Hamline University

Hamline University is an American private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, founded in 1854 and named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline of the United Methodist Church. Hamline is the oldest institution of higher learning in Minnesota and one of five Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities.

The university comprises five faculties, including Hamline University School of Law, and has an enrollment of 2,100 undergraduate and 2,800 postgraduate students. In 2011, Hamline was first in Minnesota and ninth in the U.S. in the Regional Universities—Midwest category of U.S. News and World Report's college rankings. Dr. Fayneese Miller is the university's 20th and first African American President. Dr. Fayneese Miller became President on July 1, 2015 succeeding Linda N. Hanson.

History

Red Wing location (1854–1869)

Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline sculpted by the late professor of art Michael Price stands on campus. Hamline is also distinct for being founded as a coeducational institution, a rarity in 19th-century America. Hamline’s first home was in Red Wing, Minnesota. The school’s charter stipulated that Hamline be located "at some point on the Mississippi between St. Paul and Lake Pepin." The city of Red Wing pledged about $10,000 to enable construction of a building and the beginning of an endowment, and it also donated a tract of land on a hillside overlooking the Mississippi River.