Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina, was founded in 1889, a legacy of Thomas Green Clemson, who willed his Fort Hill plantation home, its surrounding farmlands and forest, and other property to the State of South Carolina to establish a technical and scientific institution for South Carolina. Clemson opened its doors to 446 students as a military college in 1893. Today, approximately 17,000 students attend the institution, with 64 percent of these students from South Carolina and the remaining 36 percent hailing from 49 other states and 70 nations.

Today, Clemson is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a Doctoral/Research University-Extensive, a category comprising less than 4 percent of all universities in America. More than 16,000 students and five colleges: Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences; Architecture, Arts and Humanities; Business and Behavioral Science; Engineering and Science; and Health, Education and Human Development. The University's most noted academic programs include those in agriculture, architecture, business, education, engineering, nursing, and textile studies. The university's newest academic endeavor will involve automotive engineering, which is part of a new initiative to build the Clemson International Automobile Research Center in nearby Greenville.

The school's sports teams are called the Tigers. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson's primary rival however are the in-state South Carolina Gamecocks. The two institutions usually play against each other on the last week of the football season.

Clemson's president since 1999 is James F. Barker.