Harvard University

Harvard University is one of the eight Ivy League schools in the United States. It was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1636, making it the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Harvard is among the most prestigious universities in the world.

Harvard University was founded in 1636 by the Great and General Court of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England. It was originally called New College. The name was soon changed to Harvard to honor John Harvard, a clergyman from England, who died in 1638. Harvard had accumulated a large amount of wealth over his life, and donated half of it— £780, equivalent to around £180,000 in 2019—to the newly established university after his death, along with his collection of 400 academic books. The Great and General Court subsequently named the college after him in 1639.

Lawrence S. Bacow is Harvard's 29th president as of 2021.

The Harvard University system includes the undergraduate school of Harvard, twelve different professional and graduate schools, and the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. Harvard's professional and graduate schools include the following:

1. Harvard Medical School
2. Harvard Divinity School
3. Harvard Law School
4. Harvard School of Dental Medicine
5. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
6. Harvard Business School
7. Harvard Extension School
8. Harvard Graduate School of Design
9. Harvard Graduate School of Education
10. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
11. Harvard Kennedy School
12. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Since its establishment nearly four centuries ago, Harvard University has produced many famous and notable alumni, including politicians and revolutionary business owners. Some of the school's most famous alumni include Mark Zuckerberg, John F. Kennedy, Natalie Portman, and Michael Bloomberg. Out of every university in the world, Harvard has produced the highest number of alumni who have become billionaires and US presidents.