Boston University

In 1839 delegates to a Methodist Episcopal conference met in Boston and established the Newbury Biblical Institute, housed in Newbury Seminary, a secondary school in Newbury, Vermont. The institute later became the School of Theology, and Boston University’s timeline calls it “the first school of Boston University.” The BU timeline dates the entry February 27, 1839, while the history timeline published by The Daily Free Press in 2014 gives April 24, 1839 and says the school was founded by Boston Methodist ministers.⁠[1][2]

Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopedia first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768; the name also refers to its publisher, Chicago-based Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (which presents itself as The Britannica Group). The print edition ended in 2012, and the company’s main businesses since then have been the online encyclopedia Britannica.com, digital education products for schools and libraries, and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.Open the full entry likewise dates the university’s beginnings to a Methodist theological school founded in Vermont in 1839.⁠[3]

In 1847 the theology department of the Newbury Biblical Institute moved to Concord, New HampshireNew HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by Quebec, Canada, to the north, Vermont across the Connecticut River to the west, Massachusetts to the south, and Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east; its capital is Concord. One of the original 13 colonies, it became the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on June 21, 1788, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 1,377,529.Open the full entry, and was renamed the Methodist General Biblical Institute. The Daily Free Press timeline writes that the move followed an invitation from the Congregational Society in Concord on condition that the institute remain there for at least 20 years, and that New Hampshire issued its charter.⁠[4][2]

In 1867 the Methodist General Biblical Institute moved to Boston and was rechartered as the Boston Theological Seminary. The Daily Free Press timeline adds that the trustees bought 30 acres in Brookline, that the institute moved to 23 Pinckney Street in Boston, and that the charter was granted by Massachusetts. The same year William Fairfield Warren, a former pastor, became acting president of the seminary.⁠[5][2][6]

Under 1867, the BU timeline states that Boston University was among the first universities in the United States to open all of its divisions to female students; The Daily Free Press timeline calls BU the first American university to open all its divisions to women.⁠[5][2]

On May 26, 1869, a Massachusetts act (Acts of 1869, Chapter 322) incorporated the Trustees of Boston University, constituting Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin and Jacob Sleeper, with their associates and successors, as a body corporate. The university’s timeline says that Boston University was chartered by the three businessmen Isaac Rich, Lee Claflin and Jacob Sleeper and that the Boston Theological Seminary was the university’s first department. The Daily Free Press timeline states that the charter was granted by the Massachusetts Legislature and that it barred religious requirements for students and instructors.⁠[7][8][2]

In 1871 the university absorbed the Boston Theological Seminary to create the School of Theology, which The Daily Free Press timeline describes as the university’s first school.⁠[2]

In 1872 the Boston University School of Law was founded as the second school adopted by the university. The university’s timeline says it reformed legal education in the United States by requiring an admission examination and offering three-year courses, and that it was among the first law schools to admit women and minorities.⁠[5]

The College of Music, established the same year, is described in the university’s timeline as the first degree-granting music school in the country. William Claflin, son of BU founder Lee Claflin, founded the New England Conservatory; the two programs shared a dean, faculty and facilities and granted joint degrees.⁠[5][2]

The Daily Free Press timeline writes that the Great Boston Fire of 1872 destroyed nearly all of BU’s campus buildings.⁠[2]

In 1873 William Fairfield Warren was formally appointed the first president of Boston University; he served until 1903, a tenure of 30 years. The university’s timeline says he combined the breadth of the American liberal arts college, the professional studies of the British university and the original research of the German university, and championed higher education for all students regardless of religion, race or sex.⁠[6]

Warren gave no inaugural address. BU Today quotes his first annual report, of 1874: “A crying necessity of the University is more room.”⁠[9]

The College of Liberal Arts, now the College of Arts & Sciences, was founded in 1873 with the Rev. John W. Lindsay as its first dean, at 18-20 Beacon Street. The university’s timeline calls it the first fully coeducational liberal arts college in New England.⁠[10][5]

The same year Boston University took over the New England Female Medical College, establishing the School of Medicine. The Daily Free Press timeline says this made BU the first university to admit women to its medical school.⁠[11][2]

In 1873 Alexander Graham Bell gave the inaugural lecture of the School of Oratory. From 1873 to 1879 he taught “Culture of the Speaking Voice” there; the school was housed in the same building as the College of Liberal Arts. The college’s history says he used a paid year’s leave to develop a way to transmit speech over wires, and that the first public transmission went from that building to the Atheneum Reading Room.⁠[2][10]

The School of All Sciences, predecessor of today’s Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, opened in 1874 with John W. Lindsay as acting dean. It was renamed the graduate school in 1910, when matriculation fees were $10 for an MA and $25 for a PhD.⁠[10][5]

In 1877 Helen Magill earned a PhD in Greek at BU. The College of Arts & Sciences history calls her the first woman in the United States to earn a doctorate, and Encyclopædia Britannica (naming her Helen Magill White) also calls her the first American woman to receive a PhD; the university’s timeline states that under Warren BU became the first university anywhere to award a doctor of philosophy to a woman. Britannica adds that BU was the first institution in Massachusetts to award degrees to women and one of the first American institutions of higher education to accept African American and international students.⁠[10][3][6]

The same year Emanuel Hewlett graduated from the School of Law as its first Black graduate.⁠[2]

In 1881 Alice Stone Blackwell, daughter of the suffragist Lucy Stone, graduated from the College of Liberal Arts with honors and as class president.⁠[10]

William Edwards Huntington became the second president in 1904 and served until 1911. He grew up in an abolitionist farm family in IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is a state of the United States that borders Lake Michigan and the states of Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa; its capital is Springfield and its largest city is Chicago. It was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818, as the 21st state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 12,812,508.Open the full entry, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, rising from private to first lieutenant, and studied at the University of Wisconsin and the BU School of Theology; after earning his PhD in 1882 he became dean of the College of Liberal Arts. The university’s timeline says he sought to bring the energy of America’s growing cities into higher education and envisioned BU as a “municipal” university responsive to urban life.⁠[6]

The excerpt of Huntington’s inaugural address published by BU Today stresses the teacher’s role: “nothing can take the place of the living presence of the true teacher.”⁠[9]

In 1907 the College of Liberal Arts introduced majors and minors into its curriculum for the first time. Earlier, in 1903, a report in the BU Beacon said that although study in France would be good for students, most preferred to go to Germany because it benefited their careers.⁠[10]

Lemuel Herbert Murlin, a Methodist minister from a rural Midwestern background, led Baker University in KansasKansasKansas is a state of the United States bordered by Nebraska to the north, Missouri to the east, Oklahoma to the south, and Colorado to the west; its capital is Topeka and its largest city is Wichita. It was admitted to the Union on January 29, 1861, as the 34th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 2,937,880.Open the full entry from 1893 to 1911 and became BU’s third president in 1911. He too envisioned a university at the heart of the city and serving it, and in 1920 he bought a large tract of land between the Charles River and Commonwealth Avenue to bring the scattered colleges and schools together on one permanent campus. His fundraising campaign for the campus fell short, and in 1924 he resigned to become president of his alma mater, DePauw University.⁠[6]

The excerpt of Murlin’s inaugural address published by BU Today focuses on public health: “Cure disease where we must; prevent its coming where we can.”⁠[9]

The College of Business Administration, later the School of Management, opened in 1913. In 1918 Dr. Arthur H. Wilde founded the School of Education.⁠[2]

In 1914 Agnes Black, a professor of elocution, was appointed Advisor of Women. In 1920 freshmen of the College of Liberal Arts wore red caps or braids with red ribbons as part of a “hazing” tradition.⁠[10]

In 1918, during World War I, the College of Liberal Arts trained women as sick room assistants, collected books for soldiers, had women knit sweaters and offered a course on Red Cross work; the student council passed resolutions condemning Germany and supporting President Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonWoodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was an American scholar and politician who served as president of Princeton University and governor of New Jersey and was the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921, leading the country through World War I and proposing the League of Nations.Open the full entry.⁠[10]

Daniel L. Marsh, born in rural PennsylvaniaPennsylvaniaPennsylvania (officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is a Middle Atlantic state of the United States; its capital is Harrisburg, and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are its two great metropolitan areas. One of the original 13 states, it ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787, the second state to do so. Its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 13,002,700.Open the full entry, graduated from the Boston University School of Theology in 1908 and was a Methodist minister and administrator known for social welfare programs for the urban poor; he was the fourth president from 1926 to 1951. He said BU would teach students “Useful Service for the Sake of Others,” completed the new campus Murlin had envisioned, incorporated Sargent College, founded the School of Social Work, the School of Nursing, the School of Public Relations (now the College of Communication) and the General College, and steered the university through severe financial strain during the Depression and World War II.⁠[6]

The excerpt of Marsh’s inaugural address published by BU Today reads: “Boston University must stand for knowledge plus moral control.”⁠[9]

In 1928 BU acquired Sargent College. The Daily Free Press timeline writes that the college was founded in 1881 as the Sargent School of Physical Training and was renamed the College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College.⁠[2]

In 1936 the College of Liberal Arts founded its Department of Psychology, drawing together numerous departments. Two years earlier, in 1934, more men than women were registered in the college for the first time in years.⁠[10]

The Charles River Campus opened in 1938, uniting BU’s colleges and schools on one campus.⁠[2]

The School of Social Work was created in 1940. In 1947 the School of Public Relations and Communications, later the College of Communication, offered the first degree in public relations.⁠[2]

Under 1944 the College of Arts & Sciences history states that more than 8,000 BU faculty, students and alumni served in the military during World War II; that year the College of Liberal Arts began planning a postwar curriculum including, especially, better foreign area and language study.⁠[10]

The College of Industrial Technology, renamed the College of Engineering in 1963, was established in 1950, and WBUR-FM debuted that year as an educational BU station.⁠[2]

Harold C. Case, a Methodist minister, became the fifth president in 1951 and served until 1967. He oversaw postwar expansion, including new dormitories and the founding of the School of Fine and Applied Arts, the College of Engineering and Metropolitan College; he created the African Studies Program in 1953 and invited Howard Thurman to become dean of Marsh Chapel.⁠[12]

The Daily Free Press timeline lists other new units of the period: the College of General Studies in 1952 and the College of Fine Arts in 1954, and says the African Studies Program was later called the African Research and Studies Program. By 1951 Russian-language enrollment in the College of Liberal Arts had risen 100 percent since the start of the Korean War.⁠[2][10]

The excerpt of Case’s inaugural address published by BU Today frames the period as a challenge to make life more “worthful” so that it does not become “worthless.”⁠[9]

On September 13, 1951, Martin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Jr.Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) was an American Baptist minister and social activist who led the U.S. civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. He headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.Open the full entry began graduate study in systematic theology at Boston University, which awarded him a doctorate in systematic theology on June 5, 1955. The College of Arts & Sciences history records that in 1964 King donated his personal papers and manuscripts to Boston University.⁠[13][10]

The George Sherman Union opened in 1963, and construction of the Warren Towers residence at 700 Commonwealth Avenue began in 1965. Under 1966 The Daily Free Press timeline writes that before Harold Case retired as president he had expanded the campus to about 45 acres and added roughly 68 buildings.⁠[2]

In 1964 Professor Howard Zinn joined the Department of Political Science. In 1968 he traveled to North Vietnam to arrange the release of captured pilots.⁠[10]

Arland F. Christ-Janer, formerly president of Cornell College in IowaIowaIowa is a state in the Midwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Des Moines. It was admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846, as the 29th state, and its population in the 2020 census (April 1, 2020) was 3,190,369.Open the full entry, took office as the sixth president in 1967, during a period of social unrest on campus. He agreed to all of the students’ demands, but demonstrations and radical student actions continued, and he resigned in July 1970 after that year’s commencement was canceled because of the threat of violent protests. In the excerpt of his inaugural address published by BU Today he pledged “steadfast dedication to the essential Boston University.”⁠[12][9]

In 1970 Vietnam War protests led to the cancellation of final exams and commencement, and after the Kent StateKent State UniversityKent State University is a university based in Kent, Ohio, United States, established under Ohio law in 1910 as a normal school; it now has eight campuses. On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard fired on protesting students on its campus.Open the full entry shootings two student publications merged to form The Daily Free Press.⁠[2]

John Silber became the seventh president in 1971, taking charge of an institution in financial and educational disarray. The university’s timeline says he balanced the budget, recruited faculty, raised admissions standards, expanded the campus and grew the endowment; in March 1994 he announced that he would step down on May 31, 1996, to become Chancellor. The excerpt of his inaugural address published by BU Today reads: “recovery of respect for time requires the recovery of our past.”⁠[12][9]

In April 1979 a large number of College of Liberal Arts faculty went on strike.⁠[10]

In 1975 Elie Wiesel accepted a permanent appointment as a chaired professor in the humanities at BU, and in 1986, as professor of humanities, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. Accounts of the center named for him differ: The Daily Free Press timeline says the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies opened in 2002, while the College of Arts & Sciences history says the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies was founded in 2005.⁠[10][2]

The School of Hospitality Administration was founded in 1981. In 1982 the College of Liberal Arts founded its Department of Archaeology, which the college’s history calls the only stand-alone archaeology program in the United States. In 1984 the college reached $100 million in grants.⁠[2][10]

Jon Westling, who had served BU for more than two decades in a number of positions including provost, became the eighth president in 1996 and served until 2002. The university’s timeline says he set six consecutive records for university fundraising, opened a new complex of apartment-style dormitories and initiated a dozen major building projects, stressed academic standards in admissions, streamlined the bureaucracy and brought a new tone of campus collegiality. In his inaugural address he pledged to foster BU’s “heritage of intellectual fortitude.”⁠[12][9]

In 1996 the College of Liberal Arts was renamed the College of Arts & Sciences. In 1997 its professor Robert Pinsky was named U.S. Poet Laureate. BU discontinued its football team after the 1997 season.⁠[10][2]

In 1998 BU entered into a partnership with the Lowell Observatory in ArizonaArizonaArizona is a state in the southwestern United States; its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona was admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912, as the 48th state. Its population at the 2020 Census (April 1, 2020) was 7,151,502.Open the full entry to operate the Perkins Telescope.⁠[10]

Aram V. Chobanian, a cardiologist, served as president ad interim from 2003 and was appointed the ninth president in 2005. The university’s timeline says he played a leading role in the merger of Boston City Hospital with Boston University Medical Center Hospital to create Boston Medical Center and that his leadership was instrumental in the development of the BioSquare Research Park and the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories; taking office at a time of crisis associated with a failed presidential search, he kept the university moving forward to fulfill its academic mission and strengthened its ties with its constituencies, including faculty, students, staff and alumni. BU Today quotes the letter he sent on October 31, 2003, immediately after his appointment as president ad interim, pledging to “bring fresh perspective and hope.”⁠[12][9]

Robert A. Brown, a chemical engineer and former provost of the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It received its charter from Massachusetts in 1861, admitted its first students in 1865 and moved from Boston to its present campus in 1916. As of October 2025 it had 11,816 students, and it counts 106 Nobel laureates among members of its community.Open the full entry, became the tenth president in September 2005, was inaugurated on April 27, 2006, and served through 2023. The university’s timeline says his tenure strengthened education, research and interdisciplinary work, launched the strategic plan and the university’s first major fundraising campaign, brought membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) in 2012, and saw growth in sponsored research, diversity and the endowment. In the excerpt of his inaugural address published by BU Today he envisioned BU as “one connected, integrated community of scholars and students.”⁠[12][14][9]

In 2005 Agganis Arena, the Fitness and Recreation Center, the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House and the Life Science and Engineering Building opened. In 2006 President George W. BushGeorge W. BushGeorge W. Bush (born 1946) is an American politician and Republican who worked in the energy business and was a part owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team before becoming the 46th governor of Texas in 1995 and serving as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009.Open the full entry appointed Brown to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, on which he served through 2008.⁠[2]

In 2007 BU’s endowment reached $1 billion for the first time.⁠[2]

Construction of the $200 million National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories facility was completed in 2008. The Daily Free Press wrote in its 2014 timeline that controversy and litigation had kept much of it from fully operating.⁠[2]

In 2009 BU’s first geothermal building opened at 888 Commonwealth Avenue, and Student Village II, a 26-story dormitory, opened at 33 Harry Agganis Way. The same year a CAS Task Force on the First Year Experience submitted a report providing a blueprint for future development.⁠[2][10]

In 2011 Rajen Kilachand gave $25 million toward the University Honors College, later renamed the Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College, whose first class graduated in 2014.⁠[2]

BU’s “Our DNA” page lists the university’s 2012 invitation to join the Association of American Universities among its defining facts, describing the association as “an elite organization of leading research universities in the United States and Canada.”⁠[15]

In the 2013 bombings at the Boston Marathon finish line, the statistics graduate student Lingzi Lu was killed, and a fellowship fund was established in her name.⁠[10]

In 2014 the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies was founded within the College of Arts & Sciences, with Adil Najam as its first dean.⁠[10]

On October 11, 2017, BU and Wheelock College announced a merger, after saying in August that they were exploring one; it took effect on June 1, 2018, with BU taking ownership of all of Wheelock’s assets and liabilities. Wheelock’s School of Education, Child Life and Family Studies combined with BU’s School of Education to form the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, and programs of Wheelock’s two other schools were integrated into similar BU programs. Wheelock’s main campus on the Fens lies less than a mile south of BU’s campus.⁠[16]

Boston.com wrote that Wheelock then had about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, had run annual operating deficits of more than $2.5 million in recent years and projected a $6 million loss in fiscal 2018 on a $30 million operating budget, and that it had solicited merger proposals from 60 institutions, of which BU was one of six to respond. BU president Robert Brown called the new college the merger’s “cornerstone.”⁠[16]

In May 2023 Robert A. Brown reflected on his 18 years as president, saying he had arrived in 2005 at a university in turmoil caused by a failed presidential search that exposed weak leadership and broken governance. On August 1, 2023, Kenneth W. Freeman, a dean emeritus and vice president of BU, became president ad interim, holding the president’s powers while continuing initiatives tied to the 2030 Strategic Plan.⁠[12]

In March 2024 the Boston University Graduate Workers Union, represented by SEIU Local 509, went on strike for a living wage, better health care and cost-of-living adjustments; the strike followed a union election in 2022. The strike lasted 206 days and ended on October 16, 2024; the union called it the longest graduate worker strike in the country, and 87 percent of members voted to approve BU’s proposed three-year contract. Boston.com wrote that the contract raised stipends for the lowest-paid doctoral workers by 60 percent, set 12-month stipends at $45,000 (the union had asked for $62,440), provided a 3 percent raise over the three years and left the Student Health Insurance Plan unchanged. Provost Gloria Waters said the university had reached a “competitive agreement.” The rank-and-file account on X wrote that pay tiers had been eliminated but that “no contract could ever be enough,” and that the strike ended with demands still unwon.⁠[17]

On July 1, 2024, Melissa L. Gilliam, an educator, scholar, research scientist and physician, took office as BU’s eleventh president; she is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of pediatrics. The university’s timeline calls her a national leader in faculty recruitment and student success and an advocate for diversity and inclusion. BU Today wrote that she would be formally installed at an inauguration ceremony on September 27 at Agganis Arena, with about 2,600 people expected to attend.⁠[12][18][9]

In July 2025 BU announced that it would lay off 120 staff members, about 1 percent of its employees, eliminate 120 vacant positions and change the schedules of another 20 positions as part of a 5 percent reduction in the university’s overall budget; it had already frozen merit salary increases in spring 2025. Higher Ed Dive wrote that the university’s leaders, including President Melissa Gilliam, called it “a day of loss for all of us” and “a necessary step in ensuring our future” in a message to the community, and tied the cuts to uncertainty created by federal research funding cuts and other federal government actions in 2025.⁠[19]

Higher Ed Dive also wrote that lower graduate enrollment had left BU’s master’s program revenue $38 million short of targets, and that in December Gilliam had said reserves had fallen short of targets because of rising operating costs and a troubled rollout of a new digital student information system. In fiscal 2024 BU’s sponsored grant revenue topped $579 million, 67 percent of it from federal agencies, and grants made up 22 percent of total revenue for the year; reserves at the end of the previous fiscal year were nearly $200 million and the endowment was worth more than $3.5 billion.⁠[19]

BU’s Analytical Services & Institutional Research fact sheet for 2025/2026 gives an end-of-semester enrollment of 37,136 in fall 2025 (37,921 in fall 2024): 17,650 undergraduates, 18,402 graduate students and 1,084 non-degree students. Based on the end-of-November 2025 payroll, there were 4,412 instructional and research faculty (3,434 full-time). As of June 30, 2025, the endowment was $4.05 billion (up from $3.54 billion a year earlier) and total assets were $9.3 billion. Operating revenue for fiscal 2025 was about $2.768 billion and operating expense about $2.720 billion. The university awarded 13,179 degrees in 2024/2025 and counted 499,364 living alumni in 2025 (based on available addresses). The Charles River Campus covers 143 acres; the university has 13 libraries. Tuition on the Charles River Campus for 2025/2026 is $69,870.⁠[20]

BU’s “Our DNA” page gives, for fiscal 2025, 38,093 students, more than 9,500 international students from over 148 countries, more than 460,000 living alumni and an undergraduate student-faculty ratio of 10:1; the same page lists $574 million in sponsored research awards, $641 million in research expenditures, more than 7,600 faculty publications and 130 centers and institutes, and three Boston campuses, the Charles River Campus, the Medical Campus and the Fenway Campus, with 345 buildings.⁠[15]

On January 28, 2026, Melissa Gilliam gave her first Presidential Address, presenting a “North Star” vision for the university’s future that builds on BU’s history of innovation, collaboration and openness and on its strength in interdisciplinary, convergent research.⁠[12]

In May 2026 BU celebrated the Class of 2026 at its 153rd Commencement, and its softball team won a fourth consecutive Patriot League championship.⁠[1]

BU has 17 schools and colleges, plus the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, and more than 300 programs of study; besides its Boston campuses it runs programs in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and more than 30 other cities on six continents.⁠[21][15]

By fall 2025 enrollment as listed in the fact sheet, the largest units are CAS (9,918, including the former graduate school GRS), Questrom (5,877), MET (3,264), ENG (3,017) and COM (2,056); the School of Medicine (MED) has the most faculty (1,586). Other units in the same table include the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences (CDS), the College of Fine Arts (CFA), the College of General Studies (CGS), the School of Law (LAW), Sargent College (SAR), the Goldman School of Dental Medicine (SDM), the School of Hospitality Administration (SHA), the School of Public Health (SPH), the School of Social Work (SSW), the School of Theology (STH) and the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development (Wheelock).⁠[20]

At the College of Arts & Sciences, Virginia Sapiro became the 12th dean of CAS and the graduate school in 2007, the first woman in those roles; Ann Cudd became dean in 2015 and Stan Sclaroff the 14th in 2019.⁠[10]

Encyclopædia Britannica writes that BU offers professional degrees at the School of Law, the School of Medicine, the Goldman School of Dental Medicine and the School of Management, and internship programs in Washington, D.C., London, Moscow, Beijing, Madrid, Paris and Sydney; that Mugar Memorial Library and its branches hold about 1.9 million volumes, with archives including papers of Franz Liszt, Theodore RooseveltTheodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) was an American Republican politician, writer, naturalist, and soldier who served as the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909 and received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for mediating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.Open the full entry and Robert Frost; and that the Center for Computational Science houses an SGI/Cray Origin2000 parallel supercomputer.⁠[3]

The Class of 1891 created a class yell, and in 1896 a Men’s Club was founded because men were comparatively few in the College of Liberal Arts. The Daily Free Press timeline writes that from 1917 students regarded the terrier as the pride of BU and that the Boston Terrier became the official mascot in 1922; scarlet and white became the official university colors in 1930.⁠[10][2]

Harry Agganis enrolled at BU in 1948 and became its first All-American player. The men’s hockey team won its first NCAA championship in 1971; in 1980 BU graduates and former men’s hockey players helped the United States win the “Miracle on Ice” at the Winter Olympics; and in 2000 the men’s hockey team won the Beanpot for a record sixth straight year.⁠[2]

The fiscal 2025 figures on the “Our DNA” page show that 66 percent of undergraduates live on campus and there are more than 450 student organizations; BU fields 22 varsity sports (13 women’s and 9 men’s) and 37 club sports, with about 7,000 intramural participants.⁠[15]

Encyclopædia Britannica lists Franz Kline, Barbara Jordan, Edward Brooke, Anna Howard Shaw and David Hemery among notable alumni. The Daily Free Press timeline also lists Jonathan Goldsmith, who graduated from the College of General Studies in 1958, Howard Stern, who graduated from the College of Communication in 1976, and Geena Davis, who graduated from the College of Fine Arts in 1979.⁠[3][2]

Reshma Kewalramani, CEO and president of Vertex PharmaceuticalsVertex PharmaceuticalsVertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated is a Boston-based biotechnology company known for cystic fibrosis medicines and for Casgevy, a gene-edited therapy developed with CRISPR Therapeutics.Open the full entry, graduated from BU in 1998 with a combined BA and MD through its seven-year accelerated undergraduate and medical program. The biography of Kimberly PowellKimberly PowellKimberly Powell is NVIDIA’s vice president of healthcare; she presents the company’s AI platforms and partnerships in healthcare and the life sciences in bylined articles and conference talks.Open the full entry lists a graduate certificate in project management from BU.⁠[22][23]

Among Thiel FellowshipThiel FellowshipThe Thiel Fellowship is a two-year grant program started by investor Peter Thiel and run by the Thiel Foundation that funds young people who skip or stop out of college to build new things instead. The program has been criticized by figures in education for encouraging young people to leave college.Open the full entry recipients, M. C. McGrathM. C. McGrathM. C. McGrath is a programmer and researcher and the founder of Transparency Toolkit, a nonprofit that builds free software to help journalists, activists and human rights groups collect and analyze data; he built ICWatch, a database of public LinkedIn résumés of people in the intelligence community, and was selected as a Thiel Fellow in 2014.Open the full entry’s Echoing Green fellow profile says that he studied civic technology at BU, while his speaker biography for the 32nd Chaos Communication Congress says that he graduated from BU with a degree in civic technology and describes him as a Thiel Fellow. Christopher ZhuChristopher ZhuChristopher Zhu (usually written Chris Zhu by his company and the press) is a co-founder of Etched, a company that develops specialized inference chips and cluster systems for running large AI models; he is a member of the 2024 class of the Thiel Fellowship.Open the full entry, selected for the Thiel Fellowship in 2024, began exploring higher mathematics at PROMYS, a summer program at BU, and was later invited back as a Junior Counselor, as The Roxbury Latin School wrote in November 2019.⁠[24][25][26][27]

Boston University: Official website: https://www.bu.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

X: Public account: https://x.com/BU_Tweets (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/school/boston-university/ (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuNjAAXrEmQyxLAanISnZUw (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

Instagram: Public account: https://www.instagram.com/bostonu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

Facebook: Public account: https://www.facebook.com/BostonUniversity (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

TikTok: Public account: https://www.tiktok.com/@bostonu (opens in a new window).⁠[28]

Weibo: Public account: https://weibo.com/buofficial (opens in a new window).⁠[28]