[6][7] In 1866, Daniel Drew approached church leaders during the Methodist Centenary Celebration with an offer to build, equip, and endow a theological seminary near New York City.

[9] Drew offered professional training for candidates to the ministry augmented by "an opportunity for a broad culture through the study of the humanities.

[14][15][16] They established a law firm with former New Jersey governor John Griggs spanning "varied interests in lumbering, manufacturing, transportation, and other enterprises that ranged from owning the Grosvenor Hotel in New York City to Arthur's legal counseling for the rising McGraw-Hill publishing empire.

"[14][16] The Baldwins became acquainted with the seminary's president, Ezra Squier Tipple, who "welcomed the brothers to his prominent New York City Methodist Church when they came to Manhattan.

Drew was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the program which offered students a path to a naval officers' commission.

Holloway also delivered on goals set during previous administrations, overseeing the renovation and rebuilding of the Drew campus, including the Baldwin Gymnasium and several dormitories.

[13][19] With financial assistance from the Mellon Foundation, the college established a freshman seminar program during the 1970s, which allows first-year students to participate, with faculty who also serve as their academic advisers, in intensive study of a topic of hopefully mutual interest.

[28] In 2013, the university reinstated the SAT (or ACT) as an admission requirement, and changed course two years later in 2015, making it optional once again.

[31] In 2015, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was shared by William Campbell, a research fellow at Drew University, for his work developing a drug that treats parasitic diseases.

[32] Undergraduate tuition, room and board for the 2017–2018 academic year was $62,000 (excluding books, personal expenditures, and health insurance), making Drew among the most expensive private universities in New Jersey.

In July, the school's search committee announced the appointment of Thomas J. Schwarz as interim president, beginning on August 1, 2020.

[36] Drew University is located in Madison, New Jersey, a borough approximately 25 miles (40 km) west of New York City.

[37] Known as "the Rose City" because of its rose-cultivating industry in the 19th century, Madison is an affluent commuter town in New Jersey's Morris County.

[42] Drew's academic buildings feature a mix of Greek Revival, Collegiate Gothic, and neoclassical architecture on a 186-acre (75 ha) campus that is a serene, wooded oasis in the middle of a bustling suburban town.

The campus features the Drew Forest Preserve, an 80-acre (32 ha) expanse that was recently restored with the planting of 1,100 native trees and shrubs by the university community and volunteer assistance from pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer, a large and local employer, the U.S.

[44] The university's campus also features the Florence and Robert Zuck Arboretum, named for two botany faculty members, containing a mixture of native and non-native trees, plants and two small glacial ponds supporting populations of turtles, goldfish, catfish, and muskrats, and various species of birds including migratory fowl such as Canada geese, ducks, and herons.

[44][45] The preserve and arboretum both provide a natural laboratory for the instruction of students in the study of biology and life sciences and for research, but is also open to the public by appointment.

[44] According to the New Jersey chapter of the Audubon Society, the arboretum and forest preserve is "important for groundwater recharge and runoff reduction within the Passaic River watershed and the Buried Valley Aquifer System".

[44] In films, the Drew University campus appears in So Fine (1981),[46] Deconstructing Harry (1997),[47] The Family Stone (2005),[48] Spinning into Butter (2008),[49] and The Incredible Hulk (2008)[50] In television, Drew University features prominently in Season 1, Episode 5 of The Sopranos, titled "College", which initially aired on February 7, 1999.

[51][52] In an episode of the NBC series "Friday Night Lights", which aired November 19, 2008, several Drew University campus locations appear, including Asbury Hall and S.W.

Traditional core liberal arts courses are required of Drew students within a general education curriculum that allows them to shape an individual academic program.

[75] Starting in 1920 women were admitted as students, and most notably Olive Winchester was issued a Doctor of Theology in 1925, and became the first female ordained minister in Great Britain.

This collection, which is regarded as the best collection of Cather's papers assembled in the United States, was given to the university by several donors, including Frederick B. Adams, former director of the Pierpont Morgan Library; Earl and Achsah Brewster, longtime friends of Cather; violinist Yehudi Menuhin; and by Finn and Barbara Caspersen.

Drew is a member of the Landmark Conference for men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, baseball, field hockey, and softball.

[92] In the university's 146-year history, Drew's faculty and alumni have taken leading roles in the ministry and missions of the United Methodist Church and other Christian denominations, in spiritual instruction, in academia, in public service, and in the professional world.

Drew's faculty, starting with John McClintock and James Strong—especially with his magnum opus, Strong's Concordance[11]—to recent faculty members including philosopher Robert S. Corrington, the founder of "ecstatic naturalism";[93] ethics professor Thomas C. Oden, the founder of paleo-orthodoxy,[94] and Leonard Sweet, a leader in the emerging church movement, have continued to impact Christian theology and spiritual scholarship.

[12] Other faculty have included lexicographer Robert L. Chapman, editor of the fourth and fifth editions of Roget's Thesaurus;[95] Ira Progoff, a psychotherapist, developed the Intensive Journal Method, and researcher of depth psychology;[96] and Irish history scholar Christine Kinealy.

[97] William Campbell, research fellow in Drew's RISE institute, was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

[32] According to the UMC, Drew's seminary now has more than 3,500 alumni and alumnae "in 45 states and 18 foreign countries, including 21 bishops of The United Methodist Church.