History of the College

Lewis & Clark College was founded in 1867 as Albany Collegiate Institute by a group of Presbyterian pioneers in the Willamette Valley town of Albany, 60 miles south of Portland. From its beginning the College was a coeducational institution, enrolling 43 women and 43 men by 1869. The first class graduated in 1873.

In 1934 the College opened a lower-division extension in Portland. Soon Portland enrollments outstripped those of the Albany campus, and in 1938 all operations were moved to the city. In 1942 the Albany College trustees acquired through a gift-sale the Lloyd Frank "Fir Acres" estate in southwest Portland, selected Morgan Odell as the president for the new campus, and adopted the name Lewis & Clark College as a "symbol of the pioneering spirit that had made and maintained the College."

By 1960 the College was thriving, and in 1962 the Overseas Study Program was launched, adding a new dimension to the school. Since the program's founding, more than 9,620 Lewis & Clark students have lived and traveled in more than 66 countries on six continents as part of their degree work.

Established as the state's law school in 1884, Lewis & Clark Law School is Oregon's oldest school of law. Reorganized as a private institution in 1915, the law school merged with Lewis & Clark College in 1965.

In 1984 postgraduate programs in education, counseling psychology, and public administration were consolidated into the Graduate School of Professional Studies. The program in public administration was transferred to Portland State University in 1996. In 2005, the school was renamed Graduate School of Education and Counseling to reflect its mission.

Four presidents have succeeded Morgan Odell. John Howard was president from 1960 to 1981, James Gardner served from 1981 to 1989, Michael Mooney served from 1989 to 2003, and Thomas Hochstettler became president in 2004.

The three schools of the College and their supporting offices occupy a campus of 137 acres. Separately and together, they embrace and promote the values expressed in the College's motto: Explorare, Discere, Sociare (to explore, to learn, to work together).