Gallaudet University, then problematically called the Columbia Institution For the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and Blind, was founded in 1856 to educate a handful of deaf and blind children. Edward Miner Gallaudet, founder of the nation's first school for the deaf, soon became superintendent. Eight years later, congress and President Lincoln authorized the school to grant college degrees, promoting Gallaudet to President of the new institution.
Fun fact: Due to its charter status, every Gallaudet diploma is signed by the sitting US President.