The University of West Florida, also known as West Florida or UWF, is a mid-sized public university located in Pensacola, which is the county seat of Escambia County and the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, with a population estimated at a number of more than 50 000 inhabitants, during the 2006 census. Pensacola's nickname is ''The City of Five Flags'', which was given due to the five governments that have flown flags over it during its history:the Confederate States of America, the United States, Spain (Castile), France and Great Britain. Pensacola is also known as the ''World's Whitest Beaches'', due to the white sand prevalent along beaches in the Florida panhandle, ''Western Gate to the Sunshine State'', ''America's First Settlement'', ''Cradle of Naval Aviation'', ''Emerald Coast'', ''Redneck Riviera'', and ''Red Snapper Capital of the World''.

UWF was established in 1963, but planes for its founding were made earlier in 1955, when the Florida Legislature authorized the State Board of Education to locate a state university in Escambia County, funds for the university's development being allocated shortly after. Since it first opened it doors to students, West Florid has grown in both size and prestige, being the 6th state university of the State University System of Florida, which encompasses eleven institutions of higher learning.

The university has an enrollment estimated at a number of more than 11 000 students, to whom it offers associate, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, and Doctor of Education degree programs, in various fields of study, including in areas such as education, business, chemistry, nursing, psychology and science. In 2007, West Florida was ranked 56th best in the category Masters Universities - South, and it was also voted a ''Best Southeastern College'' by The Princeton Review, in 2010, UWF being first at The Journalism Championship at Southeast Journalism Conference, being ranked as a fourth tier post secondary institution in US News and World Report's 2010 National Universities category, as well.

Athletics

UWF's athletic teams are known as the Argonauts, who compete in the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference, in various sports, for both men and women, including in soccer, basketball, baseball, golf, cross country, tennis and volleyball. Their distinctive colors are blue and green and their mascot is Argie the Argonaut.

Notable Alumni

Among the most resonant names, on the list of notable alumni from UWF, there are: Jeni Booker Senter - Prize-winning journalist (2008 Women in the Arts winner for Outstanding Press Coverage), award-winning poet and essayist, Hansel Tookes - CEO of Raytheon Aircraft, James Ellis - President & CEO of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations at Lockheed Martin, former U.S. Navy Admiral, Kenneth M. Ford - Computer scientist, chairman of National Science Board Committee on Programs and Plans and founder of Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, and John L. Phillips - Active NASA astronaut, among many others.