Rockford University is a

private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive from governments tax breaks, public student loans, and grant (money ...

in Rockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name to Rockford College in 1892, and to Rockford University in 2013.

History

Sill Hall, Main Hall, Adams Hall (l-r) (Rockford College, 1904)

Rockford Female Seminary was founded in 1847 as the sister college of

Beloit College Beloit College is a private liberal arts college in Beloit, Wisconsin. Founded in 1846, when Wisconsin was still a territory, it is the state's oldest continuously operated college. It is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and ...

, which had been founded the year before. The seminary's initial campus was on the east side of the

Rock River Rock River may refer to: Streams ;United States * Rock River (Mississippi River), a tributary of the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and Illinois * Rock River (Iowa), a tributary of the Big Sioux River in Minnesota and Iowa * Rock River (Lake Mich ...

, south of downtown Rockford. Anna Peck Sill served as principal for the first 35 years. In 1890, the seminary's trustees voted to offer a full college curriculum, which led to the name changing to Rockford College in 1892. Men were first granted admission to the university at the beginning of the 1955–1956 school year. At about this time, the school requested that the City of Rockford close parts of a street adjoining the campus. In January 2008, Dr. Robert L. Head was named the university's seventeenth president, effective July 2008. On October 2, 2012, the board of trustees voted unanimously to rename the college as a university. The trustees did so because the institution has many different academic departments. On July 1, 2013, the institution officially became Rockford University. In February 2016, Dr. Eric W. Fulcomer was named the university's eighteenth president, effective July 2016, and inaugurated on November 4, 2016.

Academics

The university offers approximately 80 majors, minors and concentrations, including the adult accelerated degree completion program for a B.S. in Management Studies. Through its Graduate Studies department, degree include the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a Master of Education (MEd). The university is organized into three colleges: * Arts and Humanities * Science, Math, and Nursing * Social Sciences, Commerce and Education The university offers an Honors Program in Liberal Arts & Sciences. Also housed within the university are the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and the Center for Learning Strategies.

Departments

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

* Art &

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditar ...

Chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wit ...

Biological Sciences Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

* Classics *

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

, Business & Accounting *

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. ...

* English *

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

* Mathematics * Modern &

Classical Language A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...

s *

Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

* Performing Arts * Philosophy *

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explora ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Honor societies

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

Scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

* Eta Sigma Phi - Classics * Omicron Delta Epsilon -

Phi Alpha Theta Phi Alpha Theta () is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history. It has more than 400,000 members, with new members numbering about 9,000 a year through its 970 chapters. Founding Phi Alpha The ...

Phi Sigma Iota Phi Sigma Iota () is an honor society whose members are elected from among outstanding advanced (juniors and seniors) and graduate students of foreign languages and literatures including Classics, comparative literature, philology, bilingual educa ...

Foreign Language A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at schoo ...

Pi Lambda Theta Pi Lambda Theta (ΠΛΘ) is one of three main education honor societies and professional associations for educators in the United States. Basic information Pi Lambda Theta is both an honor society and professional association for educators. A ...

* Psi Chi -

* Sigma Beta Delta - Business

Athletics

The Rockford University Regents are Division III members of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athlete, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic sports, ...

. Teams compete independently or as members of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The university fields men's teams in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, cross country, football, soccer, and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, and women's teams in basketball, cross country, soccer,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

, track and field, and

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 ...

. Their football team is the only team in college football since 2000 to score 100 points in a single game, beating Trinity Bible, 105–0 in 2003. Recreational and intramural club sports (including basketball and

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...

) are also available on campus.

Notable alumni

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage i ...

, activist and social worker *

Ellen Gates Starr Ellen Gates Starr (March 19, 1859 – February 10, 1940) was an American social reformer and activist. With Jane Addams, she founded Chicago's Hull House, an adult education center, in 1889; the settlement house expanded to 13 buildings in ...

, activist and social reformer * Julia Lathrop, social reformer *

Ron Kowalke Ron Leory Kowalke (born 1936, died February 26, 2021) was an American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art educator born in Chicago. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, but earned his BA from Rockford Univer ...

, American painter, printmaker, sculptor, and art educator *

Sandy Cole Sandy Cole (born 1953) is a former Republican member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 62nd district for six years, from January 2007 until January 2013. Illinois House of Representatives Sandy Cole was elected to the ...

, state representative in Illinois *

Arthur A. Collins Arthur Andrews Collins (September 9, 1909 – February 25, 1987) was a radio engineer and entrepreneur. He first gained national recognition as a teenager for significant advances in radio communication. He later founded his own radio engineering ...

, radio engineer, researcher, entrepreneur * Roger Cooper, politician *

Hind Rassam Culhane Hind Rassam Culhane is an Iraqi-born American educator and former journalist. Early life and education Rassam Culhane was born in Mosul, Iraq, to an Iraqi-Assyrian father and a Lebanese mother. As a child, she and her family moved to the Unite ...

, professor * Yvonne D'Arle, opera singer * Jeannette Durno, pianist and music educator * Jeannette Howard Foster, important lesbian theme writer/researcher *

Barbara Giolitto Barbara A. Giolitto (born September 1, 1946) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives. Born in Elgin, Illinois, Giolitto received her associate degree from Rock Valley College and her b ...

, politician *

Vivian Hickey Vivian Ellen (née Veach) Hickey (March 25, 1916 – April 28, 2016) was an American educator and politician. Born in Clayton, Illinois, Hickey received her bachelor's degree from Rockford University, in 1937 and her master's degree from the U ...

, educator/politician *

Joyce Holmberg Joyce Mina Lundeen Holmberg (née Lundeen; June 19, 1930 – March 20, 2017) was an American politician and educator. Born in Rockford, Illinois, Holmberg graduated from East High School in Rockford and was married to Eugene Holmberg. She rece ...

, educator/politician *

Betty Ann Keegan Betty Ann (née Southwick) Keegan (January 23, 1920 – April 16, 1974) was an American politician. Born in Springfield, Illinois, she received her bachelor's degree from Rockford College and did graduate work from University of Wisconsin. She was ...

, politician * Doris Lee, artist *

Helen Douglas Mankin Helen Douglas Mankin (September 11, 1896 – July 25, 1956) was an American politician. She was the second woman to represent Georgia in the United States House of Representatives. Life Mankin was born September 11, 1896, in Atlanta, Fulton ...

, politician * Catherine Waugh McCulloch, suffragist * Ellen Spencer Mussey, pioneer in field of women's rights to education * Anna E. Nicholes, social reformer, civil servant, clubwoman * Deb Patterson, women's basketball coach * Mark Pedowitz, television executive * Belle L. Pettigrew, educator, missionary *

Roland Poska Roland Poska (1938 – February 2, 2017) was an American artist who was notable for pioneering papermaking in modern art, for printmaking, and for frequently combining the two into completed works of art. He was also a teacher at the Layton Sch ...

, artist *

Barbara Santucci Barbara Jean Santucci (born April 11, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American artist, poet and author of several children's books. Santucci is best known as a children's book author and traveling lecturer. Her stories and lectures deal wit ...

, children's author *

Robin Schone Robin Schone (born c. 1954) is a best-selling American author of erotic romance novels. Biography Schone read her first romance novel, ''These Old Shades'' by Georgette Heyer, at age twelve, and began reading erotic novels when she was fifteen. ...

, author * *

Harriet G. R. Wright Harriet Goodrich Rosenkrans Wright (October 11, 1845 – September 15, 1928) was an American politician and suffragist who served in the Colorado House of Representatives. Life Harriet G. R. Wright was born on October 11, 1845, to Cyrus E. Rose ...

, member of the Colorado House of Representatives

References

External links

*
Rockford University athletics website
{{authority control Education in Rockford, Illinois Educational institutions established in 1847 Buildings and structures in Rockford, Illinois Tourist attractions in Rockford, Illinois Female seminaries in the United States 1847 establishments in Illinois Private universities and colleges in Illinois Former women's universities and colleges in the United States