History of University Hospitals: A Brief Timeline

The University of Chicago was founded in 1890. A medical school was always part of the plan for the University's first president, William Rainey Harper. He felt it would complete his great university. Financial issues, however, prevented him building his own medical facility on campus. Capitalizing on Harper's interest, the University developed a formal affiliation with Rush Medical College in 1898. Rush was not only the first medical school in Chicago but, in 1837, became the first institution of higher learning to be incorporated in the recently declared state of Illinois. Under a unique arrangement, students were admitted jointly to the University of Chicago and the Rush Medical College.