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The University of Utah was established on February 28, 1850, as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, and Orson Spencer was appointed as the first chancellor of the university. Early classes were held in private homes or wherever space could be found.
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The university closed in 1853 due to lack of funds and lack of feeder schools. Intermittent classes were held in the Salt Lake City Council House.
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The university began to be re-established in 1867 under the direction of David O. Calder, who was followed by John R. Park in 1869.
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John R. Park becomes Director and moves the University of Deseret out of the council house and into the Union Academy building.
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Under the direction of John R. Park, The University of Deseret was changed to the University of Utah.
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Joseph T. Kingsbury becomes the acting president of the University of Utah, after being vice president to James E. Talmage for several years.
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University moved permanently to Fort Douglas on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley.
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School of Law was formed and the number of students tripled in the next 10 years
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Parents of students at the University could no longer afford tuition and books; the state legislature, faced with lower tax revenues, cut the University's budget; and many banks which had financial dealings with the University were forced to close. Faculty salaries were frozen, contracts were not fulfilled, and for the first time, enrollment dropped.
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A. Ray Olpin made substantial additions to campus following the war, and enrollment reached 12,000 by the time he retired in 1964. Growth continued in the following decades as the university developed into a research center for fields such as computer science and medicine.
