The University of North Florida (unf) was founded in 1969 after one thousand acres midway between downtown Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Beaches was put aside for the campus

Nestled among 1,300 acres that include a state-protected wildlife and bird sanctuary featuring miles of nature trails and numerous lakes and ponds with an abundance of wildlife on and around campus, from armadillos to alligators, UNF is organized into five colleges which offer 53 undergraduate degree programs and 29 graduate-degree programs with a 2008 student-to-faculty ratio of 21:1. The University employs more than 553 full-time instructional faculty and over 1878 staff. UNF is a member of the Atlantic Sun Athletic Conference, has a $214 million annual budget, and an annual economic impact of $1 billion.

UNF faculty, students, and staff are proactive in the search for new knowledge and consistently demonstrate their concern about the world in which we live. With the support of private and public agencies, they contribute to our knowledge about the world and apply their findings and skills to solving many of the problems facing contemporary society. Many contributions evolve from basic research; others, from practical applications of new knowledge. Other projects make specialized training available to public officials, to organizations working for social betterment, to religious and educational institutions, and to business and manufacturing organizations. Through sponsored and non-sponsored activities, UNF faculty, students, and staff make significant contributions to instructional programs.

UNF faculty members received nearly $15 million in grants and contracts in 2009 for such projects as examining the link between physical activity and metabolic health, assisting small businesses with strategic planning, developing a fuel cell battery, and providing college preparation to middle school students. UNF researchers developed high-tech sensors that can detect certain substances, gases or disease-causing bugs by sniffing the air or coming into contact with a chemical. The technology could potentially detect disease from a patient’s breath, identify pollutants and detect bacteria on surfaces or in food.

UNF has 28 major buildings and five housing facilities on campus. Among them, the Social Science building received the 2007 Award of Excellence for University Building by the Southeast Construction Company for Energy and Environmental Design. The Thomas G. Carpenter Library has a total square footage of 199,000 square feet. Currently, the Library has 300 public workstations, 17 group study rooms, 37 carrels, 21 faculty, 24 support staff, over 1.4 million microform units, over 800 videos, 13,000 electronic journals, over 52,000 electronic books, and over 800,000 volumes. The UNF Student Union, which opened in 2009, is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building. It is also one of the first Gold LEED-certified buildings in Jacksonville.

UNF acquired the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville in 2009 as a cultural resource. The affiliation with the museum allows UNF to improve the facility's operations and marketing. The acquisition improves UNF's downtown presence and strengthens ties with the city. The MOCA collection consists of nearly 800 works of art, including painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography. MOCA served more than 8,000 children in 2009 through its arts in education programs. In addition to school tours, MOCA’s initiatives provide outreach to at-risk children.