Anderson University

Anderson University is a private Christian university in Anderson, South Carolina. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in over 100 areas of study. Anderson is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Anderson participates in NCAA Division II athletics and is a member of the South Atlantic Conference. Reestablished in 1911 as Anderson College, it is the successor to Johnson University, which was founded in 1848 by W. B. Johnson. Anderson was initially a female college until 1931 when it became coed. In 2006, it was renamed Anderson University. It consists of eleven distinct colleges and schools. History Origins (1848-1862) Anderson University was founded in 1848 as Johnson Female Seminary It founders, citizens of Anderson, were Daniel Brown, J.P. Reed, and Stephen McCulley. Johnson Female Seminary was named for William Bullein Johnson, an early Baptist statesman, a founder and first Vice President of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was later renamed Johnson University. William Bullein Johnson served as the first chancellor of Johnson University. By 1857 Johnson University had around 600 students taking courses in calculus, Latin, and Greek. In 1858 Johnson's health declined and in 1862 he died. Johnson's home still stands in Anderson and his portrait hangs in perpetuity in the Truett Cathy Old Common Room in Merritt Hall on the Anderson University campus. Johnson was buried in the cemetery of the First Baptist Church of Anderson.