Ohio Northern University is a private, United Methodist Church-affiliated university located in the United States in Ada, Ohio, founded by Henry Solomon Lehr in 1871. ONU is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. ONU is a sister university with Dankook University, a private university in Seoul, South Korea.

Academic programs
The university is comprised of five colleges:
Prior to 1973, the ONU law school was known as "the Warren G. Harding College of Law."

Getty College of Arts and Sciences
James F. Dicke College of Business Administration
T.J. Smull College of Engineering
Rudolph H. Raabe College of Pharmacy
Claude W. Pettit College of Law [1] History

Early years
Henry Solomon Lehr, a former solider in the American Civil War, became the schoolmaster for the Ada public school in 1866. Lehr began offering additional courses in the evenings to motivated students to cover topics beyond the standard curriculum. After five years, he approached the town about starting a university. In August 1871, the Northwestern Ohio Normal School started with nearly 150 students attending classes in downtown stores and local churches until the first classroom building was completed in October.
Lehr built the university from the ground up, and was involved in all activities from building construction to faculty selection and curriculum design. Like most of the schools in the post-civil war period, the school's focus was on preparing public school teachers. However, by the mid-1880s, the school's curriculum had expanded to include programs in pharmacy, engineering, law, and business. In 1885, the school trustees changed the name to Ohio Normal University to reflect the expanded scope.
President Lehr's educational philosophy formed through his own educational experiences, and emphasized low tuition, flexible schedule and curriculum, and allowed women as both students and faculty. To secure the school's future, Lehr tried to secure state support for the school, but when that failed, he arranged to sell the school to the United Methodist Church. When the transfer was completed in 1899, he was succeeded by Dr. Leroy Belt in 1900, and then by Dr. Albert Edwin Smith in 1905.

Growth and struggle
Between 1900 and 1930, the school grew and underwent an administrative reorganization. During this time, the name changed for the last time, taking the name Ohio Northern University. A medical school and agriculture school were attempted but failed to develop. As high schools became more common in Ohio, ONU closed its preparatory program that had allowed students to prepare for the university. Dr. Smith traveled extensively on behalf of the school, and secured financing of nearly $500,000 for the first endowment fund. Fraternities continued to make a presence on the campus, and Smith fought to maintain the student code which forbids smoking and drinking.
During the Great Depression and World War II, the school struggled as student enrollment dropped as a reflection of the economic times. Dr. Robert Williams introduced efficiency measures by reducing the administrative staff and combining academic programs into colleges. During the war years, the university participated in government programs supporting the Army Air Corps and Navy. In the 1940s, both the yearbook and student newspaper ceased publication, a classroom building closed, and intercollegiate sports were temporarily suspended. President McClure served his first year without pay and many of the faculty went unpaid or on reduce salaries.

Post-war education boom
In 1944, the G.I. Bill promised to bring servicemen to universities across the country, and ONU received an influx of students starting in the fall of 1945 which continued for several years, straining the local housing marking and forcing the university, under the leadership of Dr. Robert McClure, to add trailers and student dormitories. By 1949, Dr. F. Bringle McIntosh shifted the school's focus from survival to enhancing academic programs and securing accreditation. During the following years, individual programs were accredited and in 1958 the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited the undergraduate program.
Under Dr. Samuel Lewis Meyer and Dr. Ray B. Loeschner, the university continued to grow its campus and its curriculum, enjoying financial stability from the steadily increasing enrollment. In the 1970s, new buildings included the Heterick Memorial Library, the Tilton College of Law and Taggart Law Library, the Wesley Center, the Young Building for Philosophy and Religion, the Biggs Engineering Building, the King-Horn Convocation Center, ONU Sports Center, Park Hall, two McIntosh extensions, along with refurbishing the Taft Building, the Wilson Art Center, and the Meyer Hall of Science. Five national honorary societies established chapters on campus, student organizations grew, and intercollegiate athletic teams expanded.

Recent growth
Growth continued under Dr. Debow Freed through the 1980s and 1990s with additions to the Taggart Law Library, Presser Hall, Dukes Memorial, Wilson Art Building, Biggs Engineering, Heterick Memorial Library, and Meyer Hall of Science, and the construction of the Freed Center for the Performing Arts and a new president's on-campus home. Under Dr. Kendall Baker, campus additions include Dicke Hall and the Dial-Roberson Stadium.

Technology growth
Starting in the early 1980s, the university provided computer services to a growing segment of the university's population, expanding from a centralized mainframe to networked personal computers and a computer network. ONU joined OhioLINK and technology revolutionized academic administrative activities and supported classroom activities. With the addition of the Internet, the university began offering its first distance learning courses in the pharmacy program. Today, there are over 1,200 networked computers and Internet access on campus.

Athletics
ONU students participate in intercollegiate, intramural, and sports clubs in a variety of sports. The ONU Polar Bears compete in the Division III Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). The men's volleyball team participates in the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association in the Great Midwest Men's Volleyball Conference (GMMVC).

Men's intercollegiate teams

Baseball
Basketball
Cross country
Football
Golf
Soccer
Swimming
Tennis
Track & field
Wrestling National Honors

1993 Men's Basketball NCAA Division III Champions Trivia

The school mascot is a polar bear named Klondike. The only fast food chains in Ada are Subway and Taco Bell.