Coordinates: 40°42′52.58″N 73°36′1.65″W / 40.7146056°N 73.6004583°W / 40.7146056; -73.6004583

Hofstra University is a private, non-profit,nonsectarian institution of higher learning. Its main campus is located in the village of Hempstead, New York, United States, approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of New York City. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) called "Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New York University at Hempstead, Long Island"; in 1939, the institution separated from NYU and gained independence as Hofstra College, and in 1963, Hofstra College gained university status. Comprising ten schools, including a School of Medicine and a School of Law, Hofstra is noted for a series of prominent Presidential conferences, as well as being selected to host United States Presidential Debates in 2008 and 2012.

History

The college—established as an extension of New York University (NYU) — was founded on the estate of a recently deceased wealthy couple, a lumber entrepreneur of Dutch ancestry, William S. Hofstra (1861–1932) and his second wife, Kate Mason (1854–1933). The extension had been proposed by a Hempstead resident, Truesdel Peck Calkins, who had been superintendent of schools for Hempstead. In her will, Kate Mason provided the bulk of their property and estate to be used for a charitable, scientific or humanitarian purpose, to be named in honor of her husband. Two friends, Howard Brower and James Barnard, were asked to decide what to do with the estate. Another Hempstead resident, Truesdel Peck Calkins, remarked to Brower that he had been looking for a site to start an institution of higher education, and the three men agreed it would be an appropriate use of the estate. Calkins approached the administration at New York University, and they expressed interest.