Washington State University was established by the Washington Legislature on March 28, 1890, less than five months after statehood was declared on November 11, 1889. The institution was one of the land-grant colleges created under the 1862 federal Morrill Act signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. The federal land grants for the new institution included 90,000 acres of federal land for an agricultural college and 100,000 acres for a school of science.
After an extended search for a location, the state's new land-grant college opened in Pullman on January 13, 1892. The year 1897 saw the first graduating class of seven men and women. The school changed names from Washington Agricultural College and School of Science to State College of Washington in 1905, and then to Washington State University in 1959.
Enoch A. Bryan, appointed July 22, 1893, was the first influential president of WSU. Bryan held graduate degrees from Harvard and Columbia and previously served as the president of Vincennes University in Indiana. Prior to Bryan's arrival the fledgling university suffered through significant organizational instability. Bryan guided WSU toward respectability and is arguably the most influential figure in the history of WSU. The landmark clock tower in the center of campus is his namesake.
