Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or RPI, is a private Private universities are not operated by governments though many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on the region, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities compare to public universities and national universities research A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies scientific research, there are also many research institutes in the social sciences as well, especially for sociological and historical research purposes university A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is a corporation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education. The word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning "community of located in Troy Troy is a city in New York, U.S., and the county seat of Rensselaer County. At the 2000 census, the population was 49,170. Troy's motto is Ilium fuit, Troja est, which means "Ilium was, Troy is", New York New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is known for its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center, and for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors. Both state and, United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language. It was founded in 1824 by Stephen Van Rensselaer for the "application of science to the common purposes of life", and is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world.[4] Built on a hillside, RPI's 275-acre (111 ha) campus overlooks the historic city of Troy and the Hudson River The Hudson River is a 315-mile river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into Upper New York Bay. Its lower half is a and is a blend of traditional and modern architecture. The institute operates an on-campus business incubator and the 1,250-acre (510 ha) Rensselaer Technology Park The Rensselaer Technology Park is a technology park in Troy, New York, USA operated by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As of 2009 the park has over 70 tenants representing a diverse range of technologies and employing over 2,400. The park is located along the Hudson River approximately five miles south of the RPI campus, and is known for its success in the transfer of technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.[5]
RPI's mission has slowly evolved over the years while retaining a focus on the scientific and technological roots upon which it was founded. Over the past century, RPI has grown into a university with 5 schools: The School of Architecture, The School of Engineering, The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, The School of Science, and the Lally School of Management & Technology The Lally School of Management and Technology was founded in 1963 as part of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Its current mission is "To develop technically sophisticated business leaders who are prepared to guide their organizations in the integration of technology for new products, new businesses, and new systems.". All together, the university offers around 140 degree programs in 60 fields leading to bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. RPI consistently ranks in the top 50 among US universities for overall academics and among the top 50 worldwide for technology.[6][7] Adopted by the Board of Trustees in 1995, RPI's current mission is to "educate the leaders of tomorrow for technologically based careers. We celebrate discovery, and the responsible application of technology, to create knowledge and global prosperity."[8]
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History
1824-1900
Stephen Van Rensselaer III Amos EatonStephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's first senior professor and appointed the first board of trustees. On December 29 of that year, the president and the board met and established the methods of instruction, which were rather different from methods employed at other colleges at the time. Students spent six hours a day performing experiments and explaining their rationale and gave their own lectures rather than listening to lectures and watching demonstrations.[9] Tuition was around $40 a semester.[9]
The school opened on Monday, January 3, 1825 at the Old Bank Place, a building at the north end of Troy.[10] The opening was announced by a notice, signed by the president, and printed in the Troy Sentinel on December 28. The school attracted students from New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The fact that the school attracted students from afar is attributed to the reputation of Eaton. Fourteen months of successful trial led to the incorporation of the school on March 21, 1826 by the State of New York. In its early years, the Rensselaer School resembled a graduate school more than it did a college. It drew graduates of older institutions such as Amherst Amherst College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1821, it is the third oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts and has been coeducational since 1975. Amherst is a member of the historic Little Three colleges, which includes Wesleyan University and Williams College, and is also a member of, Bowdoin Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is a private liberal arts college located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. The college enrolls approximately 1,700 students and has been coeducational since 1971. It offers 33 majors and 4 additional minors; the academic year consists of two four-course semesters, and the student-faculty ratio, Columbia Columbia University in the City of New York is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. It was founded, Harvard Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Ivy League. Established in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the first corporation chartered in the United States and oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, Penn The University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America. Penn is a member of the Ivy League and is one of the Colonial, Princeton Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution, Union Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in the wake of the American Revolution, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as three of the, Wesleyan Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Classification of Institutions of Higher Education established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the sole Baccalaureate College that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts, Williams Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, Williams is one of the oldest academic institutions in the United States. Both US News and World Report Magazine and Forbes' Magazine rank Williams College as the number one, and Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five U.S. presidents, nineteen U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, there was a considerable stream from Yale, where there were several teachers interested in the sciences.
Engraving of the original Rensselaer School Engraving of RPI in 1876During this period, the Rensselaer School, renamed the Rensselaer Institute in 1832, was a small but vital center for technological research. The first Civil Engineering degrees in the United States were granted by the school in 1835, and many of the best remembered civil engineers of that time graduated from the school. Important visiting scholars included Joseph Henry Joseph Henry was an American scientist who served as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as a founding member of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science, a precursor of the Smithsonian Institution. During his lifetime, he was highly regarded. While building electromagnets, Henry discovered the electromagnetic, who had previously studied under Amos Eaton, and Thomas Davenport, who sold the world's first working electric motor An electric motor uses electrical energy to produce mechanical energy, very typically through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors. The reverse process, producing electrical energy from mechanical energy, is accomplished by a generator or dynamo. Many types of electric motors can be run as generators, and vice versa to the institute.[11] In 1847, alumnus Benjamin Franklin Greene became the new senior professor. Earlier he had done a thorough study of European technical schools to see how Rensselaer could be improved. In 1850 he reorganized the school into a three-year polytechnic institute with six technical schools.[12] In 1861 the name was changed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[13]
The severe conflagration of May 10 1862, known as "The Great Fire" destroyed over 507 buildings in Troy and gutted 75 acres in the heart of the city.[14] The "Infant School" building that housed the Institute at the time was destroyed in this fire. Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York is a private research university in New York City and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution. It was founded proposed that Rensselaer leave Troy altogether and merge with its New York City campus. Ultimately, the proposal was rejected and the campus left the crowded downtown for the hillside which offered potential for expansion. Classes were temporarily held at the Vail House and in the Troy University building until 1864,[15] when the Institute moved to a building on Broadway on 8th Street, now the site of the Approach.[14]
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Presents Impostor Syndrome Plenary Panel at 2010 Grace ... Business Wire (press release) Dr. Fran Berman is Vice President for Research and Professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute . From 2001 to 2009, she served as ...
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