The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia and was founded by Thomas Jefferson. Conceived in 1800, and opened in 1819, it is important in the history of the United States for being the first to offer studies on subjects that are now common, such as architecture, astronomy and philosophy, as well as the first to divide school and church.

Its School of Engineering and Applied Sciences was the first engineering school in the United States associated with a university. Grape. it was officially included in The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. The University, along with Jefferson's Monticello House, was named a World Heritage Site, one of three modern American places to have been honored.

It was the first campus in the world to be included by UNESCO in this list. The University of Virginia sports program is a Division I-A member and, since 1953, has been a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.