Augusta University

Augusta University was officially formed January 8, 2013, from the consolidation of Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta, Georgia by order of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. Georgia Health Sciences University was chartered in 1828, upon the request of Milton Antony and Joseph Adams Eve, by the state of Georgia as the Medical Academy of Georgia to offer a single course of lectures leading to a bachelor's degree.^[15] Augusta State University traces its roots to 1783, when the Academy of Richmond County was founded as a high school. It opened in 1785 and offered collegiate-level classes from its earliest days, and its classes were overseen by the Georgia General Assembly.

Augusta University's main campus in Augusta, Georgia, encompasses more than 200 acres and has four local campuses. It is made up of the former campuses between Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University, with additions from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.^[16]

The medical college of the university, its oldest and founding college, began as the Medical Academy of Georgia in 1828, moving into the now historic Old Medical College Building in 1835. The present Health Sciences campus was formed in 1913 as the college moved to the Newton building and expanded from there, with the Dugas Building in 1937 marking the earliest building currently on the campus. The first clinical facility opened as the Eugene Talmadge Memorial Hospital in 1956.^[17]

 

Located in Augusta's Medical District, the Health Sciences campus features all medical programs of the university, as well as the Health Sciences Building, Interdisciplinary Research Building, Wellness Center, Cancer Center, Medical College of Georgia, The Dental College of Georgia, and the College of Science and Mathematics.

The Health Sciences campus also contains the Augusta University Medical Center, the Children's Hospital of Georgia, and Augusta University's two residence halls, Oak Hall and Elm Hall, which opened in Fall 2016.

 

The Summerville campus was originally used as a United States Army arsenal, established in downtown Augusta in 1816 and relocated to the campus in 1827. By the turn of the twentieth century, the arsenal's prominence waned, beginning with the Spanish–American War in that the arsenal produced manufacturing equipment, seacoast targets, and was a repair station. In World War I, the station repaired rifles and small arms, but produced ordnance material and fire control operations for World War II.^[18]

In 1955, the arsenal was closed, and two years later the land was given to the local Board of Education, which used it to open the Junior College of Augusta. In 1958, the name changed to Augusta College, and in 1996 to Augusta State University.

 

Located on Walton Way, the Summerville campus houses many of the undergraduate programs and the Jaguar Student Activities Center. The Maxwell Performing Arts Theatre, the History Walk, the Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art, The Honors Program, and the Maxwell Alumni House are all found on this campus. In addition, the James M. Hull College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, and Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences are located here.

 

The campus was formerly well known for the Arsenal Oak, a tree that contained wood believed to be 250–400 years old, until it was cut down in June 2004 because of disease.^[19] A dedication ceremony of the replanting of the new Arsenal Oak took place on Friday, April 29, 2016, on the front lawn of the Benét House.^[20] The descendant was grown from an acorn of the original Arsenal Oak.^[21]

 

Then-Augusta State University opened a second campus in 1991 for athletics, complete with a 3,800-seat arena—Christenberry Fieldhouse, named in 2003—and softball and baseball fields.^[18] The J. Fleming Norvell Golf House was added in 2007 with an adjacent driving range, putting green, and chipping area.^[22]

The campus contains Forest Hills Golf Club, home of the men's and women's golf teams and a public course available for play, and the 500-bed University Village student housing.

The former Georgia Golf Hall of Fame riverfront property in Downtown Augusta has been developed to house the Augusta University Cyber Institute^[23] and the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center which opened in July 2018.^[24] The Riverfront Campus was named in honor of Georgia Governor Nathan Deal who was on hand for the opening ceremony of the Hull-McKnight Building on the campus. The building is also the home of the university's newest School of Computer and Cyber Sciences.^[25] A second cyber building will open in December 2018 with potential plans to expand more on the property.

Augusta University has three satellite campuses for medical student clinical study, in Albany, Rome, and Savannah.^{[citation needed]}

In 2024, U.S. News & World Report ranked Augusta University tied for No.296 out of 436 National Universities, tied for No.161 out of 225 in Top Public Schools, tied for No.114 out of 686 in Nursing, and tied for No.252 out of 433 in Top Performers on Social Mobility.^[27]

In 2024, Augusta University accepted 85.5% of undergraduate applicants. Augusta University did not report high school GPA data for its accepted students. Standardized test scores reported were an average 1120 SAT score (78% of applicants submitting), or an average 22 ACT score (25% submitting).^[28]

The College of Nursing has a satellite campus in Athens. AU's Medical College of Georgia (MCG) operates a partnership with the University of Georgia on the University of Georgia's new Health Sciences Campus, also in Athens.

In 2010, MCG partnered with the University of Georgia (UGA) to create the UGA-MCG Medical Partnership. The Medical Partnership combines the experience of one of the nation's first medical schools with the resources of one of the nation's most comprehensive leading nationally ranked research universities. The result is an education that allows medical students to reach their full potential in a unique and stimulating learning environment. ^[29]

To accommodate its new Health Sciences Campus, in 2011 the University of Georgia acquired the 58-acre former U.S. Navy Supply Corps School which had extensive landscaped green spaces, more than 400 trees, and several historic buildings located on the hospital and medical office corridor of Prince Avenue near downtown Athens. After renovations and additions, in July 2012, the UGA-MCG Medical Partnership moved to the new University of Georgia Health Sciences Campus.

East Central Regional Hospital, with two locations in Augusta and Gracewood, was taken over by Augusta University for administrative purposes in 2009 after it was considered for closure. The hospital specializes in behavioral health and mental disabilities. The university's College of Nursing is now actively involved in daily hospital activities including hiring nurses for the hospital, partnering with other institutions to educate students in masters in nursing programs regarding mental healthcare, and utilizing a Dedicated Education Unit to help guide undergraduate nursing students in patient care.^[30]

Fort Eisenhower is home to the US Army Cyber Center of Excellence and the US Army Cyber Command. The partnership will strengthen the relationship between AU and ARCYBER by assisting soldiers transferring their training to the private sector as well as by sharing resources.^[31] The ribbon-cutting and opening ceremony of Augusta University's Cyber Institute took place in University Hall on the Summerville campus on Friday, September 16, 2016.^[32]

In 2013, East Georgia State College (EGSC), a University System of Georgia institution based in the rural city of Swainsboro, began a collaboration with AU to serve Augusta-area students who do not meet AU's freshman admission requirements. Students enrolled in the program are enrolled as EGSC students and attend classes on the Summerville Campus. After completing 30 semester hours of college level coursework and attaining a minimum GPA of 2.3, students can then elect to transfer into a bachelor's program at AU. This collaboration is modeled after EGSC's long-standing collaboration with Georgia Southern University and replaces the former "University College" program.^[33]

Augusta University is one of five accredited programs^[34] offering a Masters of Science in Medical Illustration in North America in the college of Allied Health Science. The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP).^{[citation needed]}

Augusta athletic teams are the Jaguars. The university is a member of the Division II level of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), primarily competing in the Peach Belt Conference (PBC) since the 1991–92 academic year; except in women's and men's golf, which those sports compete in the NCAA Division I level as an affiliate member of the Southland Conference.

Augusta competes in 13 intercollegiate varsity sports:^[35] Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, tennis & track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball.

The men's golf program captured the school's first NCAA Division I Men's Golf National Championship on June 6, 2010, in Ooltewah, Tennessee, when the Jaguars defeated Oklahoma State University. The Jags then became the first Division I men's golf program in 27 years to repeat as National Champions on June 5, 2011, when they defeated the University of Georgia at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma.^[36]

Notable alumni and faculty of Augusta University's predecessor institutions include:

• Doug Barnard, Jr., Congressman
• Chen Be-yue, Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of China
• John Britton, former professor, murdered by an anti-abortion extremist in 1994
• Paul Broun, Congressman
• Joelle Carter, actress
• Edward J. Cashin, American historian; Professor emeritus of History; Director of the Center for the Study of Georgia History
• Hervey M. Cleckley, co-author of the book The Three Faces of Eve
• Judith Ortiz Cofer, author
• Leila Denmark, pediatrician and medical researcher; co-developer of the pertussis vaccine
• Michael T. Dugan, accounting academic; Professor of Accounting at Augusta University
• Phil Gingrey, Congressman
• Samuel L. Perry, Professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma
• Isaac S. Hopkins, first President of Georgia Institute of Technology
• Anthony Kellman, Professor of English and Creative Writing; poet, novelist and musician
• Darrell Kirch, AAMC president
• Marguerite Littleton Kearney, director, Division of Extramural Science Programs, National Institute of Nursing Research^[37]
• Lee Ann Liska, hospital administrator
• Michael Patrick Mulroy,^[38][39] Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Secretary James Mattis
• Simona Hunyadi Murph, Scientist, Engineer & Inventor at Savannah River National Laboratory; adjunct professor at University of Georgia^[40]
• Matthew L. Nathan,^[41] 37th Surgeon General of the United States Navy
• No-Hee Park, Dean, UCLA School of Dentistry and notable researcher of oral (head and neck) cancer and aging research^[42]
• Patrick Reed,^[43] PGA Tour golfer
• Garret Siler, former NBA basketball player, currently holds the NCAA record for field goal percentage
• Ed Tarver, United States Attorney
• Corbett H. Thigpen, co-author of the book The Three Faces of Eve
• Laken Riley, murder victim

• History of Augusta University
• Old Medical College
• Medical College of Georgia
• Augusta University Medical Center
• UGA–AU medical partnership
• Medical District (Augusta, Georgia)
• Stephen Vincent Benet House
• List of medical schools in the United States
• List of nursing schools in the United States
• List of dental schools in the United States

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Augusta University.

• Official website
• Official athletics website
• Historical Images of the Medical College Collection, Digital Library of Georgia
• National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" travel itinerary

33°28′18″N 81°59′20″W / 33.47170°N 81.98885°W / 33.47170; -81.98885