History of NU Few American institutions of higher learning as old as Norwich University still closely adhere to the educational principles of its founders. Norwich is one of the exceptions and in a very substantial sense the institution today is the lengthened shadow of its founder, Captain Alden Partridge. The educational philosophy of Alden Partridge continues to guide Norwich University now in its third century and serves as a touchstone by which the university can be measured and appraised. Captain Alden Partridge (1785–1854) probably did more than any other individual to promote military education in civilian institutions in the United States prior to the American Civil War. Partridge originated a novel system of education which combined civilian and military studies in order to produce enlightened and useful citizen-soldiers. Like John Milton, Alden Partridge saw the ideal education as a liberal one which prepares youth for the responsibilities of peace and war. The fundamental promise of Partridge’s thinking was that education must prepare youth “to discharge, in the best possible manner, the duties they owe to themselves, to their fellow-men, and to their country.”
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