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University of Utah opened under the name "University of Deseret" (see also University of Deseret) in Salt Lake City, Utah on February 28, 1850, only to be closed two years later for financial reasons. It reopened as a business school in 1867 and became a full university once again in 1869. The University was renamed University of Utah in 1894 and classes were first held on the present campus in 1900.
The University is known colloquially as "the U." This stands for both University and Utah, and lends its format to the nickname for in-state rival, Brigham Young University, which is known as "the Y." The U. is the flagship Research I institution of Utah, and is one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education.
The University boasts a number of commendable graduate programs including a top tier law school and medical school.
The University's School of Computing has made several important contributions to the field. In 1968, the University joined with the University of California, Los Angeles, the Stanford Research Institute, and the University of California, Santa Barbara to form the first four nodes of the ARPANET, direct ancestor to today's Internet. Other accomplishments include the first method for representing surface textures in graphical images, the Gouraud smooth shading model for computer graphics, invention of magnetic ink printing technology, the Johnson counter logic circuit, development of the oldest algebraic mathematics package (REDUCE) still in use, and the Phong lighting model for shading with highlights. The school has pioneered work in asynchronous circuits, computer animation, computer art, digital music recording, graphical user interfaces, and stack machine architectures. Notable alumni include Nolan Bushnell, Ed Catmull, Jim Clark and John Warnock. Companies founded by faculty and alumni include Adobe Systems, Ashlar, Atari, CAE Systems, Centillium Technology, Cirrus Logic, WordPerfect, Evans and Sutherland, Myricom, NeoMagic, Netscape Communications Corporation, Pixar, Pixal Plane, PlanetWeb, and Silicon Graphics.
The University of Utah's School of Medicine is respected as one of the region's finest with several notable achievements, and the University of Utah Hospitals & Clinics has consistently ranked as "Best Hospital" by U.S. News & World Report. In 1970, the school established the first Cerebrovascular Disease Unit west of the Mississippi River. In 1982, Barney Clark received the world's first permanently implanted artificial heart, the Jarvik-7, during an operation performed by William C. Devries, M.D. Clark survived 112 days with the device. The campus houses both the Huntsman Cancer Institute, one of the premier cancer research centers in the country, and the Moran Eye Center, an ophthalmic clinical care and research facility. Areas for which the school is often praised include cardiology, geriatrics, gynecology, rheumatology, pulmonology, oncology, orthopedics, and ophthalmology.
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