Wright State University

Wright State University is a public research university in Fairborn, Ohio, United States. Originally opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, it became an independent institution in 1967 and was named in honor of aviation pioneers Orville and Wilbur Wright, who were residents of nearby Dayton. The university offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees and is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is a member of the University System of Ohio. Its athletic teams, the Wright State Raiders, compete in Division I of the NCAA as members of the Horizon League. In addition to the main campus, the university also operates a regional campus near Celina, Ohio, called Wright State University–Lake Campus.

History

Founding

Wright State University first opened in 1964 as a branch campus of Miami University and Ohio State University, occupying only a single building. Groundwork on forming the institution began in 1961 during a time when the region lacked a public university for higher education. A community-wide fundraising effort was conducted in 1962 to establish the university, and the campaign raised the $3 million needed in seed money.<ref name="History-WSU">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="History-WSULibrary">Template:Cite web</ref> Much of the land that the campus was built on was donated by the United States Air Force from excess acreage of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

The Ohio General Assembly passed legislation in 1965 that transformed the branch campus into a separate institution with its own Advisory Committee on November 5, 1965. It was anticipated the campus would achieve full independent status by 1967 with its rapidly increasing enrollment of full-time students, projected to reach 5,000 within two years. On October 1, 1967, the campus officially became Wright State University following a decision by the Ohio Board of Regents. The name honors the Wright brothers, well-known Dayton residents who are credited with inventing the world's first successful airplane.<ref name="1966-67 Course Catalog">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="1968-69 Course Catalog">Template:Cite web</ref> In 1969, a Template:Convert branch campus opened on the shore of Grand Lake St. Marys in Celina, Ohio.

2017–present

Wright State University celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017, creating a website to highlight milestones and events throughout the university's history.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The celebration culminated at Homecoming on September 30 – October 1, 2017.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year, the university officially became tobacco-free on its Dayton and Lake campuses.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Wright State's faculty, which are unionized and represented by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), went on strike in 2019 following two years of failed contract negotiations.<ref name=strike1>Template:Cite web</ref> The faculty were joined by various groups, including other labor unions, community members, and a student-led labor rights group called Students for Faculty. An agreement was reached the following month, ending the strike,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but its length of twenty days was the longest in Ohio history among higher education institutions and one of the longest in US history<ref name=DaytonDaily1>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=DemocracyNow1>Template:Cite web</ref>

Susan Edwards became university's president on January 1, 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Previous university presidents were Brage Golding (1966–1973), Robert J. Kegerreis (1973–1985), Paige E. Mulhollan (1985–1994), Harley E. Flack (1994–1998), Kim Goldenberg (1998–2006), David R. Hopkins (2007–2017), and Cheryl B. Schrader (2017–2019). Curtis L. McCray was the interim president from March 17 through June 30, 2017, holding the position following Hopkins' early retirement on March 17, 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Schrader was Wright State's seventh president—and first female president—from mid 2017 until she stepped down at the end of 2019 midway through her five-year appointment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Politics

2008 presidential campaign

During the 2008 United States presidential campaign, Republican nominee John McCain announced his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate and choice for vice president on August 29, 2008, at Wright State.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The campaign winner Barack Obama held a major rally at Wright State during the campaign as well.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2016 presidential campaign

On September 23, 2015, the Commission on Presidential Debates named Wright State the host for the first 2016 United States presidential debate, which was scheduled for September 26, 2016<ref name="debate_092315">Template:Cite press release</ref> at the Nutter Center.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On July 19, 2016, Wright State University backed out of the debate, citing inability to cover the cost of security.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Academics

Template:Infobox US university ranking The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission at the doctoral degree-granting level. Wright State is divided into seven colleges and three schools.

Undergraduate programs

Wright State offers 106 bachelor's degrees in the following colleges: the Raj Soin College of Business,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the College of Health, Education and Human Services,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the College of Liberal Arts,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the College of Science and Mathematics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Lake Campus also offers a limited number of complete bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as 15 associate degrees.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Graduate programs

Wright State offers 136 graduate programs (including doctoral programs) through the Wright State University Graduate School,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Boonshoft School of Medicine,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the School of Professional Psychology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Lake Campus also offers a limited number of graduate programs.

School of Medicine

The Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine was established in 1973.<ref name="History">About: History, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.</ref> It is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. In the 2018–19 academic year, the school had 480 M.D. students, 51 Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) students, 30 M.B.A. students with a concentration in health care management, and 71 M.S. in Pharmacology and Toxicology students.<ref>Facts at a Glance, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.</ref> The school adopted its current name in 2005 in honor of the Oscar Boonshoft family, major donors to the medical school.<ref name="History"/>

Reserve Officer Training Corps

Wright State University offers Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) and Army ROTC programs on campus, known as Detachment 643 and the Raider Battalion, respectively. The Air Force ROTC program contains the cross town schools of the University of Dayton, Cedarville University, and Sinclair Community College.

Ohio Center of Excellence in Knowledge-Enabled Computing (Kno.e.sis)

Kno.e.sis Center at Wright State University

Kno.e.sis center was founded in 2007. In 2009, the Ohio Department of Higher Education established more than 50 Centers of Excellence representing key industrial areas with potential future growth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kno.e.sis at the Wright State University was one of the selections in the area of Bio-Health Innovations.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Research at the center focuses on multidisciplinary areas such as Web 3.0 (Semantic Web, Semantic Sensor Web), Network Science, Social Data Analysis, Machine Learning, Data Mining, Bioinformatics, Natural Language Processing, Visualization, Cloud Computing, High Performance Computing.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In recent years, Kno.e.sis has had near 80–100 researchers including 15 faculty and over 60 funded graduate (primarily PhD) students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Kno.e.sis researchers overtime have contributions in the areas related to Computer Science with focus on topics in World Wide Web, including Semantic web, Social Data Analysis, Semantic Sensor Web, and Linked Open Data. Furthermore, they have been a part of developing technical specifications and guidelines for W3C, until 2013.

Collaboration, Education, Leadership, and Innovation in the Arts

Lobby of the Wright State University Creative Arts Center in 2007

In the fall of 2009, Wright State University's three departments of Art, Music, and Theatre, Dance, & Motion Pictures inaugurated a new initiative of collaborative artistic and educational endeavor, called CELIA (Collaboration, Education, Leadership, and Innovation in the Arts). One of the first of these projects was the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Last Truck, produced for HBO and broadcast on Labor Day, 2008. The film documented the closing of a major GM truck plant in Moraine, Ohio.Template:Citation needed In May 2011, the departments of Music and Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures collaborated with the Dayton Philharmonic a full-stage production of the Mass by Leonard Bernstein at the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center in Dayton.<ref name="daytondailynews.com">"DPO ready to take you on a few trips for its 2010-11 season," Dayton Daily News, January 10, 2010.[1]</ref>

On October 20, 2011, CELIA was designated an Ohio Center of Excellence by Jim Petro, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents at a press conference on the campus of Wright State University, in which Tom Hanks congratulated the Wright State University arts programs via a video message.<ref name="The Dayton Daily News 2011">"Hanks applauds WSU’s state arts honor", The Dayton Daily News, October 20, 20, 2011.</ref>

Greek life

Wright State University has several fraternities and sororities.

Athletics

Template:Main The Wright State Raiders are the athletics teams of Wright State University. The school participates in fifteen sports at the Division I level of the NCAA, and are members of the Horizon League. The school's mascot is Rowdy Raider, a wolf.

Tunnel System

Wright State University has a system of underground tunnels that connect 20 out of 22 buildings together. Initially installed between the first two buildings on campus in 1964 and 1965 for construction maintenance access, staff and students also started using the tunnels.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As a result, Wright State has been top ranked for wheelchair accessibility on campus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Template:Official website
• Wright State University Athletics website