University of South Alabama Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine – Mobile

The University of South Alabama (USA) was founded in 1963 without a single building to call its own. Approaching 60 years and many buildings later, USA is a vibrant university that continues to serve as a catalyst for transformational change that impacts our state, the Gulf Coast region and the world. USA’s story began in the early 1960s, when Mobile’s civic leaders saw the need to improve access to higher education in southwest Alabama. Realizing the region had outgrown the small extension program that operated out of a building downtown, they formulated plans for a four-year, degree-granting institution. On May 3, 1963, a bill creating a new, independent university successfully passed the Alabama Legislature, and USA was born.