In 1932, two institutions, Broaddus College and Alderson Academy & Junior College, were united to form Alderson-Broaddus College. Each of the institutions passed on a rich Christian heritage. The older of the two, Broaddus University, was founded in Winchester, Virginia in 1871 by Edward Jefferson Willis, a Baptist minister who named the new college after Rev. William Francis Ferguson Broaddus, a prominent Baptist minister at the time of the Civil War. In 1876, Broaddus College was moved across the Alleghenies to Clarksburg, West Virginia. The college was moved again to the town of Philippi, West Virginia in 1901. Alderson Academy and Junior College, was founded in Alderson, West Virginia in 1901 by Emma Alderson, a committed Baptist laywoman. The sharing of a common identity as Baptist and liberal arts institutions led to the merger of the two colleges forming Alderson-Broaddus College.
Eighty-one years later, on June 27, 2013, AB gained university status and changed its name to Alderson Broaddus University to reflect its status among higher education. A campus-wide celebration was held on September 2, 2013, and an updated version of the mascot, Skirmish the Battler, was unveiled.
Today Alderson Broaddus University maintains five colleges: The College of Business; The College of Education; The College of Health, Science, Technology and Mathematics; The College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and, The College of Medical Science. This structure has resulted in the expansion of academic majors, new academic initiatives, increased graduate culture, and reflects the prestige, character, and status of AB among other institutions of higher education.
