Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles

Mount Saint Mary's University, Los Angeles (known as Mount St. Mary's College until January 2015) is a private, Catholic university primarily for women, in Los Angeles, California. Women make up 90 percent of the student body.

Founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, today the university has two campuses 16 mi apart: Chalon in Brentwood and Doheny in North University Park, near downtown Los Angeles.

Chalon Campus
The university first held its classes at St. Mary's Academy, then located at West Slauson Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. In 1928, the Sisters purchased 36 acre of land along the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains from the Rodeo Land and Water Company for $162,000. In 1947, an additional 20 acre was acquired to complete what is today the university's Chalon campus. The campus contains a blend of architecture familiar to Los Angeles, largely in the tradition of the Spanish Colonial Revival and Mission Revival styles. The location of the campus in Brentwood, on a 1,100-foot (340 m) ridge, provides an overlook to both the Getty Center and 40 mi of the Pacific Ocean.

Being the university's first campus, Chalon has been home to a number of important events in the history of the university. In 1929, the university's first graduation was held on the Chalon campus. In 1952, the university granted its first baccalaureate degrees in nursing, also the first in Southern California. In 1955, the university began offering graduate degree programs.

Today, Chalon is home to the university's traditional baccalaureate programs, offering more than 35 academic majors and minors. The most popular majors are: nursing, pre-nursing, psychology, biology, sociology, and business.

The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media is located at the university.

Doheny campus
The university grew to two campuses in 1962 when it was given 20 acre, holding two city blocks of Queen Anne style and Victorian mansions, in Los Angeles next to the University of Southern California. The property was formerly owned by Edward L. Doheny and his wife, the Countess Estelle Doheny, who made their fortune in oil. The Chester Place residences were built at the turn of the century by Judge Charles Silent. The university named the campus after the Countess Doheny and her husband. Because of the Countess's desire for privacy, the Dohenys purchased all the adjacent houses and made it into a private street. The West Adams campus is located in one of the oldest neighborhoods of the city.

The Doheny campus first played host to the university's Associate in Arts program when it opened in 1962. Forty years later, in 2002, the university began its first doctoral degree, in physical therapy, which joined the other graduate programs now offered at the Doheny campus.

In 1992, the university launched its Weekend and Evening College program at the Chalon campus, which primarily focuses on providing working professionals the opportunity to complete their undergraduate degrees within four years by attending classes scheduled on weekends. The Weekend and Evening College program moved to the Doheny campus in 2006, joining a number of courses for the associate and graduate programs offered at Doheny on weekday evenings and on weekends, furthering the idea of accessibility introduced by Weekend and Evening College.

Doheny is home to the university's associate, daytime and evening graduate programs, Weekend and Evening College (undergraduate and graduate), and educational credential programs.

Demographics
The student body is 90 percent female and 10 percent male.

Alumni

 * Barbara S. Jones, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
 * Sonia Nazario (Honorary, 2010), journalist known for her work at Los Angeles Times
 * Callista Roy, American nun, nursing theorist, professor, and author. Known for creating the adaptation model of nursing.

Faculty

 * María Pilar Aquino, former professor of theology
 * Gary James Jason, former instructor

In the media
Because of its isolated location and scenic vistas and architecture, a number of movies and television shows have filmed on either the Doheny or Chalon campus of the university.