Marshall University is a public research institution in West Virginia. Established in 1837 as Marshall Academy, it was known as Marshall College between 1858 and 1961 prior to obtaining university status.

It is located in the centre of Huntington, a long-time railway hub, and West Virginia’s second largest city after Charleston. Situated on the the Ohio River, Huntington is just 10 miles from the state’s western border with Kentucky and 150 miles south east of Cincinnati, Ohio.

During the Great Depression, the college at times accepted IOUs and potatoes towards tuition. It now runs more than 100 programmes across 10 locations across the state, which include Charleston, Williamson, Logan, Point Pleasant, Beaver and Hurricane.

The university’s sports teams participate at the highest level of college sport. Its entire American football team was tragically killed in a 1970 plane crash near local Tri-State Airport which claimed 75 lives in total.

Marshall’s most popular courses include marketing, general studies, education and psychology, though its engineering and business programmes are also well regarded regionally. It has awarded master’s degrees since 1938.

Chad Pennington, one of the quarterbacks with the best pass completion rates in National Football League history, and Troy Brown, a three-time Super Bowl champion who spent his entire NFL career at the New England Patriots, are Marshall alumni. Mike D’Antoni, who has coached the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and New York Knicks after spending most of his playing career in Italy, is another alumnus, while award-winning actor Billy Crystal also briefly attended Marshall.