The University of Delaware (UD) is a prestigious public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university founded in 1743 in Newark, Delaware. Tracing its historical origins to the Free School established by Francis Alison, UD is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United States and an R1 Carnegie-classified research powerhouse. Internationally acclaimed for world-leading programs in chemical and biomolecular engineering, physical therapy (consistently ranked #1 in the nation), art conservation (in partnership with Winterthur Museum), business (Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics), cybersecurity, and marine biosciences, UD spans a classic 2,000-acre Georgian-brick residential campus centered around 'The Green', alongside the high-tech 272-acre STAR Campus (Science, Technology and Advanced Research) and coastal oceanographic operations at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes.