Boston University
History
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists, with its original campus located in Newbury, Vermont before moving to Boston in 1867.
The university now has more than 4,000 faculty members and nearly 34,000 students and is one of Boston's largest employers. It offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 18 schools and colleges on two urban campuses.
Campus
The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston's Fenway-Kenmore and Allston neighborhoods, while the Boston University Medical Campus is in Boston's South End neighborhood. The Fenway campus houses the College of Fine Arts and the School of Theology, along with their affiliated schools and colleges.
Academics
Boston University is categorized as an R1: Doctoral University (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education and the Association of American Universities. Among its faculty and alumni, BU counts 8 Nobel Laureates, 23 Pulitzer Prize winners, 10 Rhodes Scholars, 6 Marshall Scholars, 48 Sloan Fellows, 9 Academy Award winners, and several Emmy and Tony Award winners.
BU also has MacArthur, Fulbright, Truman and Guggenheim Fellowship holders as well as American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciences members among its past and present graduates and faculty.
Student life
In 2019, the student body consisted of 17,982 undergraduate students and 15,180 graduate students. The undergraduate population is 60% female, the graduate population is 55% female, and 27% of the total student population are international.
BU's athletic teams compete in the Patriot League, and Hockey East conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. Boston University is well known for men's hockey, in which it has won five national championships, most recently in 2009.
Notable alumni
Among the notable alumni of Boston University are Martin Luther King Jr. (GRS '55, Hon. '59), who received his PhD in Systematic Theology; Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone at Boston University; actress Julianne Moore (CFA '83); radio personality Howard Stern (COM '76); and television producer and writer David E. Kelley (LAW '83).