About – Volta Vicharles Hotel

About Harvard

Those who join our community—to learn, research, teach, work, and grow—join nearly four centuries of students and scholars in the pursuit of truth, knowledge, and a better world.

About Harvard /

The people of Harvard

Our people are what make Harvard special. Our community comprises many backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values.

Explore data about our community with the Harvard Fact Book.

24,519

undergraduate and graduate students

20,667

faculty and staff

400,000+

alumni worldwide

35 million+

learners through Harvard Online

We believe in the value of knowledge, the power of teaching and research, and the ways that what we do here can benefit society.”

President of Harvard University
Alan M. Garber

The history of Harvard

Explore the history of our founding, our Nobel Prize winners, the honorary degrees we’ve awarded, and how our iconic shield was created.

On October 28, 1636, Harvard, the first college in the American colonies, was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University was officially founded by a vote by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Harvard’s endowment started with John Harvard’s initial donation of 400 books and half his estate, but in 1721, Thomas Hollis began the now standard practice of requiring that a donation be used for a specific purpose when he donated money for “a Divinity Professor, to read lectures in the Halls to the students.”

Women’s history at Harvard

As staff members, then as students and faculty, the women of Harvard paved the way for the next generation, and continue to carve new paths today.

Visit Harvard mobile app

This free mobile app features a self-guided walking tour through Harvard Yard that highlights the history behind iconic buildings, traditions, alumni and more.

Visit Harvard mobile app

This free mobile app features a self-guided walking tour through Harvard Yard that highlights the history behind iconic buildings, traditions, alumni and more.

For more than 100 years the Harvard Gazette has covered campus life, University issues, innovations in science and scholarship, and broader global concerns.

The greater Harvard community

Harvard is dedicated to being a good neighbor to the communities we reside within, whether in Massachusetts or at our locations abroad.

$5.35 million

for improvements to public parks and open spaces, neighborhood beautification, streetscape enhancements, public safety initiatives, and public art.

650,000

visitors to Harvard museums each year

20+

locations abroad that link Harvard faculty and students to local academic institutions, government organizations, businesses, and communities

Mindfulness and Meditation

Harvard College alum Emerance joins Team Canada’s Women’s Ice Hockey team. This is her second appearance in an Olympic tournament after competing with the Canadians at the 2022 games in Beijing.

Mindfulness and Meditation

Harvard College alum Emerance joins Team Canada’s Women’s Ice Hockey team. This is her second appearance in an Olympic tournament after competing with the Canadians at the 2022 games in Beijing.