Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public university located in the college town of Oxford, Ohio.  The university was founded in 1809 and is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and second oldest in the state of Ohio.  Miami is cited as one of the eight original Public Ivies, partly for its primary focus on educating undergraduates. The University System of Ohio considers Miami University one of Ohio's historic "four corners" universities^.

 

Miami University dates back to a grant of land made for its support by the United States Congress and signed by George Washington on May 5, 1792. The university's first president, Robert Hamilton Bishop, envisioned Miami as the "Yale of the West" and planned the first several buildings accordingly.  Miami is located in southwestern Ohio approximately thirty miles (50 km) northwest of Cincinnati. The Miami in this school's name refers to the Miami River valley, cut by two medium-sized rivers, the Little Miami River and the Great Miami River, that flow through southwestern Ohio; the rivers were in turn named after the Miami Indians who lived in the area before European settlement.

 

Miami University has a rich history of intercollegiate athletics and today fields a Division I (FBS for football) athletic program in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Division. The now demolished Miami Field, built in 1895, was the second oldest college football facility in the nation edged only by the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. There are men's sports teams for baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, ice hockey, swimming and diving, and track and field.  For women, Miami offers basketball, cross country, field hockey, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, volleyball, synchronized skating, track and field, and tennis.