Old Dominion University

▪ university, Norfolk, Virginia, United States

      public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. It is a sea- and space-grant institution. The university comprises the Darden College of Education and colleges of arts and letters, business and public administration, sciences, health sciences, and engineering and technology. A range of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs is offered. Campus centres in Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, and Hampton offer graduate and continuing-education programs. Research facilities include an oceanographic research vessel, a planetarium, and a laser optics laboratory. Total enrollment is approximately 22,500.

      Old Dominion was formally established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary; (William and Mary, College of) the college, however, had been offering classes in Norfolk since 1919. The Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech), in 1931, began offering early training in engineering at the campus. The college was separated from the College of William and Mary in 1962 and acquired its present name; it was elevated to university standing in 1969.

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