In February 1867, the Illinois legislature 1ocated the state university in Champaign County. Less than a month later, the Board of Trustees appointed John M. Gregory as the first regent of Illinois Industrial University. As Superintendent of Public Instruction in Michigan and President of Kalamazoo College, Gregory sought to build on the existing system of highereducation to meet the needs of a new age. His curricular plan for a comprehensive university in Illinois provided an excellent chart for the future.