Arizona State University began as a single four-room schoolhouse on a 20-acre plot donated by Tempe residents George and Martha Wilson, established by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature on the 12th of March 1885. The institution was originally named the Territorial Normal School, created to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools of the Arizona Territory. Classes commenced with just 33 students on the 8th of February 1886, marking the humble origins of what would become one of the largest public universities in the United States. The curriculum evolved over the decades, and the name changed several times, including Tempe Normal School of Arizona from 1889 to 1903, Tempe Normal School from 1903 to 1925, and Tempe State Teachers College from 1925 to 1929. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews from 1900 to 1930, the school was given all-college student status, and the first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision in 1902. Matthews also conceived of a self-supported summer session at the school, a first for the institution, and envisioned an evergreen campus, planting 110 Mexican Fan Palms on what is now known as Palm Walk, a century-old landmark of the Tempe campus. The Great Depression saw Ralph Waldo Swetman hired to succeed President Matthews, coming to Arizona State Teachers College in 1930 from Humboldt State Teachers College where he had served as president. He served a three-year term, during which he focused on improving teacher-training programs, and enrollment at the college doubled, topping the 1,000 mark for the first time. In 1923, the school stopped offering high school courses and added a high school diploma to the admissions requirements, and in 1925, the school became the Tempe State Teachers College and offered four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates. In 1929, the 9th Arizona State Legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews from 1900 to 1930, the school was given all-college student status, and the first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision in 1902. Matthews also conceived of a self-supported summer session at the school, a first for the institution, and envisioned an evergreen campus, planting 110 Mexican Fan Palms on what is now known as Palm Walk, a century-old landmark of the Tempe campus. The Great Depression saw Ralph Waldo Swetman hired to succeed President Matthews, coming to Arizona State Teachers College in 1930 from Humboldt State Teachers College where he had served as president. He served a three-year term, during which he focused on improving teacher-training programs, and enrollment at the college doubled, topping the 1,000 mark for the first time. In 1923, the school stopped offering high school courses and added a high school diploma to the admissions requirements, and in 1925, the school became the Tempe State Teachers College and offered four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates. In 1929, the 9th Arizona State Legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College.
Grady Gammage, who became president of Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe in 1933, began a tenure that would last for nearly 28 years, second only to Swetman's 30 years at the college's helm. Like President Arthur John Matthews before him, Gammage oversaw the construction of several buildings on the Tempe campus, including the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, one of the university's hallmark buildings. The auditorium was completed in 1964, five years after the president's and Wright's death, and remains a testament to their shared vision. During his presidency, the school's name was changed to Arizona State College in 1945, and finally to Arizona State University in 1958, when two other names were considered: Tempe University and State University at Tempe. Gammage also guided the development of the university's graduate programs, with the first Master of Arts in Education awarded in 1938, the first Doctor of Education degree in 1954, and 10 non-teaching master's degrees approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in 1956. Harold D. Richardson, who succeeded Gammage, had served the school earlier in a variety of roles beginning in 1939, including director of graduate studies, college registrar, dean of instruction, dean of the College of Education, and academic vice president. Although filling the role of acting president of the university for just nine months from December 1959 to September 1960, Richardson laid the groundwork for the future recruitment and appointment of well-credentialed research science faculty. By the 1960s, under G. Homer Durham, the university's 11th president, ASU began to expand its curriculum by establishing several new colleges, and in 1961, the Arizona Board of Regents authorized doctoral degree programs in six fields, including Doctor of Philosophy. By the end of his nine-year tenure, ASU had more than doubled enrollment, reporting 23,000 in 1969. The next three presidents, Harry K. Newburn from 1969 to 1971, John W. Schwada from 1971 to 1981, and J. Russell Nelson from 1981 to 1989, including Interim President Richard Peck in 1989, led the university to increased academic stature, the establishment of the ASU West Valley campus in 1984 and its subsequent construction in 1986, a focus on computer-assisted learning and research, and rising enrollment. Under the leadership of Lattie F. Coor, president from 1990 to 2002, ASU grew through the creation of the Polytechnic campus and extended education sites. Increased commitment to diversity, quality in undergraduate education, research, and economic development occurred over his 12-year tenure. Part of Coor's legacy to the university was a successful fundraising campaign, through which more than $500 million was invested in areas that would significantly impact the future of ASU. Among the campaign's achievements were the naming and endowing of Barrett, The Honors College, and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, the creation of many new endowed faculty positions, and hundreds of new scholarships and fellowships.
The New American University
Michael M. Crow became the university's 16th president on the 1st of July 2002, and at his inauguration, he outlined his vision for transforming ASU into a New American University, one that would be open and inclusive, and set a goal for the university to meet Association of American Universities criteria and to become a member. Crow initiated the transformation of ASU into One university in many places, a single institution comprising several campuses, sharing students, faculty, staff, and accreditation. Subsequent reorganizations combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced staff and administration as the university expanded its West Valley and Polytechnic campuses. ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus was also expanded, with several colleges and schools relocating there. The university established learning centers throughout the state, including the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City and programs in Thatcher, Yuma, and Tucson. Students at these centers can choose from several ASU degree and certificate programs. During Crow's tenure, and aided by hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, ASU began a years-long research facility capital building effort that led to the establishment of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, and several large interdisciplinary research buildings. Along with the research facilities, the university faculty was expanded, including the addition of five Nobel Laureates. Since 2002, the university's research expenditures have tripled, and more than 1.5 million square feet of space has been added to the university's research facilities. The economic downturn that began in 2008 took a particularly hard toll on Arizona, resulting in large cuts to ASU's budget. In response to these cuts, ASU capped enrollment, closed some four dozen academic programs, combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced university faculty, staff, and administrators. With an economic recovery underway in 2011, however, the university continued its campaign to expand the West Valley and Polytechnic Campuses, and establish a low-cost, teaching-focused extension campus in Lake Havasu City. On the 1st of May 2014, ASU was listed as one of fifty-five higher education institutions under investigation by the Office of Civil Rights for possible violations of federal law over the handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints by Barack Obama's White House Task Force To Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The publicly announced investigation followed two Title IX suits. In July 2014, a group of at least nine registered and former students who alleged they were harassed or assaulted asked the federal investigation be expanded. In August 2014, ASU president Michael Crow appointed a task force comprising faculty and staff, students, and members of the university police force to review the university's efforts to address sexual violence. Crow accepted the recommendations of the task force in November 2014. In 2015, the Thunderbird School of Global Management became the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU. Partnerships for education and research with Mayo Clinic established collaborative degree programs in health care and law, and shared administrator positions, laboratories, and classes at the Mayo Clinic Arizona campus. The Beus Center for Law and Society, the new home of ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, opened in fall 2016 on the Downtown Phoenix campus, relocating faculty and students from the Tempe campus to the state capital. In September 2024, ASU announced several cuts in response to state budget cuts, including the closure of the Lake Havasu City campus, a reduction of the Arizona Teachers Academy, and the addition of a tuition surcharge.