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"For our society to achieve its ideal there cannot be an unequal distribution of its most important asset – education."

– Michael M. Crow, ASU President

Story of the New American University

Learn more about the design and trajectory of President Michael Crow’s emerging model for the 21st century public research university.


Latest

 

A hand holds a small American flag outside in front of a large ASU sign.

ASU establishes Center for Free Speech, will host annual free speech forum

An article announcing the ASU's news Center for Free Speech and the ASU Free Speech Forum.

An illustration of ten people dressed in pink standing on a red, upside down mortar board and trying to navigate while floating in the sky.

A higher purpose: Ten people making higher education more affordable, accessible and effective

A list article highlighting ten leaders improving higher education.  

Nearly 30 higher education, community, business and media representatives sit at tables organized as a square in the lobby of the former Herald Examiner Building (now ASU in California) in Los Angeles

Bringing vitality to city centers

An article summarizing the 2024 Los Angeles Dinner and Conversation dedicated to discussing the revitalization of city centers and how universities can help.

2029

 

Mission and goals 2029

Demonstrate leadership in enabling academic excellence and accessibility at scale
Establish national standing in academic quality and impact of colleges and schools in every field
Expand ASU's role as the leading global center for interdisciplinary research, discovery and development by 2029
Enhance our local impact and social embeddedness
Design and launch ASU Health as a comprehensive cluster of teaching, learning and discovery health systems for the enhancement of social-scale health outcomes

2023

 

January 2023 / Access

ASU partners with YouTube and Crash Course to expand course offerings for college credit


February 2023 / Philanthropy

ASU endowment reached $1.5billion for the second time


March 2023 / Innovation, Excellence

ASU is awarded $90.8M grant to build the world’s first Compact X-rayFree Electron Laser


March 2023 / Access, University design

ASU announces West Valley Forward, including the creation of three new schools


April 2023 / University design

Renamed the former Taylor Place residence hall as Gordon Commons, in recognition of former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon’s contributions to the realization of the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus


April 2023 / Impact, Sustainability

ASU ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 2 in the world for sustainability practices


May 2023 / Access

ASU celebrates the milestone of 10,000 Starbucks College Achievement Plan graduates


June 2023 / Impact, University design

ASU formally launches its ASU Health initiative to improve health outcomes for Arizonans


June 2023 / Sustainability

ASU joins the prestigious Association of American Universities


June 2023 / Sustainability

ASU is ranked No. 1 among U.S. universities and among the top 10 globally for addressing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals


July 2023 / Innovation, Global engagement

ASU and TSMC announce partnership for workforce and research innovation


August 2023 / Student success

ASU announces it is moving to the Big 12 Conference


September 2023 / Excellence

President Joe Biden grants Arizona funds to create the McCainNationalLibraryat ASU.


October 2023 / Innovation

ASU successfully launches the Psyche NASA mission to a metal asteroid


October 2023 / Impact

ASU announces that the headquarters of ASU Health, including a new medical school, will be located in downtown Phoenix


October 2023 / Impact, University design

ASU announces the renaming of ASU West campus as ASU West Valley campus


November 2023 / Innovation

ASU is named Phoenix’s “secret weapon” in its rise as a new US semiconductor hub


December 2023 / Access, Innovation

ASU breaks ground on ISTB12, the new home of the Fulton Engineering Schools new School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks on the ASU Polytechnic campus

2022

 

March 2022 / Philanthropy, Student success

ASU endowment topped $1.25 billion


April 2022 / Sustainability

Officially opened the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health


June 2022 / Access, Student success

Named a Hispanic Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education


June 2022 / Excellence, Student success

Earned best-ever NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) for ASU athletic programs and ranked first in the Pac-12


August 2022 / Access, Innovation, Partnerships

Opened the Media and Immersive eXperience Center as part of ASU @ Mesa City Center


September 2022 / Innovation, Excellence

Designated No. 1 in Innovation for the eighth straight year


September 2022 / Global engagement

Launched the School of Ocean Futures


October 2022 / Access, Student success

Celebrated the official opening of the historic Herald Examiner Building in downtown Los Angeles, home to the ASU California Center


October 2022 / Access, Student success, University design

Record enrollment in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering tops 30,000 students


December 2022 / Impact

Ranked No. 6 in research expenditures among 750 other institutions without a medical school

2021

 

January 2021 / University design

Launched the Sidney Poitier New American Film School


February 2021 / Excellence, Global engagement

Celebrated 11 consecutive years of ASU ranking as a top producer of Fulbright winners


May 2021 / University design

Introduced ASU Public Enterprise Model


September 2021 / Excellence

Earned a seventh consecutive “#1 in innovation” national ranking


October 2021 / Impact

Administered 1M COVID-19 vaccinations

2020

 

January 2020 /

Completed the $90 million renovation of Hayden Library on the Tempe campus and reopened the 21st century facility for spring 2020


January 2020 /

Broke ground on the Mesa City Center, a state-of-the art project dedicated to leading-edge media production and technology that will serve students, entrepreneurs and the surrounding community


February 2020 /

Announced the State Farm Pathways for the Future program, a collaboration to help high school and community college students to prepare for the future workplacemade possible bya $30 million gift from State Farm


March 2020 /

Launched ASU For You, a set of online resources to support learners of all ages, teachers and parents, and some at no cost


March 2020 /

With the help of a $2 million emergency grant from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, ASU ramped up critical COVID-19 testing, research and personal protective equipment production


April 2020 /

Unveiled a new PPE Response Network web site that connected university and community resources to hospitals in critical need of personal protective equipment


May 2020 /

The BiodesignInstitute at ASU developed a game-changing saliva-based COVID-19 test with 100% diagnostic accuracy and began administering the new test to protect first-responders


May 2020 /

For the safety of the Class of 2020, ASU hosted its first-ever virtual University Commencement due to COVID-19, which included the first graduate cohort of the Uber-ASU partnership


June 2020 /

Starbucks expands the ASU-developed, anti-bias online curriculum to the public at no cost


July 2020 /

Outfitted classrooms on all ASU campuses with state-of-the-art technology in preparation for ASU Sync, a fully interactive remote learning platform that was one of three options available to ASU students in fall 2020


July 2020 /

Announced a partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services to provide free saliva diagnostic testing for COVID-10 in high-need, underserved communities across the state


August 2020 /

Welcomed more than 127,500 students to the fall 2021 semester at ASU, a nearly 8% increase from fall 2019, and more than 53,000 ASU Online students, its largest fall enrollment


September 2020 /

Named “#1 in innovation” by U.S. News & World Report for the sixth consecutiveyear


September 2020 /

Launched the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, “a medical center for the Earth,” designed to study and develop solutions to keep our planet habitable for future generations


October 2020 /

The National Institutes of Health awarded ASU’s Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center a $4.7 million federal grant to increase COVID-19 testing in underserved communities around Arizona


November 2020 /

Named Sally C. Morton as executive vice president to lead the ASU Knowledge Enterprise, an organization with annual research expenditures upwards of $640 million


December 2020 /

Named Nancy Gonzales as ASU’s new executive vice president and provost, and Maria Anguiano as the founding executive vice president of the ASU Learning Enterprise, an initiative that will grow access

2019

 

January 2019 / Excellence, Partnerships

Announced a partnership with James Turrell to advance the completion, educational use, and conservation of his masterwork, the Roden Crater

Turrell’s work at Roden Crater is a fusion of art, engineering, astronomy, architecture and neuroscience.


February 2019 / Access, Partnerships

Shared plans to establish a new ASU location to serve as a world-class hub for digital innovation in science, technology and the arts in downtown Mesa, Arizona


March 2019 /

Announced a new tuition and program fee structure that extends ASU’s commitment to Arizona resident students and simplifies individual course and program fees for undergraduates


April 2019 / Access, Partnerships, University design

Broke ground on the Health Futures Center as part of the Mayo-ASU Alliance for Health Care


June 2019 /

Designated a top 10 university in patent rankings among all universities worldwide


June 2019 /

Collaborated with MIT to offer the world’s first stacked online master’s degree in Supply Chain Management


June 2019 / Access, Excellence

Received the inaugural “Seal of Excelencia” for ASU’s commitment to Latino student success


August 2019 / Access, Partnerships

Expanded our educational access partnership with Uber to include to eligible drivers and their families


September 2019 / Excellence

Named the #1 most innovative school in America for the fifth consecutive year


October 2019 / Access, University design

Broke ground on the new headquarters of the Thunderbird School of Global Management in downtown Phoenix


October 2019 / Access, Excellence, Partnerships, University design

Celebrated the 5th anniversary of the Starbucks College Achievement Plan

2018

 

January 2018 / Knowledge economy

Announced the Decision Center for Educational Excellence in partnership with the Helios Education Foundation

President Michael Crow speaks at the announcement of the Decision Center for Educational Excellence Powered by Helios Education Foundation.


March 2018 / Access

Opened the Barbara Barrett & Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center in Washington, D.C.


March 2018 / University design

Shared ASU's plan to lead in “universal learning”


April 2018 / Excellence

Times Higher Education ranks ASU in the top 1 percent of the world’s most prestigious universities


August 2018 / Excellence

ASU’s freshman retention rate passes 85%, exceeding the national average and 11 percentage points up from 2002


September 2018 / Excellence

ASU ranked #1 most innovative school in the nation for the fourth consecutive year

ASU was ranked #1 most innovative school in the nation for the fourth consecutive year

2017

 

January 2017 / Philanthropy

Launched Campaign ASU 2020, ASU's first-ever comprehensive development campaign


May 2017 / Knowledge economy

The Arizona State Legislature passed $1B Research Infrastructure II legislation

2016

 

February 2016 / Partnerships

Formed the PLuS Alliance with King’s College London and the University of New South Wales


April 2016 / University design

Global Freshman Academy launched by EdPlus and edX


August 2016 / Knowledge economy

ASU welcomed the largest and most diverse freshman class in its history

The class included 11,500  freshmen students representing every U.S. state and 74 countries


September 2016 / University design

ASU named the “#1 Most Innovative School” for the second consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report


October 2016 / Partnerships

Announced the Mayo Clinic Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care


December 2016 /

ASU named the country's fastest growing research enterprise

In 2016, ASU welcomed it largest and most diverse freshman class in its history.  11,500 freshman students representing every U.S. state and 74 countries.

2015

 

February 2015 / University design

Published Designing the New American University


May 2015 / University design

Participated in The Economist and ASU co-sponsored webcast series, Re-inventing Higher Education


September 2015 / University design

ASU named the "#1 Most Innovative School" by U.S. News & World Report


September 2015 / Philanthropy

Donated $1.2M to fund the directorship of the ASU Public Service Academy


October 2015 /

Appointed to the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council


October 2015 /

Designated a LinkedIn "Influencer"

Browse through the archive of LinkedIn op-eds penned by President Crow on a wide range of higher education related topics

President Michael Crow was appointed to the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC) by US Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson

2014

 

February 2014 / Knowledge economy

Presented “Universities as Partners in Global Development” to the World Bank Group


March 2014 / University design

Received the inaugural American Council on Education Award for Institutional Transformation


June 2014 / Partnerships

Established the Starbucks College Achievement Plan in partnership to enhance access


September 2014 / University design

Became Founding Chairman of the University Innovation Alliance


November 2014 / University design

Established ASU's first-ever official university charter


December 2014 / University design

EdPlus launched to enhance access to technologically-enhanced learning opportunities across all modalities.

The American Council on Education (ACE) has named Arizona State University the first recipient of an award created to recognize a college or university which, during a period of great change in higher education, has responded to challenges in innovative ways that allow the institution to thrive.

2013

 

September 2013 / Partnerships

Launched the Transatlantic Higher Education Partnership with Dublin City University

A comprehensive alliance designed to create new learning and research experiences for students, expanding economic development and creating positive outcomes for communities in Arizona and Ireland


November 2013 / Philanthropy

Established the Trustees of ASU


November 2013 / Knowledge economy

Named University Vice-Chair of the Council on Competitiveness


December 2013 /

Received the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Academic Leadership Award

A recognition bestowed to presidents of U.S. higher education institutions who are fulfilling their leadership duties with vision, dedication and creativity, and demonstrate a commitment to excellence and equity.

2012

 

March 2012 / University design

Delivered the Robert H. Atwell Lecture at the 94th Annual Meeting of the American Council on Education


August 2012 / University design

Opened the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City


September 2012 / Science policy

Named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science


October 2012 / Science policy

Published "Citizen Science U." in Scientific American

Arizona State University student paddle board down to Lake Havasu. ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City began operation in 2012.

2011

 

March 2011 / Science policy

Published "Time to Rethink the NIH in Nature


August 2011 /

Recognized by Slate as one of the “Most Innovative and Practical Thinkers of Our Time”


September 2011 / Knowledge economy

All ASU colleges and schools are engaged in entrepreneurship

Ford College Community Challenge winners are announced during the ASU Demo Day.  100% of ASU’s colleges and schools are engaged in entrepreneurship

2010

 

May 2010 /

Led a coalition of college and university presidents in support of the DREAM Act

Read the letter


August 2010 /

ASU nearly doubled the total number of enrolled minority students

Since 2002, the number of enrolled minority students increased from 11,487 to 21,060.

2009

 

January 2009 / University design

Completed the third phase of a university-wide academic reorganization


March 2009 / University design

Announced budget and efficiency actions following state budget cuts


April 2009 / Science policy

Published “The Challenge for the Obama Administration Science Team” in Issues in Science and Technology


May 2009 /

Hosted U.S. President Barack Obama at University Commencement and announced the Barack Obama Scholars Program

President Barack Obama Scholars


August 2009 / University design

Launched ASU Online to provide broad access to high-quality higher education


November 2009 /

Named to the TIME list of "10 Best College Presidents"


December 2009 / Sustainability

Published "Overcoming Stone Age Logic" in Issues in Science and Technology

By 2009, the total number of minority students enrolled at ASU had nearly doubled since 2002 (11,487 to 21,060)

2008

 

March 2008 / Knowledge economy

Opened the SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center


April 2008 / Sustainability

Presented the National Academy of Sciences Arthur Sackler Lecture, Opportunities and Limits in the Creation of Useful Knowledge for Sustainable Development


August 2008 / University design

Completed the second phase of a university-wide academic reorganization


December 2008 / Philanthropy

Donated salary bonus to need-based financial aid fund

ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, SkySong, launched in 2008.

2007

 

January 2007 / Science policy

Published "None Dare Call It Hubris: The Limits of Knowledge" in Issues in Science and Technology


April 2007 / University design

Profiled in Nature and ASU is hailed as “The university of the future”

 

2006

 

March 2006 / University design

ASU Downtown Phoenix campus secured bond election funding


May 2006 /

Began collaborations with Dublin City University


October 2006 / Sustainability

Became a founding signatory of the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment


October 2006 / Sustainability

Founded the nation’s first School of Sustainability


October 2006 /

Named a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration


December 2006 / University design

Completed the first phase of a comprehensive academic reorganization

Classes began at ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus in August 2006

2005

 

January 2005 / Science policy

Conceptualized the Decision Theater at ASU


May 2005 / University design

Announced ASU's Comprehensive Development Plan for a New American University

2004

 

April 2004 / University design

Announced ASU's expansion as "One University in Many Places"


July 2004 / Sustainability

Launched the Global Institute for Sustainability at ASU

ASU's Global Institute for Sustainability launched in July 2004.

2003

 

March 2003 / University design

Began collaboration with the City of Phoenix to establish the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus


June 2003 / University design

Secured passage of $500M Research Infrastructure I legislation

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June 2003 / Philanthropy

Secured the largest single-donor gift in ASU history


June 2003 / Science policy

Relocated the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes from Columbia University to ASU

2002

 

March 2002 /

The Arizona Board of Regents name the sixteenth president of Arizona State University


July 2002 /

Took office as the 16th president of Arizona State University


November 2002 / University design

Delivered inaugural remarks titled "The New American University: A New Gold Standard"


December 2002 / Partnerships

Initiated partnership with Mayo Clinic in Arizona