On March 14, 1908, Virginia Governor
Claude A. Swanson signed into law legislation for the establishment of the new State
Normal and Industrial School for Women. It was called Fredericksburg Teachers College. The institution was renamed Mary Washington College in 1938 after
Mary Ball Washington, mother of the first president of the United States of America,
George Washington, and longtime resident of Fredericksburg. In 1944 the college became associated with the
University of Virginia as its
women's college. Until that time, the University of Virginia had not admitted women as undergraduates, except in its education and nursing programs, although its postgraduate programs were coeducational. Following UVA's transition to coeducational status in 1970, the
Virginia General Assembly reorganized Mary Washington College in 1972 as a separate, coeducational institution. The General Assembly of Virginia enacted legislation changing the college's name to University of Mary Washington on March 19, 2004, to reflect the addition of master's degree programs and the establishment of more than one campus. The university's first
LEED-certified building, CGPS North Building, was built in 2007. The university houses stops along the route of the Fredericksburg Regional Transit System (FRED). The school signed an Energy Performance Contract with the
energy service company NORESCO from 2005 to 2007, enabling the campus to install water saving devices which reduced campus water consumption by 50%. NORESCO also installed low energy light fixtures, occupant sensors, HVAC controls, and completed replacement of leaking condensate piping.{{cite web ==Academics==