Temple University

Temple University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is a state-related university and comprises nine campuses: four in Philadelphia, two in Montgomery county, one in Harrisburg, and two abroad, in Rome and Tokyo. Courses are also provided through the university’s distance learning program. Through 18 schools and colleges, Temple University offers more than 250 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. Professional degrees are granted through schools of law, dentistry, pharmacy, podiatry, and medicine. Temple is home to the Institute for Survey Research, one of the few university-based facilities of its kind in the country. The university contains more than 30 research institutes and 15 libraries and information centres. Many of the older buildings on campus are built in the Gothic Revival style. Approximately 37,000 students are enrolled.

Temple University was founded in 1884 by educator and minister Russell Hermann Conwell, who served as its first president (from 1887). Initially offering evening classes for ministers-in-training, Temple received a college charter in 1888. The college was authorized to grant degrees in 1891, and in 1907 it became a university, with a curriculum emphasizing the arts and social sciences. Schools of law, medicine, and pharmacy were added around the beginning of the 20th century. The School of Dentistry is one of the oldest in the nation; it was founded in 1863 as Philadelphia Dental College and joined Temple in 1907. After World War I, programs in business and education were added to the curriculum. The Tyler School of Art was founded in 1935. In the 1960s the divisions of music, allied health professions, communications and theatre, engineering, architecture, and social administration were created. The School of Tourism and Hospitality Management was established in 1998.

Notable alumni include entertainer Bill Cosby and screenwriter Richard Brooks.