In 1853, the founders of Northwestern University purchased a 379-acre tract of land on the shore of Lake Michigan 12 miles north of Chicago. After completing its first building in 1855, Northwestern began classes that fall with two faculty members and 10 students. Northwestern has developed into a leading private research university with a strong interdisciplinary culture and a commitment to teaching excellence. It now consists of 12 separate schools and colleges and is notable for its research strength in fields including neuroscience, nanotechnology, biotechnology and the development of new drugs. The main campus is still based at Evanston, 10 miles north of Chicago, although there is a smaller one in Chicago, so students enjoy all the stimulus and opportunities for personal and professional development provided by one of the world’s great cities. Since 2008, there has also been a third, satellite campus in Doha, Qatar. Celebrated alumni include novelist Saul Bellow and economist George Stigler, who both went on to win Nobel Prizes, as well as Friends star David Schwimmer, Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, and George R. R. Martin, whose novels inspired the Game of Thrones television series. No fewer than four economists and one chemist who worked as faculty at Northwestern went to receive Nobel Prizes. And the diplomat and political scientist Ralph Bunce, who had been a researcher there, went on to become the first African American to win a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. Northwestern is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.