In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, along with other American universities, Penn began to transform itself into a research institution. In 1872 the University moved from Center City to its present location, thus gaining sufficient space to create laboratories and research facilities. A graduate division was established in 1882 with the appointment of a Faculty of Philosophy. The first fellowship for graduate study was established in 1885, and the first earned Ph.D. was awarded in 1889.

Penn's first Ph.D. in Classical Studies was Alice M. Atkinson, who submitted her thesis, "A Chronology of Horace's Satires and Epistles," in 1894. Until the mid-twentieth century, however, the graduate program was not very active, granting only three doctorates by 1915 and none thereafter until 1945. From that date forward the program has trained scholars at a steady and even an increasing rate.

Notable People and Events

• 1886: student production of Aristophanes' Acharnians
• 1887: foundation of the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• 1893: Alice Minerva Atkinson becomes one of the two first women to earn an M.A. at Penn. She later earned Penn's first Ph.D. in Classical Studies.
• 1903: student production of Euripides' Iphigeneia at Tauris
• 1915: English production of Euripides' Trojan Women and revival of the 1903 Iphigeneia at Tauris in the University Botanical Gardens
• 1961: awarding of first Ph.D. in Classical Archaeology
• 1966: creation of the Graduate Group in Ancient History
• 1970: The Pennsylvania Declaration Regarding the Illicit Trade in Art Objects