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In October 1896 Mrs. Bradley was introduced to Dr. William Rainey Harper, president of the University of Chicago. He soon convinced her to move ahead with her plans and establish the school during her lifetime.

Bradley University, an independent, privately endowed, coeducational institution was founded in 1897 as Bradley Polytechnic Institute by Lydia Moss Bradley as a memorial to her children and husband, Tobias. It became a four-year college in 1920, and in 1946 became a university and began offering graduate programs. It is fully accredited.
Joanne K. Glasser, Esq.
President
Dr. Peter B. Johnsen
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Mr. Gary Anna
Vice President for Business Affairs
Bradley offers its undergraduate students more than 100 programs among five colleges : Foster College of Business Administration; Slane College of Communications and Fine Arts; Education and Health Sciences; Engineering and Technology; and Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Approximately 800 graduate students
More than 30 graduate programs including an AACSB-accredited MBA program, an Executive MBA, and Doctorate in Physical Therapy.
The academic portrait of the class of 2011 at Bradley is exceptionally strong. The average ACT of the 1,119 entering freshmen is 25, and nearly one third graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. This quality - defined not only by grade point average and ACT, but also by diversity of backgrounds and experiences - continues to keep Bradley in the forefront of colleges and universities nationwide.
Bradley's highest priority is excellent teaching supported by research, scholarship, and creative activities. Faculty not only provide personalized attention in learning and academic advising, but also serve as mentors and professional guides to their students. Bradley's full-time faculty number more than 300. As teachers and scholars, many are national authorities in their fields. The average class contains fewer than 23 students.
The nationally-recognized Smith Career Center provides comprehensive career services to students and alumni and state-of-the-art recruitment assistance to employers. Over 70% of our students have taken advantage of career-related work experiences during their time at Bradley and most have collaborated on class or senior projects. More than 400 employers visit campus annually to attend job fairs and conduct campus interviews. The overall placement rate for 2006-07 Bradley University graduates is 96%.
Asia Trade
Center
Business Technology Incubator
Business and Industry Data Center
C.C. Wheeler Institute for the Holistic Study of Family
Well-Being
Center for Business and Economic Research
Center for Economic Education
Center for Emerging Technologies in Infrastructure
Center for Executive and Professional Development
Center for Orientation, Testing and Advisement
Center for Residential Living and Leadership
Center for Student Development and Health Services
Center for Student Involvement
Center for Student Support Services
Central Illinois Higher Education Consortium
Central Illinois Manufacturing Innovation Consortium
Division of Continuing Education and Professional Development
EHS Center for Research and Service
Executive MBA Program
Heartland Illinois Technology Enterprise Center (HITEC)
Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center
Industrial Assessment Center
Institute for Gifted and Talented Youth
Institute for Learning in Retirement
International Trade Center/NAFTA Opportunity Center
Leadership Development Center
Lewis J. Burger Center for Student Leadership and Public Service
Multicultural Student Services
Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Smith Career Center
Robert and Carolyn Turner Center for Entrepreneurship
Virginius S. Chase Special Collections Center
The University's 41 buildings are located on a 85-acre campus.
Open to the public, the Cullom-Davis Library houses more than 1.2 million items including a variety of audiovisual resources, manuscripts, and archival materials. The library provides an on-line catalog of library collections throughout Illinois, as well as access to CD-ROM databases and network access to research libraries throughout the world. Annually, more than 450,000 patrons visit the Cullom-Davis Library, checking out over 70,000 items. Bradley's Virginius H. Chase Special Collections Center assists more than 1,800 patrons each year and serves as a repository for items of local or historical significance, as well as other special collections.
Bradley University has been ranked 6th among Midwestern comprehensive universities in the 2008 edition of "America's Best Colleges", published by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Bradley's Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering and Technology was ranked number 2 in that special discipline.
Bradley University has been ranked 24th on the list of "Top 25 Most Connected Campuses" and "Top 25 Most Entrepreneurial Campuses" in the nation by The Princeton Review and Forbes magazine.
Bradley students and faculty continue to be awarded prestigious Fulbright Scholarships for study abroad.
Bradley founder Lydia Moss Bradley was selected for induction into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York in 1998. She joined more than 135 other women who have made lasting contributions in a variety of fields.
In 2001, the Foster College of Business Administration at Bradley received its third reaffirmation of full accreditation from AACSB International - The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business - for both business and accounting programs. As only 466 of all business schools in the world have achieved business accreditation, and only 163 have achieved both accounting and business accreditation, this puts Bradley in an elite groups of schools.
Bradley's Executive MBA program has received the Innovation in Leadership of Business Education Award from the AACSB International. The award is given by the Mid-Continent East Division of AACSB. The Foster College was one of three schools to receive the award.
Entrepreneurship magazine ranked the Foster College's entrepreneurship program among the top 10 programs in the nation.
Known as the Bradley Braves, men's and women's athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division I level. Bradley's rich athletic tradition includes seven Missouri Valley Conference championships and four NIT championships in men's basketball; six Missouri Valley Conference championships in baseball and two appearances in the collegiate world series; Missouri Valley Conference titles in soccer, women's cross country and golf in 1999, 2002 and 2003; plus numerous all-Americans, and conference and national leaders in both men's and women's sports.
Bradley has consistently maintained a balanced budget for two decades because of long-term planning and careful management of resources. The operating budget for fiscal 2007-08 is more than $139.8 million. The endowment is more than $250 million.
Bradley raises more than $10 million annually from private sources. Faculty were awarded more than $4.1 million in outside funding through research grands and externally sponsored programs during the 2006-07 fiscal year.
$21,200 for 2007-08.
Alumni total more than 55,000 worldwide. Bradley alumni serve as leaders in their organizations, professions, and communities, and many are nationally prominent such as: General John Shalikashvili '58, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Congressman Robert H. Michel '48, retired Congressman and longest serving Republican Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives; Lillian Glass '74, noted speech pathologist and speech communication author and speaker; David Horowitz '59, consumer advocate; Tom Wagner '60, retired vice president for customer communication and satisfaction at Ford Motor Co.; Ray LaHood '71, U.S. Congressman from Illinois' 18th District; Wendy Ross '64, assistant managing editor for the Washington Post; Dr. Janet Barry '66, '70, the American Association of School Administrators 1996 National Superintendent of the Year; The Honorable Joe Billy McDade, '59, '60, United States District Court Federal Judge; Richard Teerlink '61, retired chairman of Harley-Davidson, Inc.; and so on . . .
Bradley University is the county's sixth largest non-manufacturing employer.
Nearly 4,500 participants enrolled in one of the 123 non-credit courses, workshops, conferences and 44 campus or on-site credit courses offered by the Division of Continuing Education and Professional Development and the Foster College of Business Administration.
The Illinois Manufacturing Extension sub-center based at Bradley serves the approximately 5200 manufacturing firms in the central part of Illinois. This sub-center maintains a database of more than 100 consultants with expertise in a variety of manufacturing and business areas. Bradley facilities include a technology center, new rapid prototyping laboratory, energy analysis and diagnostic center, and extensive CIM, CAD, robotics, coordinate measuring, and extrusion molding facilities. It is one of three regional sub-centers of the newly created Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC) that will provide small and medium-sized manufacturers with services to enhance productivity, technological performance, and global competitiveness.
The Small Business Development Center provides business training, and technical assistance to start-up and existing businesses through its counseling and training programs. Assistance often includes work on business plans, marketing strategies and financial projections. Since its creation in 1984, the SBDC annually receives over 400 requests for assistance and information. Each year the Center assists in the creation of several new businesses, an average of 40 new jobs and the retention of over 40 existing jobs.
Since 1972, Bradley's Foster College of Business Administration has been utilizing teams of senior-level business students to work on projects with central Illinois businesses and organizations as part of their curriculum requirements. This program has completed over 1,500 projects. Participants for these projects are selected by the SBDC.
The Technology Center, which was created in 1986, assists individuals and businesses in the development of new products and the utilization of new technology through access to the technology resources of the College of Engineering and Technology. Some of the more than 150 new products developed are marketed nationally and internationally.
Created in 1989, the International Trade Center (ITC) provides export assistance and information to more than 500 businesses each year. Export sales of these client companies account for $20 million in additional revenues. In 1994, the ITC was designated by the Governor as a NAFTA Opportunity Center to provide specialized assistance for businesses exporting to Mexico and Canada. Together, these centers present export training programs, assist businesses in developing export programs, do international marketing research, and are part of an international network of export assistance providers.
Every semester more than 750 students in the College of Education and Health Sciences are placed in practical and internship opportunities with education and health care agencies.
Bradley invests more than $1 million annually in the fine and performing arts.
The Bradley National Print and Drawing Exhibition, started in 1950 and now held biennially, is one of the best-known and longest-running national juried print and drawing exhibitions. The 31st Bradley National will be held in the spring of 2007.
Art galleries located in the Heuser Art Center and the Hartmann Center for the Performing Arts host exhibitions of student and professional work. More than 20,000 people visit the galleries annually.
Dingeldine Music Center is the site for more than 80 solo and ensemble recitals of faculty, students, and guest artists and concerts by the university's bands and choirs and community groups. The Bradley Chorale, Madrigal Singers, Women's Choir, Symphonic Winds, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Brass Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and Basketball Band give many performances annually for the enjoyment of the community.
Many weekends during the academic year there is a university performance given either on the main stage or in the lab theatre. In addition to those attending theatre or dance performances, more than 26,000 people come to the Hartmann Center annually to enjoy art, exhibitions, lectures, meetings, receptions and performances by community groups.
Bradley's endowed lectureships in theatre, music, business management, and communication bring professionals to campus to work with students and present public lectures.
The Intellectual and Cultural Activities Committee brings renowned national and international lecturers and performers to campus to engage the Bradley and Peoria communities. Maya Angelou, Susan Sontag, David Halberstam, the National Theater of the Deaf, John Updike, and Stephen J. Gould are among those who have appeared on campus.
Bradley University attracted to campus public radio station WCBU-FM, which serves all of Central Illinois.
Engineering has a long history at Bradley. The Engineering Club was one of the first student organizations, formed in February 1898, and the 1911 yearbook shows students surveying campus. The first four-year engineering degree program began in 1939.
The Bradley men's basketball team, long a favorite of enthusiastic Peoria fans, has played in Carver Arena in downtown Peoria ever since winning their fourth NIT in 1982.