Founded in 1785, the University of Georgia awarded its first graduate degree, a Master of Arts, nearly a century later in 1870. The first Master of Arts curriculum was put in place in 1868 during the administration of Chancellor Andrew A. Lipscomb, and the first graduate degrees were awarded in 1870 to Washington Dessau, future chancellor Walter Barnard Hill, and Burgess Smith. By 1877, the university's catalog referenced a requirement to take every course offered by the university in order to qualify for the Master of Arts.