Matthew Vassar was an English-born American brewer, merchant and philanthropist. He founded Vassar College, a women’s college, in 1861. He was a cousin of John Ellison Vassar. The city of Vassar, Michigan, is named after him.
From the Vassarion Eighteen Hundred & Ninety-Eight, Vassar College, 1898
An 1861 portrait of Vassar, with his namesake college's Main Building in the background
Vassar College is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college became coeducational in 1969. The college offers BA degrees in more than fifty majors. Vassar College's varsity sports teams, known as the Brewers, play in the NCAA's Division III as members of the Liberty League. Currently, there are close to 2,500 students.
1861 oil portrait of Matthew Vassar by Charles Loring Elliott
Main Building, built in 1861 by architect James Renwick Jr., had the most interior space of any building in the United States, until the U.S. Capitol was completed in 1868.
Liberation Lawn at Vassar College, one of the college protest encampments surrounding the pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses in 2024.
Catharine Bond Hill served as college president from 2006 to 2016.
