Webster University

Webster University was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, in 1915. After visiting Webster's Geneva campus, Vienna Mayor Leopold Gratz invited Webster University to open a campus in Vienna as the first and only American university in the country, beginning in 1981.

The campus was initially located on Schubertring in Vienna's first district, but soon moved to Marokkanergasse, occupying an entire three-story building. In 1985, Webster Vienna became the first institution to offer an accredited MBA program in Austria. The university was also the first university in Austria to be led by a woman; Elisabeth Chopin served as director of Webster Vienna from 1988 to 1999.

Due to the growing number of students, the campus moved for the second time to the 22nd district, Donaustadt, in 1996. That same year, Webster Vienna awarded honorary doctorates to Cardinal König and the former Austrian-Jewish Holocaust survivor Simon Wiesenthal. Later, in 2007, the university also awarded an honorary degree to the renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo (of Stanford University near Palo Alto, California).

In 2001, Webster Vienna became the first and only American university to receive accreditation from an Austrian private university.

In autumn 2014, Webster Vienna moved to its current modern campus in the historic Wenckheim Palace near the city centre. The newly renovated building houses the technical equipment on over 5,000 m² (or 55,000 sq ft).