The University of Virginia (often abbreviated as UVA, UVa, or Virginia) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was conceived and designed by U.S. President Thomas Jefferson and established in 1819. UVA’s initial Board of Visitors included former Presidents of the United States Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. The initial site of the University was farmland owned by Monroe, whose law office and farmhouse are now the site of Brown College at Monroe Hill, a residential college at UVA.
UVA is the only university in the United States to be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The 2013 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Virginia as the 2nd best public university in the United States and the overall 24th best university in the nation.⁶ UVA athletes compete in 23 varsity sports within the Atlantic Coast Conference and finished third in the NACDA Directors’ Cup rankings in 2010.
(source: wikipedia.org)