Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1 million endowment; Vanderbilt hoped that his gift and the greater work of the university would help to heal the sectional wounds inflicted by the Civil War. Vanderbilt enrolls approximately 13,500 students from the US and over 100 foreign countries. It is classified among R1: Doctoral Universities . Several research centers and institutes are affiliated with the university including the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center and Dyer Observatory. Vanderbilt University Medical Center formerly part of the university became a separate institution in 2016. With the exception of the off-campus observatory all of the university's facilities are situated on its 330-acre (1.3 km2) campus in the heart of Nashville 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from downtown.