While its history goes back nearly four hundred years, the basic structure and traditions of the American university began to emerge in the late nineteenth century and crystallized roughly one hundred years ago. America’s growing economic, technological, and political power influenced the adoption of professional principles of organization and administration similar to those that underlay corporate entities. However, one development unique to universities was greater autonomy for faculty. Research became a defining characteristic of prominent universities, and philanthropy and government support helped spur that growth. Administrative and service staff grew steadily in numbers and with greater professionalism. After World War II, enrollments surged, and the American university entered a “golden age.” Passions and politics growing out of the civil rights and antiwar movements began to affect the university in the 1960s. The politicized questioning of the university’s role continues today, with the added factor of a dramatically more diverse student body.