Albertus Magnus College was founded in 1925 by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs. The dedication speaker was James Rowland Angell, the president of nearby Yale University. All classes and offices were first housed in Rosary Hall, a Palladian-style mansion that has since been converted for use as the institution's main library. The college's first chaplain, Rev. Arthur Chandler, stated that the college's initial goal was to educate women "to become thinkers and leaders and the noble among the ladyhood of the future."