Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Its medical program graduated 8,000 physicians by 1859. Transylvania's name, meaning "across the woods" in Latin, stems from the university's founding in the heavily forested region of western Virginia known as the Transylvania Colony, which existed briefly between 1775 and 1776 in south and western Kentucky. Transylvania is the alma mater of two U.S. vice presidents, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, 50 U.S. senators, 101 U.S. representatives, 36 U.S. governors, 34 U.S. ambassadors, and the Confederate president, making it a large producer of U.S. statesmen. History Transylvania was the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains, and was named for the Colony of Transylvania, Latin for 'across the woods', which aimed to educate good citizens. Thomas Jefferson was governor of Virginia when the Virginia Assembly chartered Transylvania Seminary in 1780, before Kentucky was separated out as its own state. Its first sponsor was the Christ Church Cathedral's (Episcopal Church) rector, the Reverend Moore, although the school later became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Originally situated in a log cabin in Boyle County, Kentucky, the school moved to Lexington in 1789. The first site in Lexington was a single building in what is now the historic Gratz Park. By 1799, the institution was called Transylvania University. By 1818, a new main building was constructed for students' classes. That building burned down in 1829, and the school was moved to its present location north of Third Street. Old Morrison, the only campus building at the time, was constructed 1830–34, under the supervision of Henry Clay, who both taught law and was a member of Transylvania's Board. After 1818, the university included a medical school, a law school, a divinity school, and a college of arts and sciences. An institution that aided in the development of today's Transylvania University was Bacon College of Georgetown – named after Sir Francis Bacon – which would, for a brief time, be known as Kentucky University. This school was not affiliated with the modern University of Kentucky. Founded by Disciples of Christ churches in Kentucky, Bacon College operated from 1837 to 1851. It was also distinct from nearby Georgetown College, a Disciples of Christ-supported