Columbia University, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, is one of the top academic and research institutions in the world. The university strives to provide distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in various academic and professional fields. Originally called King's College, Columbia University was founded in 1754 by the royal charter of King George II of England. It is generally renowned as the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the U.S. Unique in its concentration on teaching and research, the university had flourished from a schoolhouse to a respected academic village in New York. Today, the university includes two campuses - the historic, neoclassical campus in the Morningside Heights neighborhood and the modern Medical Center in Washington Heights. Columbia encompasses undergraduate education through the three undergraduate schools at the Morningside Heights campus - Columbia College, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the School of General Studies. Post-graduate education programs are conducted in its 13 graduate and professional schools and a school of continuing education. Columbia University Medical Center includes graduate schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and public health, as well as the hospital. Barnard College and Jewish Theological Seminary are the two affiliated institutions of the university. Research programs in medicine, science, arts, and humanities are offered. The university's central administration offices and the visitor’s center are located at Low Memorial Library, named in honor of the father of Seth Low - the president of the university in 1890. Found to the north of the library is Pupin Hall, which was designated as a national historic landmark in 1966. Butler Library, the university’s main library, is at the southern side of the campus. The campus also comprises student residences, a chapel, Alfred Lerner Hall (the student center), an expansive plaza (gathering place), and classroom buildings. In addition to the New York campus, the university has two outside facilities - Nevis Laboratories in Irvington and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisade. Nevis focuses on the study of high-energy experimental particle and nuclear physics, whereas Lamont-Doherty is a leading research institution concentrating on global climate change, earthquakes, volcanoes, nonrenewable resources, and environmental hazards.