Carnegie Mellon University was founded in 1900 and named after Andrew Carnegie as a research university. According to Peterson's College Search, Carnegie Mellon is a top-ranked university with a vision to meet the needs of a changing society through innovation and interdisciplinary problem solving. Andrew Carnegie created the school's motto, "My heart is in the work." During World War I, part of Carnegie Mellon was used as army barracks for 8,000 soldiers and sailors living on campus. Famous alumni include, actor Ted Danson, artist Andy Warhol and John Nash Jr., who received the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1994.
Chatham College was founded in 1869 as a women's college, Pennsylvania Female College. Today, the Chatham College for Women offers baccalaureate degrees for women only, while the College for Graduate Studies and the College for Continuing and Professional Studies is open to men and women. After receiving a donation of the Eden Hall Campus in 2008, which was a farm and retreat for the working women of the H.J. Heinz Company, the college founded the School of Sustainability and the Environment in 2009, to research climate change and other environmental studies.
University of Pittsburgh was founded in 1787 in a log cabin near Pittsburgh's three rivers. William Hunter Dammond became the first African-American graduate of the university in 1893 with a degree in civil engineering, and in 1898 the first women were admitted in the school, Margaret and Stella Stein. Other well known alumni include John Woodruff, who won a gold medal in the Olympic Games in Berlin, and Academy Award winning actor, Gene Kelly. Faculty member, Jonas Salk, developed the polio vaccine in 1955.
A Catholic university, Duquesne University was founded in 1878 by Reverend Joseph Strub and the Congregation of the Holy Ghost, which is a Spiritan church. The school moved to its "Old Main" building in 1885, which was for years the highest point on the Pittsburgh skyline. Duquense is the only Spiritan university in America, based on a congregation that began in France in 1703. It expanded throughout the world, giving special focus to Africa. Duquesne University was founded to give education to immigrant children, and today the school still promotes diversity among its faculty and students.
Carlow University was founded in 1929 as a women's school by the Sisters of Mercy of Carlow, Ireland, and the school was originally called Mount Mercy College. The university's seal and motto are, Ad Superna, non Superba, "To the Eternal, not the Perishable." Men were first admitted in 1941 under the G.I. Bill. One graduate was Pete Flaherty, who later became the mayor of Pittsburgh. However, as of 2010 enrollment, only 7 percent of the students are men.