Founding of the University Thomas Jefferson founded the
University of Virginia in 1819. He wished the publicly-supported
school to have a national character and stature. Jefferson
envisioned a new kind of university, one dedicated to educating
leaders in practical affairs and public service rather than for
professions in the classroom and pulpit exclusively. It was the
first nonsectarian university in the United States and the first
to use the elective course system. Jefferson considered the
founding of the University to be one of his greatest
achievements. Undertaking the project toward the end of his
life—after a long, illustrious career that included serving as a
colonial revolutionary, political leader, writer, architect,
inventor, and horticulturalist—he was closely involved in the
University's design. He planned the curriculum, recruited the
first faculty, and designed the Academical Village, a terraced
green space surrounded by residential and academic buildings,
gardens, and the majestic center-point—