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History, Affiliations and Rankings
Brigham Young University (BYU) was founded in 1875 by religious leader Bringham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) with almost all of its students being members of the LDS Church and are required to follow a certain set of rules. Brigham Young, the second president of the Mormon church, who had overseen the establishment of the church in Utah, created the university in 1875. The school's original name was Brigham Young Academy, and its purpose was to prepare teachers for use in public schools. In 1876, instruction started. In 1903, the school was upgraded to the status of a university.
BYU is a part of a space-grant and its athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA.
Infrastructure, Campuses and Courses
The main campus of BYU which is located at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, in Provo, Utah stretches over an area of over 550 acres containing 295 buildings featuring different architectural styles from different time periods in the university's history. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) financially supports the university, which also has other campuses in Laie, Hawaii, and Rexburg, Idaho. It consists of eight colleges, including the David O. McKay School of Education, the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott School of Management, the J. Reuben Clark Law School, and the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies. Most fields of study provide master's degree programmes, while more than 50 programmes offer doctoral degrees. Facilities for atomic, plasma and condensed matter physics research are significant. The Ezra Taft Benson Agriculture and Food Institute and the Center for Family History and Genealogy are also located at the university. This university offers numerous degree programmes across a wide variety of disciplines, giving its students various subject options to choose from.
The university offers 62 master's and 26 doctoral degree programs. But the primary focus of the university is undergraduate education as it offers 179 such programs. BYU is one of the best universities for undergraduate programs.
Accomplishments and Alumni
According to the National Science Foundation, BYU spent $40.7 million on research and development in 2018. Scientists associated with BYU have created some notable inventions. Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor and pioneer of electronic television, began college at BYU, and later returned to do fusion research, receiving an honorary degree from the university in 1967 or H. Tracy Hall, the inventor of the man-made diamond, left General Electric in 1955 and became a full professor of chemistry and Director of Research at BYU. While there, he invented a new type of diamond press, the tetrahedral press. In student achievements, BYU Ad Lab teams won both the 2007 and 2008 L'Oréal National Brandstorm Competition and students developed the Magnetic Lasso algorithm found in Adobe Photoshop.
Notable alumni include the likes of Brandon Sanderson(author), Stephenie Meyer(writer), Aaron Eckhart(Actor), Kalani Sitake(football coach) and Elizabeth Smart(American Activist)
Student Diversity and Visiting Companies
BYU teaches over 1200 international students, and over 3 quarter of the university’s student body has some proficiency in a second language, the total number being 107 languages. There are 95.5% domestic students, and 4.5% international students from 100+ countries studying at Brigham Young University. Moreover, around 50 states are represented out of which 30% are from Utah, 10% from California and 5% from Texas, Arizona, and Idaho. Companies that hire graduates from BYU are Utah Valley University, Microsoft Corporation, Deloitte, The University of Utah and Western Governors University.
