Founded in 1873 with a $1 million gift from “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt to establish an institution that would “contribute to strengthening the ties that should exist between all sections of our common country,” today Vanderbilt University is globally renowned for its transformative education and research. The university’s 10 schools reside on a parklike campus set in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, providing a collaborative culture that empowers leaders of tomorrow.

Top-ranked in both academics and financial aid, Vanderbilt offers an immersive residential undergraduate experience, with programs in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, education and human development. The university also is home to nationally and internationally recognized graduate schools of law, education, business, medicine, nursing and divinity, and offers robust graduate-degree programs across a range of disciplines.

Vanderbilt is committed to the strength of its interdisciplinary research enterprise and to inclusive excellence, believing that profound breakthroughs happen when scholars of different perspectives, races, gender identities, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds work together. The university’s prominent alumni base includes Nobel Prize winners, members of Congress, governors, ambassadors, judges, admirals, CEOs, university presidents, physicians, attorneys, and professional sports figures playing in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, the PGA and LPGA.

Vanderbilt—an independent, privately supported university—and the affiliated nonprofit Vanderbilt University Medical Center engage in frequent cross-disciplinary collaboration to drive innovation and positive change across society at large. Together, the number of people employed by these two organizations exceeds that of the largest private employer in the Middle Tennessee region.