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History
The Reed Institute (as it was originally known) was founded in 1908, and Reed College held its first classes in 1911. Reed is named for Oregon pioneers Simeon and Amanda Reed. Simeon Gannett Reed had been an entrepreneur in trade on the Columbia River; in his will he suggested that his wife could "devote some portion of my estate to benevolent objects, or to the cultivation, illustration, or development of the fine arts in the city of Portland, or to some other suitable purpose, which shall be of permanent value and contribute to the beauty of the city and to the intelligence, prosperity, and happiness of the inhabitants."
Originally imagined as "the Harvard of the West", Reed College has become one of the nation's pre-eminent institutions of the liberal arts and sciences.
Despite a well-earned reputation for the anti-authoritarian leanings of its students (and sometimes its faculty), there has never been a connection between Reed College and the journalist John Reed.
Some distinguishing features
Reed is one of the more unusual institutions of higher learning in the United States. It features a traditional liberal arts curriculum, requiring freshmen to take an intensive introduction to the Classics--ancient Greece and Rome, combined in the course known as Humanities 110, or just Hum 110 as most students refer to it--though its program in the sciences is likewise impressive (Reed's TRIGA research reactor makes it the only school in the US to have a nuclear reactor operated almost entirely by undergraduates). Reed is also one of the few remaining schools that require all students to complete a thesis (a two-semester-long research project conducted under the guidance of professors) during the senior year as a prerequisite of graduation.
It is a haven for intense intellectuals and idealists, who often appear to outsiders as unkempt hippies. Reed has a reputation for making room for students who show promise of one sort or another but who did not do so well in high school, though its overall admissions standards are high. This encourages the blossoming of many scholars inspired by the extremely intense academic experience, but also leads to some attrition even though the five-year graduation rate exceeds the national average. In recent years Reed's average SAT scores of accepted students has been around 1400 and GPA was 3.98 in 2003, with around 40 per cent of applicants accepted.
Reed's reputation
Reed has produced the second highest number of Rhodes scholars (31), for any liberal arts college, as well as over 50 Fullbright Scholars, over 60 Watson Fellows, and 2 MacArthur ("Genius") Award winners. A very high proportion of Reed graduates go on to earn PhDs, particularly in the sciences, history, political science, and philosophy. Reed is third in percentage of its graduates who go on to earn PhDs in all disciplines, after only CalTech and Harvey Mudd. Reed is first in this percentage in Biology, leading both Swarthmore College and the University of Chicago.
Loren Pope, former education editor for The New York Times called Reed "the most intellectual college in the country."
Notable alumni
Reed's notable alumni include Steve Jobs (founder of Apple Computer), Peter Norton (creator of the Norton Utilities), James Beard (the chef), Gary Snyder (the poet), Barbara Ehrenreich (writer and social critic), Dr. Demento (radio personality), Emilio Pucci (fashion designer), James Russell (inventor of the compact disc), and Larry Sanger (co-founder of Wikipedia).