The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The university was founded in 1819 by former Governor of Virginia and President of the United States Thomas Jefferson, and its original Board of Visitors also included James Madison and James Monroe. Jefferson designed both the original curriculum and the university's classical architecture, and it has since acquired "Public Ivy" status for offering a prestigious education in the style of the private, colonial-era "Ivy League" schools.