Wayne State University

Wayne State University is a public research university located in the Midtown neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-largest university with nearly 24,000 graduate and undergraduate students. Rooted in the city it serves, the university has grown from a single medical college founded by Civil War veterans into one of the nation's major urban research institutions, remaining a cornerstone of Detroit's educational, cultural, and economic life for more than 150 years.

History and Founding

Wayne State's history reaches back to 1868, when five physicians who witnessed the crude medical treatment on Civil War battlefields committed themselves to advancing health education and care in Detroit. They founded the Detroit Medical College, which has since transformed into the School of Medicine. The college charter from 1868 was signed by founder Theodore Andrews McGraw, M.D., a University of Michigan graduate.

A second important predecessor institution arrived in 1881. The Detroit Normal Training School for Teachers was established by the Detroit Board of Education to supply instructors for the city's expanding public school system. After several relocations to larger quarters, the school became the Detroit Teachers College in 1920.

The now-iconic Old Main Hall was built in 1896 as Central High School, which began adding college classes in 1913. Those classes evolved into the Detroit Junior College — offering a two-year general education program — in 1917, which became the College of the City of Detroit with four-year degree programs in 1923, and is now the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Recognizing the need for a good law school, a group of lawyers, including Allan Campbell, the school's founding dean, established Detroit City Law School in 1927 as part of the College of the City of Detroit. Originally structured as a part-time evening program, the school's first class graduated with the bachelor of laws degree (LL.B.) in 1928 and achieved full American Bar Association accreditation in 1939.

In 1933, the Detroit Board of Education voted to unify its colleges into a university. In January 1934, that institution was officially named Wayne University, taking its name from Wayne County — in which both the university and the city of Detroit reside — which was itself named after Revolutionary War Major-General Anthony Wayne. Wayne University added a School of Social Work in 1935, and the School of Business Administration in 1946.

Wayne University became Wayne State University by Act 183 of Michigan Public Acts of 1956. Three years later, it became a constitutionally established university by a popularly adopted amendment to the Michigan Constitution.

Campus and Facilities

Wayne State's main campus in Detroit encompasses 203 acres of landscaped walkways and gathering spots linking over 100 education and research buildings. Most academic and service units of the University are located on the main campus in Midtown Detroit, largely bounded by York Street on the north, Woodward Avenue on the east, Forest Avenue on the south, and Trumbull Street on the west. The university also has three satellite campuses in Macomb and Wayne counties.

The campus includes several historically and architecturally significant structures. The Wayne State University Historic District consists of three buildings on Cass Avenue: the David Mackenzie House, the Hilberry Theatre, and Old Main, all located on the campus of Wayne State University. The district was designated as a Michigan State Historic Site in 1957 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Old Main, designed and built from 1895–1896 in the Romanesque Revival style, was originally used to house the city of Detroit's Central High School. Old Main has been a focal point of the Wayne State University campus since 1933 and has undergone renovations in 1937 and 1994.

For 31 years Old Main remained the home of the College of Education until 1961, when the College dedicated its present building, designed by world-famous architect Minoru Yamasaki. Yamasaki also designed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and WSU's McGregor Memorial Conference Center.

In more recent decades, the university has invested substantially in new infrastructure. In 2015, the Integrative Biosciences Center, a $90 million facility dedicated to eliminating health disparities in Detroit, opened. The Integrative Biosciences Center is a 207,000-square-foot facility for interdisciplinary work in the biosciences, with more than 500 researchers, staff, and principal investigators working out of the building. In 2018, the Mike Ilitch School of Business opened its new facility in The District Detroit. In 2019, Wayne State opened the Anthony Wayne Drive Apartments, which added 841 beds for Wayne State students. In 2021, the Wayne State Fieldhouse opened, serving as the new home for Warrior basketball and the Detroit Pistons' G League team.

Academics and Research

Wayne State is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." Wayne State University, along with Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Michigan, comprises Michigan's University Research Corridor.

Today, Wayne State University is one of the nation's preeminent research universities, with 13 schools and colleges spanning a variety of disciplines. Over 24,000 undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States and 70 countries come here to prepare for their future careers. The university's tuition is the lowest among Michigan's major research universities.

Wayne State is a comprehensive research university, comprising colleges of education; engineering; fine, performing, and communication arts; liberal arts and sciences; nursing; and pharmacy and health sciences. It also includes schools of business administration, graduate studies, law, medicine, social work, and library and information science. In 2025, the name of the College of Engineering was changed to the James and Patricia Anderson College of Engineering.

The university is home to one of North America's most significant archival repositories. The Labor History Archives at Wayne State University was founded in 1960. Now known as the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs, it is the largest labor archive in North America, with more than 75,000 linear feet of archival holdings.

Wayne State researcher Forest Dewey Dodrill, M.D., and General Motors engineers designed a machine to temporarily replace the blood-pumping function of the heart, making open-heart surgery possible. WSU faculty members Robert Harr and Paul Karchin were part of the research team that in 2013 was awarded the Nobel Prize for discovering the Higgs boson, also known as "the God particle."

Wayne State's relationship with the local startup economy is formalized through TechTown Detroit. Celebrating two decades of innovation, TechTown Detroit is instrumental in revitalizing the region's economy. The nonprofit incubator provides essential resources, coworking spaces, and programs that support entrepreneurs, drive innovation, and boost prosperity across the region. Since 2004, TechTown has helped launch over 6,400 small businesses and raised more than $408 million in capital.

Notable Alumni and Faculty

Wayne State's alumni have distinguished themselves across medicine, law, the arts, and public life. Alumnus Robert Hayden was the first African American to hold the distinguished title of U.S. Poet Laureate. Law School alumna Cora Brown was the first African American woman in the country to be elected to a state senate.

Dorothy Comstock Riley received her bachelor's in political science from Wayne University, and three years later she earned her law degree from the university. Riley was the first female justice to serve on the Michigan Court of Appeals and the first Hispanic woman to be elected to a state Supreme Court.

Actor S. Epatha Merkerson graduated from Wayne State. Merkerson has won a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, two Obie Awards, and four NAACP Image Awards.

Alumna Jeanne Omelenchuk is the only woman to hold a spot on three Olympic speedskating teams (1960, 1968, and 1972). She won 16 national titles — more than any other individual in the history of the sport.

Alumnus Abraham Nemeth developed a Braille code for math and science notations, allowing blind scholars to pursue studies in many fields.

Alumnus Emmett Leith received the National Medal of Science for his work in holography — uncovering the principles of the hologram and improving its use.

Athletics

The Wayne State Warriors compete in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). In 1999, Warriors replaced Tartars as the university's mascot. In 2011, the Warrior football team made its first appearance in the NCAA Division II championship game. In 1973, Wayne State diver Dacia Schileru became the first woman to ever compete in an NCAA championship. The Wayne State Fieldhouse, which opened in 2021, now serves as the primary home venue for Warrior basketball.