Morgantown, city, seat of Monongalia County, northern West Virginia, on the Monongahela River; incorporated as a city 1905. It is a commercial, manufacturing, and transportation center in an agricultural, coal-mining, and limestone-quarrying area. Medical services are important to the city's economy. Major products include pharmaceuticals, glass, metal items, chemicals, and textiles. The city is the seat of West Virginia University (1867). Lakeview Resort and a conference center are here, and Cheat Lake and Cooper Rock State Forest are nearby. The first settlement on the site of present-day Morgantown was established in 1758. After raids by Delaware and Mingo peoples destroyed it, a new community was founded here in 1766-67 by Zackquill Morgan, the son of the first permanent non-Native American settler in what is now West Virginia. Population 27,605 (1980); 25,879 (1990); 26,919 (1996 estimate).
West Virginia University, founded in 1867, is located in Morgantown, West Virginia, a city of 29,000 residents near West Virginia's northern border. It is one of only 43 public universities that serve their states as research and land-grant institutions. Through 13 colleges and schools, WVU offers 166 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degree programs.
The University's student-centered approach to learning -- with such programs as Operation Jump-Start and the Career Success Academy -- is giving students one of the top undergraduate experiences in the country.
WVU is a Research I institution, as classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. WVU faculty conduct over $71 million of funded research and other projects per year with support from federal, state, and private sources. The top funding agency is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services followed by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation.
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