University of the Pacific (United States)

University of the Pacific

Former names	College of the Pacific (1911–1961) California Wesleyan College (1851)
Type	Private
Established	July 10, 1851 165 years ago
Religious affiliation	Non-sectarian Methodist (historically)
Endowment	$373.1 million (2016)
President	Pamela A. Eibeck
Administrative staff	966
Students	6,128 (2016)
Undergraduates	3,483 (2016)
Postgraduates	1,042 (2016)
Other students	1,603 (2016)
Location	(main campus), San Francisco, and Sacramento, California, U.S.
Campus	Urban, 175 acres (71 ha)
Colors	Orange and Black
Athletics	NCAA Division I – WCC
Nickname	Tigers
Mascot	Powercat
Affiliations	NAICU IAMSCU
Website	www.pacific.edu

The University of the Pacific (also referred to as Pacific or UOP) is a private university in the western United States, located in . It is the oldest chartered university in California, the first independent co-educational campus in California, and both the first conservatory of music and first medical school on the West Coast.

It was first chartered on July 10, 1851, in Santa Clara, California, under the name California Wesleyan College. The school moved to San Jose in 1871 and then to Stockton 94 years ago in 1923. Pacific is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

In addition to its liberal arts college, and its schools of education, engineering, business, international studies and music, it has three professional graduate schools: the School of Dentistry in San Francisco, the School of Law in Sacramento, and the school of Pharmacy and Health Sciences located in Stockton.

It has extensive collections pertaining to jazz musician and alumnus Dave Brubeck, who in 1953 released the live album Jazz at the College of the Pacific. It is also home to the papers of environmental pioneer John Muir.

Pacific was founded on July 10, 1851, in Santa Clara. It was originally named California Wesleyan College, but one month later, it petitioned to have its name changed to the University of the Pacific. In 1858, the college opened the first medical school on the West Coast; it was called the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific. The medical school was later affiliated with University College under the name Cooper Medical College, and in 1908 it was taken over by Stanford University and became the Stanford University School of Medicine.