Washington University was envisioned by 17 civic leaders in St. Louis to expand higher education in the Midwest.^[17] Missouri state senator Wayman Crow and Unitarian minister William Greenleaf Eliot, grandfather of the poet T. S. Eliot, led the effort.^[18] The university's first chancellor was Joseph Gibson Hoyt.^[19] Crow secured the university charter from the Missouri General Assembly in 1853,^[20] and Eliot was named president of the board of trustees.

Unlike many major American universities, Washington University lacked an initial financial endowment. The institution had no backing of a religious organization, single wealthy patron, or earmarked government support. From its inception, the university has been governed by an independent board of trustees which, by charter, appoints its own members.^[21]

Initially, the institution underwent several name changes. The board first approved the name Eliot Seminary, but Eliot objected, favoring a nonsectarian university.^[22] Under his influence, the board appointed a naming committee, chaired by Samuel Treat. In 1854, the university was renamed Washington Institute in honor of the nation’s first president, George Washington, a decision that coincided with the approval of its charter on February 22—Washington’s birthday.^[23][24] The decision reflected Washington’s symbolic role as a unifying figure in a nation increasingly divided over slavery. In 1856, the board officially changed the name to Washington University.^[25]

Chartered as a university, Washington University initially functioned primarily as a night school, located on 17th Street and Washington Avenue in downtown St. Louis. Due to limited financial resources, early classes were held in public buildings, beginning on October 22, 1854, at the Benton School building. As enrollment grew, funding was transferred to the St. Louis Public Schools.^[26]

To provide more structured academic offerings, the university divided into three departments: the Manual Training School, the preparatory school Smith Academy, and the Mary Institute. The Manual Training School, established in 1879, was one of the first institutions in the United States to emphasize technical education alongside traditional academic subjects.^[27] Smith Academy (founded in 1854) and Mary Institute (founded in 1859) served as preparatory schools for boys and girls, respectively.^[28]

In 1867, the university opened the first private nonsectarian law school west of the Mississippi River.^[29]

By 1882, the university had expanded across multiple disciplines, necessitating additional facilities. In 1891, medical education became part of the university when the St. Louis Medical College affiliated with Washington University, establishing the medical department of Washington University. In 1899, the Missouri Medical College also joined the university.^[30]

In 1896, Holmes Smith, professor of Drawing and History of Art, designed what became the basis for the modern-day university seal. The seal is made up of elements from the Washington family coat of arms and the symbol of Louis IX, whom the city is named after.^[31]

The university's rapid expansion, particularly in the medical field, led to the search for a new campus site. In the late 1890s, a committee led by Robert S. Brookings, Henry Ware Eliot, and William Huse selected a 103-acre (41.7 ha) parcel just beyond Forest Park, located west of the city limits in St. Louis County. Previously the Hilltop Campus, it was later renamed the Danforth Campus in 2006 to honor former chancellor William H. Danforth.^[32][33]

In 1899, the university held a national design competition for the new campus. The Philadelphia firm Cope & Stewardson, known for their work at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University, won with a design based on Collegiate Gothic quadrangles inspired by Oxford and Cambridge Universities.^[34]

The cornerstone of the first building, Busch Hall, was laid on October 20, 1900, construction of additional buildings, including Brookings Hall, Ridgley, and Cupples began shortly thereafter.^[35] Washington University postponed occupying these buildings until 1905 to accommodate the 1904 World's Fair and 1904 Summer Olympics. This postponement led to the construction of ten buildings instead of the seven originally planned. This original cluster of buildings set a precedent for the development of the Danforth Campus; Cope and Stewardson's original plan and its choice of building materials have, with few exceptions, guided the construction and expansion of the Danforth Campus.^[34]

In 1915, the university completed a new medical complex on Kings Highway in the Central West End. Three years later, Aphrodite Jannopoulo, Carol Skinner Cole, and Faye Cashatt became the first women to enroll as medical students.^[36]

During World War II, as part of the Manhattan Project, a cyclotron at Washington University was used to produce small quantities of the newly discovered element plutonium via neutron bombardment of uranium nitrate hexahydrate. In 1942, The plutonium produced there was shipped to the Metallurgical Laboratory^[37] Compton had established at the University of Chicago.^[38]

Compton returned to Washington University in 1946 as the ninth chancellor after 22 years at the University of Chicago.^[39] He reestablished the Washington University football team and emphasized a "strictly amateur" athletic policy with no athletic scholarships. Under Compton, the university saw significant enrollment growth, driven by World War II veterans using the G.I. Bill.^[40]

During the 1940s and 1950s, the university faced criticism from the local African American media, which included a letter-writing campaign by churches, the local Urban League, and legal briefs by the NAACP, seeking to strip the university of its tax-exempt status.^[41] Washington University in St. Louis began desegregation in 1947 when the School of Medicine unintentionally admitted a Black student,^[42] followed by the School of Social Work.^[43][44] That same year, President Harry S. Truman’s Commission on Higher Education recommended repealing segregation laws in higher education. In 1949, students formed the Student Committee for the Admission of Negroes (SCAN) to advocate for the integration of Washington University. In May 1949, SCAN conducted a poll in which nearly one-third of the student body participated, with 77 percent expressing support for ending segregation.^[42] The university maintained its policy of excluding Black applicants from undergraduate programs until 1952, when it officially integrated its undergraduate divisions.^[43]

In 1957, planning began for the construction of the "South 40", a complex of modern residential halls which primarily house freshmen and some sophomore students.^[45] With additional on-campus housing, the university, which had been predominantly attended by commuter students, began attracting a greater number of applicants from across the nation.^[46] By 1964, over two-thirds of incoming students came from outside the St. Louis area.^[47]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Washington University faced student protests over racial inequality, notably the 1968 Black Manifesto demonstrations. The Association of Black Collegians occupied Brookings Hall, demanding increased recruitment of Black students and faculty.^[48] After arrests and negotiations, the university expanded diversity efforts, including the establishment of the department of African and African-American Studies.^[48][42]

In 1971, the board of trustees appointed Chancellor William Henry Danforth,^[49] who guided the university through the social and financial crises of the 1970s, strengthened the School of Medicine, and improved the often tense ties between the university and the St. Louis community. During his 24-year chancellorship, he established 70 new endowed professorships, constructed dozens of buildings, secured a $1.72 billion endowment, and tripled the amount of student scholarships.^[50] Under Danforth, Washington University transitioned from a commuter college to a world-renowned institution.^[50]

To better distinguish itself in national media, the university's board of trustees added the phrase "in St. Louis" in 1976.^[51]

In 1995, Mark S. Wrighton, former provost at MIT, was elected the university's 14th chancellor.^[52] During Chancellor Wrighton's tenure undergraduate applications to Washington University more than doubled. Since 1995, the university has added more than 190 endowed professorships, revamped its Arts & Sciences curriculum, and completed more than 30 new buildings.^[53]

Washington University's reputation was enhanced by two major fundraising efforts since the 1980s. From 1983 to 1987, the "Alliance for Washington University" campaign raised $630.5 million, which was then the most successful fund-raising effort in national history.^[54] From 1998 to 2004, the "Campaign for Washington University" raised $1.55 billion, which was applied to additional scholarships, professorships, and research initiatives.^[55]

In 2002, Washington University co-founded the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis's Midtown neighborhood. Cortex is the largest innovation hub in the midwest,^[56] home to offices of Square, Microsoft, Aon, Boeing, and Centene. The innovation hub has generated more than 3,800 tech jobs in 14 years.^[57]

In Fall 2006, the St. Louis Metro opened the Cross–County extension of its light rail MetroLink system. Three of the nine new stations directly serve the university (Skinker, University City-Big Bend, and Forsyth). On July 1, 2006, the university began offering free Metro passes—the U Pass—to all full-time students, benefits-eligible faculty and staff, and full-time employees of qualified service providers.^[58]

In June 2019, Andrew D. Martin, former dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan, was elected the university's 15th chancellor.^[59] On the day of his inauguration, Martin announced the "WashU Pledge", a financial aid program allowing full-time Missouri and southern Illinois students who are Pell Grant-eligible or from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or less to attend the university cost-free.^[60][61]

In 2023, Washington University was one of 10 universities picked to join the Kessler Scholars Collaborative, which provides support for selected first-generation and Pell-Grant eligible STEM students.^[62][63] The program aims to recruit 20 fully funded Kessler scholars per year and provide additional opportunities to close the wealth gap.^[64] Also, in 2022, Washington University developed a nasal vaccine aimed at addressing COVID-19.^[65]

In March 2024, Washington University agreed to purchase the campus of neighboring Fontbonne University when it closes in 2025.^[66]

Washington University has been selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates to host more presidential and vice presidential debates than any other institution in history.^[67] The campus has been the venue for four presidential debates, and one vice-presidential debate: the inaugural 1992 presidential debate on October 11, 1992,^[68] the third 2000 Presidential debate on October 17,^[68] the second 2004 Presidential debate on October 8,^[68] the sole 2008 Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on October 2,^[69] and the second 2016 Presidential debate on October 9.^[70][71] A 1996 debate was scheduled but canceled when the number of debates was reduced to two.^[72][73]

The university's 169-acre Danforth Campus is bordered by the Forest Park section of St. Louis and Clayton and University City, Missouri.^[74]

A large portion of the Danforth Campus is recognized as the Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District, which achieved National Historic Landmark status on February 27, 1987.^[75][76]

The Barry Flanagan bronze statue, "Thinker on a Rock," commonly referred to as "The Bunny", is on permanent loan to Washington University^[77] and is located near Mallinckrodt Center and Graham Chapel.^[78][79]

The Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement was established in 2005 with significant support from former U.S. Congressman Richard A. Gephardt,^[80] who represented Missouri's 3rd Congressional District from 1977 to 2005. Named in his honor following a major gift,^[81] the institute advances civic engagement through speaker series internships and career placements, community-based grants, and co-curricular service initiatives.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, established in 1881, is one of the oldest teaching museums in the country.^[82] The collection includes works from 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century American and European artists, including George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock, Rembrandt, Robert Rauschenberg, Barbara Kruger, and Christian Boltanski. In October 2006, the Kemper Art Museum moved from its previous location, Steinberg Hall, into a new facility designed by former faculty member Fumihiko Maki. The Kemper Art Museum is located directly across from Steinberg Hall, which was Maki's first commission in 1959.

Washington University Medical Center comprises 186 acres (75.3 ha) spread over 18 city blocks, located along the eastern edge of Forest Park within the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis.^[83] The campus is home to the Washington University School of Medicine and its associated teaching hospitals, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Many of the buildings are connected via a series of skyways and corridors.

In 2019, Washington University was awarded a $7.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish the Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control to address disparities in cancer care in parts of Missouri and Illinois.^[84] In 2022, Washington University's Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences was awarded a five-year $61 million grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, to advance precision medicine, health equity, and diversity initiatives.^[85]

Tyson Research Center is a 1,966.5-acre (3.07 sq mi; 795.81 ha) field station located west of St. Louis on the Meramec River. Washington University obtained Tyson as surplus property from the federal government in 1963. It is used by the university as a biological field station and research/education center. In 2010, its Living Learning Center became one of the first two buildings in the United States accredited as a "living building" under the Living Building Challenge.^[86] It functions as a biological research station and classroom for summer students.

Washington University practices need-blind admissions and meets 100% of admitted students' demonstrated needs.^[87][88] In October 2021, Washington University announced it would invest an additional $1 billion in financial aid through its Gateway to Success initiative.^[89][88] This includes $800 million in endowed funding to sustain need-blind undergraduate admissions, meaning the university will not consider an applicant's financial situation when making admissions decisions while still meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted undergraduates.^[90] An additional $200 million was designated for financial aid for graduate and professional students.^[87]

Undergraduate admission to Washington University is characterized by the Carnegie Foundation and U.S. News & World Report as "most selective".^[9][91] The Princeton Review, in its 2020 edition, gave the university an admissions selectivity rating of 99 out of 99.^[92] The acceptance rate for the class of 2028 (those entering in the fall of 2024) was 12 percent, with students selected from 32,754 applications.^[93] Of students admitted, 86 percent reporting rank were in the top 10 percent of their class.^[94] 25 percent of the class were pell-eligible.

The Class of 2028 had a median ACT range of 33–35 and an SAT range of 1500–1570 among accepted students who submitted scores, reflecting the 25th to 75th percentiles.^[94]

The College of Arts & Sciences is home to the university's largest undergraduate program, providing students selection of courses across more than 50 disciplines, including anthropology, chemistry, English, the performing arts and women, gender and sexuality studies.^[95] It is also home to corresponding graduate programs.

The College of Arts & Sciences has an average class size of 18 students, with over 80% having fewer than 24. Almost one-half of the undergraduate classes have fewer than 10 students. The student-faculty ratio is 7:1.^[2]

Founded as the School of Commerce and Finance in 1917, the Olin Business School was named after entrepreneur John M. Olin in 1988. The school's academic programs include BSBA, MBA, Professional MBA (PMBA), Executive MBA (EMBA), Master of Science programs, Master of Accounting, Global Master of Finance Dual Degree program, and doctoral programs, as well as non-degree Executive Education. In 2002, an Executive MBA program was established in Shanghai,^[96] in cooperation with Fudan University.^[97]

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts was founded in 2006, merging the existing academic units of Architecture and Art with the university's museum. The school comprises the College of Architecture, Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, College of Art, Graduate School of Art and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, which is considered one of the most distinguished university art collections in the country.^[98] It was the first art museum west of the Mississippi River.^[99] In October 2006 the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum moved into new facilities designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect, and former faculty member, Fumihiko Maki.^[100] It houses most of the university's art and sculpture collections, including pieces by Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Jenny Holzer, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Willem de Kooning, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, and Rembrandt van Rijn, among others.

On January 31, 2019, the School of Engineering & Applied Science was renamed to the James McKelvey School of Engineering.^[101] This renaming honored trustee and alumnus Jim McKelvey Jr., the co-founder of Square, following his substantial donation.^[102]

In June 2023, Washington University announced its renamed and revamped University College as the School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS).^[103] CAPS was established to focus on adult learners with a focus on rapidly growing and high paying fields like data analytics, education, healthcare, and management.^[103] The pre-nursing program was developed in partnership with Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College.^[103]

Washington University School of Law offers joint-degree programs with the Olin Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Medicine, and the School of Social Work.^[104] It also offers LLM programs, a Master of Juridical Studies (MJS), and a Juris Doctoris (JD). The law school offers 3 semesters of courses in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, and requires at least 85 credit hours of coursework for the JD.

The law school offers a full-time day program, beginning in August, for the J.D. degree. The law school is located in Anheuser-Busch Hall (opened in 1997).

The Washington University School of Medicine was established in 1891. The McDonnell Genome Institute (directed by Richard K. Wilson) is housed within the Washington University School of Medicine; it is one of three NIH-funded major DNA sequencing centers in the U.S. and played a significant role in the Human Genome Project.^[105] In 2022, the Washington University School of Medicine ranked third among U.S. medical schools in terms of NIH funding received.^[106][107]

The medical school partners with St. Louis Children's Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where all physicians are members of the school's faculty.

With roots dating back to 1909 in the university's School of Social Economy, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work was founded in 1925. Brown's academic degree offerings include a Master of Social Work, a Master of Public Health, a PhD programs. The school was endowed by Bettie Bofinger Brown and named for her husband, George Warren Brown, a St. Louis philanthropist and co-founder of the Brown Shoe Company. The school was the first at Washington University to admit Black students^[108] and the first in the United States to have a building dedicated to social work education.^[109]

Established as the Missouri Dental College in 1866, the Washington University School of Dental Medicine was the first dental school west of the Mississippi River^[110] and the sixth dental school in the United States. The school closed in 1991.^[111]

Washington University is ranked 21st in the nation in the 2024 U.S. News & World Report National Universities ranking,^[120] and 11th by The Wall Street Journal in their 2018 rankings.^[121] The university is ranked 23rd in the world for 2024 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.^[122]

The Princeton Review ranked Washington University first for Best College Dorms and third for Best College Food, Best-Run Colleges, and Best Financial Aid in its 2020 edition.^[123] In its 2022 edition, Princeton Review also ranked Washington University as number 2 for "Top Entrepreneurship Under Ten Thousand Students", #1 for "Top Midwest Entreprenuerships", as a "Colleges That Create Futures" and of having a great quality of life.^[124] The Washington University School of Medicine was ranked sixth for research by U.S. News & World Report in 2020 and has been listed among the top ten medical schools since the rankings were first published in 1987.^[125] Additionally, U.S. News & World Report ranked the university's genetics and physical therapy as tied for first place.^[126][127] QS World University Rankings ranked Washington University sixth in the world for anatomy and physiology in 2020.^[128] In January 2020, Olin Business School was named the Poets&Quants MBA Program of 2019.^[129]

Washington University was named one of the "25 New Ivies" by Newsweek in 2006.^[132] Washington University has also been called a "Hidden Ivy".^[133]

A 2014 study ranked Washington University #1 in the country for income inequality^[134] About 22 percent of Washington University's students came from the top 1 percent, while only about 6 percent came from the bottom 60 percent.^{[135][136][137]} Following criticism of these figures, the university administration announced plans to increase the percentage of Pell-eligible students on campus from 6% to 13% by 2020^{[138][139][140]} The university achieved that goal three years early, and as of 2022, 19.9% of undergraduate students were eligible for Pell Grants, representing a 300% increase since 2012.^[141] In October 2019, then newly inaugurated Chancellor Andrew D. Martin announced the "WashU Pledge", a financial aid program that provides a free undergraduate education to all full-time Missouri and Southern Illinois students who are Pell Grant eligible or from families with annual incomes of $75,000 or less.^[142][143]

The American Talent Initiative found Washington University had the highest Pell growth rate among 130 major universities between the 2015–16 and 2019–20 academic years.^[144] By 2021, 16% of first-year students were from low- and moderate-income backgrounds.^[145]

More than 60% of undergraduates are involved in faculty research across all areas;^[151] it is an institutional priority for undergraduates to be allowed to participate in advanced research. According to the Center for Measuring University Performance, it is considered to be one of the top 10 private research universities in the nation.^[152] A dedicated Office of Undergraduate Research is located on the Danforth Campus and serves as a resource to post research opportunities, advise students in finding appropriate positions matching their interests, publish undergraduate research journals, and award research grants to make it financially possible to perform research.^[153]

According to the National Science Foundation, Washington University spent $989 million on research and development in 2021, ranking it 25th in the nation.^[10][11] The university has over 150 National Institutes of Health funded inventions, with many of them licensed to private companies. Governmental agencies and non-profit foundations such as the NIH, United States Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, and NASA provide the majority of research grant funding, with Washington University being one of the top recipients in NIH grants from year-to-year. In 2024, In 2024, Washington University secured over $730 million in NIH funding, ranking fourth nationwide.^[154] Washington University and its medical school play a large part in the Human Genome Project, where it contributes approximately 25% of the finished sequence.^[155]

NASA hosts its Planetary Data System Geosciences Node on the campus of Washington University. Professors, students, and researchers have been heavily involved with many unmanned missions to Mars. Professor Raymond Arvidson has been deputy principal investigator of the Mars Exploration Rover mission and co-investigator of the Phoenix lander robotic arm.^[156]

Washington University professor Joseph Lowenstein, with the assistance of several undergraduate students, has been involved in editing, annotating, making a digital archive of the first publication of poet Edmund Spenser's collective works in 100 years. A large grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities was given to support this project centralized at Washington University with support from other colleges in the United States.^[157]

In 2019, Folding@Home, a distributed computing project for performing molecular dynamics simulations of protein dynamics, was moved to Washington University School of Medicine from Stanford University. The project, led by Greg Bowman, uses the idle CPU time of personal computers owned by volunteers to conduct protein folding research.^[158] Folding@home's research is primarily focused on biomedical problems such as Alzheimer's disease, Cancer, Coronavirus disease 2019, and Ebola virus disease. In April 2020, Folding@home became the world's first exaFLOP computing system with a peak performance of 1.5 exaflops, making it more than seven times faster than the world's fastest supercomputer, Summit, and more powerful than the top 100 supercomputers in the world, combined.^[159][160]

In 2005, Washington University established the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, an international network of research universities, with an initial endowment gift of $10 million from John F. McDonnell.^{[161][162][163]} The academy, collaborates with 35 partner institutions worldwide to support to develop a cohort of future leaders, strengthen ties with top foreign universities, and promote global awareness and social responsibility.^[164][165] The program is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.^[166]

The Washington University library system comprises nine libraries, with Olin Library serving as the main library, centrally located on the Danforth Campus. According to the American Library Association, it is the 44th largest library in the United States by volume count, holding over 5.3 million volumes.^[167] It is a member of the Association of Research Libraries.^[168] The remaining eight libraries in the system include:

• Al and Ruth Kopolow (Business) Library
• Bernard Becker Medical Library
• Brown School Library
• East Asian Library
• Gaylord Music Library
• Kenneth and Nancy Kranzberg Art & Architecture Library
• Law Library
• West Campus Library

In 2023, Washington University enrolled approximately 16,500 students who came from all 50 U.S. states and more than 110 countries.^[169]

Of the 1,832 first year students enrolled in Fall 2023, 35% were Caucasian, 27 percent were Asian, 13 percent were Latino/Hispanic, 12 percent were Black/African-American, 11 percent were International, 1 percent were Native American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and 1 percent did not identity; 52 percent were female and 48 percent were male.^[170]

Washington University has over 400 undergraduate student organizations on campus.^[172] Most receive funding by the Washington University Student Union, which, as of fiscal year 2024, has an annual budget of $4.2 million.^[173] The Student Union sponsors major campus programs including WILD (a semesterly concert in the quad) and free copies of The New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program.^[174]

Many of these organizations and other campus life amenities are housed in the $43 million Danforth University Center on the Danforth Campus, also dedicated in honor of emeritus Chancellor William Henry Danforth.^[175] The building opened on August 11, 2008.^[176]

Washington University has a large number of student-run musical groups on campus, including 13 official a cappella groups. The Pikers, an all-male group, is the oldest such group on campus. The Greenleafs, an all-female group is the oldest (and only) female group on campus. The Mosaic Whispers, founded in 1991, is the oldest co-ed group on campus. They have produced 9 albums and have appeared on a number of compilation albums, including Ben Folds' Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!^[177] The Amateurs, who also appeared on this album, is another co-ed a cappella group on campus, founded in 1991. They have recorded seven albums and toured extensively. After Dark^[178] is a co-ed a cappella group founded in 2001. It has released three albums and has won several Contemporary A Capella Recording (CARA) awards. In 2008 the group performed on MSNBC during coverage of the vice presidential debate with specially written songs about Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.^[179]

Washington University has eleven fraternities and nine sororities on campus. In 2020, a large number of Greek life members, primarily from sororities permanently deactivated from their chapters as a result of perceived systematic oppression, racism, and sexism.^[180] Some students called for the total abolition of Greek Life on campus.^[180] As of 2024, approximately 18% of the undergraduate student body participated in Greek life.^[181]

Comprising 10 residential colleges and 23 residential halls, the South 40 serves as the primary housing area for underclassmen. Named for its location south of the Danforth Campus and its size of 40 acres (16 ha),^[182] it follows a traditional residential college system. All halls are co-ed. Designed as a pedestrian-friendly environment, the South 40 features residences surrounding a central recreational lawn known as the Swamp. It is also home to Bear's Den (the largest dining hall on campus), Bear Necessities (a gift shop), a fitness center, a technology center, the Student Health Center for the Danforth Campus, the Residential Life Office, student-owned businesses, meeting rooms, a mail room, intramural fields and basketball and sand volleyball fields.^[183]

The Village is a residential area for upperclassman located in the northwest corner of the Danforth Campus. It includes two suite-style buildings, Lopata House and Village House, which contain multiple four-person single suites, each with two shared bathrooms.^[184] The Village East and Millbrook apartments are also located on campus.^[185] Like the South 40, the residences around the Village also surround a recreational lawn.

The university's student-run newspaper, Student Life, is published twice a week under the auspices of Washington University Student Media, Inc., an independent not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1999. Founded in 1878, it is one of the oldest college newspapers in the United States.^[186][187]

KWUR (90.3 FM) serves as the students' official radio station;^[188] the station also attracts an audience in the immediately surrounding community due to its eclectic and free-form musical programming. WUTV is the university's closed-circuit television channel. It was founded in 1976.^[189]

The university's main student-run political publication is the Washington University Political Review (nicknamed "WUPR"), a self-described "multipartisan" monthly magazine. Washington University undergraduates publish two literary and art journals, The Eliot Review and Spires Intercollegiate Arts and Literary Magazine.

Washington University was a founding member of the University Athletic Association of NCAA Division III^[190] and previously was a founding member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Between 1907 and 1942, Washington University played with what are now classified as NCAA Division I teams. The Bears have won 26 NCAA Division III Championships—ten in volleyball (1989, 1991–1996, 2003, 2007, 2009), five in women's basketball (1998–2001, 2010), two in men's basketball (2008, 2009), two in women's cross country (2011, 2018), two in women's outdoor track and field (2017, 2024), two in women's soccer (2016, 2024), one in men's tennis (2008), one in women's indoor track and field (2017), and one in men's indoor track and field (2022) – and 266 conference titles.^[191]

Washington University hosts 42 club sports.^[169]

Washington University is home to Francis Olympic Field (formerly Francis Field),^[192] the site of the 1904 Summer Olympics.^[193] The field also serves as the home for the university's football, soccer, and track and field teams. In 2019, the venue was renamed Francis Olympic Field to honor its significance in Olympic history and St. Louis' role as the host city of the first Olympic Games held outside of Europe. The Olympic flame has also passed through Francis Olympic Field three times, during the torch relays for the 1984 Los Angeles, 1996 Atlanta, and 2004 Athens Summer Olympics^[193]

• WILD – Walk In, Lay Down, the semesterly concert in the Quad which brings in popular musical acts.^[194]
• Thurtene Carnival – The oldest and largest student-run carnival in the nation.^[195]
• Vertigo – A dance party put on by the Engineering School Council (EnCouncil), featuring an innovative 8-by-16-foot (2.4 by 4.9 m) computer-controlled modular LED illuminated dance floor built by students.
• Brookings Hall – A superstition among students to never step on the university seal at Brookings Hall. It is said that doing so will prevent one from graduating on time.^[196]
• Art Prom – Every Spring, students from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts host a “formal” dance with a creative twist.
• Underpass Panels – A series of panels along the walls of the underpass connecting the South 40 to the main Danforth Campus.^[197] Tradition involves the painting of each panel by students and clubs to advertise events. Located adjacent to the underpass is a large concrete ball, a concrete cube, and pyramid, also painted to advertise student events.

Washington University has a community of over 19,000 faculty and staff members, as well as more than 156,000 living alumni. Its alumni and faculty have received numerous prestigious awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, National Medal of Science, National Medal of Arts, Rhodes Scholarship, Harry S. Truman Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Putnam Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, and the title of U.S. Poet Laureate, along with memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of London, American Institute of Architects, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, American Academy of Arts and Letters, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Law Institute, American Philosophical Society, National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[12]

Notable undergraduate alumni include Avram Glazer,^[198] chairman of Manchester United; Jon Feltheimer,^[199] CEO of Lionsgate Films; George Zimmer,^[200] founder of Men's Wearhouse; Phil Radford,^[201] former executive director of Greenpeace; Siniša Mali,^[202] deputy prime minister of Serbia; Jim Talent,^[203] former U.S. senator from Missouri; Chic Hecht,^[204] former U.S. senator from Nevada; Hal Daub,^[205] former U.S. congressman from Nebraska; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Ken Cooper^[206][207] and Hank Klibanoff;^[208] Tony Award-winning theatrical producer David Merrick;^[209][210] baseball player Dal Maxvill;^[211] and the first director of the World Health Organization's Global Program on AIDS, Jonathan Mann.^[212] Additionally, the list includes science show host, Deanne Bell (Design Squad);^[213] New York Times bestselling author, Susannah Cahalan;^[214] character actress, Mary Wickes;^[215] television actor, Johnny Kastl;^[216] Award-winning actor Peter Sarsgaard;^[217][218] and radical feminist, Shulamith Firestone.^[219] Undergraduate alumni also include co-inventor of nylon Julian W. Hill;^[220] co-discoverer of the neutrino Clyde Cowan;^[221] Governor of Illinois James R. Thompson;^[222] U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Sam Fox;^[223] Edward S. Holden, president of the University of California;^[224] Kim Schatzel,^[225] president of the University of Louisville; Thomas Lamb Eliot,^[226] founder of Reed College; and Abram L. Sachar,^[227] founding president of Brandeis University. Graduates of the College of Architecture include George Hellmuth,^[228] Gyo Obata,^[229] and George Kassabaum,^[230] founders of HOK, the world's fourth-largest architectural firm.

Notable graduate alumni include Nobel laureates Earl Wilber Sutherland,^[231] Edwin G. Krebs,^[232] and Daniel Nathans,^[233] who all graduated from the School of Medicine. Businessman and adventurer Steve Fossett earned his MBA from the business school.^[234] Playwright A. E. Hotchner also earned his JD from the law school.^[235] Graduate alumni also include the former presidents of Johns Hopkins,^[236] Clemson,^[237] Wake Forest,^[238] Morehouse,^[239] Florida A&M University,^[240] Yonsei,^[241] Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,^[242] and San Francisco State University.^[242] Mike Simpson, U.S. representative for Idaho’s 2nd congressional district, is a graduate of the dental school.^[243][244]

Notable individuals who attended but did not graduate include playwright Tennessee Williams, who left in protest after not winning a playwriting prize;^[245][246] Charles Eames, who was expelled for defending modernist architecture;^[247] Jack C. Taylor, founder of Enterprise Rent-a-Car, who withdrew to fight in World War II;^[248] Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author Bill Dedman, who left to pursue a career as a newspaper reporter;^[249] and Marilyn vos Savant, the IQ-record holder, who left to assist with a family investment business.^[250]

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  Harold Ramis, Actor/director, Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Animal House, National Lampoon's Vacation (film series))^[251]
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  Tennessee Williams, 20th-century Playwright of American drama^[245][246]
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  Robert Guillaume, Actor (Soap, The Lion King, Guys and Dolls, The Phantom of the Opera)^[252]
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  Andrew McCabe, Former deputy director of the FBI^[253]
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  William H. Webster, Only person to have served as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and director of Central Intelligence^[254][255]
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  Rochelle Walensky, 19th director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention^[256]
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  Clark Clifford, Political adviser to presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter ^[257][258]
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  Phoebe Couzins, First woman lawyer in the United States and the first woman United States Marshall^[259]
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  J. C. R. Licklider, Pioneer in artificial intelligence and the Internet^[260][261]
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  Charles Nagel, Founder of the United States Chamber of Commerce^[262]
•  
  Dave Garroway, Founding host and anchor of NBC's Today^[263][264]
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  Jim McKelvey, Co-founder and director of Block, Inc^[265]
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  Alan J. Dixon, 36th Illinois Secretary of State and U.S. Senator from Illinois^[266]
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  Bob Behnken, NASA Astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office^[267]
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  Fannie Hurst, Novelist^[268]
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  Joseph Poindexter, Governor of Hawaii during the Pearl Harbor attack^[269]
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  Steven Sater, Tony Award, Grammy Award, and Laurence Olivier Award-winning American poet and playwright^[270]
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  Chris Koster, 41st Attorney General of Missouri^[271]
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  Leana Wen, Former president of Planned Parenthood^[272]
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  Louis Susman, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom^[273]

Notable faculty include 56th governor of Missouri Eric Greitens;^[274] economist Hyman Minsky;^[275] novelists Stanley Elkin^[276][277] and William H. Gass;^[278][279] poet Carl Phillips;^[280] architect Louis C. Spering;^[281] artist Max Beckmann;^[282] sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson;^[283][284] writer and culture critic Gerald Early;^{[285][286][287]} two-time United States Poet Laureate Howard Nemerov;^{[288][289][290]} founder of the American Association of University Professors Arthur Oncken Lovejoy;^[291] chemist Joseph W. Kennedy, co-discoverer of the element plutonium;^[292] first woman director of both the National Gallery of Canada and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jean Sutherland Boggs;^[293] chemist Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of Science Magazine,^[294] and Guggenheim Fellowship and Pushcart Prize winner Mary Jo Bang.^[295][296]

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  Arthur Holly Compton, Discoverer of the Compton effect^[297]
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  Rita Levi-Montalcini, Neurologist and Nobel laureate for the discovery of nerve growth factor^[298]
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  Joseph Erlanger, Known for his contributions to the field of neuroscience^[299]
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  Gerty Cori, First woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine^[300]
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  Alfred Hershey, Nobel Laureate bacteriologist known for the Hershey–Chase experiment^[301]
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  Buckminster Fuller, Systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist^[302]
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  Roger Nash Baldwin, co-founder and first executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union^[303]
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  Douglass North, Nobel Laureate Economist^[304]
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  Fumihiko Maki, United Nations' new building architect^[305][306]
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  Thomas Eagleton, United States Senator from Missouri^[307][308]
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  Luther Terry, Ninth Surgeon General of the United States, established the link between smoking to serious health issues like lung cancer and chronic diseases^[309]
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  Peter Mutharika, Former president of Malawi^[310]
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  Wiley Rutledge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States^[311]
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  Barry Commoner, Leading ecologist and a founder of the modern environmental movement^[312][313]
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  E.T. Jaynes, Theoretical physicist and statistician^[314]
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  Mona Van Duyn, United States Poet Laureate^[315][316]
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  Wesley A. Clark, Credited for designing the first modern personal computer^[317]
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  Henry Smith Pritchett, Head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and 5th president of MIT^[318]
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  Barbara Schaal, First woman to be elected vice president of the National Academy of Sciences^[319]
•  
  James E. McLeod, Educator and founder of John B. Ervin Scholars Program^[320][321]

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• Official website  
• Athletics website
• "Washington University" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
• "Washington University" . Popular Science Monthly. Vol. 64. February 1904.