Wake Forest University is a
private,
independent,
nonprofit, non-sectarian, coeducational
research university in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, founded in 1834. The university received its name from its original location in
Wake Forest, north of
Raleigh, North Carolina, the state capital. The Reynolda Campus, the university's main campus, has been located north of downtown Winston-Salem since the university moved there in 1956. The
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center campus is located near the Ardmore neighborhood in central Winston-Salem. The University also occupies lab space at Biotech Plaza, at the downtown Piedmont Research Park, and at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials. The University's
Graduate School of Management maintains a presence on the main campus in Winston-Salem and in
Charlotte, North Carolina.