Fairleigh Dickinson University

Fairleigh Dickinson University () is a private university with its main campuses in New Jersey, located in Madison / Florham Park and in Teaneck / Hackensack. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University offers more than 100 degree programs. In addition to two campuses in New Jersey, the university has a campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and an online platform. Fairleigh Dickinson University is New Jersey's largest private institution of higher education, with over 12,000 students. History Fairleigh Dickinson University was founded as the Fairleigh Dickinson Junior College in 1942 as a junior college by Peter Sammartino and wife Sally, and was named after early benefactor Colonel Fairleigh S. Dickinson, co-founder of Becton Dickinson. Its original campus was located in Rutherford, New Jersey. By 1948, Fairleigh Dickinson Junior College expanded its curriculum to offer a four-year program when the GI Bill and veterans' money encouraged it to redesignate itself as Fairleigh Dickinson College. In that same year, the school received accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1953, Fairleigh Dickinson College merged with the 400-student Bergen Junior College, acquiring its campus in Teaneck. At the time of the merger, Fairleigh Dickinson had more than 2,800 students and would be able to accommodate a total enrollment of 4,000 with its two campuses. In 1956, the institution was recognized as Fairleigh Dickinson University by the New Jersey State Board of Education. In 1958, the university acquired the former Twombly-Vanderbilt estate in Madison and Florham Park, New Jersey, to serve as its third campus. Fairleigh Dickinson University is a member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, had designed the landscape for the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate (now the Florham Campus). The main house of the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate, now Hennessy Hall, was designed by architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White in the Georgian Revival style. The mansion was completed in 1897 and was modeled after the wing of Hampton Court Palace designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren. The Friends of Florham, founded in 1990 by Emma Joy Dana, university librarian James Fraser, and a group of friends and colleagues works with the mission of advising and assisting the administration and board of trustees in the care, maintenance, and preservation of the Twombly Estate, known as "Florham". Presidents * indicates those who served only as an acting or interim president. Campuses Fairleigh Dickinson University has four campuses: two in New Jersey (Madison / Florham Park and Teaneck / Hackensack), one in Vancouver, British Columbia, and one in South East England, as well as an online platform. Florham Campus The Florham Campus is located in the suburban towns of Madison and Florham Park, New Jersey, on the grounds of the former Florham estate of Hamilton McKown Twombly (1849–1910) and his wife, Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly (1854–1952), a member of the wealthy Vanderbilt family. The Florham Campus finished construction on the John and Joan Monninger Center for Learning and Research. It opened during the spring 2013 semester. In Fall 2024, the Florham Campus had a total enrollment of 2,885, including 2,012 undergraduates, 83 undergraduate transfers and graduate enrollment of 873. Metropolitan Campus The Metropolitan Campus is located close to New York City and spans the Hackensack River in the New Jersey municipalities of Teaneck and Hackensack. The campus has a greater focus on business and professional majors compared to the Florham Campus. In Fall 2024, the Metropolitan Campus had a total enrollment of 8,045, including 5,690 undergraduates, 156 undergraduate transfers and graduate enrollment of 2,355. About 21% of Metropolitan Campus students are minority and international students. Approximately one thousand students live on campus in the residence halls. Vancouver Campus FDU's Vancouver Campus is located at 842 Cambie Street and 89 West Georgia Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It opened in 2007. Former campuses In addition to the present campuses, Fairleigh Dickinson University previously operated campuses in Rutherford, New Jersey (where the university was founded in 1942) and in Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Operations on the Rutherford Campus were merged with the Metropolitan Campus in 1993. The Rutherford Campus was sold to Felician College in 1997. The West Indies Laboratory which opened in 1972 was damaged beyond repair during Hurricane Hugo in 1989 and was closed shortly afterwards in 1990. The Wroxton College campus was sold to an alumni group in 2025. Academics Fairleigh Dickinson's national student body consists of a total 10,899 students, 8,461 of whom are undergraduates, with the remaining 2,438 being graduate students with a full-time equivalence (FTE) of 7,434, making it the largest private institution in the state of New Jersey. FDU has over 1,100 international students from approximately 17 countries around the world, ranking it 15th nationally among their Carnegie peer group. The majority of international students attend the Metropolitan Campus and FDU's Vancouver Campus, which was founded primarily to educate international students. The Vancouver Campus is the first U.S.–owned and operated institution in British Columbia to receive University status. The university is ranked 44th by U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges 2022 Regional University rankings (North). Fairleigh Dickinson consists of six academic colleges: Maxwell Becton College of Liberal Arts and Education; Silberman College of Business; Gregory H. Olsen College of Engineering and Science; Henry P. Becton College of Nursing and Allied Health; College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences; and the Marion Turpan College of Psychology and Counseling. Maxwell Becton College of Liberal Arts and Education Fairleigh Dickinson's Becton College offers more than 60 undergraduate majors to its full and part-time students. Silberman College of Business The Silberman College of Business is a tri-campus college of Fairleigh Dickinson University. It offers graduate and undergraduate degrees at the Florham Campus, the Metropolitan campus, and offers bachelor's degree studies in Business Management and Information Technology at the FDU-Vancouver campus. FDU offers AACSB-accredited graduate and undergraduate business degrees through its Silberman College of Business. Fairleigh Dickinson's Silberman College of Business was ranked as one of the top 295 business schools in the country for 2014 by The Princeton Review. Fairleigh Dickinson University's International School of Hospitality and Tourism Management features the US national headquarters of the international gastronomic society Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs located at the Chaîne House on the Florham Campus. Graduate studies Graduate programs are offered at all four of the university's campuses, and a number are offered solely through online delivery, including a postdoctoral MS in clinical psychopharmacology (MSCP) through the Marion Turpan College of Psychology and Counseling. Graduate studies include the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) offered by the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in clinical psychology, the Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in school psychology, and a large number of master's degree programs, including the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and an MA in global affairs offered to nearby consular and diplomatic staff. FDU College of Pharmacy In 2012, Fairleigh Dickinson opened New Jersey's first school of pharmacy associated with a private higher education institution, at the Florham Campus. It is the second pharmacy school in New Jersey and the first to open in the state in over 120 years. FDU School of Public and Global Affairs After a major gift from alumnus James Orefice in 2017, Fairleigh Dickinson formed a new graduate School of Public and Global Affairs comprising the Master of Public Administration, the Master of Administrative Science, the M.A. in Global Affairs, the M.S. in Cyber and Homeland Security Administration, the Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration, and the survey research group, PublicMind. FDU Libraries The university maintains libraries on all four of its campuses. Between the two libraries and one archive located at FDU's Florham and Metropolitan campuses, the university library system holds over 450,000 titles. The Florham Campus library is part of the John and Joan Monninger Center for Learning and Research. A portion of the library is housed in the old Orangerie of the Twombly-Vanderbilt estate which was built in the 1890s by McKim, Mead, and White. The Metropolitan campus features the Metropolitan Library and the North Jersey Heritage Center (an archival collection of New Jersey books, documents, maps, newspapers and reference material, as well as FDU history). The New Jersey collection began in 1961 when FDU became one of the earliest participants in the New Jersey Document Program listed as fourth in precedence out of 80 depositories behind the Council of State Government, Rutgers University and the NJ State Library. The Metropolitan Library holds the Columbia Pictures Archive, a collection of over 230 movies from the Columbia Pictures Studios on 16mm film. The archive was given by Columbia in the 1980s to FDU through the work of Jack Kells, FDU alum and former Columbia executive. Athletics In intercollegiate athletics, the Metropolitan Campus competes in NCAA Division I, while the Florham Campus competes in Division III, making it one of only a few schools in the United States to field both Division I and Division III teams. The teams at the Metropolitan Campus are known as the Knights, while the Florham Campus teams are known as the Devils. On March 17, 2023, the Fairleigh Dickinson University men's basketball team became the second team in history to upset a 1 seed as a 16 seed against Purdue in the 2023 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Florham Campus – NCAA Division III The FDU Florham Campus sports teams are called the Devils. They are in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) and they compete in the Middle Atlantic Conferences' (MAC) MAC Freedom. Their mascot is Ian the Devil. The women's basketball team won the national collegiate basketball championship in the year 2013–2014. The Women's basketball team also made it to the NCAA tournament four times in a row from the year 2012 to 2016. PublicMind Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind is an independent research group that conducts public opinion polling and other research on politics, society, popular culture, consumer behavior and economic trends. PublicMind associates undertake scientific survey research for corporations, non-profits, and government agencies as well as for the public interest, as well as information regarding the FDU community as a whole. Notable alumni References External links Official website Athletics website