But with a cholera epidemic raging to the north, Bishop John Baptist Purcell of the Cincinnati diocese, sent Meyer to Emmanuel parish in Dayton to tend to the sick.

In Dayton, Meyer met local farmer John Stuart, who had lost his infant daughter Mary Louisa to cholera the year before.

On March 19, 1850, Meyer, joined by three Marianist brothers — teacher Maximin Zehler, cook Charles Schultz and gardener Andrew Edel — purchased the 125-acre hilltop farm from Stuart and renamed it Nazareth.

The property included vineyards, an orchard, a mansion, various farm buildings, and the grave of Stuart's daughter, which Meyer promised to maintain.

Due to its location on the hill, electric light and heating plants were not affected, a plentiful clean water supply was available and the college had other essential facilities such as laundry and infirmary.

[19] The former NCR world headquarters, renamed as the 1700 South Patterson Building, now houses the University of Dayton Research Institute, classrooms, offices, and meeting space.

[31] The campus includes 38 academic, research, athletic, and administrative buildings; five residence halls; 18 student apartment complexes; and 473 houses (347 of which are owned by the university).

At the center of campus are St. Mary's Hall and the Immaculate Conception Chapel, whose blue cupola inspired the university's logo.

Named after engineer and inventor Eugene Kettering, it includes classrooms, labs, offices, a machine shop, a wind tunnel, and the Innovation Center.

[41] It recently underwent a $2.375 million renovation for larger offices, team meeting rooms, and indoor practice space for basketball, football, track and field, tennis, soccer, baseball, and softball.

[41] Raymond L. Fitz Hall, previously named the College Park Center, was originally owned by NCR, but bought by Dayton around 2005.

[41] The Shroyer Park Center research building is located on nine acres of land approximately one mile east of the core campus.

The university's researchers work with GE to develop and deploy computer modeling, simulation and analysis of advanced, dynamic electric power systems design, and controls.

The center is directed at several markets including end-to-end electrical power starter/ generation, conversion, distribution, and load technologies for civil and military aerospace applications.

[50] The principal structure, Daniel J. Curran Place, located at 1700 S. Patterson Boulevard Dayton, OH 45409 ("Curran Place"), headquarters the University of Dayton Research Institute and houses the Center for Leadership, classrooms used by Master of Business Administration, School of Education, and Health Sciences programs, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and the Alumni Center, among other offices.

The University of Dayton Sports Complex is located on the western edge of the campus, west of the Great Miami River and east of Interstate 75.

Lalanne teachers make a two-year commitment to teach in an under-resourced Catholic school, live together in a faith-based community, and pursue professional and spiritual/personal development.

In addition to a traditional juris doctor degree earned in three years, the university offers an accelerated two-year option.

The plan drew national coverage from The Chronicle of Higher Education,[75] Governing magazine [76] and was favorably reviewed by consumer advocate Clark Howard.

International programs are offered in Argentina, Austria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

In 2023, the Center for Social Concern organized an immersion trip to Puerto Rico, where participants led and served by rescuing and healing the abandoned resources of a decommissioned, public-school library.

[100] Bob Kauffman, a UDRI distinguished research chemist and Fluid Analysis group leader, was an inventor of the Power Activated Technology for Conductor Healing (PATCH), a self-healing wire for which R&D Magazine gave a Top 100 Award.

[101] Kauffman also received Top 100 awards from R&D Magazine for the Remaining Useful Life Evaluation Routine (RULER), a "smart" dipstick used to measure the quality of oils in use in aircraft, automobiles, and cooking vats,[102] and the Status and Motion Activated Radiofrequency Tag (SMART) Sensor, which is a modified, passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that becomes readable only after a monitored problem has occurred.

[103] The Research Institute also developed and operates the world's only test facility to certify sulkies that race in U.S. Trotting Association sanctioned events[104] and was involved in creating an Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS)[105] installed at airports around the country to stop runaway aircraft.

A chapel, bookstore, credit union, food emporium, learning center, and post office are also located in Marianist Hall.

[125] The Integrated Learning Living Communities (ILLCs) at the university provide students with an organized educational experience that focuses on a central topic.

Topics include "Writing and the Arts", "Women in Science and Engineering", "Business and Marianist Values", and "Sustainability, Energy and the Environment".

[135] The Center for Social Concern, which is part of campus ministry, offers "numerous opportunities for reflective service, service-learning, and education and advocacy for justice.

The event is free and open to the public and includes a live Nativity scene, a reading on the birth of Jesus, and the lighting of a Christmas tree.

[146] Dayton's historic rivalries in most sports have involved fellow Southwest Ohio schools—the Cincinnati Bearcats, Miami RedHawks, and Xavier Musketeers.