Fairfield University College of Arts and Sciences

History

• 1942: Fairfield College of St. Robert Bellarmine, Inc. purchased two adjoining estates in Fairfield
• 1945: Fairfield University was chartered by the State of Connecticut to grant degrees
• 1947: First class of 303 male students was admitted to the College of Arts and Sciences
• 1949: College of Arts and Sciences was accredited by the State of Connecticut
• 1949: First summer session of undergraduate courses was held
• 1953: Fairfield University was admitted to fully accredited membership in the New England Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
• 1970: Women were admitted to all undergraduate programs
• 1995: Accepted into Phi Beta Kappa
• 2008 Introduced low residency Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program including residency portion at Enders Island.
• 2013 Introduced Master of Public Administration Program.

  Academic programs

Notable faculty

• Betsy Bowen, Professor of English, 2010 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Connecticut Professor of the Year
• Edward Deak - Roger M. Lynch Professor of Economics and highly regarded State of Connecticut economist
• David L. Downie - Director of Environmental Studies; former Director of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change at The Earth Institute
• Paul Lakeland - Rev. Aloysius P. Kelley, S.J., Professor of Catholic Studies and award-winning author
• R. James Long - Professor of Philosophy
• Laura Nash - Director of Music Program; 2009 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Connecticut Professor of the Year; and 2008 Connecticut Music Educator of the Year
• Nicholas Rinaldi - Professor of Creative Writing and award-winning novelist and poet
• Richard Ryscavage S.J., Professor of Sociology and International Studies, nationally known expert on immigration and refugees
• Kurt C. Schlichting - E. Gerald Corrigan Endowed Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences and award-winning author
• James Simon - Professor of English and Head of Journalism Program
• Timothy Law Snyder - 16th President of Loyola Marymount University
• Brian Q. Torff - Director of Jazz and Popular Music and renowned bassist and composer
• Ellen Umansky - Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies
• David R. Winn - Chairman of the Physics Department; developed quartz fiber calorimeter for the Large Hadron Collider