Saint Louis University Timeline
200 Years of Seeking Truth and Transforming Lives.
1818
SLU becomes the first institution of higher learning west of the Mississippi River when Saint Louis Academy (later known as Saint Louis College) is founded in a private residence near the Mississippi River at the request of the Rev. Louis William DuBourg, Catholic Bishop of Louisiana.
The history of SLU's College of Arts and Sciences dates back to the original Saint Louis Academy.
1829
The Society of Jesus assumes control of the college, and Father Peter J. Verhaegen, S.J., becomes the school's first Jesuit president.
18291832
The college, now Saint Louis University, receives a formal charter from the State of Missouri, becoming the first university west of the Mississippi River. SLU also begins offering the first graduate programs west of the Mississippi River.
1836
SLU establishes the first medical school west of the Mississippi River.
1841
St. Francis Xavier College Church, also known as College Church, is founded at Ninth Street and Washington Avenue. Construction on the current church building in Midtown begins in 1884 and is completed in 1914.
1843
SLU establishes the first law department west of the Mississippi River.
1867
University authorities purchase a tract of land at Grand and Lindell boulevards in preparation for a move from downtown to SLU's current location.
18671888
DuBourg Hall opens on July 31, the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus. Though now home to SLU's administration, the building at its opening contained the whole of the University's operations, including classrooms, laboratories, a museum and library, and dormitories for both students and the Jesuit faculty.
1903
SLU acquires the Marion-Sims-Beaumont College of Medicine, located at Grand Boulevard and Caroline Street.
19031906
SLU's Bradbury Robinson throws the first forward pass. SLU played its first football game against Washington University in 1888 and ended its program in 1949.
19061908
The Saint Louis University School of Law admits five female students -- the first women to attend Saint Louis University.
The Billiken, Saint Louis University's mascot, is created by American art teacher and illustrator Florence Pretz. Learn more about the Billiken's unique history.
1910
The School of Commerce and Finance, the precursor to the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business, is founded. It is the first business school west of the Mississippi River.
1921
WEW, the oldest radio station west of the Mississippi and the second oldest radio station in the country, hits the airwaves. It was owned by SLU for more than 40 years.
1923
Inez Specking becomes the first female faculty member in Arts and Sciences.
19231925
SLU Professor James B. Macelwane, S.J., establishes the first department of geophysics in the Western Hemisphere.
SLU holds its first Homecoming and University-wide prom.
1927
Parks Air College, later to become SLU's Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology, is founded at Lambert Field in St. Louis by Oliver "Lafe" Parks. He gives the college to Saint Louis University in 1946. In 2022, Parks College becomes part of SLU's School of Science and Engineering. It is the oldest federally certified school of aviation west of the Mississippi River.
1928
The School of Nursing is founded. It goes on to be the first in the United States to establish an accelerated BSN and the first in Missouri to offer a Ph.D. program.
1929
Mother Marie Kernaghan, R.S.C.J. becomes the first woman to graduate from Saint Louis University with a Ph.D. Her degree was in physics.
19291930
The Saint Louis University School of Social Work is founded.
19301932
The University opens the Firmin Desloge Memorial Hospital — later named Saint Louis University Hospital. The hospital, home to accomplishments such as the state's first heart transplant, was sold by the University in 1998.
19321943
Nancy McNeir Ring becomes SLU's first dean of women. SLU's highest award for teaching has been named after her since 1966.
19431944
Father Claude Heithaus, S.J., delivers a sermon at College Church decrying racial prejudice in America, ultimately leading to the integration of Saint Louis University. That summer, five African-American students are admitted to SLU — two undergraduates and three graduate students — making SLU the first university in any of the 14 former slave states to establish an official policy of integration.
19441946
The University purchases Samuel Cupples House to serve as a student union. Cupples House is later restored and is now open to the public as a historic home and gallery.
1949
The College of Arts and Sciences becomes co-educational. While women had been allowed to attend graduate and select programs since 1908, undergraduate men and women were not allowed to register and attend classes together until this time.
Jesuits from Saint Louis University perform the religious rite that becomes the basis of "The Exorcist" book and movie.
19491950
Anita Lyons Bond becomes the first Black undergraduate student to graduate from Saint Louis University with honors. SLU awarded Bonds, who became a noted civil rights activist, an honorary doctorate of humanities in 2015.
19501956
Marguerite Hall opens as Saint Louis University's first residence hall for women. It becomes the University's first co-ed residence hall in 1971.
1959
The University's Pius XII Memorial Library, honoring His Holiness Pope Pius XII, opens. The Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library is established there, becoming the first repository of its kind outside of the Vatican itself.
Saint Louis University launches the 1-8-1-8 Plan, now called the 1818 Advanced College Credit Program, offering high school students the chance to earn college credit for certain high school courses. SLU's program is the oldest dual credit program in the nation.
19591967
SLU becomes the first major Catholic university to give lay and clergy people combined legal responsibility for institutional policy on its board of trustees.
SLU establishes a campus in Madrid, Spain. Originally intended as a study-abroad program for U.S. college students, SLU-Madrid is now a free-standing campus of Saint Louis University where students from more than 65 countries take undergraduate and graduate courses.
1972
SLU surgeons conduct the first heart transplant in the Midwest.
1977
Cecilia "Kitty" Cummings becomes SLU's first female Black undergraduate and the first sophomore to be elected Student Government Association President. In 2022, junior Aric Hamilton becomes the first Black male elected to the post.
19771978
SLU's Office of the University Registrar is equipped with its first computer.
19781979
SLU's School of Allied Health Professions, now Doisy College of Health Sciences, is founded.
1981
Simon Recreation Center opens.
1988
SLU introduces the Presidential Scholarship, a four-year, full-tuition award. Presidential Scholars represent some of the most exemplary student leaders at the University.
19881989
SLU founds the Center for Vaccine Development. The Center has been instrumental in developing numerous vaccines that protect public health, including the FluMist nasal spray influenza vaccine and vaccines against smallpox and other potential biological weapons following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
19891990
The first late-night Sunday student Mass is celebrated at St. Francis Xavier College Church. Now a SLU tradition, particularly for undergraduates, the Mass is celebrated each Sunday SLU is in session during the academic year.
Robert R. Hermann Stadium, home to SLU's men's and women's soccer teams, is christened.
19901991
SLU opens Missouri's first school of public health. Now known as the Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice, it is the only accredited Catholic, Jesuit school of public health in the nation.
19911993
The Joseph G. Lipic Clock Tower Plaza is added to campus, the culmination of a project that closed West Pine Boulevard between Spring and Vandeventer avenues to create a large pedestrian mall.
Saint Louis University's Museum of Contemporary Religious Art (MOCRA) opens. It is the world's first interfaith museum of contemporary art that engages religious and spiritual themes.
19931995
SLUCare Physician Group is formed as the academic medical practice of Saint Louis University. SSM Health assumes ownership of the physician group in 2022.
1995
1996
SLU's School for Professional Studies is created as a stand-alone unit. The school traces its origins to the 1960s, when SLU launched non-traditional programs for adults that were then known as Metropolitan College.
19961997
SLU opens the Paul C. Reinert, S.J., Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.
19972001
Saint Louis University becomes the first location of the national Campus Kitchen Project.
2002
The Saint Louis University Museum of Art, housed in the former St. Louis Club, opens to the public, featuring rotating exhibits, modern and contemporary art, a collection from the Western Jesuit Missions and Asian decorative arts.
20022005
The Billikens join the Atlantic 10 Conference. SLU has 18 NCAA Division I teams.
20052007
The $82 million Edward A. Doisy Research Center, with 80 research labs on 10 floors, opens.
20072008
Chaifetz Arena opens at a cost of $80.5 million. It seats 10,600.
2013
The Saint Louis University School of Law moves to downtown St. Louis. Located in Scott Hall, which is also home to the Saint Louis University Law Library and SLU's legal clinics, the law school is situated near the city's Civil Courts Building, criminal courts, City Hall, the U.S. Court of Appeals and the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The University opens its Center for Global Citizenship in what was once the West Pine Gym.
SLU grants the world's first Doctor of Philosophy degree in aviation.
20132014
SLU's first permanent lay president, Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D., takes office.
20142015
The School of Education debuts as a stand-alone unit, returning to the name it started with in 1925.
20152017
SLU kicks off its bicentennial celebrations with a Mass under the Gateway Arch — believed to be the first Mass ever celebrated at the St. Louis landmark.
20172018
Dr. Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield make a historic $50 million gift to SLU, the largest in University history.
20182020
In March, SLU moves classes online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Classes are back in person that September and Saint Louis University becomes a COVID-19 vaccine research site. More than 13,600 people went on to receive COVID-19 vaccinations through SLU by 2022.
20202021
Saint Louis University formally recognizes Juneteenth, commemorating the day in 1865 when more than a quarter-million enslaved people living in the former Confederate state of Texas learned from arriving Union troops that they were free by presidential decree.
SLU’s first dean of students and trailblazer for women’s rights at SLU Mary Bruemmer dies at the age of 101. As an undergraduate, Bruemmer was the first female editor of the student newspaper and yearbook. During her 34 years as a University administrator and 26 years as a SLU volunteer, she founded the Women's Commission and was named SLU’s first Woman of the Year.
2021