UConn was founded in 1881 as the
Storrs Agricultural School. It was named after
Charles and Augustus Storrs, two brothers who donated the land for the school as well as initial funding. Women were not admitted
until 1893, at which point the name was changed to
Storrs Agricultural College. In
1899, the name changed again to
Connecticut Agricultural College; in 1933, to
Connecticut State College; and finally in 1939, to the
University of Connecticut.In 1940, the school was first divided into individual colleges and schools, reflecting
its new university status. This was also the year that the School of Social Work and School of Nursing were first established.
The graduate program was also started at this time, and existing schools of law and pharmacology were absorbed into the
university. Ph.Ds have been awarded since 1949.During the 1960s, the University of Connecticut Health Center was established in Farmington as a home for
the new School of Medicine and School of Dental Medicine. John Dempsey Hospital was opened in Farmington at this time, and has
been operated by UConn ever since.In 1995, a state-funded program called
UCONN 2000 was started. This 10-year
program set aside $1 billion ($1,000,000,000) to upgrade campus facilities, add faculty, and
otherwise improve the university. An additional $1.3 billion was pledged by the State of Connecticut in 2002 as part of a new 10-year improvement plan known as
21st Century UConn. Through these two programs,
UConn's facilities, especially on the Storrs campus, have been dramatically improved, with some facilities, specifically those
housing the chemistry department and the Student Union, frequently being cited as the most advanced in the nation. Money has also
been put into the regional and satellite campuses, such as the new School of Business facility in downtown Hartford.