The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a
private federally-chartered research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...
in
Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
and is the first university founded under Washington, D.C.'s jurisdiction. It is one of the nation's six
federally chartered universities.
GW is
classified among
"R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity." It is a member of the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...
.
The university offers degree programs in seventy-one disciplines, enrolling around 11,500
undergraduate and 15,000
graduate students. The school's athletic teams, the
George Washington Revolutionaries, play in the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
. GW also annually hosts numerous political events, including the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
and
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
's
Annual Meetings.
Several notable individuals have served as trustees, including two presidents,
John Quincy Adams and
Ulysses S. Grant, and
Alexander Graham Bell. GW has over 1,100 active alumni in the
U.S. Foreign Service and is one of the largest feeder schools for the
diplomatic corps. In the 2023–2024 academic year, GW had $227 million in externally funded research.
History
Founding

The first
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
,
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, long favored the establishment of a university in a central part of the United States.
He advocated for its establishment to the
U.S. Congress and others throughout his political career. Washington envisioned the new university would be in a central part of the new national capital, and he hoped the university would educate the most promising students from across the country while reaping the benefits of its location in Washington, D.C.
On December 14, 1799, George Washington died at his home in
Mount Vernon. Washington included a bequest of his shares in the
Potomac Company to establish the university in his last will and testament, though the shares lost their value and no educational institution ever benefited from them.
Following his death, his desire was shared and encouraged by U.S. presidents
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
and
James Madison, who both expressed the need to carry out Washington's plans.
In 1821, the
Baptist
Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...
missionary and leading
minister Luther Rice secured funds from
James Monroe,
John Quincy Adams,
John C. Calhoun, and other benefactors for a college to educate citizens from throughout the young nation in
Washington, D.C. A large building was constructed on College Hill, which is now known as
Meridian Hill. On February 9, 1821, President Monroe approved the
congressional charter, creating the non-denominational Columbian College.
Washingtonians, Congress, and the academic community celebrated this new institution as the fulfillment of Washington's vision.
In 1824, the first commencement was considered an important event for the young city. In attendance were President Monroe, John C. Calhoun,
Henry Clay
Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
, the
Marquis de Lafayette, and other dignitaries.
Like much of Washington, D.C., George Washington University traces its origins back to the
Freemasons. The
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
that the
President of the George Washington University
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research missio ...
uses to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington. Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus, including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings.
19th century
During the 19th century, most of the university's students came from the
South. As the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
commenced in 1861, many left their studies to join the
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...
. However, the college was still fractured. Professor of anatomy
A. Y. P. Garnett left the university to serve as
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...
' physician, and
Robert King Stone stayed in Washington, D.C., serving as physician to
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
. The college was temporarily turned into a
Union Army military camp during the Civil War. Poet
Walt Whitman worked at this camp while visiting his wounded brother.
In 1873, following the Civil War, Columbian College was renamed Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on
15th and
H streets.
20th century
In 1904, Columbian University was renamed George Washington University following an agreement with the
George Washington Memorial Association.
In honor of George Washington, funds from the memorial association were donated to construct
Lisner Auditorium.
In 1912, the university moved its principal operations to the
Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Many of the colleges of the George Washington University are notable for their age and history. The law school is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia.
The medical school is the 11th-oldest medical school in the nation and the first established in the nation's capital. The Columbian College was founded in 1821 and is the oldest unit of the university. The Elliott School of International Affairs was formalized in 1898.
In the 1930s, the university was a major center for
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...
.
George Gamow, a cosmologist, produced the
Big Bang theory at the university in the 1930s and 1940s. On January 26, 1939,
Niels Bohr
Niels Henrik David Bohr (, ; ; 7 October 1885 – 18 November 1962) was a Danish theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and old quantum theory, quantum theory, for which he received the No ...
announced that
Otto Hahn had successfully split the atom at the Fifth Washington Conference on theoretical physics in the Hall of Government.
During the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
era, Thurston Hall, an undergraduate dormitory housing 1,116 students at 1900 F Street NW, located three blocks from the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, was a staging ground for student
anti-war demonstrations.
In 1996, the university purchased the
Mount Vernon College for Women in the city's
Palisades neighborhood that became the school's coeducational Mount Vernon Campus. The campus was first utilized in 1997 for women only but became co-educational in a matter of years. The Mount Vernon campus is now totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus. In 1999, GW hosted the
Town Hall with President Clinton, the first
presidential town hall to ever be
webcast live.
21st century
In December 2006, the university appointed
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
provost
Steven Knapp as the 16th
President of the George Washington University
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research missio ...
, and his presidency began August 1, 2007.
In 2017,
Thomas LeBlanc, provost of the
University of Miami, was named the
President of the George Washington University
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research missio ...
.
In July 2020, the university began forming special committees to look at possible name changes to an on-campus building and the school moniker. In a statement on the university's website, LeBlanc said one of the panels would examine the Colonials moniker, which critics said conjured up racism, violence, and genocide. In 2022, the Colonials name was officially retired. The following year, in 2023, the new nickname, the
George Washington Revolutionaries, was announced.
Another panel looked into renaming the Marvin Center, which was named after former school President
Cloyd Heck Marvin, a
segregationist.
In January 2022, LeBlanc was succeeded by former
Washington University in St. Louis Chancellor
Mark S. Wrighton
Mark Stephen Wrighton (born June 11, 1949) is an American academic and chemist. From 1995 to 2019, he served as the List of chancellors of Washington University in St. Louis, 14th Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, where he overs ...
as interim university president. A year later, in January 2023, the university named
Ellen Granberg, provost at
Rochester Institute of Technology, as the university's new president, with a start date of July 1, 2023. George Washington University joined the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...
in 2023.
Campuses
GW has three fully integrated campuses in the Washington, D.C. area: the
Foggy Bottom campus, the Mount Vernon campus, and the
Virginia Science and Technology campus. The Foggy Bottom Campus houses the vast majority of academic programming. Residence halls exist on the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses.
The GW library system contains the
Gelman Library, the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library, the Burns Law Library, Eckles Library (named for Charles Ellison Eckles and Anita Heurich Eckles), and the Virginia Science and Technology Library. The GW Library System is a constituent member of the
Washington Research Library Consortium, which allows for resource sharing among the university libraries of the
Washington metropolitan area.
Foggy Bottom

The main GW campus consists of in historic
Foggy Bottom and is located a few blocks from the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
, the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
,
State Department and the
National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
. Barring a few outlying buildings, the boundaries of campus are delineated by (running clockwise from
Washington Circle)
Pennsylvania Avenue, 19th Street,
E Street,
Virginia Avenue, 24th Street, and
New Hampshire Avenue
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995
* "New" (Daya song), 2017
* "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
. The university owns much of the property in Foggy Bottom and leases it to various tenants, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Other institutions in proximity include the
U.S. State Department, the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
, the
U.S. Institute of Peace, the
Watergate complex, and embassies of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
, Mexico,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
, Spain, and
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
. The University Yard is the main open space and historic heart of the university. Along with George Washington's main library,
Gelman Library, it constitutes the hub of the main campus. The seven-story Gelman Library building contains over two million volumes and is constructed in the
Brutalist architectural style
An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...
of the 1970s. It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs. For most of the year, parts of the library are open 24 hours a day, seven days per week for use by students, faculty, and staff. The library's seventh floor includes the Special Collections Research Center,
National Security Archives, Global Resources Center, and Kiev Library.
The
National Security Archives (NSA) is a research institution that publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of
American foreign policy. It was a National Security Archive
Freedom of Information Act request that eventually made the
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
's so-called "
Family Jewels" public.
Close to the library is
Lisner Auditorium and a large open area between them is known as Kogan Plaza. Southeast of the plaza and located near Monroe Hall and Hall of Government is the Monroe Court, a landscaped area with a large fountain. The
Foggy Bottom–GWU Washington Metro station is located at the intersection of 23rd and I Streets NW due south of
Washington Circle, and provides access to the
Orange,
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
and
Silver lines. The
University Hospital
A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...
is located next to the Metro station entrance.
The Foggy Bottom campus contains most of the residence halls in which GW students live. The most notable include Shenkman Hall, Thurston Hall,
Madison Hall, Potomac House,
Fulbright Hall, Mitchell Hall,
Munson Hall,
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall, Phillip Amsterdam Hall, Guthridge Hall, Madison Hall, Townhouse Row, South Hall, and the newest, District House, which opened in 2016.
In late 2007, construction began on a large mixed-use residential, office and retail development located on the site of the old GW Hospital (Square 54) and just east of the
Foggy Bottom–GW Metrorail station. It was the second-largest undeveloped lot in the District of Columbia at the time of initial construction activity.
In 2014, the university assumed ownership of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private art museum in Washington, D.C. and independent college of art and design. The college of art and design became The
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design under the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. The
National Gallery of Art will acquire many of the 17,000 pieces of art from the Corcoran and the rest will be donated to other museums around the country.
In May 2014, GW opened the
Milken Institute School of Public Health, a nine-story building that received
LEED certification for sustainability features including a green roof, rainwater collection system, and special heating and air conditioning technologies that helps mass air displacement.
The Textile Museum reopened to the public in March 2015 after the institution merged with the university in 2011 and closed it for renovations two years later.
Mount Vernon
In 1996, the university purchased the
Mount Vernon College for Women in the city's
Palisades neighborhood that became the school's coeducational Mount Vernon Campus. Initially, the Mount Vernon Campus remained exclusively a women's college until 1999 when GW changed its operations to a co-ed facility. It was purchased so that the university could gain more space and valuable land for athletics, such as for the women's soccer team.
Now known as the Mount Vernon campus, it is totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus.
The campus has transportation systems connecting the students to the GW campus in Foggy Bottom. It also includes Eckles Library, six residence halls, Lloyd Gymnasium, The GW-Mount Vernon Athletic Complex and other various campus facilities.
Virginia
The George Washington University also operates a research and graduate campus in
Ashburn, Virginia (near
Dulles International Airport) which was established in 1991. Starting with a donation of from Robert H. Smith, the campus grew to by 2010. Besides graduate education, this campus also offers undergraduate education to students, including Health Science, Cybersecurity & Information Technology, and Nursing.
Additionally, the university also operates several other graduate satellite education centers. These include the Alexandria Graduate Education Center in Alexandria, the Graduate Education Center in
Arlington, and the Hampton Roads Center in
Newport News. The Virginia Science and Technology Campus hosts research and educational partnerships with industry and government officials and offers more than 20 graduate degrees.
The Virginia Science and Technology Campus is home to the first walkable solar-power sidewalk in the world. The project began in 2012 and was completed two years later, inaugurated in October 2014.
Organization
George Washington University is governed by the GW Board of Trustees, the
President of the George Washington University
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research missio ...
,
provost,
deans, and department chairs. The university employs over 6,000 faculty members, administrators, and support staff. In 2007,
Steven Knapp was named the university's
sixteenth president; he had previously taught at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and was later the provost at
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
. The current
President of the George Washington University
The president of the George Washington University is the chief executive officer of the George Washington University, appointed by the GW Board of Trustees and charged "to establish the university's vision, oversee its teaching and research missio ...
is
Ellen Granberg.
Ulysses S. Grant was a member of the Board of Trustees, and his Grandson,
Ulysses S. Grant III, was Vice President of GW. John Quincy Adams was also a member of the board of trustees.
Schools and colleges
GW is organized into fourteen schools and colleges, each with a different dean and organization.
The
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences was the original academic unit of the university. The Medical School is the 11th oldest medical school in the nation and the first to open in the District of Columbia. The Law School was also the first law school in the District of Columbia.
Each academic unit has a distinct identity within the broader university. The Graduate School of Political Management and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design were organized outside of the university, later to join in 1987 and 2014, respectively.
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
The
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is the oldest and largest college in the university. It was founded in 1821; at the beginning of the university's history, there was no distinction between this college and the university. The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (SPPPA) belong to this college, although they are run separately. The Columbian College was among the first American institutions to grant a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
(Ph.D.), in 1888.
The Columbian College is notable for its academic diversity, and offers a wide range of majors and courses of study.
The Columbian College contains the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, the School of Media and Public Affairs, and the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. The Columbian College is primarily housed in Philips Hall, Rome Hall, Smith Hall of Art, MPA Building, Monroe Hall, Hall of Government, 1922 F Street, Corcoran Hall, Bell Hall, Samson Hall, Lisner Hall, and many other places around campus. The college is also present on the Mount Vernon and Virginia Campuses.
=Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration
=
The
Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration is a graduate school in the
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
Consistently ranked as one of the top
Public Affairs Schools in the United States, it is ranked 11th nationwide by ''
U.S. News & World Report.'' The Trachtenberg School offers
Master of Public Policy,
Master of Public Administration, and
PhD degrees in
Public Policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...
and
Public Administration
Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...
. The school works in partnership with the
Elliott School of International Affairs, the
School of Public Health and Health Services, and the Graduate School of Education & Human Development to offer a variety of concentrations for its graduates.
=School of Media and Public Affairs
=
The
School of Media and Public Affairs
The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, a school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in journalism and political and internati ...
(SMPA), although run separately, belongs to the Columbian College of Arts in Sciences.
It offers two undergraduate degrees, Journalism and Mass Communication and
Political Communication and a master's degree in Media and Public Affairs. It is housed in the same building as the
Graduate School of Political Management. The Public Affairs Project at GW, part of SMPA, is responsible for the creation and production of the
PBS special,
Planet Forward. School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) was the first in the nation to offer a bachelor's degree in Political Communication. The program boasts a faculty of retired and current professionals – including CNN correspondents, journalists, political analysts, and campaign professionals. The school is consistently ranked in the top 10 programs in the nation.
=Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
=

The
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design is one of the oldest
arts education institutions in the United States. It is a school of the
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
It is housed in the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, the oldest private cultural institution in
Washington, D.C.
Formerly an independent institution, known as the Corcoran College of Art and Design, the institution later merged the college operations with the George Washington University. The school retained over 20 full-time faculty members, and the college will continue to function as a separate entity within the university. The school has a historic building facing the White House on 17th Street.
School of Business

The
George Washington School of Business was established in 1928 with a $1 million gift by the
Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction. On February 6, 2006, the chairman and CEO of
FedEx
FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...
,
Frederick W. Smith, opened a new complex for the school called Ric and Dawn Duquès Hall, which today houses the business school along with the Norma Lee and Morton Funger Hall.
, GW's undergraduate business program was ranked 42nd nationally and its International Business program was ranked ninth by ''
U.S. News & World Report''.
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Founded in 1824, the
School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), or simply the George Washington School of Medicine, was the first school of medicine in Washington, D.C.
In 1981,
George Washington University Hospital became the center of the national spotlight when President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
was rushed to the emergency room after an attempted assassination.
GW Hospital's emergency department was later renamed the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine. Other politicians, such as former Vice President
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...
, come to GW for routine and emergency procedures. Cheney and wife
Lynne Cheney helped to start the
Richard B. and Lynne V. Cheney Cardiovascular Institute in 2006. Others notable patients include former First Lady
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...
, who was treated for a pinched nerve. SMHS is primarily housed in the
GW Hospital, Ross Hall, and many other centers along K Street and throughout the city.
GW was once home to the George Washington Dental College, but this department would close in 1921 due to budget constraints.
School of Engineering and Applied Science

The
School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) was founded on October 1, 1884, as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University. The school separated from the Columbian College in 1962 and was one of the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering. The
bazooka was invented at the SEAS in 1942.
The school moved into the new Science and Engineering Hall in D.C. in March 2015.
Elliott School of International Affairs

The
Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) was founded in 1898, as the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. Under President Lloyd Elliott, the school separated from Columbian College. On September 3, 2003, alumnus
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
opened a new complex for this school at 1957 E Street NW in front of the
Department of State.
, its undergraduate program was ranked eighth globally by ''
Foreign Policy
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
'' magazine, while the graduate program is currently ranked seventh in the world. ESIA is primarily housed in Elliott Hall at 1957 E St.
School of Nursing
The history of nursing education at GW spans more than 100 years. In 2002, Jean Johnson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, then senior associate dean for Health Sciences, met with the nursing faculty to assess GW's capacity to create GW's degree programs. The faculty moved forward to develop an MSN in the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences with programs in adult
nurse practitioner, family nurse practitioner, nursing leadership and management, and clinical research administration. The first MSN class was admitted in 2004.
Meanwhile, approval was also obtained to develop a Department of Nursing Education. As the first and only chair of the department, Ellen Dawson, Ph.D., RN, ANP, led the MSN program to accreditation in time for the graduation of the first class in 2006. Also, she spearheaded the development of both the doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program and the 15-month (four consecutive semesters) accelerated second-degree bachelor of nursing science (ABSN) program located in Ashburn, VA. The first classes for these degrees were admitted in 2007 and 2009, respectively.
In 2010, the GW School of Nursing was re-established and is now the university's tenth academic institution, with Jean Johnson and Ellen Dawson as the founding deans.
Law School

The
George Washington University Law School was established in 1826 and is the oldest law school in the
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. Supreme Court Justices
Clarence Thomas,
William Strong,
David J. Brewer,
Willis Van Devanter and
John Marshall Harlan were among those who served on its faculty.
Chief Justice
John Roberts, Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, Justice
Samuel Alito, and Justice
Antonin Scalia presided over its
moot court in 2006, 2007 and 2009, respectively. The law school is located primarily on the east side of University Yard.
Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Although teacher education has been offered since the university's founding in 1904, the education division would only become a separate school in 1909 as the Teachers' College, which then became the School of Education in 1928. In 1994, the school became the Graduate School of Education and Human Development to reflect its increased focus on graduate education.
College of Professional Studies
The George Washington University College of Professional Studies (CPS) was founded during the Trachtenberg Presidency.
The Graduate School of Political Management is included within the college. CPS offers courses on the Foggy Bottom and Virginia campuses.
=Graduate School of Political Management
=
The Graduate School of Political Management (GSPM) is an academic unit of the College of Professional Studies. GSPM offers graduate degrees in legislative affairs, political management, and other related disciplines. The current director is
Lara Brown.
Milken Institute School of Public Health
Established in July 1997, and renamed in March 2014, the
Milken Institute School of Public Health brought together three longstanding university programs in the schools of medicine, business, and education that have since expanded substantially. Today, more than 900 students from nearly every U.S. state and more than 35 nations pursue undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral-level degrees in public health. Its student body is one of the most ethnically diverse among the nation's private schools of public health.
The School also offers an array of joint degree programs, allowing students to couple a
Juris Doctor (JD) with the
Master of Public Health (MPH), or to combine an MPH with a
Doctor of Medicine
A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...
(MD) or an
MA in International Affairs. An MPH/Physician Assistant program, the first in the world, is available at the Milken Institute SPH, as is the opportunity to serve as a
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...
volunteer while pursuing an MPH.
Academics
Admission
GW is the largest higher education institution in Washington, D.C.
There are approximately 10,000 full-time undergraduates studying at George Washington University, and 14,000 graduate students. These students come from all 50 states and over 120 countries.
Nearly 900 students participate in GW's Study Abroad Programs each semester in 50 countries.
, George Washington University no longer required the
SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and Test score, scoring have changed several times. For much of its history, it was called the Scholastic Aptitude Test ...
and
ACT test scores for applicants in order to boost the enrollment of disadvantaged students. GW
tuition was guaranteed to remain at the freshman rate for up to ten continuous (full-time) semesters of undergraduate attendance at the university. GW no longer offers fixed tuition. The 2021–2022 academic year tuition rate was $59,780. Students were awarded $308.1 million in financial-aid during the 2017–2018 academic year. For the FY2011 cohort of students, the student loan default rate was 1.4, one of the lowest in the nation. For the 2010–2011 school year, the freshman retention rate was 94.3%. GW requires that students live on campus for their first two years of enrollment as undergraduates. According to self-provided data by George Washington University, as of the 2011–2012 academic year, the acceptance rate for the
Medical School
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, professional school, or forms a part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, ...
was 3%, receiving 10,588 applications.
GW Law School's acceptance was 23%, receiving 10,021 applications. GW's Undergraduate studies' acceptance rate was 32%, receiving 21,433 applications.
In September 2013, ''
The GW Hatchet'' reported that the university had a
need-aware admissions policy, even though it claimed to have a need-blind policy at the time. The university subsequently admitted that its admissions policy was, in fact, need-aware.
Enrollment
During the 2013–2014 academic year, there were 5,015 undergraduates enrolled in the
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, 2,005 in the
Elliott School of International Affairs, 1,566 in the School of Business, 774 in the
School of Engineering and Applied Science, 367 in the
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 174 in the
Milken Institute School of Public Health, and 153 in the School of Nursing.
Students come from all 50
U.S. states. The top states include
New York,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
,
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
and
Connecticut
Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...
.
George Washington University has many international students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. During the 2013–2014 academic year, there were over 130 countries represented among the student body. The most represented countries represented were
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
,
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
.
Rankings and reputation
GW was ranked tied for 63rd by U.S. News and World Report in 2024 on its National University list.
GW was ranked 28th in "2024 National University Rankings" in ''
Washington Monthly''.
''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' ranked GW 67th in 2025.
;Misreported admissions data
In 2012, the university received national attention when GW officials announced that they had misreported admissions data on their student body for over a decade, overstating the number of students who had graduated from high school in the top ten percent of their classes due to a "data reporting error". Consequently, ''
U.S. News & World Report'' removed the school from its rankings and altered the GW's entry to being unranked for the 2013. The university was reinstated a year later in the 2014 rankings.
;Program rankings
The Princeton Review ranked GW first for "Top Colleges or Universities for Internship Opportunities." GW is consistently ranked by The Princeton Review in the top "Most Politically Active" Schools.
''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranks GW's
international business
International business refers to the trade of goods and service goods, services, technology, capital and/or knowledge across national borders and at a global or transnational scale. It includes all commercial activities that promote the transfer o ...
program as eighth best in the world, its
MBA program as 51st best, and its
undergraduate business program as 38th best.
''
The Financial Times'' ranks GWSB as the 47th best business school in the United States.
''
Foreign Policy
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
'' ranks the Elliott School's
Masters in International Affairs as the seventh best in the world in its 2018 "
Inside the Ivory Tower" annual report.
''Foreign Policy'' ranks the
Elliott School as being the eighth in the "Top U.S. Undergraduate Institutions to Study International Relations 2018."
''
U.S. News & World Report'' ranks the
Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration as the 10th best
public affairs school in the United States and as having the 6th best Global Policy program, 11th best
public management program, the 14th best
health policy program, and the 20th best
social policy
Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...
program in the U.S.
The 2020 ''U.S. News & World Report'' ranks
GW Law School as fifth best in the U.S. for its
international law
International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
program, fifth best for
intellectual law, second best for part-time law, and as the 22nd best law school in the United States.
The ''
National Law Journal'' ranked GW Law 21st for law schools that sent the highest percentage of new graduates to NLJ 250 law firms, the largest and most prominent law practices in the U.S.
George Washington is ranked 61st for the "Best Global Universities for Social Sciences and Public Health 2018" by ''
U.S. News & World Report''.
The ''
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' ranks GW as having the 64th best law program in the world in 2019.
Research

George Washington University is the largest research university in
Washington, D.C. According to the
National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
, the university spent $260 million on research and development in 2018, ranking it 89th in the nation. In 2023, GW was invited to join the
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of predominantly American research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. Founded in 1900, it consists of 69 public and private ...
.
Centers and institutes
George Washington University has many research centers, including:
;Centers
;Institutes:
University press
The George Washington University Press was a
university press affiliated with George Washington University. Established in 1934, the press's first publication was the work ''Modern Hispanic America'' (edited by A. Curtis Wilgus). The last major publication by the press was Elmer Louis Kayser's ''A Medical Center'' (1973).
Student life

The university is located in downtown Washington, D.C., near the
Kennedy Center
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...
, embassies, and other cultural events. Students are known as highly politically active; ''
Uni in the USA'' stated that "politics at George Washington is about as progressive as it gets".
GW has a
Division I athletics program that includes men's baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, women's rowing, soccer, women's softball, swimming, women's tennis, women's volleyball and men's water polo.
Revolutionaries athletics teams compete in the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
. The Division II men's and women's Rugby Teams both compete in the Potomac Rugby Union.
Student organizations

Most student organizations are run through the
George Washington University Student Government Association (SGA). The SGA is fashioned after the federal government with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. There are over 500 registered student organizations on campus. The largest student organization on campus, the GW College Democrats have hosted speakers such as
CNN contributor
Donna Brazile and former
DNC Chairman
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...
among many others. Likewise, the GW College Republicans, the largest CR chapter in the nation, have been visited by politicians like
John Ashcroft former Florida Governor
Jeb Bush and former President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
.
The International Affairs Society (IAS) runs the university's internationally top-ranked Model United Nations team, in addition to hosting yearly high school and middle school Model UN conferences on campus. This organization also hosts various foreign dignitaries, US Government officials, and subject matter experts to further inform and foster international understanding both in the university's student body and the greater D.C. community.
There are also several a cappella performance groups on campus. The GW Sons Of Pitch are GW's only tenor/baritone/bass group and have released two EPs. The university's school-sponsored a cappella group, the co-ed GW Troubadours, has been a presence on campus since the mid-1950s. A female group, the GW Pitches, was founded in 1996. The GW Sirens, another all-girls group, and the GW Motherfunkers, a coed top 40 group, were created in 2003 and 2012, respectively. Each year, the groups duke it out at the Battle of the A-Cappella groups, one of the biggest student events on GW's campus. The Sons of Pitch are the Reigning Champions. Additionally, the university is home to the Voice gospel choir, a group that focuses on soulful music.
Another student group, the Emergency Medical Response Group (EMeRG) provides an all-volunteer 24/7 ambulance service for the campus and the Foggy Bottom/West End community at no cost. EMeRG has been active on campus since 1994 and has advanced from bike response into a two-ambulance system that is sanctioned by the District of Columbia Department of Health and DC Fire and EMS (DCFEMS). EMeRG also plays an active role in special events in around the DC area including the Marine Corps Marathon, National Marathon, Cherry Blossom Race, commencement, inauguration, and other events in downtown D.C. and on the National Mall.
Greek life

GW has a large Greek community with over 3,000 students consisting of just under 27 percent of the undergraduate population.
Greek organizations are divided up between and governed by the Inter-Fraternity Council with 14 chapters, the Panhellenic Association with 11 chapters, the National Pan-Hellenic Council with seven chapters, and the Multicultural Greek Council with seven chapters as well.
Other Greek-life, known as "Alternative Greek Life" or simply "Alt-Greek", exists on campus in the form of professional, community-serviced based and honor groups although not under the university's traditional Greek life governing structure but instead are considered separate student organizations.
Scholarly societies
There are chapters of many varied academic groups at the university. The local chapter of the Society of Physics Students was at one time under the auspices of world-renowned scientists like
George Gamow,
Ralph Asher Alpher,
Mario Schoenberg and
Edward Teller, who have all taught at the university. The
Enosinian Society, founded in 1822, is one of the university's oldest student organizations. Invited speakers included
Daniel Webster.
Campus media
There are four major news sources on campus: the independent student-run newspaper ''
The GW Hatchet'', which publishes articles online daily and a print edition weekly; ''The Rival GW'', an online-only student-run publication; the online-only radio station, WRGW; and the university's official news source, ''GW Today''. GW also publishes a peer-reviewed journal, ''The International Affairs Review'', which is run by graduate students at the Elliott School.
WRGW

WRGW is the student-run radio station of George Washington University. It broadcasts live every day online throughout the school year between 8am and 2am. The studio is in the ground floor of the University Student Center, where it has been located since 1999. While now only available on the internet, the online broadcasts are named for a
carrier current
Carrier current transmission, originally called wired wireless, employs guided low-power Radio frequency, radio-frequency signals, which are transmitted along electrical conductors. The transmissions are picked up by receivers that are either conne ...
radio station that first operated on campus in 1958. That station was created as a result of efforts by GWU's Radio Club, which was founded in February 1929.
Environmental sustainability
George Washington University was ranked number 12 on The
Sierra Club's magazine "Cool Schools List" for 2014 and was included in the Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Schools for 2013. The campus has a campus-wide building energy efficiency program along with nine
LEED-certified buildings including the Milken Institute School of Public Health building.
In 2016, university officials rejected demands by the student body for the university to divest from
fossil fuels
A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...
.
Religious organizations
George Washington University has an active
Newman Center that supports the growing Catholic student community on campus.
GW Hillel serves more than 3,000 Jewish students and is one of the largest campus
Hillel International organizations in the United States. In 2021, a multistory building was erected in the middle of GW's campus.
Athletics

George Washington University is a member of the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
and most of its teams play at the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Division I level. All indoor sports play at the
Charles E. Smith Center, an indoor arena on the
Foggy Bottom campus. Outdoor events are held at the Mount Vernon campus Athletic Complex. The university's colors are
buff and
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...
, with buff sometimes represented as gold or yellow. The colors were taken from the colors of
George Washington
George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
's uniform during the
Revolutionary War.
The official fight song is "
Hail to the Buff and Blue", composed in 1924 by GW student Eugene F. Sweeney and rewritten in 1989 by Patrick M. Jones.
The song is tolled twice-daily by bells atop Corcoran Hall, at 12:15pm and 6:00pm.
Baseball
The
GW baseball team, founded in 1891, is a member of the
Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...
, which is part of the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
's
Division I. The team plays its home games at
Barcroft Park in
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, and Gregg Ritchie is the team's coach.
Football
The university had a
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
team from 1881 to 1966. The team played home games primarily at
Griffith Stadium and later at
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. In 1966, the football program was discontinued due to a lack of adequate facilities and the university's desire to develop an on-campus fieldhouse for
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
and other sports.
GW has one alumnus in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
,
Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans.
Men's basketball
The
George Washington Revolutionaries men's basketball team is coached by
Chris Caputo, former coach at the
University of Miami.
Men's soccer
Softball
Spirit programs
The GW Spirit Program includes a co-ed Cheer Team, the First Ladies Dance team, and the university mascot. The Revolutionaries mascot is named George, and is portrayed by a student wearing an outfit inspired by a uniform worn by General Washington.
In 2012, George took first place at the National Cheerleaders Association Mascot Competition and is the university's first national champion. The spirit program also includes the GW Brass, directed by Professor Benno Fritz.
Women's basketball
Club sports
The university also has various club sports, which are not varsity sports, but compete against other colleges. Examples include:
boxing
Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
,
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
,
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
,
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
,
figure skating
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...
,
fencing
Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...
,
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...
,
rugby,
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
,
triathlon
A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
,
ultimate frisbee,
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
,
Brazilian jiu-jitsu,
water polo
Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...
,
equestrian, and others.
Notable people
Notable alumni
File:William Greenleaf Eliot.jpg, William Greenleaf Eliot, founder of Washington University in St. Louis; Columbian College, 1831
File:Judge Xu Mo.jpg, Hsu Mo, founding judge of the International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
; Law School
File:Belva Ann Lockwood - Brady-Handy.jpg, Belva Ann Lockwood, first woman to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court; Law School
File:Rhee Syng-Man in 1956.jpg, Syngman Rhee, first president of South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
; Columbian College, '07
File:Hoover-JEdgar-LOC.jpg, J. Edgar Hoover, first FBI Director; Law School, '16
File:Senator John Foster Dulles (R-NY).jpg, John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...
, 52nd U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator from New York; Law School
File:Mrs Kennedy in the Diplomatic Reception Room cropped.jpg, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, former First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...
; Columbian College '51
File:L. Ron Hubbard in 1950 (cropped).jpg, L. Ron Hubbard, Church of Scientology founder; Columbian College
File:Colin Powell (15570753996) cropped.jpg, Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
, General and Secretary of State; School of Business
File:Korea President Park Business Leaders 20130508 01 (cropped).jpg, Lee Kun-hee, Chairman of Samsung and one of the world's richest people; School of Business
File:Elizabeth Warren, official portrait, 114th Congress.jpg, Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts; Columbian College
File:Jared Leto, San Diego Comic Con 2016 (2) (cropped).jpg, Jared Leto, actor; Corcoran School
File:DAVID LYNCH (CannesPhotocall).jpg, David Lynch, Director and Artist; Corcoran School
Notable
alumni,
faculty, and affiliates include
16 foreign heads of state or government, 28
United States senators, 27
United States governors, 18
U.S. Cabinet members, five Nobel laureates, two
Olympic medalists, two
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
winners, and a
Golden Globe winner.
Alumni have included many current and past political figures, both in the United States and abroad. 16
GW alumni have served as foreign heads of state or government with four currently serving (as of 2019). Many
alumni have held U.S. Cabinet positions, including former
Attorney General William Barr, former acting
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and former
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. GW is one of the schools with the most alumni that have served in the
U.S. Congress.
Notable recent
GW alumni members of congress include
Harry Reid (
Senate Majority Leader for most of the Obama Presidency),
Elizabeth Warren (
2020 presidential candidate),
Eric Cantor (
House Majority Leader, 2011–2014), and
Robert Byrd (
President pro tempore of the Senate under President Bush and President Obama). Alumni have served as
governors
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
of 19
U.S. states, as well as the
District of Columbia
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
and
Guam, among others. Some alumni serving in President Trump's
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
include current
White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp and
White House Cabinet Secretary Bill McGinley. Other prominent U.S. politicians include Senator
J. William Fulbright, former
Secretary of State Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( ; – ) was an Americans, American diplomat, and army officer who was the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American to hold the office. He was the 15th National Security ...
, former
FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, former CIA Director
Allen Dulles and his brother, former Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat who served as United States secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 until his resignation in 1959. A member of the ...
. Also, current
Premier of Bermuda Edward David Burt (youngest in history) and current
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Bhutan Tshering Wangchuk are GW alumni. Former associate director for National Preparedness at the United States
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),
John Brinkerhoff was a GW alumni.
In business,
Lee Kun-hee (MBA), Chairman of
Samsung who is credited with transforming the company into one of the largest electronics manufacturers,
Scott Kirby (MS), CEO of
United Airlines
United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
,
Kathy J. Warden (MBA), President and CEO of
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
and
John F.W. Rogers (BA), Executive Vice President, Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board of
Goldman Sachs. Notable company founders include
Robert A. Altman (JD), co-founder of
ZeniMax Media,
Elaine Wynn, co-founder of
Wynn Resorts
Wynn Resorts, Limited is an American publicly traded corporation based in Paradise, Nevada, that is a developer and operator of high-end hotels and casinos. It was founded in 2002 by former Mirage Resorts Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn and is now r ...
, and
Tom Cortese, co-founder of
Peloton.
Science and technology alumni include
Julius Axelrod (PhD),
Nobel Laureate and medical researcher,
Ralph Asher Alpher,
National Medal of Science
The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...
laureate, physicist and "father" of the
Big Bang theory,
Jack Edmonds, noted computer scientist and mathematician and one of the creators of
combinatorial optimization,
Walter O. Snelling, who first identified propane and researched how propane could be liquefied and used as a viable energy resource,
Charles Browne Fleet, inventor of
ChapStick. In addition, 7
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
astronauts are alumni, including
Charles Camarda and
Serena Auñón-Chancellor.
In arts, entertainment and media, writer and filmmaker
William Peter Blatty
William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Exorcist (novel), The Exorcist'' and for his screenplay for The Exorcist, the 1973 film adaptat ...
(MA), author of ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...
'', which he adapted
for the screen and won the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
for
Best Adapted Screenplay.
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...
-winning actors
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor and film producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama. He has received List of awards and nominations received by A ...
and Kerry Washington are also alumni, while filmmaker and Palme d'Or recipient
David Lynch, Oscar-winning actor
Jared Leto, and portrait painter Ned Bittinger attended the
Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Journalism alumni include Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Greenwald,
CNN commentators Dana Bash and Chuck Todd, as well as NBC News reporter Kasie Hunt. Another notable alumnus in this field is The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, talk radio host Clay Travis.
Leaders of academic institutions include
William Greenleaf Eliot co-founder of
Washington University in St. Louis, Derek Bok (AM), president of Harvard University, Scott Cowen (MBA), president of Tulane University, and John T. Wilson, president of the University of Chicago.
Well known athletes and sports personnel include Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach (BA, MA), winner of nine NBA championships as a head coach with an additional seven as a general manager for grand total of 16 NBA championships. Many players have been drafted into the NBA such as Yinka Dare and Yuta Watanabe. Other notable athletes include WNBA star Jonquel Jones,
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...
running back Tuffy Leemans, and Olympic Games, Olympic medalist Elena Myers. Several alumni have owned sports teams including Ted Lerner, owner of the Washington Nationals; Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals; and Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox.
Notable faculty
File:Edward Teller (1958)-LLNL.jpg, Edward Teller, nuclear physicist known as "the father of the hydrogen bomb"; faculty member
File:Carte de visite portrait of Robert Cutler Hinckley, front view.jpg, Robert Cutler Hinckley, American portraitist known for portraits of eminent Americans; faculty member
File:Jose Andres Puerta 2012 Shankbone 2.png, José Andrés, National Humanities Medal winning chef; faculty member
File:Bragg lab1 1930 (cropped).jpg, George Gamow, physicist known for Big Bang Theory; faculty member
File:Portrait of David Josiah Brewer.jpg, David J. Brewer, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice; faculty member
File:Adm William Crowe Jr - cropped.jpg, William J. Crowe, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman; faculty member
File:Willis Van Devanter.jpg, Willis Van Devanter, former U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice; faculty member
File:Al Gore, Vice President of the United States, official portrait 1994.jpg, Al Gore, former U.S. vice president and climate activist; faculty member
List of notable George Washington University faculty, Notable GW faculty include Tom Perez, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee; two current List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, Supreme Court Justices,
Clarence Thomas and Ketanji Brown Jackson;
George Gamow, developer of the
Big Bang theory;
Edward Teller, "father of the hydrogen bomb"; Vincent du Vigneaud, Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner; John Negroponte, first Director of National Intelligence; Thomas Buergenthal, former Inter-American Court of Human Rights#Former Presidents of the Court, President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights; Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Prize in Physics winner; Scott Pace, current National Space Council, Executive Secretary of the National Space Council; Amitai Etzioni, former President of the American Sociological Association; Marshall Warren Nirenberg, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner; Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize winner; Abba Eban, former United Nations General Assembly, Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly; Dana Perino, former White House Press Secretary; and Ferid Murad, Nobel Prize in Medicine winner.
Other faculty have included Frank Sesno,
CNN former Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief and Special Correspondent; James Carafano, Heritage Foundation national security and homeland security expert; Leon Fuerth, former national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore; James Rosenau, political theorist and former president of the International Studies Association; Steven V. Roberts, American journalist, writer and political commentator and former senior writer at ''
U.S. News & World Report''; Nancy E. Gary, former dean of Albany Medical College, Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Roy Richard Grinker, anthropologist specializing in autism and North-South Korean relations, Edward P. Jones, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004, novelist H. G. Carrillo, Herman "H.G." Carrillo, historian Jessica Krug academic scandal, Jessica Krug, Dagmar R. Henney, Mohammad Nahavandian (economics), chief of staff of the President of Iran since 2013, and Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (MBA), president of Togo since 2005, Blake R. Van Leer, president of Georgia Tech, Colonel and Civil Rights advocate.
See also
* 2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses
* Campuses of George Washington University
* GW-TV
*
Hail to the Buff and Blue
* List of centers and research institutes at George Washington University
* National Security Archive
* ''
The GW Hatchet''
* ''United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures''
* WRGW (student radio), WRGW
References
External links
*
GW Athletics website
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George Washington University,
1821 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Educational institutions established in 1821
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Private universities and colleges in Washington, D.C.
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