From the very start, back in 1874, Andrews University has been on an ongoing journey to understand, pursue and best implement serious scholarship, quality research and practical Christianity as a core strength of the University's curriculum. Those aspirations started out small—Goodloe Bell, a teacher, started a tiny school with only 12 students in Battle Creek, Michigan. That small school was the birth of what we now know as Andrews University. Today, Andrews is the best-known Adventist educational institution in the world.
We are named after John Nevins Andrews (1829–1883), the biggest thinker in the 19th-century Seventh-day Adventist Church. He was also the first sponsored missionary that the Church sent overseas. J.N. Andrews’ example of careful thought and compassionate action in Christian life is something we have taken to heart.