1800 – 1868
Reverend Leo Meyer, S.M. (Society of Mary) was a of the founders and the first President of the University of Dayton. In 1850, Reverend Meyer opened St. Mary’s School for Boys with only fourteen students. The school underwent several name changes until it was incorporated as the University of Dayton (UD) in 1920. Reverend Meyer’s vision of the need for higher education in the Miami Valley remains true today, as UD is a community oriented institution with the goal of teaching its graduates to learn, lead and serve. Approximately one fourth of its graduates live in the Miami Valley, where they practice the service-leadership they have learned. The University of Dayton Research Institute contributes to the region’s reputation as an area rich in inventions, and its Marian Library serves as a research center for Catholic intellectual thought.