page_title: Marquette University
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Marquette University / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Oil on canvas. Père Marquette and the Indians. The original hangs in the Raynor Memorial Library at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I took a photograph on Sept. 19, 2009.
context_page_description: Marquette University is a private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Martin Henni, the first Bishop of the diocese of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
  The university was named after 17th-century missionary and explorer Father Jacques Marquette, SJ, with the intention to provide an affordable Catholic education to the area's emerging German immigrant population. Initially an all-male institution, Marquette became the first coeducational Catholic university in the world in 1909 when it began admitting its first female students.
  Marquette is part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and currently has a student body of about 12,000. Marquette is one of the largest Jesuit universities in the United States, and the largest private university in Wisconsin.
  Marquette is organized into 11 schools and colleges at its main Milwaukee campus, offering programs in the liberal arts, business, communication, education, engineering, law and various health sciences disciplines.
caption: Father Jacques Marquette,
  the university's namesake
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