University of San Diego

Immaculata Parish Church at USD showing the architectural style of the campus

Charters were granted in 1949 for the San Diego College for Women and San Diego University, which included the College for Men and School of Law.[4][5][6] The College for Women opened its doors to its first class of students in 1952. Reverend Charles F. Buddy, D.D., then bishop of the Diocese of San Diego and Reverend Mother Rosalie Hill, RSCJ, a Superior Vicaress of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, chartered the institution from resources drawn from their respective organizations on a stretch of land known as "Alcalá Park," named for San Diego de Alcalá. In 1954, the College for Men and the School of Law opened.[7] These two schools originally occupied Bogue Hall on the same site of University High School, which would later become the home of the University of San Diego High School. Starting in 1954, Alcalá Park also served as the diocesan chancery office and housed the episcopal offices, until the diocese moved to a vacated Benedictine convent that was converted to a pastoral center. In 1957, Immaculate Heart Major Seminary and St. Francis Minor Seminary were moved into their newly completed facility, now known as Maher Hall. The Immaculata Chapel, now no longer affiliated with USD, also opened that year as part of the seminary facilities. For nearly two decades, these schools co-existed on Alcalá Park. Immaculate Heart closed at the end of 1968, when its building was renamed De Sales Hall; St. Francis remained open until 1970, when it was transferred to another location on campus, leaving all of the newly named Bishop Leo T. Maher Hall to the newly merged co-educational University of San Diego in 1972. Since then, the university has grown quickly and has been able to increase its assets and academic programs. The student body, the local community, patrons, alumni, and many organizations have been integral to the university's development.

The Universidad de Alcalá in Spain, inspiration for Mother Hill's USD

Significant periods of expansion of the university, since the 1972 merger, occurred in the mid-1980s, as well as in 1998, when Joan B. Kroc, philanthropist and wife of McDonald's financier Ray Kroc, endowed USD with a gift of $25 million for the construction of the Institute for Peace & Justice. Other significant donations to the college came in the form of multimillion-dollar gifts from weight-loss tycoon Jenny Craig,[8] inventor Donald Shiley,[9] investment banker and alumnus Bert Degheri, and an additional gift of $50 million Mrs. Kroc left the School of Peace Studies upon her death. These gifts helped make possible, respectively, the Jenny Craig Pavilion (an athletic arena), the Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Degheri Alumni Center. As a result, USD has been able to host the West Coast Conference (WCC) basketball tournament in 2002, 2003 and 2008, and hosted international functions such as the Kyoto Laureate Symposium at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and at USD's Shiley Theatre. Shiley's gift has provided the university with some additional, and more advanced, teaching laboratories than it had previously. In 2005, the university expanded the Colachis Plaza from the Immaculata along Marian Way to the east end of Hall, which effectively closed the east end of the campus to vehicular traffic. That same year, the student body approved plans for a renovation and expansion of the Hahn University Center which began at the end of 2007. The new Student Life Pavilion (SLP) opened in 2009 and hosts the university's new student dining area(s), offices for student organizations and event spaces. The Hahn University Center is now home to administrative offices, meeting and event spaces, and a restaurant and wine bar, La Gran Terazza.

In the fall of 2018, USD's total enrollment was 8,905 undergraduate, graduate, and law students.[10]

View of Mission Bay and SeaWorld from campus

Alcalá Park sits atop the edge of a mesa overlooking Mission Bay and other parts of San Diego. The philosophy of USD's founder and her fellow religious relied on the belief that studying in beautiful surroundings could improve the educational experience of students. Thus, the university's buildings are designed in a 16th-century Plateresque architecture, a style of the Spanish Renaissance, paying homage to both San Diego's Catholic heritage and the Universidad de Alcalá in Spain. In September 2011, Travel+Leisure named it as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.[11]

The campus is located approximately two miles north of downtown San Diego, on the north crest of Mission Valley in the community of Linda Vista. From the westernmost edges of Alcalá Park the communities of Mission Hills, Old Town, Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Bay Park, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach can be seen. Also, the Pacific Ocean, San Diego Harbor, the Coronado Islands and La Jolla are visible from the campus.

Though a Catholic university, the school is no longer governed directly by the Diocese of San Diego. Today, a lay board of trustees governs the university's operations. However, the Bishop of San Diego, Robert W. McElroy, retains a seat as a permanent member and retains control of the school's designation of "Catholic."

The Donald P. Shiley Center for Science and Technology, opened in 2003

USD offers more than 80 degrees at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. USD is divided into six schools and colleges. The College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Law are the oldest academic divisions at USD; the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies is the university's newest school. USD offers an honors program at the undergraduate level, with approximately 300 students enrolled annually.

USD has a Carnegie Classification of R2- Doctoral University: High Research Activity. Carnegie gives this ranking to “institutions that awarded at least 20 research/scholarship doctoral degrees and had at least $5 million in total research expenditures (as reported through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Higher Education Research & Development Survey (HERD)).”

The Toreros compete in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and are members of the West Coast Conference for most sports.

• 
  Jim Parsons, 2001 (MFA), actor, Emmy Award-winning actor for The Big Bang Theory[21]
• 
  Robert Kardashian, 1967 (JD), lawyer for OJ Simpson and father of reality show personalities Kourtney Kardashian, Kimberly "Kim" Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian Odom, and Robert Kardashian Jr., with his former wife Kris Jenner[22]
• 
  Kris Bryant, 2011–13, baseball player for 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs, National League Rookie of the Year (2015) and Most Valuable Player (2016)[23]
• 
  Frances Townsend, 1984 (JD), former Homeland Security Advisor to United States President George W. Bush; TV personality[24]
• 
  Mario Testino, 1975 (BA), Peruvian fashion and portrait photographer[25]
• 
  Thomas J. Whelan, 1961 (BA & JD), Senior United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California[26]
• 
  Theo Epstein, 2000, (JD), President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs

• Sattam bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, 1965 (BA), and an honorary doctorate from USD in 1975;[27] one of senior members of House of Saud; son of King Abdulaziz; 12th governor of Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia
• Carlos Bustamante, 1969 (BA), Mayor of Tijuana[28]
• George Coker, 1976 (BA), retired United States Navy commander awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War[29]
• Salvatore Cordileone, 1978 (JCD), Canon Law. Archbishop of San Francisco[30]
• Eric Musselman, 1978 (BA), American basketball coach; current head coach at the University of Nevada, Reno and former head coach of the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors[31]
• Lowell McAdam, 1983 (MBA), Chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications, a company he joined in 2000[32][33]
• Juan Vargas, 1983 (BA), U.S. Representative for California's 51st congressional district[34]
• Lorenzo Fertitta, 1991 (BBA), entrepreneur, casino executive and sports promoter (MMA)[35]
• Andrew Firestone, 1998 (BBA), Bachelor of Business Administration; entrepreneur, casino executive and sports promoter (MMA)[36]
• Monte Brem, 2000 (JD & MBA), founder and CEO of StepStone Group, private equity firm[37]
• Ryan Zinke, 2003 (MS), former United States Secretary of the Interior[38]
• Jonny Kim, 2013 (BA), U.S. Navy physician, Navy Seal, and Astronaut Candidate[39]

• Boudoin. Burt J. (2001). Fortress on the Hill: Founding the University of San Diego and the San Diego College for Women, 1942-1963 Mission Hills, CA: Saint Francis Historical Society, ISBN 0967847737 OCLC 46882831
• Engstrand, Iris H. Wilson; White, Clare (1989). The First Forty Years: A History of the University of San Diego 1949–1989. San Diego, CA: University of San Diego. p. 121. OCLC 22975773, 20464871

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of San Diego.

• Official website
• University of San Diego athletics website
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: The University of San Diego Immaculata Church