ounded in 1942 by Dr. Peter Sammartino and his wife, Sylvia (Sally), Fairleigh Dickinson University has grown into the largest private university in New Jersey. Today, more than 12,000 students from 32 states and 72 countries are enrolled on the University's two campuses in northern New Jersey and its international campuses in Wroxton, England and Vancouver, Canada. Beginning as a two-year junior college, Fairleigh Dickinson expanded to a four-year curriculum in 1948 to fill the need for higher education in northern New Jersey. In 1954, the first graduate program, a master's degree in business administration, was offered, and Bergen Junior College was purchased as a second campus, Teaneck. In 1956, Fairleigh Dickinson gained University status and, one year later, the 178-acre Vanderbilt-Twombly estate was acquired in Madison to serve as a third campus (College at Florham).

FDU became the first American university to own a campus in England when it acquired Wroxton College from Trinity College, Oxford University. Opened in 1965, Wroxton College offers American students an array of graduate and undergraduate programs as well as an enriching cultural experience. Formerly a 13th-century abbey, Wroxton College is now a beautifully restored and modernized Jacobean mansion. In 2007, FDU commenced undergraduate classes at a new facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.