Tuskegee University

Tuskegee University

Motto	Scientia Principatus Opera
Motto in English	Knowledge, Leadership, Service
Type	Private, HBCU
Established	July 4, 1881 (1881-07-04)
Founder	George Campbell Lewis Adams
Academic affiliations	UNCF NAICU APLU ORAU
Endowment	$130.2 million (2014)
President	Brian L. Johnson
Students	3,118 (2012)
Location	Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. 32°25′48.76″N 85°42′27.81″W / 32.4302111°N 85.7077250°W / 32.4302111; -85.7077250
Campus	Rural, 5,200 acres
Colors	Crimson and Gold
Nickname	Golden Tigers
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II – SIAC
Website	www.tuskegee.edu

Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Nearest city	Tuskegee, Alabama
Coordinates	32°25′49″N 85°42′28″W / 32.43028°N 85.70778°W / 32.43028; -85.70778Coordinates: 32°25′49″N 85°42′28″W / 32.43028°N 85.70778°W / 32.43028; -85.70778
Built	1882
Architect	Robert Robinson Taylor
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Queen Anne
Website	Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site
NRHP Reference #	66000151
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	October 15, 1966
Designated NHL	June 23, 1965

Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university (HBCU) located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It was established by Booker T. Washington. The campus is designated as the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site by the National Park Service and is the only one in the U.S. to have this designation. The university was home to scientist George Washington Carver and to World War II's Tuskegee Airmen.

Tuskegee University offers 40 bachelor's degree programs, 17 master's degree programs, a 5-year accredited professional degree program in architecture, 4 doctoral degree programs, and the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. The university is home to over 3,100 students from the U.S. and 30 foreign countries. Tuskegee University is ranked among the 2015 Best 379 Colleges and Universities by the Princeton Review and 5th among the 2015 U.S. News & World Report Best HBCUs.

The university's campus was designed by architect Robert Robinson Taylor, the first African American to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The school was founded on July 4, 1881, as the Tuskegee Normal School for Colored Teachers. This was a result of an agreement made during the 1880 elections in Macon County between a former Confederate Colonel, W.F. Foster who was running on the democratic ticket and a local Black Leader and Republican, Lewis Adams. W.F. Foster propositioned that if Adams could successfully persuade the Black constituents to vote for Foster, if elected, Foster would push the state of Alabama to establish a school for Black people in the county. At the time the majority of Macon County population was Black, thus Black constituents had political power. Adams succeeded and Foster followed through with the school. The school became a part of the expansion of higher education for blacks in the former Confederate states following the American Civil War, with many schools founded by the northern American Missionary Association. A teachers' school was the dream of Lewis Adams, a former slave, and George W. Campbell, a banker, merchant, and former slaveholder, who shared a commitment to the education of blacks. Despite lacking formal education, Adams could read, write, and speak several languages. He was an experienced tinsmith, harness-maker, and shoemaker and was a Prince Hall Freemason, an acknowledged leader of the African-American community in Macon County, Alabama.