Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded in 1636 and is the oldest university in the United States. It was named Harvard College in 1639 to honor John Harvard, its first supporter.

The university was started by the Massachusetts General Court, the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was first created to train religious leaders, but later expanded to many other subjects. By the 1800s, Harvard became very important, especially after the American Civil War.

Today, Harvard has ten groups of teachers and classes. It has three main areas where it teaches: the main area in Cambridge around Harvard Yard, another in Boston’s Allston neighborhood, and a medical area in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. Harvard has a very large collection of books and is the richest university in the world.

Harvard has many famous people who studied or worked there, including leaders of countries and winners of top awards. Harvard students and graduates have won many prizes in sports and movies, including 10 Academy Awards and 110 Olympic medals.

History

Main article: History of Harvard University

Harvard University started in 1636 when leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony decided to create it. It was named for John Harvard, a teacher who gave the school money and books. At first, Harvard taught lessons for future ministers, using the style of English universities.

In the 1700s, Harvard began giving out higher degrees and became a full university. In the 1800s, it started including newer ideas and allowed women to join its graduate schools. By the 1900s, Harvard was known around the world as a big and welcoming university for many students.

Campuses

See also: Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Radcliffe Institute

The main campus of Harvard University is in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It covers a big area called Harvard Yard. This area has important buildings like libraries and old halls. It also has classrooms and places for students to live. Students live in twelve houses. Each house has its own dining hall and library.

Harvard also has a campus in Allston. This is across the river from Cambridge. The Business School and many sports places are here. The university plans to build more in Allston for students and research. Schools for medicine and public health are in the Longwood area of Boston. These schools are near big hospitals and research centers. Harvard also has research centers in places like Washington, D.C., Italy, and China.

Main article: Longwood Medical and Academic Area

Organization and administration

Harvard University is led by a group called the Board of Overseers and another group known as the President and Fellows of Harvard College, also called the Harvard Corporation. Together, they choose the president of Harvard University.

Harvard has a lot of saved money, called an endowment. It is the largest of any university in the world. This money helps pay for many things, including supporting students and building new facilities. Students have asked Harvard to use this money more carefully.

Academics

Harvard University is a large research university. It offers many majors and degrees for students to study. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences is the biggest part of the university. It teaches students at Harvard College, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Division of Continuing Education.

Harvard has 13 schools. These include Harvard Medical School, Harvard Law School, Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Business School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Harvard Kennedy School. Each school teaches different subjects, like medicine, law, business, and public health. Harvard is famous for its research, especially in medicine. The university has the world's largest academic library, with more than 20 million books and items in 25 libraries. Harvard also has museums, such as the Harvard Art Museums and the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

Student activities

The Undergraduate Council used to help undergraduate students, but it was replaced in 2022 by the Undergraduate Association. The Graduate Council helps students in all twelve graduate and professional schools. Many of these schools also have their own student groups.

The Harvard Crimson, which started in 1873, is the main student newspaper run by undergraduate students. It was where many famous people began, including two U.S. presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

Athletics

Main article: Harvard Crimson

Harvard College competes in the NCAA Division I Ivy League conference. It has 42 sports teams, the most of any college in the country. The school color is crimson. Athletes do not receive special money for playing sports because Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships.

Harvard’s athletes have won important prizes. They have won five NCAA Division I championships since 1973: men's ice hockey in 1989, women's lacrosse in 1990, women's rowing in 2003, and men's fencing in 2006 and 2024. The university’s men's squash team has won the most national college titles in that sport. Harvard’s first national championship was in 1880 with its track and field team. The school has famous rivalries, especially with Yale in college football. This competition started in 1875. In men's ice hockey, Harvard has a long rivalry with Cornell, which began in 1910.

Notable people

Further information: List of Harvard University people, List of Harvard University non-graduate alumni, and List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation

Harvard University has taught many important people over its long history. Many of its students have grown up to be leaders in different areas, like politics, science, and the arts.

Some famous people who went to Harvard include U.S. presidents, winners of the Nobel Prize, and leaders from many countries. The university has also had many respected teachers who have done great work in their subjects.

In popular culture

Harvard University is famous and often appears in books and movies. People use Harvard to show ideas about tradition and importance.

In books, Harvard shows up in stories like The Sound and the Fury and Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner. It is also in works by Thomas Wolfe and John P. Marquand.

In movies, Harvard is in films such as Love Story (1970), The Paper Chase (1973), Legally Blonde (2001), and The Social Network (2010).