{{Short description|Technology university in Inglewood, California (1946–1991)}} {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Infobox college | name = Northrop University | former_name = Northrop Aeronautical Institute (1942 to March 1959)<br />Northrop Institute of Technology (March 1959 to 1974) | image = File:The_crest_of_Northrop_University.png | image_upright = 0.90 | type = Private | established = November 1945 | closed = 1991 | founder = Jack Northrop | parent = Northrop Aircraft | accreditation = Western Association of Schools and Colleges | officer_in_charge = James L. McKinley, director (1946) | president = B.J. Shell (1972-1989)<br />John Beljan (1989-1991) | address = 1108 West Arbor Vitae Street | city = Inglewood | state = California | postalcode = 90306 | country = United States | campus_size = {{Convert|18|acre}} }} '''Northrop University''', formerly '''Northrop Institute of Technology''' and '''Northrop Aeronautical Institute''', was a private for-profit college in Inglewood, California, focused on aviation, engineering, science, mathematics, and computing. It was established in the 1940s as one of the earliest examples of a corporate university.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xK2hxNDjmysC&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA6 |title=The Corporate University Handbook: Designing, Managing, and Growing a Successful Program |date=2002 |publisher=AMACOM |isbn=978-0-8144-0711-0 |page=6 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> It operated from 1946 to 1991.<ref name=":8">{{cite Almanac FS|section=closed-institutions|organization=Northrup University|date=August 5, 2003|access-date=September 10, 2023}}</ref><ref name=":18">{{Cite web |title=Northrop Rice Aviation Institute of Technology – online learning for aviation maintenance |url=https://nrait.edu/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |language=en-US}}</ref>

== History ==

Toward the end of 1940, Northrop Aircraft Corporation started a training program for airplane mechanics who would, then, work in its manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, California.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YEEDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA288 |title=Northrop: An Aeronautical History |date=2016-06-29 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-0356-3 |page=16 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1942, Northrop Aircraft started a program called Department 95 that provided technical training exclusively for military personnel during World War II.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Lord |first=Paul A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YJZ3jMMk1MC&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA899 |title=Aerospace Engineering Education During the First Century of Flight |date=2004 |publisher=American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics |isbn=978-1-56347-710-2 |editor-last=McCormick |editor-first=Barnes Warnock |page=899 |language=en |chapter=Aerospace Engineering at Northrop University |editor-last2=Newberry |editor-first2=Conrad F. |editor-last3=Jumper |editor-first3=Eric |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Fred |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-YEEDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA288 |title=Northrop: An Aeronautical History |date=2016-06-29 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-5326-0356-3 |page=82 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> It was overseen by Jack Northrop and James L. McKenley.<ref name=":12" />

After the war, John Northrop formed the Northrop Aeronautical Institute because he recognized the shortage of master mechanics, airline maintenance specialists, and aeronautical engineers for civilian aviation.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1946-01-02 |title=Northrop Aircraft Inc. Announces the Establishment of the Northrop Aeronautical Institute |pages=100 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-northrop-aircraft/131540562/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Classes started through home study in January 1946 and expanded to on-site in June 1946.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://northropstudentrecords.org/history/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=Northrop University Student Records}}</ref> The school targeted male students, mostly veterans of the war, as well as employees of Northrop Aircraft.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |date=1946-01-14 |title=Public Housing Agency Named at Hawthorne |pages=14 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-public-housing-age/131540972/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> The first semester has 412 students, with 750 students by the end of the academic year.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":13" /> The school admitted 1,000 students in its second year.<ref name=":13" />

Its first director was James L. McKinley.<ref name=":4" /> Charles Edward Chapel became its research and development director in 1946.<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |date=1946-03-10 |title=Iowan an Expert in Many Fields |pages=29 |work=The Gazette |location=Cedar Rapids, Iowa |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-iowan-an-expert-in-many-fiel/131541471/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Its 80 faculty included employees of Nortrup Corporation and, eventually, alumni of the school.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":13" />thumb|August 1975 Convocation Northrop UniversityIn May 1953, Northrop Aircraft decided to sell the school so it could focus on producing airplanes.<ref name=":13" /> The Northrop Aeronautical Institute merged with California Flyers, a school in Inglewood, and became an independent, for-profit college.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=1991-05-10 |title=Northrop University to Drop Degree Programs, Cut Faculty |pages=548 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-northrop-universit/131562645/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":13" /> In March 1959, the school announced its new name, Northrop Institute of Technology, and the start of its bachelor of science curriculum.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1959-03-24 |title=Northrop Offering Degrees in Science |pages=16 |work=Los Angeles Mirror |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-mirror-northrop-offering-deg/131540057/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

It became Northrop University in 1974 and offered master's degrees.<ref name=":1" /> The university's mission statement was "to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education. We investigate the most challenging, fundamental problems in science and technology in a singularly collegial, interdisciplinary atmosphere while educating outstanding students to become creative members of society."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mission Statement |url=https://northropstudentrecords.org/missionstatement/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=Northrop University Student Records}}</ref> By 1977, the university had nearly 14,000 graduates in its aviation program.<ref name=":14">{{Cite journal |date=September 1977 |title=Times Have Changed... |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOUUuRXEFmoC&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA133 |journal=Flying Magazine |volume=101 |issue=3 |page=133 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

In 1989, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges accused the university of improprieties in bookkeeping, credits, and the recruitment of foreign students.<ref name=":7" /> This threatened the school's accreditation with that agency.<ref name=":7" /> B.J. Shell who had been the university's president for seventeen years, stepped down.<ref name=":7" /> John Beljan, previously the provost of California State University, became interim president.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gordon |first=Larry Gordon |date=1989-09-23 |title=Northrop U. Hires Provost From Cal State Long Beach |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-23-mn-653-story.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite Beljan's successful rescue of the school's accreditation, student enrollment dropped from 1,800 to 928 in 1991.<ref name=":15">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lw12DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA235 |title=American Universities and Colleges |date=2014-10-08 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-085048-2 |page=California 235 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=":7" />

In 1990, James and Alice Rice purchased Northrop University and merged it with Rice Aviation, establishing Northrop Rice USA.<ref name=":18" /> In May 1991, Northrop University announced that it was ending its degree programs and cutting the related staff due to low enrollment and financial problems.<ref name=":7" /> Students in its degree-based programs were assisted in transferring to other institutions after the June 1991 semester.<ref name=":7" /> At this time, the Inglewood campus was closed.<ref name=":18" />

Northrop Rice USA established the Northrop Rice Aviation Institute of Technology which offered training in avionics, helicopter maintenance, and technical training.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":18" /> Starting in 1998, Northrop Rice Aviation Institute was sold several times, passing from Redstone College to Crimson College and to Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology. As of 2023, the latter operates the Northrop Rice Aviation Institute of Technology as an online aviation maintenance training program.<ref name=":18" /> On September 12, 2022, it started offering advanced training in person at Ellington Field in Houston, Texas'''.'''<ref name=":18" />

==Campus== thumb|Northrop University Campus Arbor Vitae St. Sep. 1986 Northrop Aeronautical Institute was originally located in the Northrop Aircraft plant at 1637 East Broadway at Northrop Field in Hawthorne, Los Angeles County, California.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":16">Lord, Paul A. (2004). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=-YJZ3jMMk1MC&q=northrop Aerospace Engineering at Northrop University]". In McCormick, Barnes Warnock; Newberry, Conrad F.; Jumper, Eric (eds.). ''Aerospace Engineering Education During the First Century of Flight''. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. p.&nbsp;900. {{ISBN|978-1-56347-710-2}}.</ref> It consisted of three purpose-built structures: a main building that included administration, classrooms, and engineering drafting rooms; a building for laboratories; and a building with modern shops/<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=1946-02-20 |title=New Aviation School |pages=18 |work=The Pomona Progress Bulletin |location=Pomona, California |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pomona-progress-bulletin-new-aviatio/131541322/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In January 1946, Northrop purchased a former Army barracks that had been temporarily installed on property owned by the City of Los Angeles and relocated it to property adjacent to Northrop Aircraft to use as dormitories for 150 to 170 students.<ref name=":3" /> thumb|Northrop University Alumni Library Sep 1986 After it was sold and merged, the school moved to 5800 West Arbor Vitae Street in Inglewood, California near the Los Angeles airport in 1953.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 1979 |title=On the Job with... Tony Owen '66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAqTx6B4BfMC&dq=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA28 |journal=Flying Magazine |volume=6 |issue=104 |page=28 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=":14" /> Its School of Law was located at 1108 West Arbor Vitae Street in Los Angeles, California.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEWwAAAAIAAJ&q=%22Northrop+University%22+-wikipedia |title=Northrop University Law Journal of Aerospace, Energy and the Environment |date=1985 |publisher=School of Law, Northrop University |volume=5 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> By 1977, the campus consisted of eighteen acres.<ref name=":14" />

The Central Coast Institute of Technology was founded in Santa Barbara in 1978 and was accredited as a satellite campus of Northrop University in 1979.

==Academics==

=== Curriculum === When it opened, Northrop Aeronautical Institute specialized in aeronautical engineering and training for airline maintenance mechanics.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |date=1945-12-20 |title=New Air School |pages=6 |work=The Bull Horn |location=Norman, Oklahoma |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bull-horn-new-air-school/131540472/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> It offered a two-year aeronautical engineering technician associate's degree, an A & E master airplane and engineer mechanic program, and fifty-week certificate programs for engine mechanics, airline maintenance specialists, and airplane and engine maintenance workers.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":16" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":14" /> A 1946 ad, claimed, "The Northrop Aeronautical Institute brings to aviation training completely new standards."<ref name=":2" />

In March 1959, the school's program expanded to include a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering, reflecting the industry's need for space engineers.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7" /> In 1975, it offered bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting, aeronautical sciences, business administration and management, computer science, electrical engineering, design engineering project management, and mechanical engineering.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":11" /> It also added business and law schools.<ref name=":7" /><ref>"[https://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/s/login/?startURL=%2FLinkClick.aspx%3Ffileticket%3D6RVkwHtxTM0%253D%26tabid%3D2269 California State Bar, General Statistics Report, July 2001 California Bar Examination]". Archived from the original on 2012-04-05. Retrieved 2012-06-19.</ref><ref name=":11" /><ref>Lord, Paul A. (2004). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=-YJZ3jMMk1MC&q=northrop Aerospace Engineering at Northrop University]". In McCormick, Barnes Warnock; Newberry, Conrad F.; Jumper, Eric (eds.). ''Aerospace Engineering Education During the First Century of Flight''. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. p.&nbsp;903. {{ISBN|978-1-56347-710-2}}</ref> The Law School published the ''Northrop University Law Journal of Aerospace, Energy and the Environment'' and the ''Northrop University Law Journal of Aerospace, Business, and Taxation.''<ref name=":17" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EkawAAAAIAAJ |title=Northrop University Law Journal of Aerospace, Business, and Taxation |date=1988 |publisher=School of Law, Northrop University |volume=8 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=":15" /> The latter started in 1979 and was published annually.<ref name=":15" />

Starting in 1978, it offered bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical sciences, computer science, electrical, mechanical, and systems engineering programs at its satellite campus at Central Coast Institute of Technology. In 1991, the university issued 309 master's degrees and 189 baccalaureate degrees.<ref name=":15" />

=== Admissions === In the fall of 1991, the freshman class included students from 29 states and 53 countries; 25 percent were from California.<ref name=":15" /> The freshmen had a mean SAT score of 500 verbal and 500 math.<ref name=":15" /> Sixty percent of applicants were accepted.<ref name=":15" /> Total students that year included 755 full-time and 173 part-time.<ref name=":15" />

=== Accreditation and honors === The university was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in 1960.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":15" />

=== Library and museum === In 1991, the university's library consisted of 66,135 books, 75,871 government documents, 100,000 microforms, and 980 audiovisual materials.<ref name=":15" /> The library subscribed to 400 periodicals.<ref name=":15" /> The campus also included a Law Library.<ref name=":15" />

In 1975, Jack Northrop made a significant donation to create the American Hall of Aviation, a museum that became part of the library's collection.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":15" /> The museum included the David D. Hatfield Collection of Aviation History which was the largest collection of aviation history ever to be displayed at a single location, including more than 500,000 objects.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":14" />

== Student life ==

=== Housing === In 1991, fifteen percent of students lived on campus in dormitories.<ref name=":15" />

=== Organizations and activities === Northrop University was home to three social fraternities.<ref name=":8" /> Alpha Epsilon Rho was a local fraternity established in 1963.<ref name=":8" /> In 1968, Alpha Epsilon Rho became a chapter of the national fraternity Tau Kappa Epsilon that was active at the university through 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Find a Chapter {{!}} Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity |url=https://www.tke.org/find-a-chapter |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.tke.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":8" /> in addition, the national fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon was active there from 1972 to 1976.<ref name=":8" />

The university also had a chapter of Alpha Eta Rho, a professional college aviation fraternity, that was chartered in March 1960.<ref>{{Bairds17|pages=498–499}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-26 |title=Chapters - Alpha Eta Rho |url=http://www.alphaetarho.org/chapters |access-date=2023-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226014800/http://www.alphaetarho.org/chapters |archive-date=2014-02-26 }}</ref> Its chapter of the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi was chartered in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-07-23 |title=Information Book Chapters and Districts |url=http://www.tbp.org/pages/About/InformationBook/ChapDist.cfm |access-date=2023-09-12 |website=Tau Beta Pi |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723232621/http://www.tbp.org/pages/About/InformationBook/ChapDist.cfm |archive-date=2008-07-23 |via=web.archive.org}}</ref>

Army, Navy, and Air Force ROTC were offered through UCLA Extension the University of Southern California, and Loyola Marymount University, respectively.<ref name=":15" />

Student publications included ''LOG'', a weekly newspaper.

=== Sports === Students at Northrop University formed a Sepak takraw or kick volleyball in 1986. Malaysia Airlines sponsored the team to represent the United States at the national tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 1987; the Northrop team came in first place.<ref name=":10">''Northrop University Magazine,'' December 1987, vol 3, no. 4.</ref>

== Popular culture ==

* Northrop University loaned its GE turbojet engine for the jet car sequences in the film ''The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'' (1984).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Murphy |first=Sean |date=June 10, 2016 |title=What do we know about the Jet Car? |url=https://www.figmentfly.com/bb/institute4.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.figmentfly.com}}</ref> * The first accounts of organized Sepak takraw in the United States were at Northrop University where Malaysian students formed a team in 1986.<ref name=":10" />

== Notable alumni ==

* Forrest Bird (ScD), aviator, inventor, and biomedical engineer * Tim Brummer, winner of the Abbott Prize and co-founder of Lightning Cycle Dynamics while still a student at Northrop<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last1=Hadland |first1=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CuoxAwAAQBAJ&dq=Lightning&pg=PA489 |title=Bicycle Design: An Illustrated History |last2=Lessing |first2=Hans-Erhard |date=2014-03-28 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-32222-5 |page=489 |language=en |via=Google Books}}</ref> * Robbyanto Budiman (MBA), Indonesian businessman<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robbyanto Budiman, Wahana Ottomitra Multiartha PT: Profile and Biography |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/15067716 |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Bloomberg.com |language=en}}</ref> * Bob Citron (Aerospace engineering, 1959), entrepreneur and aerospace engineer<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Citron, Private Space Pioneer, Dies at 79 – |url=https://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/news/robert-citron-private-space-pioneer-dies-79/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.spacesafetymagazine.com}}</ref> * Chris Dreike, co-founder of Lightning Cycle Dynamics while still a student at Northrop<ref name=":9" /> * Chu Fong-chi, Taiwanese politician who served in the Legislative Yuan * Don Guichard, co-founder of Lightning Cycle Dynamics while still a student at Northrop<ref name=":9" /> * Ed Horstman (BS Aeronautical Engineering), naval architect and multihull sailboat designer * Ray Jardine (Aerospace Engineering, 1963) rock climber who the first to free climb the ''West Face'' of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley * Lin Ling‑san (MS), Minister of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-12-17 |title=Taiwan Review - The New Cabinet |url=http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1067&CtNode=1347 |access-date=2023-09-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217231629/http://taiwanreview.nat.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=1067&CtNode=1347 |archive-date=2013-12-17 }}</ref> * Anthony S. Manera (BS Electronics Engineering, 1963), President of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation * Carolyn L. Mazloomi, curator, quilter, author, art historian, and aerospace engineer * Francis M. McDaniel Jr., South Dakota House of Representatives<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2018 |title=Obituary for Francis Marion McDaniel at Kinkade Funeral Chapel |url=https://www.kinkadefunerals.com/obituary/francis-mcdaniel?lud=3D46F7E29302AC1A2C6A809EE2AD0FEA |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.kinkadefunerals.com |language=en}}</ref> * Emil Notti (BS degree in aeronautical and electrical engineering), 1st President of the Alaska Federation of Natives * Gordon Novel, private investigator and electronics expert * Naveed Qamar (1974, MS Management), member National Assembly of Pakistan, Pakistan Minister for Defence and Pakistan Minister for Finance<ref>{{Cite web |title=Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Defence |url=http://202.83.164.25/wps/portal/Mod/!ut/p/c0/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_hQN68AZ3dnIwML82BTAyNXTz9jE0NfQwNLE_2CbEdFACM6vXU!/ |access-date=September 10, 2023 |website=Ministry of Defense, Government of Pakistan |via=Archive.today}}{{dead link|date=February 2024|bot=medic}}</ref> * Jack Real (Honorary 1985), aerospace pioneer * Shawn Steel (J.D.) , Republican National Committeeman from California and former chairman of the California Republican Party * Suphajee Suthumpun (master's degree in business administration), CEO of the hotel business Dusit International<ref>{{Cite web |title=Suphajee Suthumpun Net Worth (2023) – wallmine.com |url=https://wallmine.com/otc/kpcpy/officer/2096787/suphajee-suthumpun |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=wallmine.com |language=en}}</ref> and Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand * Ray Swanson, painter of the American West * Jim Thelle, ERAU Asst. Professor, Airline Engineering Management, Entrepreneur * Gerald Wiegert, automotive engineer and founder of Vector Motors * Muhammad Mian Soomro, Ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan

== Notable faculty == * Amanie Abdelmessih, mechanical engineer<ref>{{cite web|url=https://calbaptist.edu/faculty-directory/faculty-profile?id=301|title=Amanie Abdelmessih, Ph.D.|work=Faculty directory|publisher=California Baptist University|access-date=2025-07-19}}</ref> * Charles Edward Chapel, politician and noted technical writer<ref name=":6" /> * Knut Hagrup, Norwegian aviator * John Northrop, aircraft industrialist and designer who founded the Northrop Corporation

== References == {{Reflist}}

Category:Northrop University alumni Category:Private universities and colleges in California Category:1945 establishments in California Category:Universities and colleges in the United States established in 1945 Category:Defunct private universities and colleges in California Category:Aviation education Category:Defunct law schools in California