History
The school was founded in 1884 as Woodbury's Business College by its namesake, F. C. Woodbury, formerly a partner in Heald's Business College in San Francisco, thus making it the second oldest institution of higher learning in Los Angeles and one of the oldest business schools west of Chicago. That historic link between Woodbury and the world of business has been maintained throughout the years. Woodbury was coeducational from its founding, making it one of the earliest colleges west of the Mississippi to admit women. The original mission of Woodbury University was to educate Los Angeles residents in the practical areas of business: bookkeeping, commercial law, and telegraphy. For a time, Woodbury could boast that 10% of Los Angeles' citizenry were attending the institution and its earliest alumni lists form a who's who of 19th century Los Angeles.[1]
In 1931, the division of professional arts was established to focus on fields of design that are most closely allied to business: commercial art, interior design, and fashion design. Woodbury then became a college of business administration and design. In 1969, Woodbury introduced a graduate program leading to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In 1974, Woodbury College became Woodbury University.
In 1982, Computer Information Systems was added as a major, followed in 1984 by Architecture. In 1987, the Weekend College program for working adults was established with the aid of grants from The Fletcher Jones Foundation and The William Randolph Hearst Foundation. In 1994 the university formally organized its undergraduate and graduate programs into three schools: the School of Architecture and Design, the School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Business and Management.[2] That year three majors in the School of Arts and Sciences came into being: Psychology, Politics & History and Liberal Arts & Business. Additional undergraduate degree programs have been added in the areas of Marketing, Animation Arts, Communication, and Leadership.
A merger with the University of Redlands was announced in 2024.[3]
Los Angeles campuses
For the first 103 years, the university followed the growth of the business community based in Central Los Angeles. The school was originally located at 226 South Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles.[4] By 1937, it moved to new facilities at 1027 Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake district, just west of downtown. For 50 years this building served the university's classrooms and administrative needs.
In 1985, the university acquired a 22.4-acre (9.1 ha) suburban campus in Shadow Hills, Los Angeles. This location was the site of the former Villa Cabrini Academy, a high school for girls run by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded by Frances Xavier Cabrini.[5][6] In 1987, the university officially moved into this new campus.[7] Since it is located within the Burbank post office area, it became known as their "Burbank" campus and it has a Burbank GPS address.
Since 2005, the Los Angeles campus has been home to the Julius Shulman Institute.[8]
Woodbury University San Diego
In 1998 the institution opened a satellite campus in Downtown San Diego, Woodbury University San Diego, where it offers Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Architecture, and Master of Interior Architecture degrees.[9] In Fall of 2008, It moved from Downtown San Diego to the Barrio Logan neighborhood . The new location's building features a computer laboratory, studios, classrooms, and a library.
On November 2, 2021 it was announced that the San Diego satellite campus will be permanently closed by 2024, with all operations being moved to the main university campus located in Burbank, California.[10]
Gallery
The university has a gallery in Hollywood, CA known as WUHO which houses experimental exhibitions and multi-disciplinary collaborations.[11]
