Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, formerly the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, is the oldest natural science research institution and museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1812, by many of the leading naturalists of the young American republic with an expressed mission of "the encouragement and cultivation of the sciences". It has sponsored expeditions, conducted original environmental and systematics research, and amassed natural history collections containing more than 17 million specimens. The Academy also organizes public exhibits and educational programs for both schools and the general public.
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
The Academy in 1912
A bronze Deinonychus statue located outside the museum
A 43 ft. (13 m) complete fossil specimen of Mosasaur species Tylosaurus proriger (with a human for scale) is on display.
Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry, it was renamed Drexel Institute of Technology in 1936, before assuming its current name in 1970. As of 2020, more than 24,000 students were enrolled in over 70 undergraduate programs and more than 100 master's, doctoral, and professional programs at the university.
Statue of Anthony J. Drexel by Moses J. Ezekiel, which was completed in 1904 and moved to the Drexel campus in 1966
The Main Building, dedicated in 1891
The interior of Drexel University's Main Building as seen in 2023
Monumental conical pendulum clock by Eugène Farcot and sculpture by Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, which was donated to the university in 1912