The University of Michigan (UM, U-M, U of M, or UMich), often simply referred to as Michigan, is a  public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The university is Michigan's oldest; it was founded in 1817 in Detroit, as the Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania, 20 years before the territory became a state.

 

The school was moved to Ann Arbor in 1837 onto 40 acres (16 ha) of what is now known as Central Campus. Since its establishment in Ann Arbor, the university campus has expanded to include more than 584 major buildings with a combined area of more than 34 million gross square feet (780 acres; 3.2 km2) spread out over a Central Campus and North Campus, two regional campuses in Flint and Dearborn, and a Center in Detroit. The university is a founding member of the Association of American Universities.

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Considered one of the foremost research universities in the United States with annual research expenditures approaching $1.5 billion, Michigan is classified as one of 115 Doctoral Universities with Very High Research by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. As of October 2018, 50 MacArthur Fellows, 25 Nobel Prize winners, 6 Turing Award winners and 1 Fields Medalist have been affiliated with University of Michigan.

 

Its comprehensive graduate program offers doctoral degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as professional degrees in architecture, business, medicine, law, pharmacy, nursing, social work, public health, and dentistry. Michigan's body of living alumni comprises more than 540,000 people, one of the largest alumni bases of any university in the world.

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Michigan's athletic teams compete in Division I of the NCAA and are collectively known as the Wolverines. They are members of the Big Ten Conference. More than 250 Michigan athletes or coaches have participated in Olympic events, winning more than 150 medals.