In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act of 1862 into law, allowing for the creation of land-grant colleges “to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts ...in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes."

Under Bryan's term as president, the curriculum included both a practical and liberal arts component, where chemistry, mathematics as well as history, English literature and two foreign languages were core courses, required for graduation regardless of major.

[14] The two presidents and their respective institutions continued to have a row over curriculum and state appropriations until Suzzallo was relieved of his position in 1926 due to the influence of Washington governor, Roland H.

In 1989, WSU gained branch campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities, and Vancouver with established extension offices and research centers in all regions of the state, with facilities in Prosser and Wenatchee.

[18] In the 1990s Smith began to clamp down and take action regarding student alcohol abuse and disciplinary issues after some high-profile incidents on campus in an effort to improve the university's image.

Created five years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2015, the medical school's goal is to alleviate a physician shortage in rural and eastern Washington using a community-based approach.

[27] Yet WSU was hardly immune to modernist, "international style" trends of the post-World War II period, and features some notable examples of the type, particularly the Regents Hill dormitory complex, designed by Paul Thiry, on the north side of campus.

By the 1990s, the university began to encourage eye-catching designs, including a 1994 addition to the old Holland Library (now called Terrell Library), by the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (now ZGF Architects LLP) with a curving sweep of windows and a cone-shaped skylight above its atrium; an amenity-filled recreation center with a massive Jacuzzi and fireplace in 2001; and the Samuel H. Smith Center for Undergraduate Education, or "CUE," named for WSU president Smith, who served from 1985 to 2000.

After the 2006 season, Martin Stadium went under a massive renovation to expand the seating capacity and offer greater amenities for players and spectators, as well as made improvements to the general facilities such as bathrooms and concession stands.

The campus also has several other basketball courts, dance rooms, a climbing wall, and the Outdoor Recreation Center where students can check out equipment or register for various events and trips.

It intends to improve the school's golf teams, provide a laboratory for students in turf grass courses, and give boosters and alumni a new reason to visit the campus.

[56] WSU does not currently commit to establishing a committee or policy that supports climate and sustainability shareholder proposals at companies where the endowment funds are invested.

Other permanent collections contain works by Northwest artists D. Griffin, Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, Margaret Tomkins, and former faculty members from WSU and the University of Washington.

The Museum of Art's latest exhibition publication, Running the Numbers, an American self-portrait, features essays by Chris Bruce, Paul Hawken and Lucy R. Lippard.

The Connor Museum has its roots in an 1894 gift of the state of Washington's exhibits from the Chicago's World's Fair, encouraged by then President of the Board of Regents Charles R. Conner.

[72] Currently the regents are Theodor P. Baseler, Brett Blankenship, Scott E. Carson, Marty Dickinson, Ron Sims, Jordan Frost (student), Lura J. Powell, Heather Redman, Lisa K. Schauer, and Michael C.

[citation needed] WSU has had 11 presidents in its 125-year history: George W. Lilley (1891–1892), John W. Heston (1892–1893), Enoch A. Bryan (1893–1915), Ernest O. Holland (1916–1944), Wilson M. Compton (1945–1951), C. Clement French (1952–1966), Glenn Terrell (1967–1985), Samuel H. Smith (1985–2000), V. Lane Rawlins (2000–2007), Elson S. Floyd (2007–2015), and Kirk Schulz (2016-).

The liberal arts and sciences have an important place in the curriculum, along with business, communication, education, architecture, pharmacy, nursing, and the traditional land-grant disciplines of agriculture, engineering, and veterinary medicine.

In 2008, a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded a large share of the cost for a research facility for a new WSU School for Global Animal Health.

Scholars are developing an algae-based biofuel that consumes greenhouse gases in its production and are working to patent nanospring technology that would fit into an ordinary gas tank, solving the problem of hydrogen storage.

It is a very potent research tool utilized by WSU's radiochemistry graduate program, as well as providing education on the nuclear industry to the public through talks and facility tours.

Other recent research highlights include studies of the effects of sleep and sleep loss on human cognitive functioning, work to advance shock compression science with contracts awarded to the WSU Institute for Shock Physics by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the department of energy, and a program funded by the National Science Foundation that trains doctoral students to analyze evolutionary processes.

Hunt was named one of the top 50 researchers of 2007 by Scientific American for her work showing a potential threat to human health posed by bisphenol A (BPA), a component of the polycarbonate plastics used to make food and beverage containers.

[117] WSU fruit breeders have developed many varieties for the state including, in 1952, the sweet, yellow Rainier cherry, and in 2010 an apple specifically for Washington, named Cosmic Crisp.

Washington State University Press each year publishes an average of eight titles that focus on the American West, with particular emphasis on the prehistory, history, environment, politics, and culture of the greater Northwest region.

[141] Additionally, Washington State has embraced Andy Grammer's "Back Home" in recent years, featured prominently during sporting events and appearing on merchandise sold by the university.

WSU's closest geographic rival is the University of Idaho Vandals, a fellow land-grant school only seven miles (11 km) east of Pullman across the state line in Moscow.

[85] Among the 39 WSU alumni to receive the Regents' Distinguished Alumnus Award since 1962 are recipient of the 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Irwin Rose (attended one year, graduated University of Chicago), broadcaster Edward R. Murrow, journalist Ana Cabrera, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen (dropped out), astronaut John M. Fabian, cartoonist Gary Larson, action movie star Dolph Lundgren (attended one year), molecular evolutionist Allan Wilson (Master's degree), banking executive Phyllis J. Campbell, painter and pioneer of Abstract Expressionism Clyfford Still (Master's degree), Canadian Football League player and champion George Reed, Entrepreneur Clint Hedin, sociologist William Julius Wilson (PhD), author and film director Sherman Alexie (attended), veterinary researcher John Gorham, wheat breeder Orville Vogel (not a student), physicist Philip Abelson, and physician Neva Abelson.

Olympic marathon and middle-distance runner Bernard Lagat, ran NCAA track and graduated from Washington State University with a degree in management information systems 2000.

Staff Sergeant Shurer attended Washington State from 1997 to 2002 earning a bachelor's degree in business administration and starting an MBA before enlisting in the US Army.