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This school opened its doors in 1952 as the San Diego College for Women. It is now a private Roman Catholic university with an enrollment of 5,741. The campus sits near Alcala Park, which overlooks Mission Bay and much of San Diego.
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The University of San Diego has received some significant contributions from some well-known names. Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, endowed the school with $25 million for what is now the Joan Kroc School of Peace Studies. Jenny Craig, the weight-loss tycoon, also contributed enough to have the school's athletic arena-Jenny Craig Pavilion-named after her.
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Famous alumni include: Greg Sherman, general manager of the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League; Theo Epstein, president of baseball operations for the World Series champion Chicago Cubs; Kris Bryant, baseball's most valuable player from the Chicago Cubs; and actor Jim Parsons, who portrays Sheldon Cooper on the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory."
4
The Toreros, which means bullfighter, competed at the NCAA Division III level from 1973 to 1992 until it moved to the Division I level in 1993. The 1992 men's soccer team reached the national championship game. The school's lone national championship came from women's tennis player Zuzana Lesenarova.
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Football began at San Diego in 1956, playing as an independent and even as a club team for four seasons until 1972. In 20 seasons at the NCAA Division III level, San Diego has 10 winning seasons. Since playing at the Division I level for the last 23 seasons, San Diego has had 15 winning records-including two 11-1 seasons in 2005 and 2006 when the Toreros were coached by Jim Harbaugh, now the head coach at the University of Michigan.
