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Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.[10]

"Harvard" redirects here. For other uses, see Harvard (disambiguation).

Former names

Harvard College

Veritas (Latin)[1]

"Truth"

Private research university

1636 (1636)[2]

Massachusetts General Court

NECHE

$50.7 billion (2023)[3][4]

Alan Garber (interim)

John F. Manning (interim)[5]

~2,400 faculty members (and >10,400 academic appointments in affiliated teaching hospitals)[6]

21,613 (Fall 2022)[7]

7,240 (Fall 2022)[7]

14,373 (Fall 2022)[7]

Cambridge
,
Massachusetts
,
United States

42°22′28″N 71°07′01″W / 42.37444°N 71.11694°W / 42.37444; -71.11694

Midsize city[8], 209 acres (85 ha)

The Harvard Crimson

Crimson, white, and black[9]
     

Crimson

John Harvard

harvard.edu

Harvard's founding was authorized by the Massachusetts colonial legislature, "dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches". Though never formally affiliated with any denomination, in its early years Harvard College primarily trained Congregational clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century. By the 19th century, Harvard emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston elite.[11][12] Following the American Civil War, under President Charles William Eliot's long tenure (1869–1909), the college developed multiple affiliated professional schools that transformed the college into a modern research university. In 1900, Harvard co-founded the Association of American Universities.[13] James B. Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II, and liberalized admissions after the war.


The university is composed of ten academic faculties and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences offers study in a wide range of undergraduate and graduate academic disciplines, and other faculties offer only graduate degrees, including professional degrees. Harvard has three main campuses:[14] the 209-acre (85 ha) Cambridge campus centered on Harvard Yard; an adjoining campus immediately across Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston; and the medical campus in Boston's Longwood Medical Area.[15] Harvard's endowment is valued at $50.7 billion, making it the wealthiest academic institution in the world.[3][4] Endowment income enables the undergraduate college to admit students regardless of financial need and provide financial aid with no loans. According to the American Library Association, Harvard University has the fourth-largest library by volumes held in the United States.


Harvard alumni, faculty, and researchers have included 188 living billionaires, 8 U.S. presidents, numerous heads of state, founders of notable companies, Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, members of Congress, MacArthur Fellows, Rhodes Scholars, Marshall Scholars, Turing Award Recipients, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Fulbright Scholars; by most metrics, Harvard ranks among the top globally in each of these categories.[Notes 1] Additionally, students and alumni have won 10 Academy Awards and 110 Olympic medals (46 gold).

Academic rankings

1

9

3 (tie)

1

6

1

4

4

1

Harvard University Gazette

The Harvard Gazette, also called the Harvard University Gazette, is the official press organ of Harvard University. Formerly a print publication, it is now a web site. It publicizes research, faculty, teaching and events at the university. Initiated in 1906, it was originally a weekly calendar of news and events. In 1968 it became a weekly newspaper.


When the Gazette was a print publication, it was considered a good way of keeping up with Harvard news: "If weekly reading suits you best, the most comprehensive and authoritative medium is the Harvard University Gazette."


In 2010, the Gazette "shifted from a print-first to a digital-first and mobile-first" publication, and reduced its publication calendar to biweekly, while keeping the same number of reporters, including some who had previously worked for the Boston Globe, Miami Herald, and the Associated Press.

Notable Harvard alumni include:

2nd President of the United States John Adams (AB, 1755; AM, 1758)[123]

2nd President of the United States John Adams (AB, 1755; AM, 1758)[123]

6th President of the United States John Quincy Adams (AB, 1787; AM, 1790)[124][125]

6th President of the United States John Quincy Adams (AB, 1787; AM, 1790)[124][125]

Essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (AB, 1821)

Essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (AB, 1821)

Naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (AB, 1837)

Naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher Henry David Thoreau (AB, 1837)

19th President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes (LLB, 1845)[126]

19th President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes (LLB, 1845)[126]

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (AB, 1861, LLB)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (AB, 1861, LLB)

Philosopher, logician, and mathematician Charles Sanders Peirce (AB, 1862, SB 1863)

Philosopher, logician, and mathematician Charles Sanders Peirce (AB, 1862, SB 1863)

26th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Theodore Roosevelt (AB, 1880)[127]

26th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Theodore Roosevelt (AB, 1880)[127]

Sociologist and civil rights activist
W. E. B. Du Bois (PhD, 1895)

Sociologist and civil rights activist W. E. B. Du Bois (PhD, 1895)

Poet Robert Frost (no degree)

Poet Robert Frost (no degree)

32nd President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt (AB, 1903)[128]

32nd President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt (AB, 1903)[128]

Author, political activist, and lecturer Helen Keller (AB, 1904, Radcliffe College)

Author, political activist, and lecturer Helen Keller (AB, 1904, Radcliffe College)

Poet and Nobel laureate in literature T. S. Eliot (AB, 1909; AM, 1910)

Poet and Nobel laureate in literature T. S. Eliot (AB, 1909; AM, 1910)

Physicist and leader of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer (AB, 1925)

Physicist and leader of the Manhattan Project J. Robert Oppenheimer (AB, 1925)

Economist and Nobel laureate in economics Paul Samuelson (AM, 1936; PhD, 1941)

Economist and Nobel laureate in economics Paul Samuelson (AM, 1936; PhD, 1941)

Musician and composer Leonard Bernstein (AB, 1939)

Musician and composer Leonard Bernstein (AB, 1939)

35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy (AB, 1940)[129]

35th President of the United States John F. Kennedy (AB, 1940)[129]

15th prime minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau (MA, 1947)

15th prime minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau (MA, 1947)

Mathematician and domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski (AB, 1962)

Mathematician and domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski (AB, 1962)

7th President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson (LLM, 1968)

7th President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson (LLM, 1968)

45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore (AB, 1969)

45th Vice President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore (AB, 1969)

24th President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (MPA, 1971)[130]

24th President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (MPA, 1971)[130]

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (AB, 1971; JD, 1975)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (AB, 1971; JD, 1975)

11th Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (AB, 1973, Radcliffe College)

11th Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (AB, 1973, Radcliffe College)

14th Chair of the Federal Reserve and Nobel laureate in economics Ben Bernanke (AB, 1975; AM, 1975)

14th Chair of the Federal Reserve and Nobel laureate in economics Ben Bernanke (AB, 1975; AM, 1975)

43rd President of the United States George W. Bush (MBA, 1975)[131]

43rd President of the United States George W. Bush (MBA, 1975)[131]

17th Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts (AB, 1976; JD, 1979)

17th Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts (AB, 1976; JD, 1979)

Founder of Microsoft and philanthropist Bill Gates (College, 1977;[a 1] LLD hc, 2007)

Founder of Microsoft and philanthropist Bill Gates (College, 1977;[a 1] LLD hc, 2007)

8th Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon (MPA, 1984)

8th Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon (MPA, 1984)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Elena Kagan (JD, 1986)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Elena Kagan (JD, 1986)

Biochemist and Nobel laureate in chemistry Jennifer Doudna (PhD, 1989)[132]

Biochemist and Nobel laureate in chemistry Jennifer Doudna (PhD, 1989)[132]

44th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama (JD, 1991)[133][134]

44th President of the United States and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Barack Obama (JD, 1991)[133][134]

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Neil Gorsuch (JD, 1991)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Neil Gorsuch (JD, 1991)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ketanji Brown Jackson (AB, 1992; JD, 1996)

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Ketanji Brown Jackson (AB, 1992; JD, 1996)

Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg (College, 2004;[a 1] LLD hc, 2017)

Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg (College, 2004;[a 1] LLD hc, 2017)

(1929) and Absalom, Absalom! (1936) by William Faulkner both depict Harvard student life.[136]

The Sound and the Fury

(1935) by Thomas Wolfe is a fictionalized autobiography that includes his alter ego's time at Harvard.[137]

Of Time and the River

(1937) by John P. Marquand parodies Harvard men at the opening of the 20th century;[137] it won the Pulitzer Prize.[138]

The Late George Apley

The Second Happiest Day (1953) by John P. Marquand Jr. portrays the Harvard of the World War II generation.[140][141][142][143]

[139]

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Official website

at College Navigator, a tool from the National Center for Education Statistics

Harvard University