On Jan. 27, 1785, the University of Georgia was incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly, making it the first state-chartered university in the U.S. In 1784 the General Assembly had set aside 40,000 acres of land to endow a college or seminary of learning.

In 1786, Abraham Baldwin, who drafted the charter for the university, was selected as the university’s first president. Baldwin, a native of Connecticut and a graduate of Yale University, was one of two Georgians to sign the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

The university officially opened in 1801 when a committee of the board of trustees selected a land site. John Milledge, later a Georgia governor, purchased and gave to the board of trustees the chosen tract of 633 acres on the banks of the Oconee River in northeast Georgia.

Josiah Meigs was named president of the university, and work began on the first building, initially called Franklin College, in honor of Benjamin Franklin. That building is now known as Old College.

Located in Athens, this land-grant and sea-grant university enrolls over 40,000 students and houses 17 schools and colleges.