The University of St. Thomas (also known as UST or simply St. Thomas) is a private, Catholic, liberal arts, and archdiocesan university located in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1885 as a Catholic seminary, it is named after Thomas Aquinas, a medieval Catholic theologian and philosopher who is the patron saint of learning in the Roman Catholic Church. UST currently enrolls more than 10,000 students, making it Minnesota's largest private college or university. Father Dennis Dease became the 14th president in the history of the University in 1991. Founded in 1885 by John Ireland, archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, St. Thomas began as an all-male, Catholic seminary. In 1894, it became a liberal arts college through a gift from local railroad tycoon James J. Hill, who provided funds to establish the St. Paul Seminary apart from the college. In 1903, the College of St. Thomas established a military program on campus, and it was officially termed a military school by the U.S. War Department in 1906. Initially, the school gave out two-year diplomas in commercial and classical programs before awarding its first academic degrees in 1915.