San Diego State University - History

History

Established on March 13, 1897, San Diego State University first began as the San Diego Normal School, meant to educate local future female elementary school teachers. In 1923, the San Diego Normal School became San Diego State Teachers College, "a four-year public institution controlled by the state Board of Education." In 1935, the school became San Diego State College. In 1960, San Diego State College became a part of the California College System, now known as the California State University system. Finally in 1970 San Diego State College became San Diego State University (SDSU).

Sixty percent of SDSU graduates remain in San Diego, making SDSU a primary educator of the region's work force. Committed to serving the diverse San Diego region, SDSU ranks among the top ten universities nationwide in terms of ethnic and racial diversity among its student body, as well as the number of bachelor's degrees conferred upon minority students.

San Diego State University has been designated a "Research University" by the Carnegie Foundation. University faculty consistently attract hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars annually in grants and contracts for research and program administration, and SDSU's research and graduate degree programs lead all other campuses of the California State University system. In the 2009-10 academic year, the university obtained $150 million for research, including $26 million from the National Institutes of Health.

For the beginning of the 2006-2007 academic year, SDSU expanded its classrooms and support space by more than 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) with the opening of three new buildings, the College of Arts and Letters, the Calpulli Center and Donald P. Shiley BioScience Center. The buildings, respectively, feature high-technology classrooms, upgraded health and wellness facilities, and scientific research laboratories.

SDSU's Astronomy Department owns the Mount Laguna Observatory located in the Cleveland National Forest. It operates the observatory concurrently with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

John F. Kennedy, then the President of the United States of America, gave the graduation commencement address at San Diego State University on June 6, 1963.

Kennedy was given an honorary doctorate degree in law at the ceremony, making SDSU the first California State College to award an honorary doctorate degree. In 1964, this event was registered as California Historical Landmark #798.

In April 2012, his Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama spoke at SDSU's Viejas Arena as part of his "Compassion Without Borders" tour.