Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636. Its history, influence an... 2:10 AM

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, established in 1636. Its history, influence and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Established originally by the Massachusetts legislature and soon thereafter named for John Harvard (its first benefactor), Harvard is the United States' oldest institution of higher learning, and the Harvard Corporation (formally, the President and Fellows of Harvard College) is its first chartered corporation. Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregation­alist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, and by the 19th century Harvard had emerged as the central cultural establishment among Boston elites. Following the American Civil War, President Charles W. Eliot's long tenure (1869–1909) transformed the college and affiliated professional schools into a modern research university; Harvard was a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. James Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College.

The University is organized into eleven separate academic unitsten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studywith campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area: its 209-acre  main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge, approximately 3 miles  northwest of Boston; the business school and athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium, are located across the Charles River in the Allston neighborhood of Boston and the medical, dental, and public health schools are in the Longwood Medical Area. Harvard has the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world, standing at $32.3 billion as of June 2013.

Harvard is a large, highly residential research university. The nominal cost of attendance is high, but the University's large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. It operates several arts, cultural, and scientific museums, alongside the Harvard Library, which is the world's largest academic and private library system, comprising 79 individual libraries with over 18 million volum Harvard's alumni include eight U.S. presidents, several foreign heads of state, sixty-two living billionaires and 335 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 150 Nobel laureates have been affiliated as students, faculty, or staff.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Campus                                                                                                                                                                    Harvard's 209-acre (85 ha) main campus is centered on Harvard Yard in Cambridge, about 3 miles  west-northwest of the State House in downtown Boston, and extends into the surrounding Harvard Square neighborhood. Harvard Yard itself contains the central administrative offices and main libraries of the university, academic buildings including Sever Hall and University Hall, Memorial Church, and the majority of the freshman dormitories. Sophomore, junior, and senior undergraduates live in twelve residential Houses, nine of which are south of Harvard Yard along or near the Charles River. The other three are located in a residential neighborhood half a mile northwest of the Yard at the Quadrangle (commonly referred to as the Quad), which formerly housed Radcliffe College students until Radcliffe merged its residential system with Harvard. The Harvard MBTA station provides public transportation via bus service and the Red Line subway.

                                                                                                                 


Memorial Hall
The Harvard Business School and many of the university's athletics facilities, including Harvard Stadium, are located on a 358-acre  campus opposite the Cambridge campus in Allston. The John W. Weeks Bridge is a pedestrian bridge over the Charles River connecting both campuses. The Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health are located on a 21-acre campus in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area approximately 3.3 miles  southwest of downtown Boston and 3.3 miles (5.3 km) south of the Cambridge campus. A private shuttle bus connects the Longwood campus to the Cambridge campus via Massachusetts Avenue making stops in the Back Bay and at MIT as well.

Each residential house contains rooms for undergraduates, House masters, and resident tutors, as well as a dining hall and library. The facilities were made possible by a gift from Yale University alumnus Edward Harkness.


Memorial Church
Radcliffe Yard, formerly the center of the campus of Radcliffe Coll, is adjacent to the Graduate School of Education and the Cambridge Common.

From 2009'2011, Harvard University reported on-campus crime statistics that included 69 forcible sex offenses 12 robberies 15 aggravated assaults, 80 burglaries, and 10 cases of motor vehicle theft.

Satellite facilities
Apart from its major Cambridge Allston and Longwood campuses, Harvard owns and operates Arnold Arboretum, in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston; the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington, D.C.; the Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts; the Concord Field Station in Estabrook Woods in Concord, Massachusetts[45] and the Villa I Tatti research center in Florence, Italy. Harvard also operates the Harvard Shanghai Center in China.