Rockford University is a private universityinRockford, Illinois. It was founded in 1847 as Rockford Female Seminary and changed its name to Rockford College in 1892, and to Rockford University in 2013.
Rockford Seminary (ca. 1890)Sill Hall, Main Hall, Adams Hall (l-r) - Rockford College, 1904
Rockford Female Seminary was founded in 1847 as the sister college of Beloit College, which had been founded the year before. The seminary's initial campus was on the east side of the Rock River, south of downtown Rockford. Anna Peck Sill served as principal for the first 35 years.
In 1890, the seminary's trustees voted to offer a full college curriculum, which led to the name changing to Rockford College in 1892.
Men were first granted admission to the university at the beginning of the 1955–1956 school year. At about this time, the school requested that the City of Rockford close parts of a street adjoining the campus.
On October 2, 2012, the board of trustees voted unanimously to rename the college as a university. The trustees did so because the institution has many different academic departments. On July 1, 2013, the institution officially became Rockford University.[2]
Patricia Lynott has served as the university's president since 2022.[3]
The University held a business summit June 29, 2023, that included presidents of the Rockford Hard Rock Casino and OSF St. Anthony Medical Center.[4]
The university offers approximately 80 majors, minors and concentrations, including the adult accelerated degree completion program for a B.S. in Management Studies. Through its Graduate Studies department, degree include the Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), and a Master of Education (MEd).
The university is organized into three colleges:
Arts and Humanities
Science, Math, and Nursing
Social Sciences, Commerce and Education
The university offers an Honors Program in Liberal Arts & Sciences. Also housed within the university are the Center for Nonprofit Excellence and the Center for Learning Strategies.
Weaks-Baxter, Mary, et al. We Are a College at War: Women Working for Victory in World War II (Southern Illinois University Press; 2010) studies the mobilization of students in support of the war effort.
Nelson, Hal, et al. Rockford College: A Retrospective Look (Rockford College, Rockford, IL; 1980).
