Rowan University, public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Glassboro, New Jersey, U.S. It includes the schools of business, education, engineering, fine and performing arts, and liberal arts and sciences. In addition to some 30 bachelor’s degree programs, the college offers a range of master’s degree programs. There is a branch campus in Camden. University facilities include an observatory and a glassblowing museum. Total enrollment is approximately 9,000.
The college began in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School. In 1934 the school became a four-year institution dedicated to training teachers, and in 1937 its name was changed to New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro. As its curriculum expanded in the 1950s, it became Glassboro State College (1958). It was the site of a summit conference between U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Aleksey N. Kosygin in 1967. In 1992 Henry and Betty Rowan donated to the college $100 million, one of the largest monetary gifts ever presented to any public college or university. That same year the name of the college was changed to Rowan College of New Jersey. The School of Engineering was opened in 1996, and in 1997 the college changed its charter status to university. The university expanded in 2012 to include a medical school.