Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Ivy League. Harvard was started on September 8, 1636, and it is the oldest university in the United States. Harvard's current president is Alan Garber. The school color is crimson, which is a dark red color.

Harvard used slaves to serve its leaders and students, and the merchants who used their money to start the school used slaves too.^[7] Also, “Harvard students slept in beds and ate meals prepared by slaves, and many grew up to be prominent slave-holders in early America."^[8] In the 20th century, the university invested millions of dollars in apartheid South Africa.^[9]

Harvard is on the Charles River. Some students go to the Charles River for rowing. On the other side of the Charles River is the city of Boston. Boston's subway system has a stop at Harvard. Some of Harvard's graduate schools are in Boston, but most of Harvard's schools are in Cambridge. Together, these schools are Harvard University.

Harvard has many libraries like Widener Library. There are other facilities like skating rinks and the Malkin Athletic Center where students can swim and exercise.

Harvard is almost always ranked as one of the best universities in the world. Another famous school close to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Eight Presidents of the United States have graduated from Harvard.^[10] Harvard has over $40 billion. There have been 161 Nobel Laureates from Harvard University.^[11]

The actual formation of Harvard was by the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It was called the Harvard College in 1639 in honor of John Harvard. He was a young clergyman who bequeathed half of his money and his library to the school on his death. During its early days, the college primarily educated ministers to the church. It started changing in the 19th century. It began to teach additional subjects and turned into a contemporary research university.^[12][13][14]

The school has its headquarters in Cambridge located 3.1 miles (4.9 km) northwest of Boston, around Harvard Yard. The school also owns facilities in Boston Longwood Medical Area in nearby Allston and medical facilities in Boston.^{[15][16][17][18]}

There are eleven academic units (ten faculties and the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study) at Harvard.^[19][20] The most well-known aspects are:

• Harvard College: Undergraduate students (students receiving their first degree).
• Harvard Law School: This is one of the most recognized schools of lawyers.
• Harvard Medical School: One of the leading schools of doctors.
• Harvard Business School: A school of learning how to manage companies.

A large number of celebrities attended Harvard.^[21][22][23] This includes:

• 8 U.S. Presidents: Among them, there are John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama.
• Nobel Prize Winners: Persons who have done outstanding discoveries in the field of science, peace, or literature.
• World Leaders: This was attended by many heads of state in other nations.

The biggest amount of money that is donated to any university in the world belongs to Harvard. This has an estimated value of more than 50 billion in 2023. This finances research as well as the school offers scholarships to those students who are not in a position to pay the tuition.^{[24][25][26][27]}

• John Adams, 2nd President of the United States
• George W. Bush, 43rd President of the United States
• Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft
• Al Gore, 45th Vice President of the United States
• John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States
• Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States
• Natalie Portman, Actress & filmmaker
• Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Facebook
• Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States