Empire State University
Empire State University is a school that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
For generations, members of the Osborn family had attended E.S.U. and been part of its history. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #25)
Among the students that were admitted into E.S.U. were Flash Thompson, Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker who was admitted on a science scholarship. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
The Lifeline Tablet was being sent to various universities by the science foundation with it eventually being an exhibit at E.S.U. The Kingpin later staged a strike in order to acquire the relic for himself. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #68)
A research project was given to E.S.U. that was funded by the Roxxon Energy Corporation for the study of a new synthetic form of Vibranium that was known as Nuform that was being demonstrated on the campus grounds. Roxxon employees were present to help in setting up the event that was being overseen by Arthur Dearborn. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #25)
During the city's monetary crisis, night school at the university were closed leading to a large number of minority students struggling. Protests erupted with a spokesperson for it being E.S.U. Professor Vasquez who demanded the university sell the Erskine Manuscripts that could bring in the necessary funds. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #9)
Six Mutant students were admitted into E.S.U. and given scholarships for their mutations with these later being killed in an explosion. (Chamber v1 #1)
During a string of plagiarism among the student body, Cindy Lawton headed the Brand New Day initiative whereby she helped utilise Watchr that was the program to find source material that had been copied. Alumni Peter Parker was tested where it the program revealed that a paper of his had actually been published by Otto Octavius leading to his doctorate being suspended and under review. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #1)
Overview
It had a Board of Trustees that consisted of the schools senior management. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #9) The science department was said to had been the crown jewel of the university and holding an impressive engineering centre with some technology that rivalled that of Tony Stark. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #25)
E.S.U. had always been one of the most progressive universities in the country. (Chamber v1 #1) It was said that the university did not discriminate a person based on genetics. (Chamber v1 #2)
It was known to hold a journalism program. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1) One of the branches of the university was the school of journalism. (Daredevil v1 #113) For a time, there was a J. Jonah Jameson Scholarship for Journalistic Integrity that was offered by he university with this being funded by Jameson. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #185)
A co-species organization was created called the Students for Tolerance that consisted of humans and openly Mutant students. (Chamber v1 #1) It did not allow hate groups of any kind to congregate on campus. (Chamber v1 #2)
A student group included the Magnetic North that consisted of Mutants that resided on campus. (Chamber v1 #1)
Among the creations of the university included the:
- Seismic Ray Device : the S.R.D. was designed to check mineral composition under the Earth's crust and detected tectonic shifts to search for oil deposits and other goals. It was jointly developed with Atwell Petroleum, the Brand Corporation and the University. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #25)
- Multi-Environmental Testing Chamber : a machine that duplicated any environment or weather condition on Earth. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #25)
- Watchr was created as body that used bleeding edge anti-plagiarism tech that incorporated Cerebro technology to uncover students that had copied their work from others. Thus, their university was believed to be equipped with the tools needed to ensure comprehensive and rigorous standards in academic review. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #1)
It was said that the Erskine Manuscripts was the schools most priceless item and an invaluable scientific treasure with it being located in the E.S.U. library. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #9)
The university motto was shown to be, "Excelsior". (Chamber v1 #3)
It had its own Athletic Center where numerous sports and games were held. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #659)
A favourite locale for E.S.U. students was the café shop called The Coffee Bean whose motto was, "Abandon Hope all ye who enter here." (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #53)
Members
Staff
- Edward Lansky : (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #1)
- Vernon Weimer : an older grey-haired male who was the Director of Admissions. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1)
- Dr. Morris Sloan : a grey-haired male who was the Head of the Graduate Science Department. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #32)
- Miles Warren : a male professor who headed classes on biochemistry. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
- Ramon Vasquez : a male Professor of Ethnic Studies. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #9)
- Dr. Evan Swann : a male scientist employed at ESU who had actually bought his diploma and hid the fact that he never graduated from high school due to various factors. The Tinkerer came to learn of this and began to blackmail Dr. Swann in order to use his laboratory as well as various high-tech equipment. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #310)
- Marina Caches : a dark haired female Professor who taught Criminal Psychology at ESU. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #427)
- Marcy Kane :
- Anne-Marie Baker : a dark haired female research assistant who was born in Toulouse, France but was raised in London until she took a job working for Dr. Swann at ESU with her working on her doctorate. She was a colleague of Peter Parker when he began to work as a research assistant to Dr. Swann. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #310)
- Malcolm McBride : a young male graduate student at E.S.U. who was rivals with Peter Parker as he believed him to be responsible for cheating McBride out of a science grant. After finding Miles Warren's Carrion Virus, he sought to sell it as his own invention and become rich but was infected by the sample causing him to be transformed into the Carrion. (Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #149)
- Joe Ego : an alias taken by a green-skinned inhabitant of the Shi’ar empire who had a visa to work at Empire State University under a faculty exchange program. The visa was revoked under Henry Peter Gyrich’s initiative in removing all aliens from Earth leading to ‘Joe’s arrest. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #2)
- Clifton Shallot :
- Buck Mitty :
- Mark Howard :
- Edward Gorman :
- Eliot Irvine :
Students
- Reed Richards : male student who was said to had graduated from E.S.U. (Untold Tales of Spider-Man v1 #25)
- Peter Parker :
- Candace Nelson : blonde haired female student who studied journalism from the School of Journalism at E.S.U. (Daredevil v1 #113)
- Doreen Green :
- Delilah Dearborn : a female shy, studious and withdrawn physics major who later became the superhero Geiger. (Doc Samson v1 #3)
- Cindy Lawton : a short haired female student who was in the same class as Peter Parker who graduated where she came to work at the university and headed the anti-plagiarism efforts. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #1)
- Bart Cooper : a male Ph.D. student from years ago who began to secretly work for the crime boss Frankie Fear where he was to perfect synthetic M.H.G. but failed leading to him being murdered. (Daredevil Annual v5 #1)
- Robin Hawksin : a female Ph.D. student from years ago who tried to perfect a synthetic M.G.H. formula for crime boss Frankie Fear to cure his cancer but it transformed him into a superpowered being. (Daredevil Annual v5 #1)
Notes
- Empire State University was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where it made its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #1 (March, 1963).
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Empire State University appeared in the animated television series with it sometimes being referred to as Eastern State University.
- In Spider-Man, Empire State University appeared in the animated television series with Peter Parker, Debra Whitman, and Michael Morbius being college students there with Dr. Curt Connors being a professor working at the institution.
- In Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Empire State University appeared in the setting of the animated television series with Peter Parker, Harry Osborn and Mary Jane Watson being college students studying there.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Empire State University appeared in the animated television series with Eddie Brock attending it and working as a laboratory assistant to Dr. Curt Connors and Martha Connors. Miles Warren later joined the scientific staff and became a professor at the university.
- In Spider-Man, Empire State University was referenced in the animated television series. Professor Raymond Warren was said to had been a teacher there but there was a controversy over him performing illegal experiments though these allegations were never proven.
Films
- In The Amazing Spider-Man, a deleted scene in the live-action film had Dr. Curt Connors stating that he got his doctorate from Empire State University.
Video games
- In Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension, Empire State University appeared briefly in the setting of the video game. The Tablet of Order and Chaos was an exhibit there when Mysterio broke into the section at night to acquire it and sell it. He encountered Spider-Man with the Tablet being shattered sending its fragments across dimensions with a shard empowering Mysterio with great cosmic power.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Empire State University appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1:
- Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man v1:
External Links
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