Nauvoo University was a private academic institution organized by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon or LDS Church) in Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...

. It was intended to succeed an institution founded by Mormons in the 1840s and a more recent program operated by Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

, but it was not owned nor controlled by the church.

History of the first university in Nauvoo

After the Mormons had been expelled from Missouri, they crossed into Illinois and settled in Nauvoo in 1839. They were granted a city charter from the Illinois state legislature in December 1840, which included authorization to found a university. The school was founded in 1841 as the University of the City of Nauvoo, or the University of Nauvoo.

Several notable leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints acted as officials and staff. The chancellor

Chancellor (education)

A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....

 was John C. Bennett

John C. Bennett

John Cook Bennett was an American physician and a ranking and influential—but short-lived—leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as second-in-command to Joseph Smith, Jr., for a brief period in the early 1840s....

, the registrar

Registrar (academic)

In education outside the United Kingdom, a registrar or registrary is an official in an academic institution who handles student records. Typically, a registrar processes registration requests, schedules classes and maintains class lists, enforces the rules for entering or leaving classes, and...

 was William Law, and among the regents were Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...

, Hyrum Smith

Hyrum Smith

Hyrum Smith was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr....

, William Marks, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells

Daniel H. Wells

Daniel Hanmer Wells was an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the third mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, United States....

, Newel K. Whitney

Newel K. Whitney

Newel Kimball Whitney was a prominent leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and an American businessman. He served as Bishop of Kirtland, Ohio, Far West, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. He also served as the second Presiding Bishop of the Church from 1847 until his death...

, Charles C. Rich

Charles C. Rich

Charles Coulson Rich was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served as an apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

, Don Carlos Smith

Don Carlos Smith

Don Carlos Smith was the youngest brother of Joseph Smith, Jr. and a leader, missionary, and periodical editor in the early days of the Latter Day Saint movement....

, John P. Greene

John P. Greene

John Portineus Greene was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement.Greene was born in Herkimer, New York. He was a Methodist minister at Mendon, New York. He was friends with Heber C. Kimball and they claimed to witness "signs in the heavens" on September 22, 1827...

, Elias Higbee

Elias Higbee

Elias Higbee was an associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., a leader of the Danites, and an official historian and recorder in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.-Biography:...

, James Adams

James Adams (lawyer)

James Adams was a nineteenth century Illinois lawyer and close friend of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Biography:...

, Robert B. Thompson

Robert B. Thompson

Robert Blashel Thompson was an associate of Joseph Smith, Jr., a Danite and leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, and an official historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....

, and George Miller

George Miller (Latter Day Saints)

-External links:**...

. On February 15, James Kelley

James Kelley

James R. Kelly is a judge of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. He was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1973 to 1988.He attended St. Vincent College and the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America. He was a County Commissioner in Westmoreland County from 1968 to...

 (A. M.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

, Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

) was elected as university president.

This institution "probably was among the first municipal universities in the United States". A building committee was organized, though there was no campus. Many American colleges at that time were "one-building affairs" and "in fact not colleges at all, but glorified high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

s or academies that presumed to offer degrees." Shortly after its organization, the Nauvoo city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

 delegated oversight of common schools to the university regents and chancellor.

However, the University of Nauvoo was ambitious in its plan to offer languages (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

, Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

, and Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

), mathematics, chemistry, geology, literature, and history. While "the data are too scant" on the quality of the academic instruction, the faculty included Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon

Sidney Rigdon was a leader during the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Baptist background:...

, Orson Spencer

Orson Spencer

Orson Spencer was a prolific writer and prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served in several highly visible positions within the church and left an extensive legacy of theological writings...

, and most notably, Orson Pratt

Orson Pratt

Orson Pratt, Sr. was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles...

, and were considered "considerable scholarship … a rather remarkable group to be found in a frontier city". David P. Gardner

David P. Gardner

David Pierpont Gardner was the 17th president of the University of California and was also the president of the University of Utah.-Biography:...

 believes "it was probably superior to the average secondary work

Secondary education in the United States

In most jurisdictions, secondary education in the United States refers to the last six or seven years of statutory formal education. Secondary education is generally split between junior high school or middle school, usually beginning with sixth or seventh grade , and high school, beginning with...

 of the time."

The University of Nauvoo ended after the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith

Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.

The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...

, when the interest of many church leaders moved toward westward migration.

Developments toward the new university

Nauvoo University was intended to be a reorganization of its 1840s predecessor. It took its mission statement from Joseph Smith's comment on the old university:

The University of the City of Nauvoo will enable us to teach our children wisdom -- to instruct them in all knowledge, and learning, in the Arts, Sciences and Learned Professions. We hope to make this institution one of the great lights of the world, and by and through it, to diffuse that kind of knowledge which will be of practical utility, and for the public good, and also for private and individual happiness.

Like LDS Church-owned colleges, such as Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 (BYU), and other LDS-themed colleges such as Southern Virginia University

Southern Virginia University

Southern Virginia University is a liberal arts college located in Buena Vista, Virginia that promotes standards and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while not being owned nor operated by the Church...

, Nauvoo University promoted the moral standards of the LDS Church.

Board of Trustees

The school drew interest from leaders and educators from the LDS community and the areas of Nauvoo, western Illinois, and southeastern Iowa. Its governing body was a 24-member Board of Trustees:

Name	Significance	Residence
Dell Allen	Technology professor at BYU BYU -Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...  and Utah State University Utah State University Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....  and inventor	Logan, Utah
Charles Bair	Executive Director Western Illinois Economic Development Authority	Carthage, Illinois
Dr. Susan Easton Black Susan Easton Black Susan Easton Black is a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She is also an author of several books related to Joseph Smith, Jr. and the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.Black joined the faculty of BYU in 1978. ...	Noted lecturer and Professor of Church History, BYU BYU -Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...	Provo, Utah
William Fillmore	Past associate general counsel General Counsel A general counsel is the chief lawyer of a legal department, usually in a corporation or government department. The term is most used in the United States...  for BYU BYU -Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...  and Attorney, FillmoreSpencer LLC	Utah
J. Phil Harrop	Executive Director, John Stoddard Cancer Center John Stoddard Cancer Center John Stoddard Cancer Center is a cancer care center located in Central Iowa. It was the first cancer center in that location.The John Stoddard Cancer Center is a part of Iowa Health-Des Moines, where a number of important treatment options and services originated... . BS from BYU BYU -Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA... ; MBA, MHA from The Ohio State University	Des Moines, Iowa
Dr. Evan L. Ivie	Manager at Bell Labs Bell Labs Bell Laboratories is the research and development subsidiary of the French-owned Alcatel-Lucent and previously of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , half-owned through its Western Electric manufacturing subsidiary.Bell Laboratories operates its... , BYU BYU -Education:* Brigham Young University, a university located in Provo, Utah, USA administered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.**BYU Salt Lake Center, a satellite center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA...  professor, and past Director of BYU-Nauvoo	Nauvoo, Illinois
Michael A. Kennedy Michael A. Kennedy Michael A. Kennedy is an American businessman. He is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a descendant of Joseph Smith, Jr.. Kennedy has done much to unify the descendants of Joseph Smith.-Biography:...	President of the Joseph and Emma Smith Association	Alpine, Utah
David F. King	CPA Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA... , founding partner of King, King, Alleman & Jensen	Nauvoo, Illinois
Dr. Clive D. Moon	Research chemist, chemistry professor and businessman, Nauvoo, University
J. Samuel Park	Past president of the Nauvoo Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its... -Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...  Mission Mission (LDS Church) A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...  and Utah businessman	Salt Lake City, Utah
Hugh Pierce	Past mayor Mayor In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....  of Nauvoo Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its... , LDS Church leader and Nauvoo businessman	Nauvoo, Illinois
Dr. Anthony Piña	Dean Dean (education) In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...  at Sullivan University Sullivan University Sullivan University is a private for-profit university based in Louisville, Kentucky and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Sullivan University currently has physical campuses in Louisville, Lexington, and Fort Knox, and an online Global e-Learning campus. With... . BA and M.Ed. from BYU, Ed.D. from La Sierra University La Sierra University La Sierra University is a Seventh-day Adventist co-educational university accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Adventist Accrediting Association...	Louisville, Kentucky
Vee Wilson	President of the Desert Valley Academy	Moapa, Nevada

By January 2009 Harrop, having expressed concerns regarding the lack of operational and financial preparedness for opening the university in fall 2009, was no longer a member of the board of trustees. By the summer of 2010 Black and Bell were no longer members of the board.

First year

The university opened in fall 2009, anticipating around 50 students and 20 employees as faculty, administration, and staff. It planned to organize as a 501(c)(3) non-profit institution. The school anticipated future donations to help it survive.

Chris Benedict, one of the first students at the University, won the U.S. Cyber Challenge in Washington D.C. in December 2009.

Among the members of Nauvoo University's faculty as of summer 2010 was Clayne Robison

Clayne Robison

Clayne Robison is a professor of voice at Brigham Young University . He is a specialist in the study of vocal beauty.Robison is a native of Boise, Idaho. He received his bachelors degree from BYU and then received a law degree from Harvard Law School. However, he later took an MMus and then a...

, former director of BYU's Opera Program. His wife, Vivien Robison, who had been a part-time faculty member at BYU and sang in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...

, was also on the faculty. Evan L. Ivie, who has a Ph.D. from MIT and was a professor of Computer Science at BYU for several years, was another early faculty member. Ivie had been director of the BYU Nauvoo program from 2002 until it was discontinued in 2006. Nauvoo University expected more retired professors would to come to teach in the city and local church members would assist in its beginnings.

Realizing difficulties in its first year, the organization changed its name to "Nauvoo Study Program," then in September 2010 it was discontinued indefinitely. In a letter posted to the school's website, Evan Ivie cited insufficient donations, faculty, staff, and students as contributing to this decision.