When the United States commemorates its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, it celebrates not only the nation’s founding but also the institutions and people whose ideas, discoveries and service have shaped the American story.

Founded in 1850, 46 years before Utah became a state, the University of Utah has grown alongside the country, opening up a new frontier of innovation and public service and its presence continues to help shape the story of the American West.

U graduates have embraced bold ideas, invested in people and created opportunities for future generations by founding companies, advancing medicine, influencing public policy, protecting natural resources and strengthening communities while researchers have solved problems that have had impacts around the globe.

What began as a small territorial university is now one of the nation’s leading public research universities, helping define what is possible through groundbreaking medical discoveries, entrepreneurial innovation and environmental stewardship.

Medical discoveries that changed the world

Perhaps nowhere has the U’s impact been felt more profoundly than in medicine.

For decades, researchers at U of U Health have pursued discoveries that have saved lives around the globe.

Among its milestones:

• Receiving one of the nation’s earliest National Institutes of Health research grants in 1945.
• Establishing the Anticonvulsant Drug Development Program in 1975, helping accelerate therapies for epilepsy.
• Performing the world’s first permanent implantation of a permanent artificial heart in 1982, forever changing cardiovascular medicine.
• Founding ARUP Laboratories in 1984, now one of the world’s leading clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratories.
• Celebrating faculty member Mario Capecchi’s 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for pioneering gene-targeting research that transformed biomedical science.
• Contributing to the development of a long-acting HIV prevention medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2025, offering new hope in the global fight against HIV.

These breakthroughs reflect a university committed to improving lives not only across Utah, but around the world.

Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute

Building something new is at the heart of the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, one of the nation’s premier centers for student entrepreneurship.

Nationally ranked #10 in student innovation, the institute is an interdisciplinary division of the David Eccles School of Business and has transformed entrepreneurship education by giving students from every discipline the opportunity to launch companies, develop new technologies and solve complex challenges.

“It’s been thrilling to me to watch the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute grow into one of the most important and influential entrepreneurship institutions in the nation,” said Scott Holley, executive director and one of the first student leaders at the institute when it opened in 2001. “I’m grateful for the very capable students, staff and leadership that have grown the one program I led as a student into the best entrepreneur center anywhere.”

Opened thanks to the vision of U alumnus and mining entrepreneur Pierre Lassonde, the institute has become a national model for experiential learning.

Its home, Lassonde Studios, is a five-story innovation space and housing facility for all students that combines residence halls, maker spaces, classrooms and startup incubators under one roof. U students participate in workshops, networking events, competitions, scholarships and startup programs each year.

Wallace Stegner Center 

Named for Pulitzer Prize-winning author and conservationist Wallace Stegner, whose writings captured the promise of western landscapes, the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment is one of the nation’s leading voices on environmental law and policy.

The U’s environmental law program is now ranked 4th nationally, and faculty research informs public policy on water resources, public lands, energy development and conservation. True to Stegner’s legacy, the center encourages thoughtful dialogue about balancing growth with stewardship across the American West.

“Just as Wallace Stegner perceptively conveyed the larger picture of Western settlement and development, the Wallace Stegner Center aspires to carry on in that same tradition to develop meaningful and respected conference series, research publications and educational programs that see the West and beyond,” said Robert Keiter, professor and founding director of the center. “In Wallace Stegner’s tradition and in the best tradition of the academy, we can promise to think clearly, examine critically and write truthfully about the natural resources and environmental matters that confront us today.”

Utah Games 

Founded in 2007, the U’s nationally recognized Utah Games program is one of the first in the nation to unite computer science with artistic design, transforming the way video games are developed. One of the fastest-growing digital media and interactive technology locations in the country, U students learn by building games from the ground up, working in multi-disciplinary teams that mirror professional game studios.

The result is an educational model that has launched hundreds of careers and is consistently ranked #1 among the world’s top game development programs, producing graduates who have shaped some of the industry’s most successful studios including Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Epic Games, Nintendo, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Disney and many others.

Beyond entertainment, U researchers and students have developed pioneering technologies that can assist with rehabilitation medicine, forensic science and national security intelligence analysis.

Bennion Center

For nearly four decades, community engagement has been central to the student experience at the U thanks to the work of the Bennion Center, named for humanitarian and educator Lowell Bennion, who helped found one of Utah’s first food banks and believed that education should improve lives beyond the classroom.

As the first community engagement center at a public university and only the second in the nation, the Bennion Center has initiated more than 245,000 student community engagement experiences and generated nearly 4.85 million hours of service throughout Utah and beyond—teaching compassion alongside knowledge.

Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy

The next chapter of the American story will be shaped by how communities respond to climate change, water scarcity and wildfire and the Wilkes Center for Climate Science & Policy is helping lead that work.

Established in 2022 through the philanthropy of Clay and Marie Wilkes, the center brings together scientists, engineers, policymakers and entrepreneurs to develop practical solutions for climate resilience. Researchers are advancing understanding of challenges ranging from the future of the Great Salt Lake to wildfire risk management and water resources while supporting innovation through the Climate Innovation Prize, student hackathon events and an international network of climate-focused entrepreneurs.

The U will continue to celebrate America’s 250th birthday throughout 2026 with a variety of events during Fall semester. Community members are invited to view the “America in the Archives: The Many Voices of Democracy” exhibition through Sept. 9 on the fourth floor of the Marriott Library. The exhibition explores intertwined stories of America and its presence in archives from pre-colonial artifacts to present-day publications.