Academy of Art University /

The Academy of Art University (formerly Academy of Art College), a for-profit university owned by the Stephens Institute, was founded in San Francisco, California in 1929 by Richard S. Stephens. With an enrollment of over 17,000 students, the academy is reportedly the largest art and design school in the United States. In 1929, the Academy of Art University was established in San Francisco as the Academy of Art Advertising by Richard S. Stephens, a fine arts painter and the creative director for Sunset. Assisted by his wife, Clara Stephens, Stephens opened the new school in a rented loft at 215 Kearny Street to teach advertising art. Over the next few years, he hired a faculty of practicing art and design professionals and formulated the school's philosophy to hire established professionals to teach future professionals. In 1933, the curriculum was expanded to include Fashion Illustration, and a Fine Art Department was added in 1936. Stephens' son, Richard A. Stephens, took over direction of the school after graduating from Stanford University in 1951. During the son's tenure, the academy expanded its enrollment from 50 to 5,200 students.