Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. Founded in 1887 by Joseph Cataldo, a Sicilian-born priest and Jesuit missionary, the university is named after the young Jesuit saint Aloysius Gonzaga. The campus houses 105 buildings on 152 acres (62 ha) of grassland alongside the Spokane River, in a residential setting a half-mile (800 m) from downtown Spokane.