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A rational voter model described by Myerson and Weber specifies an approval strategy that votes for those candidates that have a positive prospective rating. This strategy is optimal in the sense that it maximizes the voter's expected utility, subject to the constraints of the model and provided the number of other voters is sufficiently large. An optimal approval vote always votes for the most preferred candidate and not for the least preferred candidate, which is a dominant strategy. An optimal vote can require supporting one candidate and not voting for a more preferred candidate if there 4 candidates or more, e.g. the third and fourth choices are correlated to gain or lose decisive votes together; however, such situations are inherently unstable, suggesting such strategy should be rare. Other strategies are also available and coincide with the optimal strategy in special situations. For example: Strategy examples. In the example election described , assume that the voters in each faction share the following von Neumann–Morgenstern utilities, fitted to the interval between 0 and 100. The utilities are consistent with the rankings given earlier and reflect a strong preference each faction has for choosing its city, compared to weaker preferences for other factors such as the distance to the other cities.
Using these utilities, voters choose their optimal strategic votes based on what they think the various pivot probabilities are for pairwise ties. In each of the scenarios summarized below, all voters share a common set of pivot probabilities. In the first scenario, voters all choose their votes based on the assumption that all pairwise ties are equally likely. As a result, they vote for any candidate with an above-average utility. Most voters vote for only their first choice. Only the Knoxville faction also votes for its second choice, Chattanooga. As a result, the winner is Memphis, the Condorcet loser, with Chattanooga coming in second place. In this scenario, the winner has minority approval (more voters disapproved than approved) and all the others had even less support, reflecting the position that no choice gave an above-average utility to a majority of voters. In the second scenario, all of the voters expect that Memphis is the likely winner, that Chattanooga is the likely runner-up, and that the pivot probability for a Memphis-Chattanooga tie is much larger than the pivot probabilities of any other pair-wise ties. As a result, each voter votes for any candidate they prefer more than the leading candidate, and also vote for the leading candidate if they prefer that candidate more than the expected runner-up. Each remaining scenario follows a similar pattern of expectations and voting strategies.
In the second scenario, there is a three-way tie for first place. This happens because the expected winner, Memphis, was the Condorcet loser and was also ranked last by any voter that did not rank it first. Only in the last scenario does the actual winner and runner-up match the expected winner and runner-up. As a result, this can be considered a stable strategic voting scenario. In the language of game theory, this is an "equilibrium." In this scenario, the winner is also the Condorcet winner. Dichotomous cutoff. Modeling voters with a 'dichotomous cutoff' assumes a voter has an immovable approval cutoff, while having meaningful cardinal preferences. This means that rather than voting for their top 3 candidates, or all candidates above the average approval, they instead vote for all candidates above a certain approval 'cutoff' that they have decided. This cutoff does not change, regardless of which and how many candidates are running, so when all available alternatives are either above or below the cutoff, the voter votes for all or none of the candidates, despite preferring some over others. This could be imagined to reflect a case where many voters become disenfranchised and apathetic if they see no candidates they approve of. In a case such as this, many voters may have an internal cutoff, and would not simply vote for their top 3, or the above average candidates.
For example, in this scenario, voters are voting for candidates with approval above 50% (bold signifies that the voters voted for the candidate): C wins with 65% of the voters' approval, beating B with 60%, D with 40% and A with 35% If voters' threshold for receiving a vote is that the candidate has an above average approval, or they vote for their two most approved of candidates, this is not a dichotomous cutoff, as this can change if candidates drop out. On the other hand, if voters' threshold for receiving a vote is fixed (say 50%), this is a dichotomous cutoff, and satisfies IIA as shown below: B now wins with 60%, beating C with 55% and D with 40% With dichotomous cutoff, C still wins. B now wins with 70%, beating C and A with 65% With dichotomous cutoff, C still wins. Compliance with voting system criteria. Most of the mathematical criteria by which voting systems are compared were formulated for voters with ordinal preferences. In this case, approval voting requires voters to make an additional decision of where to put their approval cutoff (see examples above). Depending on how this decision is made, approval satisfies different sets of criteria. There is no ultimate authority on which criteria should be considered, but the following are criteria that many voting theorists accept and consider desirable: See also. Some variants and generalizations of approval voting are:
Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States. It was one of about 180 "normal schools" founded in the late 19th century to train teachers for the rapidly growing public common schools. Some closed, but most steadily expanded their role and became state colleges in the early 20th century, then state universities in the late 20th century. One of three universities governed by the Arizona Board of Regents, Arizona State University is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". ASU has over 183,000 students attending classes, with more than 74,000 students attending online, and 142,000 undergraduates and over 41,000 postgraduates across its four campuses and four regional learning centers throughout Arizona. ASU offers more than 400 undergraduate degree programs from its 16 colleges and over 170 cross-discipline centers and institutes for students. It also offers more than 450 graduate degree and certificate programs.
The Arizona State Sun Devils compete in 26 varsity-level sports in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big 12 Conference. Sun Devil teams have won 165 national championships, including 24 NCAA trophies. 179 Sun Devils have made Olympic teams, winning 60 Olympic medals: 25 gold, 12 silver and 23 bronze. ASU had more than 5,000 faculty members. This included 5 Nobel laureates, 11 MacArthur Fellows, 10 Pulitzer Prize winners, 11 National Academy of Engineering members, 26 National Academy of Sciences members, 28 American Academy of Arts and Sciences members, 41 Guggenheim fellows, 163 National Endowment for the Humanities fellows, and 289 Fulbright Program American Scholars. History. 1885–1929. Arizona State University was established as the Territorial Normal School at Tempe on March 12, 1885, when the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature passed an act to create a normal school to train teachers for the Arizona Territory. The campus consisted of a single, four-room schoolhouse on a 20-acre plot largely donated by Tempe residents George and Martha Wilson. Classes began with 33 students on February 8, 1886. The curriculum evolved over the years and the name was changed several times; the institution was also known as Tempe Normal School of Arizona (1889–1903), Tempe Normal School (1903–1925), Tempe State Teachers College (1925–1929), Arizona State Teachers College (1929–1945), Arizona State College (1945–1958) and, by a 2–1 margin of the state's voters, Arizona State University in 1958.
In 1923, the school stopped offering high school courses and added a high school diploma to the admissions requirements. In 1925, the school became the Tempe State Teachers College and offered four-year Bachelor of Education degrees as well as two-year teaching certificates. In 1929, the 9th Arizona State Legislature authorized Bachelor of Arts in Education degrees as well, and the school was renamed the Arizona State Teachers College. Under the 30-year tenure of president Arthur John Matthews (1900–1930), the school was given all-college student status. The first dormitories built in the state were constructed under his supervision in 1902. Of the 18 buildings constructed while Matthews was president, six are still in use. Matthews envisioned an "evergreen campus", with many shrubs brought to the campus, and implemented the planting of 110 Mexican Fan Palms on what is now known as Palm Walk, a century-old landmark of the Tempe campus. During the Great Depression, Ralph Waldo Swetman was hired to succeed President Matthews, coming to Arizona State Teachers College in 1930 from Humboldt State Teachers College where he had served as president. He served a three-year term, during which he focused on improving teacher-training programs. During his tenure, enrollment at the college doubled, topping the 1,000 mark for the first time. Matthews also conceived of a self-supported summer session at the school at Arizona State Teachers College, a first for the school. 1930–1989.
In 1933, Grady Gammage, then president of Arizona State Teachers College at Flagstaff, became president of Arizona State Teachers College at Tempe, beginning a tenure that would last for nearly 28 years, second only to Swetman's 30 years at the college's helm. Like President Porter Eric Gasvoda before him, Gammage oversaw the construction of several buildings on the Tempe campus. He also guided the development of the university's graduate programs; the first Master of Arts in Education was awarded in 1938, the first Doctor of Education degree in 1954 and 10 non-teaching master's degrees were approved by the Arizona Board of Regents in 1956. During his presidency, the school's name was changed to Arizona State College in 1945, and finally to Arizona State University in 1958. At the time, two other names were considered: Tempe University and State University at Tempe. Among Gammage's greatest achievements in Tempe was the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed construction of what is Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium/ASU Gammage. One of the university's hallmark buildings, ASU Gammage was completed in 1964, five years after the president's (and Wright's) death.
Gammage was succeeded by Harold D. Richardson, who had served the school earlier in a variety of roles beginning in 1939, including director of graduate studies, college registrar, dean of instruction, dean of the College of Education and academic vice president. Although filling the role of acting president of the university for just nine months (Dec. 1959 to Sept. 1960), Richardson laid the groundwork for the future recruitment and appointment of well-credentialed research science faculty. By the 1960s, under G. Homer Durham, the university's 11th president, ASU began to expand its curriculum by establishing several new colleges and, in 1961, the Arizona Board of Regents authorized doctoral degree programs in six fields, including Doctor of Philosophy. By the end of his nine-year tenure, ASU had more than doubled enrollment, reporting 23,000 in 1969. The next three presidents—Harry K. Newburn (1969–71), John W. Schwada (1971–81) and J. Russell Nelson (1981–89), including and Interim President Richard Peck (1989)—led the university to increased academic stature, the establishment of the ASU West Valley campus in 1984 and its subsequent construction in 1986, a focus on computer-assisted learning and research, and rising enrollment. 1990–present.
Under the leadership of Lattie F. Coor, president from 1990 to 2002, ASU grew through the creation of the Polytechnic campus and extended education sites. Increased commitment to diversity, quality in undergraduate education, research, and economic development occurred over his 12-year tenure. Part of Coor's legacy to the university was a successful fundraising campaign: through private donations, more than $500 million was invested in areas that would significantly impact the future of ASU. Among the campaign's achievements were the naming and endowing of Barrett, The Honors College, and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts; the creation of many new endowed faculty positions; and hundreds of new scholarships and fellowships. In 2002, Michael M. Crow became the university's 16th president. At his inauguration, he outlined his vision for transforming ASU into a "New American University"—one that would be open and inclusive, and set a goal for the university to meet Association of American Universities criteria and to become a member. Crow initiated the idea of transforming ASU into "One university in many places"—a single institution comprising several campuses, sharing students, faculty, staff and accreditation. Subsequent reorganizations combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced staff and administration as the university expanded its West Valley and Polytechnic campuses. ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus was also expanded, with several colleges and schools relocating there. The university established learning centers throughout the state, including the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City and programs in Thatcher, Yuma, and Tucson. Students at these centers can choose from several ASU degree and certificate programs.
During Crow's tenure, and aided by hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, ASU began a years-long research facility capital building effort that led to the establishment of the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, and several large interdisciplinary research buildings. Along with the research facilities, the university faculty was expanded, including the addition of five Nobel Laureates. Since 2002, the university's research expenditures have tripled and more than 1.5 million square feet of space has been added to the university's research facilities. The economic downturn that began in 2008 took a particularly hard toll on Arizona, resulting in large cuts to ASU's budget. In response to these cuts, ASU capped enrollment, closed some four dozen academic programs, combined academic departments, consolidated colleges and schools, and reduced university faculty, staff and administrators; with an economic recovery underway in 2011, however, the university continued its campaign to expand the West Valley and Polytechnic Campuses, and establish a low-cost, teaching-focused extension campus in Lake Havasu City. As of 2011, an article in "Slate" reported that, "the bottom line looks good", noting that:
On May 1, 2014, ASU was listed as one of fifty-five higher education institutions under investigation by the Office of Civil Rights "for possible violations of federal law over the handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints" by Barack Obama's White House Task Force To Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The publicly announced investigation followed two Title IX suits. In July 2014, a group of at least nine current and former students who alleged they were harassed or assaulted asked the federal investigation be expanded. In August 2014 ASU president Michael Crow appointed a task force comprising faculty and staff, students, and members of the university police force to review the university's efforts to address sexual violence. Crow accepted the recommendations of the task force in November 2014. In 2015, the Thunderbird School of Global Management became the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU. Partnerships for education and research with Mayo Clinic established collaborative degree programs in health care and law, and shared administrator positions, laboratories and classes at the Mayo Clinic Arizona campus.
The Beus Center for Law and Society, the new home of ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, opened in fall 2016 on the Downtown Phoenix campus, relocating faculty and students from the Tempe campus to the state capital. In September 2024, ASU announced several cuts in response to state budget cuts, including the closure of the Lake Havasu City campus, a reduction of the Arizona Teachers Academy and the addition of a "tuition surcharge." Organization and administration. The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) governs Arizona State University as well as the state's other public universities; University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University. The board is composed of 12 members including 11 who are voting members, and one non-voting member. Members of the board include the state governor and superintendent of public instruction acting as ex-officio members, eight volunteer Regents members with eight-year terms who are appointed by the governor, and two student regents, each with two-year terms, and each serving a one-year term as non-voting apprentices. ABOR provides policy guidance to the state universities of Arizona. ASU has four campuses in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, including the Tempe campus in Tempe; the West Valley campus in Glendale; the Downtown Phoenix campus; and the Polytechnic campus in Mesa. ASU also offers courses and degrees through ASU Online and at the ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City in western Arizona, and offers regional learning programs in Thatcher, Yuma and Tucson.
The Arizona Board of Regents appoints and elects the president of the university, who is considered the institution's chief executive officer and the chief budget officer. The president executes measures enacted by the Board of Regents, controls the university's property, and acts as the university's official representative to the Board of Regents. The chief executive officer is assisted through the administration of the institution by the provost, vice presidents, deans, faculty, directors, department chairs, and other officers. The president also selects and appoints administrative officers and general counsels. The 16th ASU president is Michael M. Crow, who has served since July 1, 2002. Campuses and locations.
In 2018, the Arizona Board of Regents reported that the ASU facilities inventory totaled more than 23 million gross square feet. Tempe campus. ASU's Tempe campus is in downtown Tempe, Arizona, about east of downtown Phoenix. The campus is considered urban, and is approximately in size. It is arranged around broad pedestrian malls and is completely encompassed by an arboretum. The Tempe campus is also the largest of ASU's campuses, with more than 70,000 students enrolled in at least one class on campus in fall 2017. The campus is considered to range from the streets Rural Road on the east to Mill Avenue on the west, and Apache Boulevard on the south to Rio Salado Parkway on the north. The Tempe campus is ASU's original campus, and Old Main, the oldest building on campus, still stands. Today's university and the Tempe campus were founded as the Territorial Normal School when first constructed, and was originally a teachers college. There are many notable landmarks on campus, including Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright; Palm Walk, which is lined by 111 palm trees; Charles Trumbull Hayden Library; the University Club building; Margaret Gisolo Dance Theatre; Arizona State University Art Museum; and University Bridge. Furthermore, the Tempe campus is home to Barrett, The Honors College. In addition, the campus has an extensive public art collection; It was named "the single most impressive venue for contemporary art in Arizona" by "Art in America" magazine. Against the northwest edge of campus is the Mill Avenue district (part of downtown Tempe), which has a college atmosphere that attracts many students to its restaurants and bars. Students also have Tempe Marketplace, a shopping, dining and entertainment center with an outdoor setting near the northeast border of the campus. The Tempe campus is also home to all of the university's athletic facilities.
West Valley campus. Established in 1984 by the Arizona legislature, the West Valley campus sits on in a suburban area of northwest Phoenix. The West Valley campus lies about northwest of Downtown Phoenix, and about northwest of the Tempe campus. The West Valley campus is designated as a Phoenix Point of Pride and is nearly completely powered by a solar array. The campus serves more than 4,000 students enrolled in at least a single course and offers more than 100 degree programs from the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, W. P. Carey School of Business, College of Public Service and Community Solutions, College of Health Solutions, and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation. Polytechnic campus. Founded in 1996 as "ASU East", the ASU Polytechnic campus serves more than 4,800 students and is home to more than 130 bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in professional, technical science, humanities, social science and pre-health programs through the W. P. Carey School of Business/Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, and College of Integrative Sciences and Arts. The campus — a desert arboretum — includes outdoor learning labs and spaces as well as leading-edge simulators and indoor lab spaces to support teaching and research in various fields of study. The campus is in southeast Mesa, Arizona, approximately southeast of the Tempe campus, and southeast of downtown Phoenix. The Polytechnic campus sits on the former Williams Air Force Base and is adjacent to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport and Chandler-Gilbert Community College (Williams campus).
Downtown Phoenix campus. The Downtown Phoenix campus was established in 2006 on the north side of Downtown Phoenix. The campus has an urban design, with several large modern academic buildings intermingled with commercial and retail office buildings. In addition to the new buildings, the campus included the adaptive reuse of several existing structures, including a 1930s era Post Office that is on the National Register of Historic Places. Serving 11,465 students, the campus houses the College of Health Solutions, College of Integrative Science and Arts, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Watts College of Public Service & Community Solutions, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, and Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2013, the campus added the Sun Devil Fitness Center in conjunction with the original YMCA building. ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law relocated from Tempe to the Downtown Phoenix campus in 2016. ASU Colleges at Lake Havasu City. In response to demands for lower-cost public higher education in Arizona, ASU developed the small, undergraduate-only college in Lake Havasu City. ASU Colleges are teaching-focused and provide a selection of popular undergraduate majors. The Lake Havasu City campus offers undergraduate degrees at lower tuition rates than other Arizona research universities and a 15-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio. In September 2024, ASU announced that the campus would close in June 2025 in response to state budget cuts.
ASU Online. ASU Online offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate degree programs through an online platform. The degree programs delivered online hold the same accreditation as the university's traditional face-to-face programs. ASU Online is headquartered at ASU's SkySong campus in Scottsdale, Arizona. ASU Online was ranked in the Top 4 for Best Online Bachelor's Programs by "U.S. News & World Report". Online students are taught by the same faculty and receive the same diploma as on-campus students. ASU online programs allow students to learn in highly interactive environments through student collaboration and through technological personalized learning environments. In April 2015, ASU Online announced a partnership with edX to form a one of a kind program called the Global Freshman Academy. The program is open to all potential students. The students do not need to submit a high school transcript or GPA to apply for the courses. As of spring 2017, more than 25,000 students were enrolled through ASU Online. In June 2014, ASU Online and Starbucks announced a partnership called the Starbucks College Achievement Plan. The Starbucks College Achievement Plan offers all benefits-eligible employees full-tuition coverage when they enroll in any one of ASU Online's undergraduate degree programs.
Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, in collaboration with ASU. In 2016, Mayo Clinic and ASU formed a new platform for health care education and research: the Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care. Beginning in 2017, Mayo Clinic School of Medicine students in Phoenix and Scottsdale are among the first to earn a certificate in the Science of Health Care Delivery, with the option to earn a master's degree in the Science of Health Care Delivery through ASU. Thunderbird Campus. Thunderbird School of Global Management is one of the newest units of "Arizona State University Knowledge Enterprise." The flagship campus was in Glendale, Arizona, at Thunderbird Field No. 1, a former military airfield from which it derives its name, until 2018 when the Thunderbird School relocated to the Downtown area. Barrett and O'Connor Center. Following a nearly 15-year presence in Washington, D.C., through more minor means, ASU opened the Barrett and O'Connor Center in 2018 to solidify the university's contacts with the capital city. The center houses ASU's D.C.-based academic programs, including the Washington Bureau of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law Rule of Law and Governance program, the Capital Scholars program, and the McCain Institute's Next Generation Leaders program, among many others. In addition to hosting classes and internships on-site, special lectures and seminars taught from the Barrett & O'Connor Washington Center are connected to classrooms in Arizona through video-conferencing technology. The Barrett and O'Connor center is located at 1800 I St NW, Washington, DC 20006, close to the White House.
ASU California. ASU operates its "California Center" in Los Angeles at the Herald Examiner Building. The center offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, executive education, workshops and seminars. In 2022, ASU acquired a small nonprofit college, Columbia College Hollywood, and renamed it California College of ASU. In 2023, ASU reached an agreement with the for-profit Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising to take over some of its academic programs, creating ASU FIDM. Academics. Admissions. As of August 2022, ASU had a systemwide enrolled student population (both in-person and online) of 140,759, a 4% increase over the systemwide total in 2021. Out of that total, approximately 79,000 students were enrolled in-person at one of the ASU campuses, an increase of 3.2% from 2021. Just over 61,000 students were enrolled in ASU Online courses and programs as of August 2022, an increase of roughly 7% in online student enrollment from the previous year. According to the "U.S. News & World Report", for the 2022–2023 academic year ASU admitted 88% of all freshman applicants and classified the school's admissions in the “selective” category. The average high school GPA of incoming first-year students for the 2022–23 academic year was 3.54.
Barrett, The Honors College is ranked among the top honors programs in the nation. Although there are no set minimum admissions criteria for Barrett College, the average GPA of Fall 2017 incoming freshmen was 3.78, with an average SAT score of 1380 and an average ACT score of 29. The Honors college has 7,236 students, with 719 National Merit Scholars. ASU enrolls 10,268 international students, 14.3% of the total student population. The international student body represents more than 150 nations. The Institute of International Education ranked ASU as the top public university in the U.S. for hosting international students in 2016–2017. In June 2022, Arizona State University was designated a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI) by the United States Department of Education in recognition of the fact that for the first time in the school's history, during the Fall Semester of 2021 Hispanic students comprised over 25% of the university's total undergraduate enrollment. Academic programs. ASU offers over 350 majors to undergraduate students, and more than 100 graduate programs leading to numerous masters and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts and sciences, design and arts, engineering, journalism, education, business, law, nursing, public policy, technology, and sustainability. These programs are divided into 16 colleges and schools that are spread across ASU's six campuses. ASU also offers the 4+1 accelerated program, which allows students in their senior year to attain their master's degree the following year. The 4+1 accelerated program is not associated with all majors; for example, in the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College the 4+1 accelerated program only works with Education Exploratory majors. ASU uses a plus-minus grading system with highest cumulative GPA awarded of 4.0 (at time of graduation). Arizona State University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. ASU is one of only four universities in the country to offer a certificate in veterans studies.
Rankings. The 2025 "U.S. News & World Report" ratings ranked ASU tied for 121st among universities in the United States and tied for 179th globally. It was also tied for 61st among public universities in the United States, and was ranked 1st among "most innovative schools", tied for 16th in "best undergraduate teaching", 131st in "best value schools", and tied for 191st in "top performers on social mobility" among national universities in the U.S. The innovation ranking, new for 2016, was determined by a poll of top college officials nationwide asking them to name institutions "that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities." ASU is ranked 42nd–56th in the U.S. and 101st–150th in the world among the top 1000 universities in the 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities, and 67th U.S./183rd world by the 2020–21 Center for World University Rankings. "Money" magazine ranked ASU 124th in the country out of 739 schools evaluated for its 2020 "Best Colleges for Your Money" edition. "The Wall Street Journal" ranks ASU 5th in the nation for producing the best-qualified graduates, determined by a nationwide poll of corporate recruiters.
ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been named one of America's top 10 journalism schools by national publications and organizations for more than a decade. The rankings include: College Magazine (10th), Quality Education and Jobs (6th), and International Student (1st). For its efforts as a national leader in campus sustainability, ASU was named one of the top 6 "Cool Schools" by the Sierra Club in 2017, was named one of the Princeton Review's most sustainable schools in 2015 and earned an "A−" grade on the 2011 College Sustainability Green Report Card. Research and Institutes. ASU is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". The university spent $673 million in fiscal year 2020, ranking it 43rd nationally. ASU is a NASA designated national space-grant institute and a member of the Universities Research Association. In 2023, it became a member of the Association of American Universities, an elite organization of 71 research universities in the U.S. and Canada. The university is currently in the top 10 for NASA-funded research expenditures.
The university has raised more than $999 million in external funding, and more than 180 companies based on ASU innovations have been launched through the university's exclusive intellectual property management company, Skysong Innovations. The U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association rank ASU in the top 10 nationally and No. 11 globally for U.S. patents awarded to universities in 2020, along with MIT, Stanford and Harvard. ASU jumped to 10th place from 17th in 2017, according to the U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. Since its inception, Skysong Innovations has fostered the launch of more than 180 companies based on ASU innovations, and attracted more than $999 million in venture funding, including $96 million in fiscal year 2016 alone. In 2013, the Sweden-based University Business Incubator (UBI) Index, named ASU as one of the top universities in the world for business incubation, ranking 17th. UBI reviewed 550 universities and associated business incubators from around the world using an assessment framework that takes more than 50 performance indicators into consideration. As an example, one of ASU's spin-offs (Heliae Development, LLC) raised more than $28 million in venture capital in 2013 alone. In June 2016, ASU received the Entrepreneurial University Award from the Deshpande Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports social entrepreneurship and innovation.
The university's push to create various institutes has led to greater funding and an increase in the number of researchers in multiple fields. ASU Knowledge Enterprise (KE) advances research, innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship, economic development and international development. KE is led by Sally C. Morton. KE supports several interdisciplinary research institutes and initiatives. Other notable and famed institutes at ASU are The Institute of Human Origins, L. William Seidman Research Institute (W. P. Carey School of Business), Learning Sciences Institute, Herberger Research Institute, and the Hispanic Research Center. The Biodesign Institute for instance, conducts research on issues such as biomedical and health care outcomes as part of a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to diagnose and treat diseases. The institute has attracted more than $760 million in external funding, filed 860 invention disclosures, nearly 200 patents, and generated 35 spinout companies based on its research.
The institute has attracted more than $760 million in external funding, filed 860 invention disclosures, nearly 200 patents, and generated 35 spinout companies based on its research. In October 2021, Biodesign announced their millionth test. The institute also is heavily involved in sustainability research, primarily through reuse of CO2 via biological feedback and various biomasses (e.g. algae) to synthesize clean biofuels. Heliae is a Biodesign Institute spin-off and much of its business centers on algal-derived, high value products. Furthermore, the institute is heavily involved in security research including technology that can detect biological and chemical changes in the air and water. The university has received more than $30 million in funding from the Department of Defense for adapting this technology for use in detecting the presence of biological and chemical weapons. Research conducted at the Biodesign Institute by ASU professor Charles Arntzen made possible the production of Ebola antibodies in specially modified tobacco plants that researchers at Mapp Biopharmaceutical used to create the Ebola therapeutic ZMapp.
Research conducted at the Biodesign Institute by ASU professor Charles Arntzen made possible the production of Ebola antibodies in specially modified tobacco plants that researchers at Mapp Biopharmaceutical used to create the Ebola therapeutic ZMapp. The treatment is credited with saving the lives of two aid workers. For his work, Arntzen was named the No. 1 honoree among Fast Company's annual "100 Most Creative People in Business" 2015 awards. World-renowned scholars have been integral to the successes of the institutes associated with the university. ASU students and researchers have been selected as Marshall, Truman, Rhodes, and Fulbright Scholars with the university ranking 1st overall in the U.S. for Fulbright Scholar awards to faculty and 5th overall for recipients of Fulbright U.S. Student awards in the 2015–2016 academic year. ASU faculty includes Nobel Laureates, Royal Society members, National Academy members, and members of the National Institutes of Health, to name a few.
ASU faculty includes Nobel Laureates, Royal Society members, National Academy members, and members of the National Institutes of Health, to name a few. The Herberger Institute Research Center supports the scholarly inquiry, applied research and creative activity of more than 400 faculty and nearly 5,000 students. The renowned ASU Art Museum, Herberger Institute Community Programs, urban design, and other outreach and initiatives in the arts community round out the research and creative activities of the Herberger Institute. Among well known professors within the Herberger Institute is Johnny Saldaña of the School of Theatre and Film. Saldaña received the 1996 Distinguished Book Award and the prestigious Judith Kase Cooper Honorary Research Award, both from the American Alliance for Theatre Education (AATE). The Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability is the center of ASU's initiatives focusing on practical solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges. The institute has partnered with various cities, universities, and organizations from around the world to address issues affecting the global community.
ASU is also involved with NASA in the field of space exploration. To meet the needs of NASA programs, ASU built the LEED Gold Certified, 298,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB 4) at a cost of $110 million in 2012. The building includes space for the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) and includes labs and other facilities for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. One of the main projects at ISTB 4 includes the OSIRIS-REx Thermal Emission Spectrometer (OTES). Although ASU built the spectrometers aboard the Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity, OTES will be the first major scientific instrument completely designed and built at ASU for a NASA space mission. Phil Christensen, the principal investigator for the Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES), is a Regents' Professor at ASU. He also serves as the principal investigator for the Mars Odyssey THEMIS instruments, as well as co-investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers. ASU scientists are responsible for the Mini-TES instruments aboard the Mars Exploration Rovers. The Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies, which is home to rare Martian meteorites and exotic fragments from space, and the Mars Space Flight Facility are on ASU's Tempe campus. In 2017, Lindy Elkins-Tanton of ASU was selected by NASA to lead a deep space mission to Psyche, a metal asteroid believed to be a former planetary core. The $450 million project is the first NASA mission led by the university.
The Army Research Laboratory extended funding for the Arizona State University Flexible Display Center (FDC) in 2009 with a $50 million grant. The university has partnered with the Pentagon on such endeavors since 2004 with an initial $43.7 million grant. In 2012, researchers at the center created the world's largest flexible full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED), which at the time was 7.4 inches. The following year, the FEDC staff broke their own world record, producing a 14.7-inch version of the display. The technology delivers high-performance while remaining cost-effective during the manufacturing process. Vibrant colors, high switching speeds for video and reduced power consumption are some of the features the center has integrated into the technology. In 2012, ASU eliminated the need for specialized equipment and processing, thereby reducing costs compared to competitive approaches. Luminosity Lab. The Luminosity Lab is a student-led research and development think tank located on the Tempe campus of ASU. It was founded in 2016 by Dr. Mark Naufel. Fifteen students from multiple disciplines were selected for the initial team.
Libraries. ASU's faculty and students are served by nine libraries across five campuses: Hayden Library, Noble Library, Music Library and Design and the Arts Library on the Tempe campus; Fletcher Library on the West campus; Downtown Phoenix campus library and Ross-Blakley Law Library at the Downtown Phoenix campus; Polytechnic campus library; and the Thunderbird Library at the Thunderbird campus. , ASU's libraries held 4.5 million volumes. The Arizona State University library system is ranked the 34th largest research library in the United States and Canada, according to criteria established by the Association of Research Libraries that measures various aspects of quality and size of the collection. The university continues to grow its special collections, such as the recent addition of a privately held collection of manuscripts by poet Rubén Darío. Hayden Library is on Cady Mall in the center of the Tempe campus and is currently under renovation. It opened in 1966 and is the largest library facility at ASU. An expansion in 1989 created the subterranean entrance underneath Hayden Lawn and is attached to the above-ground portion of the original library. There are two floors underneath Hayden Lawn with a landmark known as the "Beacon of Knowledge" rising from the center. The underground library lights the beacon at night.
The 2013 Capital Improvement Plan, approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, incorporates a $35 million repurposing and renovation project for Hayden Library. The open air moat area that serves as an outdoor study space will be enclosed to increase indoor space for the library. Along with increasing space and renovating the facility, the front entrance of Hayden Library was rebuilt. Sustainability. , ASU was the top institution of higher education in the United States for solar generating capacity. Today, the university generates over 24 megawatts (MW) of electricity from on-campus solar arrays. This is an increase over the June 2012 total of 15.3 MW. ASU has 88 solar photovoltaic (PV) installations containing 81,424 solar panels across four campuses and the ASU Research Park. An additional 29 MWdc solar installation was dedicated at Red Rock, Pinal County, Arizona, in January 2017, bringing the university's solar generating capacity to 50 MWdc. Additionally, six wind turbines installed on the roof of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability building on the Tempe campus have operated since October 2008. Under normal conditions, the six turbines produce enough electricity to power approximately 36 computers.
In 2021, ASU researchers installed a passive radiative cooling film to local Tempe bus shelters to cool temperatures during the daytime by radiating heat to space with zero energy use. The film was produced by 3M and cooled shelter temperatures by 4 °C. It was one of the first applications of the cooling film in the country. ASU's School of Sustainability was the first school in the United States to introduce degrees in the field of sustainability. ASU's School of Sustainability is part of the Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability. The School was established in spring 2007 and began enrolling undergraduates in fall 2008. The school offers majors, minors, and a number of certificates in sustainability. ASU is also home to the Sustainability Consortium, which was founded by Jay Golden in 2009. The School of Sustainability has been essential in establishing the university as "a leader in the academics of sustainable business". The university is widely considered to be one of the most ambitious and principled organizations for embedding sustainable practices into its operating model. The university has embraced several challenging sustainability goals. Among the numerous benchmarks outlined in the university's prospectus, is the creation of a large recycling and composting operation that will eliminate 30% and divert 90% of waste from landfills. This endeavor will be aided by educating students about the benefits of avoiding overconsumption that contributes to excessive waste. Sustainability courses have been expanded to attain this goal and many of the university's individual colleges and schools have integrated such material into their lectures and courses. Second, ASU is on track to reduce its rate of water consumption by 50%. The university's most aggressive benchmark is to be the first, large research university to achieve carbon neutrality as it pertains to its Scope 1, 2 and non-transportation Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
ASU's College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (CISA) offers degrees and certifications focused on sustainable horticulture, natural resource ecology, indoor farming, desert food production and wildlife management, through its College of Applied Sciences and Arts at ASU's Polytechnic campus. CISA's Burrowing Owl Conservation Project at the Polytechnic campus was noted as one of the distinctive features of ASU in The Sierra Club magazine's ranking of ASU as the top "cool school" for sustainability in 2021. CISA faculty at the Polytechnic campus in disciplines such as applied biological sciences, and technical communication and user experience, are involved in research and community outreach to promote sustainable use of resources and preservation of species and habitat. Vertical farming, indoor farming and water conservation efforts are just a few of the sustainability initiatives being driven by CISA faculty. Traditions. Maroon and gold. Gold is the oldest color associated with Arizona State University and dates back to 1896 when the school was named the Tempe Normal School. Maroon and white were later added to the color scheme in 1898. Gold signifies the "golden promise" of ASU. The promise includes every student receiving a valuable educational experience. Gold also signifies the sunshine Arizona is famous for; including the power of the sun and its influence on the climate and the economy. The first uniforms worn by athletes associated with the university were black and white when the "Normals" were the name of the athletic teams. The student section, known as The Inferno, wears gold on game days. Maroon signifies sacrifice and bravery while white represents the balance of negativity and positivity. As it is in the city of Tempe, Arizona, the school's colors adorn the neighboring buildings during big game days and festive events.
Mascot and Spirit Squad. Sparky the Sun Devil is the mascot of Arizona State University and was named by vote of the student body on November 8, 1946. Sparky often travels with the team across the country and has been at every football bowl game in which the university has participated. The university's mascot is not to be confused with the athletics department's logo, the "Pitchfork" or hand gesture used by those associated with the university. The new logo is used on various sport facilities, uniforms and athletics documents. Arizona State Teacher's College had a different mascot and the sports teams were known as the Owls and later, the Bulldogs. When the school was first established, the Tempe Normal School's teams were simply known as the Normals. Sparky is visible on the sidelines of every home game played in Sun Devil Stadium or other ASU athletic facilities. His routine at football games includes pushups after every touchdown scored by the Sun Devils. He is aided by Sparky's Crew, male yell leaders that must meet physical requirements to participate as members. The female members are known as the Spirit Squad and are categorized into a dance line and spirit line. They are the official squad that represents ASU. The spirit squad competes every year at the ESPN Universal Dance Association (UDA) College Nationals in the Jazz and Hip-Hop categories. They were chosen by the UDA to represent the US at the World Dance Championship 2013 in the Jazz category.
"A" Mountain. A letter has existed on the slope of the mountain since 1918. A "T" followed by an "N" were the first letters to grace the landmark. Tempe Butte, home to "A" Mountain, has had the "A" installed on the slope of its south face since 1938 and is visible from campus just to the south. The original "A" was destroyed by vandals in 1952 with pipe bombs and a new "A", constructed of reinforced concrete, was built in 1955. The vandals were never identified but many speculate the conspirators were students from the rival in-state university (University of Arizona). Many ancient Hohokam petroglyphs were destroyed by the bomb; nevertheless, many of these archeological sites around the mountain remain. There are many traditions surrounding "A" Mountain, including a revived "guarding of the 'A'" in which students camp on the mountainside before games with rival schools. "Whitewashing" of the "A" is a tradition in which incoming freshmen paint the letter white during orientation week and is repainted gold before the first football game of the season. Whitewashing dates back to the 1930s and it grows in popularity every year, with thousands of students going up to paint the "A" every year.
Lantern Walk and Homecoming. The Lantern Walk is one of the oldest traditions at ASU and dates back to 1917. It is considered one of ASU's "most cherished" traditions and is an occasion used to mark the work of those associated with ASU throughout history. Anyone associated with ASU is free to participate in the event, including students, alumni, faculty, employees, and friends. This differs slightly from the original tradition in which the seniors would carry lanterns up "A" Mountain followed by the freshman. The senior class president would describe ASU's traditions and the freshman would repeat an oath of allegiance to the university. It was described as a tradition of "good will between the classes" and a way of ensuring new students would continue the university's traditions with honor. In modern times, the participants walk through campus and follow a path up to "A" Mountain to "light up" Tempe. Keynote speakers, performances, and other events are used to mark the occasion. The night is culminated with a fireworks display. The Lantern Walk was held after the Spring Semester (June) but is now held the week before Homecoming, a tradition that dates to 1924 at ASU. It is held in the fall and in conjunction with a football game.
Victory Bell. In 2012, Arizona State University reintroduced the tradition of ringing a bell after each win for the football team. The ROTC cadets associated with the university transport the bell to various events and ring it after Sun Devil victories. The first Victory Bell, in various forms, was used in the 1930s but the tradition faded in the 1970s when the bell was removed from Memorial Union for renovations. The bell cracked and was no longer capable of ringing. That bell is on the southeast corner of Sun Devil Stadium, near the entrance to the student section. That bell, given to the university in the late 1960s, is painted gold and is a campus landmark. Sun Devil Marching Band, Devil Walk and songs of the university.
Curtain of Distraction. The Curtain of Distraction is a tradition that appears at every men's and women's basketball game. The tradition started in 2013 in order to get fans to the games. In the second half of basketball games, a portable "curtain" opens up in front of the opponents shooting a free throw and students pop out of the curtain to try and distract the opponent. Some of the skits include an Elvis impersonator, people rubbing mayonnaise on their chest, and people wearing unicorn heads. In 2016, former Olympian Michael Phelps came out of the curtain wearing a Speedo during a game against Oregon State. ESPN estimated that distraction may give ASU a one-to-three point advantage. Student life. Extracurricular programs. Arizona State University has an active extracurricular involvement program. Located on the second floor of the Student Pavilion at the Tempe campus, Educational Outreach and Student Services (EOSS) provides opportunities for student involvement through clubs, sororities, fraternities, community service, leadership, student government, and co-curricular programming.
The oldest student organization on campus is Devils' Advocates, the volunteer campus tour guide organization, which was founded in 1966 as a way to more competitively recruit National Merit Scholars. There are over 1,100 ASU alumni who can call themselves Advos. Changemaker Central is a student-run centralized resource hub for student involvement in social entrepreneurship, civic engagement, service-learning, and community service that catalyzes student-driven social change. Changemaker Central locations have opened on all campuses in fall 2011, providing flexible, creative workspaces for everyone in the ASU community. The project is entirely student run and advances ASU's institutional commitments to social embeddedness and entrepreneurship. The space allows students to meet, work and join new networks and collaborative enterprises while taking advantage of ASU's many resources and opportunities for engagement. Changemaker Central has signature programs, including Changemaker Challenge, that support students in their journey to become changemakers by creating communities of support around new solutions/ideas and increasing access to early stage seed funding. The Changemaker Challenge seeks undergraduate and graduate students from across the university who are dedicated to making a difference in our local and global communities through innovation. Students can win up to $10,000 to make their innovative project, prototype, venture or community partnership ideas happen.
In addition to Changemaker Central, the Greek community (Greek Life) at Arizona State University has been important in binding students to the university, and providing social outlets. ASU is also home to one of the nation's first and fastest growing gay fraternities, Sigma Phi Beta, founded in 2003; considered a sign of the growing university's commitment to supporting diversity and inclusion. The second Eta chapter of Phrateres, a non-exclusive, non-profit social-service club, was installed here in 1958 and became inactive in the 1990s. There are multiple councils for Greek Life, including the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations (NALFO), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), Panhellenic Association (PHA), and the Professional Fraternity Council (PFC). Student media. "The State Press" is the university's independent, student-operated news publication. "The State Press" covers news and events on all four ASU campuses. Student editors and managers are solely responsible for the content of the "State Press" website. These publications are overseen by an independent board and guided by a professional adviser employed by the university.
"The Downtown Devil" is a student-run news publication website for the Downtown Phoenix Campus, produced by students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. ASU has one student-run radio station, Blaze Radio. Blaze Radio is a completely student-run broadcast station owned and funded by the Cronkite School of Journalism. The station broadcasts using a 24-hour online stream on their official website. Blaze Radio plays music 24 hours a day and features daily student-hosted news, music, and sports specialty programs. Student government. Associated Students of Arizona State University (ASASU) is the student government at Arizona State University. It is composed of the Undergraduate Student Government and the Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA). Each ASU campus has a specific USG; USG Tempe (Tempe), USGD (Downtown), USG Polytechnic (Polytechnic) and USG West (West). Members and officers of ASASU are elected annually by the student body. The Residence Hall Association (RHA) of Arizona State University is the student government for every ASU student living on-campus. Each ASU campus has an RHA that operates independently. RHA's purpose is to improve the quality of residence hall life and provide a cohesive voice for the residents by addressing the concerns of the on-campus populations to university administrators and other campus organizations; providing cultural, diversity, educational, and social programming; establishing and working with individual community councils.
Athletics. Arizona State University's Division I athletic teams are called the Sun Devils, which is also the nickname used to refer to students and alumni of the university. They compete in the Big 12 Conference in 20 varsity sports. Historically, the university has highly performed in men's, women's, and mixed archery; men's, women's, and mixed badminton; women's golf; women's swimming and diving; baseball; and football. Arizona State University's NCAA Division I-A program competes in 9 varsity sports for men and 11 for women. ASU's athletic director is Ray Anderson, former executive vice president of football operations for the National Football League. Anderson replaced Steve Patterson, who was appointed to the position in 2012, replacing Lisa Love, the former Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Southern California. Love was responsible for the hiring of coaches Herb Sendek, the men's basketball coach, and Dennis Erickson, the men's football coach. Erickson was fired in 2011 and replaced by Todd Graham. In December 2017, ASU announced that Herm Edwards would replace Graham as the head football coach. The rival to Arizona State University is University of Arizona.
ASU has won 24 national collegiate team championships in the following sports: baseball (5), men's golf (2), women's golf (8), men's gymnastics (1), softball (2), men's indoor track (1), women's indoor track (2), men's outdoor track (1), women's outdoor track (1), and wrestling (1). In September 2009, criticism over the seven-figure salaries earned by various coaches at Arizona's public universities (including ASU) prompted the Arizona Board of Regents to re-evaluate the salary and benefit policy for athletic staff. With the 2011 expansion of the Pac-12 Conference, a new $3 billion contract for revenue sharing among all the schools in the conference was established. With the infusion of funds, the salary issue and various athletic department budgeting issues at ASU were addressed. The Pac-12's new media contract with ESPN allowed ASU to hire a new coach in 2012. A new salary and bonus package (maximum bonus of $2.05 million) was instituted and is one of the most lucrative in the conference. ASU also plans to expand its athletic facilities with a public-private investment strategy to create an amateur sports district that can accommodate the Pan American Games and operate as an Olympic Training Center. The athletic district will include a $300 million renovation of Sun Devil Stadium that will include new football facilities. The press box and football offices in Sun Devil Stadium were remodeled in 2012.
Arizona State Sun Devils football was founded in 1896 under coach Fred Irish. The team has played in the 2012 Fight Hunger Bowl, the 2011 Las Vegas bowl, the 2016 Cactus Bowl, and the 2007 Holiday Bowl. The Sun Devils played in the 1997 Rose Bowl and won the Rose Bowl in 1987. The team has appeared in the Fiesta Bowl in 1983, 1977, 1975, 1973, 1972, and 1971 winning 5 of 6. In 1970, and 1975, they were champions of the NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship. The Sun Devils were Pac-12 Champions in 1986, 1996, and 2007. Altogether, the football team has 17 Conference Championships and has participated in a total of 29 bowl games as of the 2015–2016 season with a 14–14–1 record in those games. ASU Sun Devils Hockey competed with NCAA Division 1 schools for the first time in 2012, largely due to the success of the program. In 2016, they began as a full-time Division I team. Eight members of ASU's Women's Swimming and Diving Team were selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team on April 5, 2010. In addition, five member of ASU's Men's Swimming and Diving Team were selected to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team on April 6, 2010.
In April 2015, Bobby Hurley was hired as the men's basketball coach, replacing Herb Sendek. Previously, Hurley was the head coach at the University at Buffalo for the UB Bulls as well as an assistant coach at Rhode Island and Wagner University. In 2015, Bob Bowman was hired as the head swim coach. Previously, Bowman trained Michael Phelps through his Olympic career. As of Fall 2015, ASU students, including those enrolled in online courses, may avail of a free ticket to all ASU athletic events upon presentation of a valid student ID and reserving one online through their ASU and Ticketmaster account. Tickets may be limited or not available in the 2020–2021 and 2021–2022 school years due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alumni. Arizona State University has produced more than 600,000 alumni worldwide. The Arizona State University Alumni Association is on the Tempe campus in Old Main. Political figures. The university has produced many notable figures over its 125-year history, including influential U.S. senator Carl Hayden. Barbara Barrett, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Finland under President George W. Bush and served under President Donald Trump as the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, attained her bachelor's, master's, and law degrees from ASU.
Other notable alumni include nine current or former U.S. Representatives, including Barry Goldwater Jr., Ed Pastor, and Matt Salmon. Arizona governors Doug Ducey and Jane Dee Hull attended ASU. Peterson Zah, who was the first Navajo president and the last chairman of the Navajo Nation, is also an alumnus of ASU. Business leaders. Ira A. Fulton, philanthropist and founder of Fulton Homes and Kate Spade, namesake and cofounder of Kate Spade New York, attended ASU. Alumnus Kevin Warren is the COO of the Minnesota Vikings, and the highest ranking African-American executive working on the business side of an NFL team. Athletes. Many world renowned athletes have attended the school, including Silver Star recipient Pat Tillman, who left his National Football League career to enlist in the United States Army in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson, Baseball Hall of Fame member Reggie Jackson, Major League Baseball home run king Barry Bonds, National Basketball Association All-Star James Harden, and 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Terrell Suggs are all alumni of ASU. ASU alumni enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame include: Curley Culp, Mike Haynes, John Henry Johnson, Randall McDaniel, and Charley Taylor.
Other notable athletes that attended ASU are: Major League Baseball All-Stars Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Sal Bando, and Paul Lo Duca; National Basketball Association All-Stars Lionel Hollins and Fat Lever, and NBA All-Star coach Byron Scott; National Football League Pro Bowl selections Jake Plummer and Danny White; 2021 U.S. Open champion golfer Jon Rahm and three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmers Melissa Belote and Jan Henne, and two-time Olympian and double-Olympic gold medalist Megan Jendrick. Actors, artists, comedians, commentators, and writers. Celebrities who have attended ASU include: "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" host Jimmy Kimmel; Steve Allen, who was the original host of "The Tonight Show"; Academy Award-nominated actor Nick Nolte; 11-Time Grammy Award winning singer Linda Ronstadt; "Saturday Night Live" and "Tommy Boy" actor David Spade; "Wonder Woman" actress Lynda Carter; and "Road to Perdition" actor Tyler Hoechlin. Influential writers and novelists include: Allison DuBois, whose novels and work inspired the TV miniseries "Medium"; novelist Amanda Brown; and best-selling author and Doctor of Animal Science Temple Grandin.
Journalists and commentators include former Monday Night Football announcer, and Sunday Night Football announcer Al Michaels, and writer and cartoonist Jerry Dumas, who is best known for his "Sam and Silo" comic strip. Radio host Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan and actress Jane Wyman, also briefly attended. Conservative author, commentator, and popular historian Larry Schweikart, known nationally for writing the New York Times bestseller "A Patriot's History of the United States", attended ASU for his bachelor's and master's degrees. Faculty. ASU faculty have included former CNN host Aaron Brown, Academic Claude Olney, meta-analysis developer Gene V. Glass, feminist and author Gloria Feldt, physicist Paul Davies, and Pulitzer Prize winner and "The Ants" coauthor Bert Hölldobler. David Kilcullen, a counterinsurgency theorist, is a professor of practice. Donald Johanson, who discovered the 3.18 million year old fossil hominid Lucy (Australopithecus) in Ethiopia, is also a professor, as well as George Poste, Chief Scientist for the Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative. Former US senator Jeff Flake was appointed as a distinguished dean fellow on December 2, 2020. Nobel laureate faculty include Leland Hartwell, and Edward C. Prescott. On June 12, 2012, Elinor Ostrom, ASU's third Nobel laureate, died at the age of 78.
ASU faculty's achievements include: Presidential visits. Arizona State University has been visited by nine United States presidents. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to visit campus, speaking on the steps of Old Main on March 20, 1911, while in Arizona to dedicate the Roosevelt Dam. President Lyndon B. Johnson spoke at ASU's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on January 29, 1972, at a memorial service for ASU alumnus Senator Carl T. Hayden. Future president Gerald R. Ford debated Senator Albert Gore, Sr. at Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on April 28, 1968, and Ford returned to the same building as a former president to give a lecture on February 24, 1984. President Jimmy Carter visited Arizona PBS at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication on July 31, 2015, to promote a memoir. Future president Ronald Reagan gave a political speech at the school's Memorial Union in 1957, and returned to campus as a former president on March 20, 1989, delivering his first ever post-presidential speech at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena. President George H. W. Bush gave a lecture at Wells Fargo Arena on May 5, 1998.
President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to visit ASU on October 31, 1996, speaking on the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium lawn. He returned to ASU in 2006, and in 2014, President Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton came to campus to host the Clinton Global Initiative University. President George W. Bush became the second sitting president to visit the school's campus when he debated Senator John Kerry at the university's Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium on October 13, 2004. President Barack Obama visited ASU as sitting president on May 13, 2009. President Obama delivered the commencement speech for the Spring 2009 Commencement Ceremony. President Obama had previously visited the school as a United States senator. President Richard Nixon did not visit ASU as president, but visited Phoenix as president on October 31, 1970, at an event that included a performance by the Arizona State University Band, which President Nixon acknowledged. As part of President Nixon's remarks, he stated that, "when I am in Arizona, Arizona State is number one."
Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corner of Oregon, and Astoria is located on the south shore of the Columbia River, where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean. The city is named for John Jacob Astor, an investor and entrepreneur from New York City, whose American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site and established a monopoly in the fur trade in the early 19th century. Astoria was incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly on October 20, 1856. The city is served by the deepwater Port of Astoria. Transportation includes the Astoria Regional Airport. U.S. Route 30 and U.S. Route 101 are the main highways, and the Astoria–Megler Bridge connects to neighboring Washington across the river. The population was 10,181 at the 2020 census. History. Prehistoric settlements. The present area of Astoria was inhabited by a large, prehistoric Native American trade system of the Columbia Plateau. 19th century.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805–1806 at Fort Clatsop, a small log structure southwest of modern-day Astoria. The expedition had hoped a ship would come by that could take them back east, but instead, they endured a torturous winter of rain and cold. They later returned overland and by internal rivers, the way they had traveled west. During archeological excavations in Astoria and Fort Clatsop in 2012, trading items from American settlers with Native Americans were found, including Austrian glass beads and falconry bells. Today, the fort has been recreated and is part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. In 1811, British explorer David Thompson, the first person known to have navigated the entire length of the Columbia River, reached the partially constructed Fort Astoria near the mouth of the river. He arrived two months after the Pacific Fur Company's ship, the "Tonquin". The fort constructed by the "Tonquin" party established Astoria as a U.S., rather than a British, settlement and became a vital post for American exploration of the continent. It was later used as an American claim in the Oregon boundary dispute with European nations.
The Pacific Fur Company, a subsidiary of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, was created to begin fur trading in the Oregon Country. During the War of 1812, in 1813, the company's officers sold its assets to their Canadian rivals, the North West Company, which renamed the site Fort George. The fur trade remained under British control until U.S. pioneers following the Oregon Trail began filtering into the town in the mid-1840s. The Treaty of 1818 established joint U.S. – British occupancy of the Oregon Country. Washington Irving, a prominent American writer with a European reputation, was approached by John Jacob Astor to mythologize the three-year reign of his Pacific Fur Company. "Astoria" (1835), written while Irving was Astor's guest, promoted the importance of the region in the American psyche. In Irving's words, the fur traders were "Sinbads of the wilderness", and their venture was a staging point for the spread of American economic power into both the continental interior and outward in Pacific trade.
In 1846, the Oregon Treaty divided the mainland at the 49th parallel north, making Astoria officially part of the United States. As the Oregon Territory grew and became increasingly more colonized by Americans, Astoria likewise grew as a port city near the mouth of the great river that provided the easiest access to the interior. The first U.S. post office west of the Rocky Mountains was established in Astoria in 1847 and official state incorporation in 1876. Astoria attracted a host of immigrants beginning in the late 19th century: Nordic settlers, primarily Swedes, Swedish-speaking Finns, and Chinese soon became larger parts of the population. The Nordic settlers mostly lived in Uniontown, near the present-day end of the Astoria–Megler Bridge, and took fishing jobs; the Chinese tended to do cannery work, and usually lived either downtown or in bunkhouses near the canneries. By the late 1800s, 22% of Astoria's population was Chinese. Astoria also had a significant population of Indians, especially Sikhs from Punjab; the Ghadar Party, a political movement among Indians on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada to overthrow British rule in India, was officially founded on July 15, 1913, in Astoria. 20th and 21st centuries.
In 1883, and again in 1922, downtown Astoria was devastated by fire, partly because the buildings were constructed mostly of wood, a readily available material. The buildings were entirely raised off the marshy ground on wooden pilings. Even after the first fire, the same building format was used. In the second fire, flames spread quickly again, and the collapsing streets took out the water system. Frantic citizens resorted to dynamite, blowing up entire buildings to create fire stops. Astoria has served as a port of entry for over a century and remains the trading center for the lower Columbia basin. In the early 1900s, the Callendar Navigation Company was an important transportation and maritime concern based in the city. It has long since been eclipsed in importance by Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, as economic hubs on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Astoria's economy centered on fishing, fish processing, and lumber. In 1945, about 30 canneries could be found along the Columbia River. In the early 20th century, the North Pacific Brewing Company contributed substantially to the economic well-being of the town. Before 1902, the company was owned by John Kopp, who sold the firm to a group of five men, one of whom was Charles Robinson, who became the company's president in 1907. The main plant for the brewery was located on East Exchange Street.
As the Pacific salmon resource diminished, canneries were closed. In 1974, the Bumble Bee Seafoods corporation moved its headquarters out of Astoria and gradually reduced its presence until closing its last Astoria cannery in 1980. The lumber industry likewise declined in the late 20th century. Astoria Plywood Mill, the city's largest employer, closed in 1989. The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway discontinued service to Astoria in 1996, as it did not provide a large enough market. From 1921 to 1966, a ferry route across the Columbia River connected Astoria with Pacific County, Washington. In 1966, the Astoria–Megler Bridge was opened. The bridge completed U.S. Route 101 and linked Astoria with Washington on the opposite shore of the Columbia, replacing the ferry service. Today, tourism, Astoria's growing art scene, and light manufacturing are the main economic activities of the city. Logging and fishing persist, but at a fraction of their former levels. Since 1982 it has been a port of call for cruise ships, after the city and port authority spent $10 million in pier improvements to accommodate these larger ships.
To avoid Mexican ports of call during the swine flu outbreak of 2009, many cruises were rerouted to include Astoria. The floating residential community MS "The World" visited Astoria in June 2009. The town's seasonal sport fishing tourism has been active for several decades. Visitors attracted by heritage tourism and the historic elements of the city have supplanted fishing in the economy. Since the early 21st century, the microbrewery/brewpub scene and a weekly street market have helped popularize the area as a destination. In addition to the replicated Fort Clatsop, another point of interest is the Astoria Column, a tower high, built atop Coxcomb Hill above the town. Its inner circular staircase allows visitors to climb to see a panoramic view of the town, the surrounding lands, and the Columbia flowing into the Pacific. The tower was built in 1926. Financing was provided by the Great Northern Railway, seeking to encourage tourists, and Vincent Astor, a great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, in commemoration of the city's role in the family's business history and the region's early history.
Since 1998, artistically inclined fishermen and women from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest have traveled to Astoria for the Fisher Poets Gathering, where poets and singers tell their tales to honor the fishing industry and lifestyle. Another popular annual event is the Dark Arts Festival, which features music, art, dance, and demonstrations of craft such as blacksmithing and glassblowing, in combination with offerings of a large array of dark craft brews. Dark Arts Festival began as a small gathering at a community arts space. Now Fort George Brewery hosts the event, which draws hundreds of visitors and tour buses from Seattle. Astoria is the western terminus of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, a coast-to-coast bicycle touring route created in 1976 by the Adventure Cycling Association. At least two United States Coast Guard cutters: the "David Duren" and "Elm", are homeported in Astoria. Geography. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are covered by water. Climate.
Astoria lies within the Mediterranean climate zone (Köppen "Csb"), with cool winters and mild summers, although short heat waves can occur. Rainfall is most abundant in late fall and winter and is lightest in July and August, averaging about of rain each year. Snowfall is relatively rare, averaging under a year and frequently having none. Nevertheless, when conditions are ripe, significant snowfalls can occur. Astoria's monthly average humidity is always over 80% throughout the year, with average monthly humidity reaching a high of 84% from November to March, with a low of 81% during May. The average relative humidity in Astoria is 89% in the morning and 73% in the afternoon. Annually, an average of only 4.2 afternoons have temperatures reaching or higher, and readings are rare. Normally, only one or two nights per year occur when the temperature remains at or above . An average of 31 mornings have minimum temperatures at or below the freezing mark. The record high temperature was on July 1, 1942, and June 27, 2021. The record low temperature was on December 8, 1972, and on December 21, 1990. Even with such a cold record low, afternoons usually remain mild in winter. On average, the coldest daytime high is whereas the lowest daytime maximum on record is . Even during brief heat spikes, nights remain cool. The warmest overnight low is set in May 2008. Nights close to that record are common with the normally warmest night of the year being at .
On average, 191 days have measurable precipitation. The wettest "water year", defined as October 1 through September 30 of the next year, was from 1915 to 1916 with and the driest from 2000 to 2001 with . The most rainfall in one month was in December 1933, and the most in 24 hours was on November 25, 1998. The most snowfall in one month was in January 1950, and the most snow in 24 hours was on December 11, 1922. Demographics. 2010 census. As of the 2010 census, 9,477 people, 4,288 households, and 2,274 families were residing in the city. The population density was . The 4,980 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.2% White, 0.6% African American, 1.1% Native American, 1.8% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.9% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 9.8% of the population. Of the 4,288 households, 24.6% had children under 18 living with them, 37.9% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.0% were not families. About 38.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.15, and the average family size was 2.86.
The median age in the city was 41.9 years; 20.3% of residents were under 18; 8.6% were between 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 29.9% were from 45 to 64; and 17.1% were 65 or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. 2000 census. As of the 2000 census, 9,813 people, 4,235 households, and 2,469 families resided in the city. The population density was . The 4,858 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 91.08% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 1.14% Native American, 1.94% Asian, 0.19% Pacific Islander, 2.67% from other races, and 2.46% from two or more races. About 5.98% of the population were Hispanics or Latinos of any race. By ethnicity, 14.2% were German, 11.4% Irish, 10.2% English, 8.3% United States or American, 6.1% Finnish, 5.6% Norwegian, and 5.4% Scottish according to the 2000 United States census. Of the 4,235 households, 28.8% had children under 18 living with them, 43.5% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were not families. About 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.26, and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city the age distribution was 24.0% under 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% were 65 or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 89.9 males. The median income for a household in the city was $33,011, and for a family was $41,446. Males had a median income of $29,813 versus $22,121 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,759. About 11.6% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under 18 and 9.6% of those 65 or over. Arts and culture. Museums and other points of interest. "Shanghaied in Astoria" is a musical about Astoria's history that has been performed in Astoria every year since 1984. Government. Astoria operates under a council–manager form of city government. Voters elect four councilors by ward and a mayor, who each serve four-year terms. The mayor and council appoint a city manager to conduct the ordinary business of the city. The current mayor is Sean Fitzpatrick, who took office in January 2023. His predecessor, Bruce Jones, served from 2019 to 2022.
Education. The Astoria School District has four primary and secondary schools, including Astoria High School. Clatsop Community College is the city's two-year college. The city also has a library and many parks with historical significance, plus the second oldest Job Corps facility (Tongue Point Job Corps) in the nation. Tongue Point Job Corps center is the only such location in the country which provides seamanship training. Media. "The Astorian" (formerly "The Daily Astorian") is the main newspaper serving Astoria. It was established , in 1873, and has been in continuous publication since that time. The "Coast River Business Journal" is a monthly business magazine covering Astoria, Clatsop County, and the Northwest Oregon coast. It, along with "The Astorian", is part of the EO Media Group (formerly the East Oregonian Publishing Company) family of Oregon and Washington newspapers. The local NPR station is KMUN 91.9, and KAST 1370 is a local news-talk radio station. Filming location. The early 1960s television series "Route 66" filmed the episode entitled "One Tiger to a Hill" in Astoria; it was broadcast on September 21, 1962.
In recent popular culture, Astoria is most famous for being the setting of the 1985 film "The Goonies", which was filmed on location in the city. Other notable movies filmed in Astoria include "Short Circuit", "The Black Stallion", "Kindergarten Cop", "Free Willy", "", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III", "Benji the Hunted", "Come See the Paradise," "The Ring Two", "Into the Wild", "The Guardian" and "Green Room." In popular culture. Actor Clark Gable is claimed to have begun his career at the Astoria Theatre in 1922. Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons, called the "Father of Cable Television", developed one of the first community antenna television stations (CATV) in the United States in Astoria starting in 1948. The fourth album of the pop punk band The Ataris was titled "So Long, Astoria" as an allusion to "The Goonies". A song of the same title is the album's first track. The album's back cover features news clippings from Astoria, including a picture of the port's water tower from a 2002 article on its demolition. The pop punk band Marianas Trench has an album titled "Astoria". The band states the album was inspired by 1980s fantasy and adventure films, and "The Goonies" in particular. That film inspired the title, as it was set in Astoria, the album's artwork, as well as the title of their accompanying US tour ("Hey You Guys!!").
The film "Green Room" prominently featured Astoria and the areas surrounding Portland. Two U.S. Navy cruisers were named USS "Astoria": A New Orleans-class heavy cruiser (CA-34) and a Cleveland class light cruiser (CL-90). The former was lost in the Pacific Ocean in combat at the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942, during World War II, and the latter was scrapped in 1971 after being removed from active duty in 1949. Sister cities. Astoria has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International:
Alarums and Excursions Alarums and Excursions (A&E) is an amateur press association (APA) started in June 1975 by Lee Gold; publication continues to the present day. It was one of the first publications to focus solely on role-playing games. History. In 1964, Bruce Pelz of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society (LASFS) began a weekly amateur press association named "APA-L". In 1974, with the publication of "Dungeons & Dragons" by TSR, Inc., articles and comments about the new roleplaying game began to fill the pages of "APA-L", a development to which Pelz objected. Lee Gold took note of this and started a new APA, "Alarums and Excursions" (the title taken from an Elizabethan drama stage direction that moved soldiers across a stage), to focus entirely on roleplaying games, attracting such material away from "APA-L". The first issue appeared in June 1975. In addition to removing roleplaying games discussion out of "APA-L", the initial aim of the publication was to prevent roleplaying games from becoming so divergent that people from different cities could not participate in games together.
The June 2017 issue of "Alarums and Excursions" was number 500, with a color cover drawn by Lee Moyer and printed by Rob Heinsoo. Contents. Each issue is a collection of contributions from different authors, often featuring game design discussions, rules variants, write-ups of game sessions, reviews, and comments on others contributions. Although game reports and social reactions are common parts of many "A&E" contributions, it has also, over the years, become a testing ground for new ideas on the development of the RPG as a genre and an art form. The idea that role-playing games "are" an art form took strong root in this zine, and left a lasting impression on many of the RPG professionals who contributed. The 1992 role-playing game "Over the Edge" was inspired by discussions in "A&E". Over the years, contributors have included: Reception. In the February 1976 issue of "Strategic Review" (Issue 6), Gary Gygax complimented the new APA, calling it "an excellent source of ideas, inspirations and fun." Although Gygax felt some of the contributors were "woefully lacking in background", and the quality of printing varied dramatically from issue to issue, he concluded, "For all of its faults, it is far and away the best "D&D" 'zine, and well worth reading. See for yourself why it rates a Major Triumph."
In the June 1981 edition of "Dragon" (Issue #50), Dave Nalle reviewed "Alarums and Excursions" after its 63rd issue (November 1980), and although he found the writing style "a bit stuffy", with a "tendency for the writers to pat each other on the back", he still called it "the top APA publication... This is a very well run APA and features many of the leading thinkers in fantasy gaming." Awards. To date, "Alarums and Excursions" has been a winner of the Charles Roberts/Origins Award four times:
Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry (; ; 8 September 1873 – 1 November 1907) was a French symbolist writer who is best known for his play "Ubu Roi" (1896)"," often cited as a forerunner of the Dada, Surrealist, and Futurist movements of the 1920s and 1930s and later the theatre of the absurd In the 1950s and 1960s. He also coined the term and philosophical concept of 'pataphysics. Jarry was born in Laval, Mayenne, France, and his mother was from Brittany. He wrote in a variety of hybrid genres and styles, prefiguring the postmodern, including novels, poems, short plays and opéras bouffes, absurdist essays and speculative journalism. His texts are considered examples of absurdist literature and postmodern philosophy. Biography and works. His father Anselme Jarry (1837–1895) was a salesman who descended into alcoholism; his mother Caroline, née Quernest (1842–1893), was interested in music and literature, but her family had a streak of insanity, and her mother and brother were institutionalized. The couple had two surviving children, a daughter Caroline-Marie, called Charlotte (1865–1925), and Alfred. In 1879 Caroline left Anselme and took the children to Saint-Brieuc in Brittany.
In 1888 the family moved to Rennes, where Jarry entered the at 15. There he led a group of boys who enjoyed poking fun at their well-meaning, but obese and incompetent physics teacher, a man named Hébert. Jarry and his classmate, Henri Morin, wrote a play they called "Les Polonais" and performed it with marionettes in the home of one of their friends. The main character, "Père Heb", was a blunderer with a huge belly, three teeth (one of stone, one of iron and one of wood), a single, retractable ear and a misshapen body. In Jarry's later work "Ubu Roi", Père Heb would develop into Ubu, one of the most monstrous and astonishing characters in French literature. At 17 Jarry passed his and moved to Paris to prepare for admission to the École Normale Supérieure. Though he was not admitted, he soon gained attention for his original poems and prose-poems. A collection of his work, "Les minutes de sable mémorial", was published in 1893. That same year, Jarry contracted influenza. His mother and sister tended him, but once he recovered his mother fell ill of the disease and died; two years later his father perished from influenza as well, leaving Jarry a small inheritance which he quickly spent.
Jarry had meantime discovered the pleasures of alcohol, which he called "my sacred herb" or, when referring to absinthe, the "green goddess". A story is told that he once painted his face green and rode through town on his bicycle in its honour (and possibly under its influence). When he was drafted into the army in 1894, his gift for turning notions upside down defeated attempts to instill military discipline. The sight of the diminutive Jarry in a uniform much too large for his less than 5-foot frame – the army did not issue uniforms small enough – was so disruptively funny that he was excused from parades and marching drills. Eventually the army discharged him for medical reasons. His military experience eventually inspired his novel "Days and Nights". In his youth, Jarry was homosexually inclined, although like many bohemians he disavowed sexual categorization. A brief but passionate relationship with future poet Léon-Paul Fargue inspired his semi-autobiographical play "Haldernablou" (1894).
The spring of 1896 saw the publication, in Paul Fort's review "Le Livre d'art", of Jarry's 5-act play "Ubu Roi", the rewritten and expanded "Les Polonais" of his school days. "Ubu Roi"s savage humour and monstrous absurdity, unlike anything thus far performed in French theatre, seemed unlikely to ever actually be performed on stage. However, impetuous theatre director Aurélien-Marie Lugné-Poe took the risk, producing the play at his Théâtre de l'Œuvre. On opening night (10 December 1896), with traditionalists and the avant-garde in the audience, King Ubu (played by Firmin Gémier) stepped forward and intoned the opening word, "Merdre!" (often translated as "Pshit" or "Shittr!" in English). A quarter of an hour of pandemonium ensued: outraged cries, booing, and whistling by the offended parties, countered by cheers and applause by the more bohemian contingent. Such interruptions continued through the evening. At the time, only the dress rehearsal and opening night performance were held, and the play was not revived until after Jarry's death.
The play brought fame to the 23-year-old Jarry, and he immersed himself in the fiction he had created. Gémier had modelled his portrayal of Ubu on Jarry's own staccato, nasal vocal delivery, which emphasized each syllable (even the silent ones). From then on, Jarry would always speak in this style. He adopted Ubu's ridiculous and pedantic figures of speech; for example, he referred to himself using the royal "we", and called the wind "that which blows" and the bicycle he rode everywhere "that which rolls". Jarry moved into a flat which the landlord had created through the unusual expedient of subdividing a larger flat by means of a horizontal rather than a vertical partition. The diminutive Jarry could just manage to stand up in the place, but guests had to bend or crouch. Jarry also took to carrying a loaded revolver. In response to a neighbour's complaint that his target shooting endangered her children, he replied, "If that should ever happen, ma-da-me, we should ourselves be happy to get new ones with you."
With Franc-Nohain and Claude Terrasse he co-founded the Théâtre des Pantins, which in 1898 was the site of marionette performances of "Ubu Roi". Living in worsening poverty, neglecting his health and drinking excessively, Jarry went on to write the novel "Le Surmâle" ("The Supermale"), which is partly a satire on the Symbolist ideal of self-transcendence. Unpublished until after his death, his fiction "Exploits and Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician" ("Gestes et opinions du docteur Faustroll, pataphysicien") describes the exploits and teachings of a sort of antiphilosopher who, born at age 63, travels through a hallucinatory Paris in a sieve and subscribes to the tenets of "'pataphysics". 'Pataphysics deals with "the laws which govern exceptions and will explain the universe supplementary to this one." In 'pataphysics, every event in the universe is accepted as an extraordinary event. Jarry once wrote, expressing some of the bizarre logic of 'pataphysics, "If you let a coin fall and it falls, the next time it is just by an infinite coincidence that it will fall again the same way; hundreds of other coins on other hands will follow this pattern in an infinitely unimaginable fashion."
In his final years, he was a legendary and heroic figure to some of the young writers and artists in Paris. Guillaume Apollinaire, André Salmon and Max Jacob sought him out in his truncated apartment. Pablo Picasso was fascinated with Jarry. After Jarry's death Picasso acquired his revolver and wore it on his nocturnal expeditions in Paris. He later bought many of his manuscripts as well as executing a fine drawing of him. Jarry died in Paris on 1 November 1907 of tuberculosis, aggravated by drug and alcohol misuse. When he could not afford alcohol, he drank ether. It is recorded that his last request was for a toothpick. He was interred in the Cimetière de Bagneux, near Paris. The complete works of Alfred Jarry are published in three volumes by Gallimard in the collection "Bibliothèque de la Pléiade".
Amalric Amalric or Amalaric (also Americ, Almerich, Emeric, Emerick and other variations) is a personal name derived from the tribal name "Amal" (referring to the Gothic Amali) and "ric" (Gothic "reiks") meaning "ruler, prince". Equivalents in different languages include:
Amalric, King of Jerusalem Amalric (; 113611 July 1174), formerly known in historiography as , was the king of Jerusalem from 1163 until his death. He was, in the opinion of his Muslim adversaries, the bravest and cleverest of the crusader kings. Amalric was the younger son of King Fulk and Queen Melisende and brother of King Baldwin III. Baldwin was crowned with Melisende after Fulk's death in 1143. Melisende made Amalric the count of Jaffa, and he took her side in her conflict with Baldwin until Baldwin deposed her in 1152. From 1154 Amalric was fully reconciled with his brother and made count of both Jaffa and Ascalon. In 1157 he married Agnes of Courtenay despite the misgivings of the Church and had two children with her, Sibylla and Baldwin. When his brother died in 1163, Amalric was obliged to leave Agnes in order to be recognized as king. He was crowned on 18 February. Amalric's reign was marked by a ceaseless struggle with the Muslim atabeg of Damascus and Aleppo, Nur al-Din Zengi, and persistent attempts to subjugate Egypt. In his first invasion he induced the vizier, Dirgham, to pay tribute, and in the following two he supported the rival vizier, Shawar, against Dirgham and Nur al-Din's general Shirkuh. Nur al-Din took advantage of the king's expeditions to Egypt to wreak havoc on the kingdom and the northern crusader states, Antioch and Tripoli, and Amalric had to intervene in the north as well. Throughout his reign Amalric sought support of Western European rulers in his struggle against the Muslims of Syria and Egypt, but concluded the most concrete alliance with the Byzantine emperor, Manuel I Komnenos, whose grandniece Maria became Amalric's second wife. They had a daughter, Isabella.
In 1167 Amalric again prevented Shirkuh from seizing Egypt and took Alexandria. Without waiting for the Byzantines, and in contravention of his treaty with Shawar, he invaded Egypt in 1167-68 with the intention to conquer it, but it fell to Shirkuh instead. Shirkuh died in 1169, and Amalric launched an invasion in concert with Manuel, but the two armies cooperated poorly and failed in their attempt. Shirkuh's successor, Saladin, emerged as a major threat. Amalric's only son, Baldwin, started exhibiting symptoms of leprosy during Amalric's lifetime. Amalric sought a husband for his daughter, Sibylla, but her suitor, Count Stephen I of Sancerre, declined and left the kingdom. While trying to take advantage of the confusion in Syria following the death of Nur al-Din in 1174, Amalric caught dysentery and died on 11 July. He was succeeded by his son, Baldwin IV. Youth. Childhood. On his deathbed in 1131 King Baldwin II conferred the Kingdom of Jerusalem–one of the crusader states established by the Latin Christians who invaded the Levant and defeated its Muslim rulers–on his eldest daughter, Melisende; her husband, Fulk of Anjou; and their infant son, Baldwin III. Fulk was considerably older than Melisende and had adult children in Europe from his first marriage, including Count Geoffrey V of Anjou and Countess Sibylla of Flanders. He excluded Melisende from power until she and the barons forced him to acknowledge her as a co-ruler in 1135. Fulk was eager to be reconciled, and historian Malcolm Barber suggests that Melisende agreed because the succession of her family rested on only one son. The couple consequently conceived Amalric in late 1135 or early 1136. To the north of the kingdom were three more crusader states: the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. Antioch and Tripoli were ruled by the families of Melisende's sisters Alice and Hodierna.
Amalric's father, King Fulk, was fatally injured in a horse-riding accident on a family outing near Acre in 1143. He died on 10 November. Queen Melisende seized power and was crowned again on 25 December, this time alongside 13-year-old King Baldwin III. In 1144 the Turkic Muslim atabeg of Mosul, Imad al-Din Zengi captured Edessa. This prompted the Second Crusade, which failed in its objective to conquer Damascus, one of the greatest Muslim-held cities. Melisende continued to withhold power from Baldwin after he reached the age of majority, and by 1151 their relationship had broken down. In 1151 Melisende bestowed on Amalric the County of Jaffa, which was part of her endeavor to consolidate her position against Baldwin. Amalric became his mother's most important partisan besides the Church. Countship. In 1152 Baldwin summoned the High Court and demanded that the kingdom be divided between him and Melisende. The queen retained the regions of Judaea and Samaria while Acre and Tyre remained under the young king's rule. Baldwin soon invaded his mother's lands, defeated and exiled her constable, Manasses of Hierges, and marched on Jerusalem. Melisende's lords deserted her as Baldwin advanced, and she took refuge in the Tower of David with her most loyal men, including Amalric, Viscount Rohard the Elder, and Philip of Milly. Baldwin besieged them, but they put up a defense until the negotiations of a settlement that saw Melisende deposed and restricted to ruling the city of Nablus. By the end of April 1152 Baldwin was the sole ruler of the kingdom. Based on charter evidence, Mayer concludes that Baldwin punished Amalric for siding with their mother by depriving him of the County of Jaffa in 1152. The king conquered Ascalon from Fatimid Egypt in 1153 and forced the Egyptians to pay a tribute. He granted both Ascalon and Jaffa to Amalric. Historian Hans E. Mayer dates Amalric's acquisition of the double county to shortly after July 1154.
In 1157 Amalric married Agnes of Courtenay. Agnes was the daughter of the dispossessed Count Joscelin II of Edessa, a second cousin of Queen Melisende, and a widow since the death in battle of her first husband, Reynald of Marash. The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Fulcher of Angoulême, objected to Amalric's marriage with Agnes. According to contemporary chronicler William of Tyre, Fulcher disapproved because of the couples's kinship; but the late-13th-century "Lignages d'Outremer" states that Agnes had been betrothed to the lord of Ramla, Hugh of Ibelin, and that Amalric married her when she came to marry Hugh, which the patriarch deemed uncanonical. Mayer argues that Agnes had already been married to Hugh in 1157, making her marriage to Amalric bigamous and, in Barber's opinion, possibly the result of an abduction. Historian Bernard Hamilton rejects this interpretation and states that a bigamous marriage would have resulted in the excommunication of both Amalric and Agnes. Fulcher died in November 1157, possibly before the couple married.
In 1159 Count Amalric accompanied King Baldwin to Antioch, where they welcomed Emperor Manuel I Komnenos. Baldwin and Manuel were allied through Baldwin's marriage with Manuel's niece Theodora. Both Baldwin and Amalric placed a great value on good relations with the Byzantine Empire, a Greek Orthodox state that claimed suzerainty over the Christian states in the Levant. Amalric and Agnes had a daughter, Sibylla, between 1157 and 1161. In 1161 a son, Baldwin, was born. The children were named after Amalric's siblings. Accession. Amalric's mother, Queen Melisende, died on 11 September 1161. His brother, King Baldwin, barely outlived her. He came down with dysentery while visiting Antioch in late 1162 and died in Beirut on 10 February 1163. Baldwin and Theodora had had no children, and Amalric was thus his heir. The chronicler Ernoul relates that Baldwin named Amalric as his heir. Having convened to discuss the succession, the High Court refused to recognize Amalric as king unless he repudiated his wife, Agnes. Their spokesman was the patriarch, Amalric of Nesle. According to William of Tyre, the patriarch objected because of the couple's kinship. Barber describes this story as "so unlikely that historians have been unwilling to accept it at
face value". Hamilton notes that such an objection to an established marriage was "extremely unusual", and argues that there was a "deep-seated animosity" towards Agnes behind it. Amalric accepted the High Court's demand, and his marriage to Agnes was annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. Cardinal John of Santi Giovanni e Paolo al Celio, the legate of Pope Alexander III, was present. Amalric obtained papal confirmation of the legitimacy of his children, Sibylla and Baldwin, and exoneration of Agnes from any moral censure. On 18 February, the day of Baldwin III's funeral, the patriarch crowned Amalric in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Early in his reign Amalric strengthened his position against his most powerful vassals (tenants-in-chief) by passing the "Assise sur la ligece". This legislation enabled the vassals of the powerful vassals to appeal directly to the king if their lord did them injustice. 13th-century jurists John of Ibelin and Philip of Novara believed that the "assise" resulted from Amalric's war with the lord of Sidon, Gerard Grenier, who had unjustly seized a fief from one of his vassals, but contemporary chroniclers Michael the Syrian and Ibn al-Athir say that it was Baldwin III who defeated Gerard.
Reign. Vizierate of Shawar. Intervention in Egypt. Amalric's chief aim as king was to conquer Egypt. Its government was in disarray: Dirgham and Shawar, rival viziers, fought for power while the Fatimid caliph was sidelined. Zengi's son Nur ad-Din unified the Muslim principalities of Syria by bringing the great cities of Damascus and Aleppo under his rule; if he were to conquer Egypt as well, the crusader states would be encircled. Although his lords were preoccupied with extending their own holdings, Amalric could not ignore Egypt, and in this had the support of the masters of the military orders, the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar. In 1163 the Egyptian government failed to pay the tribute. In response Amalric came with a large force within of the capital, Cairo, and besieged Bilbais. Dirgham, who had driven out Shawar, desperately attempted to fend off the invaders by opening the floodbanks on the Nile, but ended up agreeing to pay an even larger tribute and surrendered hostages as guarantees. After returning to Jerusalem, Amalric wrote to King Louis VIII of France that it was only the annual flooding of the Nile that prevented him from taking Bilbais.
Shawar appealed to Nur ad-Din for help against Dirgham. Nur ad-Din dispatched Asad al-Din Shirkuh, one of his most able generals, who helped Shawar defeat Dirgham and seize power. Shirkuh then decided to conquer Egypt for himself, forcing Shawar to request help from Amalric. After Shawar offered a once again increased tribute, the king undertook his second Egyptian expedition, fully financed by Shawar, in July 1164. The invasion ended in Shirkuh's defeat and Amalric's restoration of Shawar to power. Turkic threat. Nur ad-Din could not afford to allow Amalric to control Egypt. The king's southern expedition left the kingdom and the northern crusader states undefended, which allowed Nur ad-Din to act. In the battle of Artah on 10 August 1164 he destroyed a large Christian army and captured Prince Bohemond III of Antioch, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, Joscelin III of Edessa, and the Byzantine governor of Cilicia, Constantine Coloman. On 12 August he captured Harim. Amalric's brother-in-law Count Thierry of Flanders arrived with numerous knights, but this failed to deter Nur ad-Din. Amalric returned to Jerusalem in October, and immediately hurried north with Thierry. Raymond declared that, during his captivity, Amalric should rule Tripoli. The king thus stopped at Tripoli to establish his rule, and then proceeded further north to install governors in the cities of Bohemond's principality.
On 18 October 1164 Nur ad-Din captured Banias, described by Patriarch Amalric as "the gateway to the whole kingdom". The king and the master of the Knights Templar, Bertrand of Blancfort, declared that Banias had been sold by traitors. In mid-1165 King Amalric secured the release of Prince Bohemond. Amalric and Bertrand's attempts to entice the king of France to assist in their planned conquest of Egypt proved fruitless, and so the Christian leaders continued to court the Byzantines. In late 1165 the king sent an embassy led by the royal butler, Odo of Saint-Amand, and the archbishop of Caesarea, Ernesius, to arrange a royal marriage with a member of Emperor Manuel's family. In late 1165 Philip of Milly resigned the lordship of Oultrejordain to join the Templars. His sole heir was his elder daughter, Helena, who was married to the lord of Beirut, Walter III Brisebarre. When Walter and his brothers, Guy and Bernard, were captured by the Muslims, Amalric forbade anybody to lend money to them for their ransom. By 1167 the king had forced Walter to surrender Beirut in return for money. Hamilton concludes that this "sharp" treatment originated from Amalric's desire to prevent Walter from holding the great lordships of Beirut and Oultrejordain simultaneously. Around this time Emperor Manuel's cousin Andronikos Komnenos arrived in the kingdom after scandalously seducing Philippa, sister of Prince Bohemond and sister-in-law of the emperor. His bravery impressed Amalric, who gave him the lordship of Beirut in fief in 1167.
Third invasion of Egypt. William relates that a Templar garrison surrendered a cave fortress besieged by Shirkuh while Amalric was on his way to relieve them; in his anger the king hanged about a dozen Templars who were responsible. Barber dates the incident to 1166. In January 1167, before the Byzantines could assist, news reached Jerusalem that Shirkuh was marching towards Egypt at the head of a large army furnished by Nur ad-Din. Amalric called a general council at Nablus, at which funds were raised for a counter-strike, and set out from Ascalon on 30 January. Amalric rapidly mobilized an army, but failed in his attempt to catch Shirkuh before he crosed the Nile. Shawar again agreed to an annual tribute to the king of Jerusalem in return for Frankish help against Shirkuh. The Franks secured the support of the Fatimid caliph, al-Adid, but then a stalemate ensued between them and Shirkuh as the opposing forces were encamped on the opposite banks of the Nile. For over a month Amalric waited for enforcements from his constable, Humphrey II of Toron, and Philip of Milly. The king then secretly moved his men south, leaving some to protect the young caliph and the wooden bridge they had raised on the Nile. A whirlwind prevented them from crossing the river, however, and so instead of catching Shirkuh by surprise, Amalric chased him with his knights for three days. On 18 March an indecisive battle took place, after which Shirkuh subjugated Alexandria. The Franks followed him and blockaded the city until Shirkuh fled, leaving his nephew Saladin in charge. The king pursued Shirkuh until the Egyptians convinced him to attack Alexandria instead. The siege of Alexandria forced Shirkuh to sue for peace. The Franks entered Alexandria, where the king placed his banner on the city's Lighthouse, and then departed Egypt.
Byzantine alliance. King Amalric returned to his kingdom on 21 August 1167. His envoys to Emperor Manuel arrived with his new bride, the emperor's grandniece Maria Komnene. On 29 August, in the , Patriarch Amalric celebrated the king's second marriage. The new queen received Nablus as her dower. The same year Queen Theodora, niece of Emperor Manuel and widow of Amalric's brother, eloped with the emperor's cousin Andronikos. The lovers fled to Damascus, where they were received by Nur ad-Din. The scandalous conduct of his kin enraged the emperor, but Amalric was glad to take Acre, his sister-in-law's rich dower, back into the royal domain; Beirut also reverted to Amalric. Maria's arrival was shortly followed by that of two envoys from the emperor, Alexander of Gravina and Michael Hydruntius of Otranto. The envoys were immediately met by the king. They stated that the king and the emperor ought to conquer Egypt together lest the weakened country should fall in the hands of another. William of Tyre believed that the idea came from Amalric; Barber sees a link between his Byzantine marriage and the arrival of the envoys. A treaty was drawn up and taken by William to the emperor for ratification. In this period the king was depicted on his seal wearing a sash in the Byzantine fashion, and the two rulers cooperated in the extensive mosaic program undertaken in the Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Amalric was even willing to concede to Manuel on theological issues, such as the exclusion of the "filioque" clause from the Bethlehem church's mosaic inscriptions and the admission of Greek clergy into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in order to secure military assistance.
Attempted conquest of Egypt. William returned to the kingdom in late 1167 and was astonished to find that, by 20 October, King Amalric had departed on another expedition to Egypt without the Byzantines. He did not know the reason for it: he recorded the rumor that Shawar, the vizier of Egypt, had allied with Nur ad-Din, but did not himself believe in it and suggested that the vizier had faithfully kept his treaty with Amalric. Ibn al-Athir depicts the king as a reluctant invader, pressured by "the Frankish knights and policy makers". Amalric struck a deal with the Hospitallers, who pledged more men than ever before and to whom the king in return promised a vast lordship from Bilbais to the coast as well as the first pick of the spoils and the best house or palace after the king's in all the major cities of Egypt. William names the order's master, Gilbert of Assailly, as the driving force, if not the mastermind, behind the campaign. The Templars refused to participate; William speculates that they either objected to betraying Shawar or to following the lead of the Hospitallers, their rivals. Barber suggests that the Templar master, Bertrand of Blancfort, may have also resented the king's execution of some of his knights.
Bilbais was captured and plundered and its inhabitants massacred in 1168 after a three-day siege. Amalric then moved onto Cairo, but Shawar burned it down to prevent the Franks from seizing it. Unable to resist, Shawar offered huge sums of money to Amalric while simultaneously petitioning Nur ad-Din for help. The Christian fleet arrived, took Tinnis, and blocked the Nile below Cairo. Shawar convinced Amalric to retreat a few miles so that Shawar could collect the money he had promised to the king; the vizier actually worked to strengthen the city's defenses and the population's morale. Ibn al-Athir reports that the inhabitants of Cairo grew resolute when they heard about the fate of the people of Bilbais. William believes that the city could have been taken but for the greed of the king, encouraged by his seneschal, Miles of Plancy: if they had taken the city by storming, they would have had to share the plunder, but all the tribute money would go to the king. On 2 December Shirkuh set out from Damascus with a large army and ample provisions provided by Nur ad-Din. Amalric returned to Bilbais, but Shirkuh bypassed him and encamped on the other side of the Nile. Amalric judged it too risky to attack him. On 2 January he set out for his kingdom with his army. Not only was the expedition a complete failure, but it also delivered Egypt to Shirkuh: Shawar was soon killed, and the caliph appointed Shirkuh to succeed him. Amalric was undeterred and in mid-1169 started planning his fifth attempt to take Egypt. He appealed for help in letters sent to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Kings Louis VII of France and Henry II of England, Queen Margaret of Sicily, and Counts Philip I of Flanders, Theobald V of Blois, and Henry I of Champagne. Patriarch Amalric and Archbishop Ernesius, who were carrying the letters, were driven back by a severe storm at sea. He sent a new embassy, consisting of the archbishop of Tyre, Frederick de la Roche, and the bishop of Banyas, John, but to no avail.
Dynastic concerns. King Amalric was determined that his son and heir apparent, Baldwin, should receive a good education. Amalric appointed William of Tyre, one of the kingdom's most eminent scholars, to tutor Baldwin when the boy reached the age of nine. William discovered that Baldwin did not feel pain in his right arm. The king employed Arabs to treat the boy and teach him to ride. One of them was Abu Sulayman Da'ud, a physician whom he had sought out during his campaigns in Egypt. No diagnosis was made, but Hamilton is certain that Amalric must have been informed that the symptoms pointed to the early stages of leprosy. Amalric empowered Archbishop Frederick to arrange a marriage for Amalric's 11-year-old daughter, Sibylla during the prelate's mission in Europe. The king was then aged 33, the age at which his brother had died; and his 8-year-old son, Baldwin, had seven more years until the age of majority. Amalric had no kinsmen who could rule in Baldwin's name if Amalric died unexpectedly, as his father and brother had; Hamilton argues that the king's solution was to find a capable son-in-law. He chose the well-connected Count Stephen I of Sancerre, brother of the count of Blois and relative of both the French and the English royal house. Stephen agreed and arrived in Jerusalem with Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, bringing gifts from King Louis VII of France.
Hamilton discusses the possibility that Baldwin's symptoms had already appeared by the time Sibylla's marriage was first discussed and that Amalric thought that Sibylla and Stephen might succeed to the throne. Stephen was invited by the High Court to give his opinion on the inheritance of a fief; in Hamilton's opinion this points to Stephen being considered a possible future king. For unknown reasons Stephen refused to marry Sibylla and returned to France. Baldwin remained Amalric's only son. The king's marriage to Maria Komnene produced two daughters, of whom one died in childhood. The other, Isabella, was born about 1172. Rise of the Ayyubids. Franco-Byzantine invasion of Egypt. The death of Bertrand of Blancfort in January 1169 paved the way for a master of the Templars who would be more compliant with Amalric's desire to subjugate Egypt. In August 1169 Philip of Milly was elected the new master. Barber considers it obvious that King Amalric influenced the election, for he and Philip had been associated since the 1150s, when both supported Amalric's mother, Queen Melisende, against his brother, King Baldwin III. In the same month Amalric confirmed his earlier deal with the Hospitallers and also recruited the Templars. In late 1169 Emperor Manuel sent a formidable force led by experienced men, and a large fleet.
Amalric was served by the animosity of the Egyptians for their new, foreign rulers, and by the unexpected death of Shirkuh. On 16 October the king left Ascalon, shortly after the Byzantine fleet set out from Acre. Sea floods hindered him, but he reached Damietta on 27 October. The Nile was blocked north of the city, and William of Tyre is confident that Damietta could have been taken by a quick attack. The siege of the city drew out, however, because the city was reinforced by boats from the south and siege engines had to be constructed. The defenders launched a fire ship towards the Byzantine fleet, burning six ships; the king averted a greater loss by rousing the crews. As their food ran out and the torrential rains poured, the attackers became desperate. William's informants insisted that Manuel had not sent enough supplies, whereas the Byzantine chroniclers John Kinnamos and Niketas Choniates accuse the Franks of procrastinating. The Byzantine general Andronikos Kontostephanos proposed an all-out assault, but Amalric believed that the city walls had not been battered enough by the siege engines. Kontostephanos had been instructed to obey Amalric, but made preparations to attack without him. According to Choniates, Kontostephanos had grown tired of "talking into the ear of the dead". Before Kontostephanos could act, Amalric began peace negotiations. Patriarch Michael the Syrian, ever disdainful of the Greek Orthodox, writes that the Byzantines intended to deceive Amalric and seize Egypt for themselves, and that the king took the Egyptians' offer of gold and left after he realized the Byzantines' treachery. Nur ad-Din, meanwhile, again used Amalric's absence to plunder the kingdom. Amalric and his army returned on 21 December.
Earthquake. On 29 June 1170 a devastating earthquake hit the Levant, affecting Christians and Muslims alike. Amalric and Nur ad-Din made a temporary peace to allow their lands to recover; yet both were wary that the other would attack while the damage was being repaired. Amalric informed Louis VII of France and expressed concern that the enemy would seize Tripoli, Arqa, Gibelet, Latakia, Marqab, and Antioch. As administrator of the County of Tripoli, Amalric granted Arqa and Gibelacar to the Hospitallers to hold independently of the count on the condition that they repair the castles. In December 1170 Saladin suddenly brought a vast host to besiege Darum, a simple fortress built by Amalric in the south of the kingdom for collecting taxes and tolls. Barber proposes that Saladin was emboldened by Amalric's preoccupation with the damage suffered by the County of Tripoli. Amalric was shocked by the size of Saladin's force, but Saladin left Darum half-destroyed without giving a major battle. Amalric rebuilt the fortress to be stronger. Later that month the Franks were unable to prevent Saladin from plundering Ailah. For the first time in half a century the kingdom was seriously threatened from Egypt.
Visit to Constantinople. In early 1171 Amalric held a general council to discuss the state of the kingdom and its future military policy. It was agreed that embassies and letters seeking help should be sent to all major Latin rulers and to Emperor Manuel. The king shocked the attending barons by suggesting that he himself should visit Manuel. No king of Jerusalem had ever traveled to Constantinople, and Barber believes that the idea betrayed a lack of confidence in western help. Amalric set out on 10 March, having sent Philip of Milly ahead. Philip had resigned as master of the Templars for this purpose, and the butler, Odo of Saint Amand, succeeded him. Amalric traveled with a large party, including the bishop of Acre, William, and the marshal, . The king set sail from Tripoli. He was met at Gallipoli by his father-in-law, John Doukas Komnenos, who was a nephew of the emperor, and taken to Heraclea. There he embarked again in order to enter the Great Palace of Constantinople through the Boukoleon gate, which was an honor reserved for rulers.
Manuel arranged a lavish welcome for the royal party: Amalric was seated on a throne next to the emperor's, albeit slightly lower; given access to private imperial suites; shown the most precious relics; treated to music and theater shows; given a guided tour of the city; and taken by ship to view the mouth of the Black Sea. Manuel took a liking to Amalric and the imperial family, especially Amalric's father-in-law, were eager to show hospitality. Conferences were held daily, but the topics and eventual agreement went unrecorded. The Franks apparently convinced the emperor that they should once again join forces to conquer Egypt. Kinnamos writes that, in return, Amalric had to accept "his subjection" to the empire. Historian Marshall Baldwin is not certain that Amalric regarded himself as a vassal of Manuel. The king returned on 15 June, landing at Sidon. Amalric had to deal with new Muslim attacks immediately upon his return from Constantinople. He assembled a force at the Springs of Saffuriya to respond to Nur ad-Din's attack in the north while simultaneously Saladin attacked Montreal in the south. Ibn al-Athir relates that Saladin came close to capturing Montreal, but was advised that Nur ad-Din might turn his attention to him if he defeated Amalric at the same time. In 1172 the king travelled north once again to prevent Cilicia from falling into the hands of the Armenian lord Mleh, who had expelled the Templars from their Cilician fortresses and allied with Nur ad-Din. Amalric obtained Mleh's submission, but had to return south when Nur ad-Din launched another diversion by attacking Kerak.
Unmaterialized alliances. In 1173 Amalric attempted to ally with the Order of Assassins. According to the agreement reached between the king and the order's leader, Rashid al-Din Sinan, the king would cancel the tribute which the order paid to the Templars and the Assassins would in turn convert from Shi'ite Islam to Christianity. The order's envoy was returning from the negotiations with the king's guarantee of safe conduct when he was killed by a group of Templars led by Walter of Mesnil. Amalric's rage increased when the Templar's master, Odo of Saint Armand, refused to hand over Walter. Odo said that he had given a penance to Walter, who was held in Sidon, and that he would be sent to the pope. Amalric went to Sidon, however, took Walter, and imprisoned him in Tyre, intending to discuss the matter with other rulers. William of Tyre and Walter Map, the sources who recorded the murder, both lament the loss of this opportunity. Map writes that the Templars feared that conversions of Muslims to Christianity would make the Templars redundant.
With the help of Amalric, who helped raise the ransom, Raymond III of Tripoli was released from Nur ad-Din's prison in late 1173 or early 1174. Amalric welcomed Raymond and handed the government of Tripoli back to him. In 1174 King Amalric agreed on a joint attack on Egypt with King William II of Sicily. Nur ad-Din died on 15 May. Amalric tried to take advantage. He attacked Banias, but could not capture it and accepted money to retreat. On his way back he complained that he felt unwell. When he arrived in Tiberias it was clear that he had contracted dysentery. He reached Jerusalem, where he was treated by Greek, Syrian, and Frankish physicians, but they failed to save him. He died on 11 July. After some deliberation the High Court accepted Amalric's sickly son, Baldwin IV, as the new king. Assessment. William of Tyre, whom Amalric tasked with recording the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, left a detailed description of the king. Amalric was light-skinned with blond receding hair and, although he did not eat or drink excessively, considerably overweight. He shook with laughter when he was amused, but this was rare; whereas Baldwin was affable, Amalric was serious and taciturn. He was intellectually gifted but less refined than Baldwin, preferring a hunt to poetry. He enjoyed reading and debates with scholars, and was well-informed about the issues facing the crusader states. In battle he was daring, and in command composed and decisive. He regularly attended Mass, but William noted that not even the Church was spared from the king's "lust for money"; and he was promiscuous, pursuing even married women. The pro-Zengid chronicler Ibn al-Athir describes Amalric as "the bravest of their kings, the most outstanding for policy, cunning and intrigue".
Baldwin believes that the union of Egypt and Syria under Saladin might have been prevented if Amalric had not acted without his Byzantine allies in 1168. In the opinion of Baldwin, the failed attempt of the alliance to subjugate Egypt in 1169 marked a "turning point in Levantine history". Nevertheless he considers Amalric "one of the best kings of Jerusalem, the last man of genuine capacity to hold the reins of government".
Aimery of Cyprus Aimery of Lusignan (, , "Amorí"; before 11551 April 1205), erroneously referred to as Amalric () in earlier scholarship, reigned as the first king of Cyprus from 1196 to his death in 1205. He also reigned as the king of Jerusalem as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Isabella I from 1197 to his death. He was a younger son of Hugh VIII of Lusignan, a nobleman in Poitou. After participating in a rebellion against Henry II of England in 1168, he went to the Holy Land and settled in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Aimery's marriage to Eschiva of Ibelin (whose father was an influential nobleman) strengthened his position in the kingdom. His younger brother, Guy, married Sibylla, the sister and heir presumptive of Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. Baldwin made Aimery the constable of Jerusalem around 1180. He was one of the commanders of the Christian army in the Battle of Hattin, which ended with a decisive defeat at the hands of the army of Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, on 4 July 1187. Aimery supported Guy even after he lost his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem according to most barons of the realm, because of the death of Sibylla and their two daughters. The new king of Jerusalem, Henry II of Champagne, arrested Aimery for a short period. After his release, he retired to Jaffa which was the fief of his elder brother, Geoffrey of Lusignan, who had left the Holy Land.

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