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Key Dates in Pacific's History

1851 Chartered as California's first institution of higher learning as California Wesleyan College.
1858 First degrees awarded.
1871 Campus moves from Santa Clara to College Park in San Jose, and becomes the state's first coeducational campus.
1878 Conservatory of Music, the West's first school of music, becomes part of Pacific.
1896 Napa College merges with Pacific.
1911 Name changes to College of the Pacific.
1923 First freshman class enrolls in Stockton; plans begin for new campus.
1924 School of Education founded.
1925 Stockton campus dedicated.
1933 Amos Alonzo Stagg retires at University of Chicago and coaches football at Pacific until he retires again in 1946.
1935 Course offerings are restricted to junior, senior and graduate level as a coordinated effort with publicly supported Stockton College; relationship continues until 1951.
1946 Robert E. Burns named President and Tully C. Knoles becomes Chancellor.
1955 School of Pharmacy founded.
1956 Graduate School formed.
1957 School of Engineering founded.
1959 President Burns announces undergraduate "college within a college" plans; first Cluster College opens three years later, beginning a 24 year experiment in higher education.
1961 College of the Pacific becomes University of the Pacific.
1962 The College of Physicians and Surgeons in San Francisco becomes Pacific's School of Dentistry.
1964 Robert E. Burns Tower completed, total height 256 feet, includes a water tower and unique carillon.
1966 Pacific McGeorge School of Law (established in 1924 in Sacramento) merges with Pacific.
1971 Stanley McCaffrey named President.
1972 University College, for adult reentry students, is established.
1974 The former San Joaquin Delta Community College property is purchased. Classrooms are expanded to new space on the south side of campus.
1976 Long Theatre dedicated.
1977 The department of business administration in the College of the Pacific is reorganized as the School of Business and Public Administration.
1979 Ground broken for Alex G. Spanos Center for sporting and public events. Home to Pacific's volleyball and basketball teams.
1985 Women's volleyball team wins first national title; Physical Therapy program launched.
1986 School of International Studies opens.
1987 Bill L. Atchley named President; Faye Spanos Concert Hall and William Knox Holt Memorial Library dedicated.
1988 Stadium renamed Amos Alonzo Stagg Memorial Stadium; Feather River Inn in the Sierra becomes Pacific Alumni Association's conference and meeting center.
1991  New general education program initiated, featuring "Mentor Seminars" for freshmen and seniors.
1992 Pacific announces its Four Year Guarantee, the first of its kind in the nation.

Gladys L. Benerd establishes $11 million trust at Pacific; the School of Education is renamed the Gladys L. Benerd School of Education in honor of the alumna’s endowed gift.
1993 School of Business and Public Administration's master's program is established; University signs partnership for classes and programs with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
1994 Pacific hosts Pacific Rim History Conference, first of its kind; Founders Day celebrates University's 70th year in Stockton.
1995 Donald V. DeRosa named president. He is the fifth president since the school moved to Stockton in 1924 and the 23rd since 1851.

The School of Business and Public Administration is renamed the Eberhardt School of Business in honor of the Eberhardt family’s endowed gifts.

Accelerated degree programs were initiated to enable students to complete undergraduate studies in combination with professional degrees in pharmacy, law, dentistry and business in one to three fewer years.
1996 Philip N. Gilbertson named first University Provost.
1997 Pacific becomes the first university in the state to match Cal Grant scholarships dollar for dollar for incoming freshmen.
1998 San Francisco 49ers select Pacific's Stockton campus for their Summer Training Camp.
1999 Dave and Iola Brubeck select Pacific to receive the Dave Brubeck Collection; Pacific establishes The Brubeck Institute.

The School of Pharmacy is renamed the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in honor of the benefactor and regent who, with his brother Joseph Long, founded Longs Drugs.
2000 Arts & Geosciences Center opened; Western Association of Schools and Colleges extends accreditation to full 10 year term.
2001 Sesquicentennial celebrated; Monagan Hall, a 200 plus student apartment style residence facility completed; Quonset huts demolished.
2002Plans are unfurled for a new University Center, featuring a conference center, a new cafe and bookstore, among other amenities. Feather River Inn is sold.
2004To honor the accomplishments during his 26 year tenure as Dean, the School of Dentistry is renamed for its Dean: the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. It is the first time any university in the U.S. or Canada had named its dental school for the current dean.
2006The university announced that it had reached and surpassed its capital campaign goal of $200 million one year ahead of its plan. As of August, 2006, the university had raised $212 million. In October it broke ground on the same day for a new University Center and Biological Sciences Center.