History of Oregon State University

The early school later served briefly as the first public college in the American Northwest - known then as the Oregon Territory.

Since its inception, Oregon's first public college has seen over 20 presidents and transformed from a single building to a 577 acres (2.34 km2) campus with over 36,000 students (2023).

The local chapter of the Freemasons played a central role in developing the school's campus blueprint.

[2][3][4] [5][6] The school's first administrator and teacher was John Wesley Johnson, a famous figure in Oregon higher education.

Within the first decade of operation, the school began to offer college-level coursework and ownership was transferred to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Although OSU's academics mainly focused on agriculture, engineering and business through the 1960s; liberal arts remained an important part of the curriculum throughout its history.

Malamud's most famous book, The Natural, was said to have been greatly influenced by OSU's first appearance in the college world series playoffs in 1952.