5 mW small lasers and more than 500 mirrors.
In 2009, Lawrence opened the Richard and Margot Warch Campus Center, a gathering place for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests from the Fox Cities community. The 107,000 square foot building is situated on the Fox River on the site of the former Hulburt House. The Warch Campus Center includes a cinema, campus dining services, campus mailboxes, and various meeting and event spaces. The building has earned a LEED Gold certification for meeting sustainability goals in energy conservation, environmental friendliness, and green building.
The college has a long history of razing buildings on its campus, because of the limited land available for constructing new buildings. Many buildings on campus are built on the site of former buildings. Some razed buildings include:
Lawrence's first president, William Harkness Sampson, founded the school with Henry R. Colman, using $10,000 provided by philanthropist Amos Adams Lawrence, and matched by the Methodist church. Both founders were ordained Methodist ministers, but Lawrence was Episcopalian. The school was originally named Lawrence Institute of Wisconsin in its 1847 charter from the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, but the name was changed to Lawrence University before classes began in November 1849. Its oldest extant building, Main Hall, was built in 1853. Lawrence University was the second coeducational institution in the country.