Boston University (BU) is a
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
. The university is
nonsectarian
Nonsectarian institutions are secular institutions or other organizations not affiliated with or restricted to a particular religious group.
Academic sphere
Examples of US universities that identify themselves as being nonsectarian include Adelp ...
,
but has a historical affiliation with the
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...
.
It was founded in 1839 by
Methodists with its original campus in
Newbury, Vermont Newbury could be either of the following places in the U.S. state of Vermont:
*Newbury (town), Vermont
*Newbury (village), Vermont
Newbury is an incorporated village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population ...
, 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 degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
s,
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. s,
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
s, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on three urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
in Boston's
Fenway-Kenmore and
Allston
Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...
neighborhoods, while the
Boston University Medical Campus is located in Boston's
South End neighborhood. The Fenway campus houses the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, formerly Wheelock College, which merged with BU in 2018.
BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Education and the
Association of American Universities.
It is
classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity".
The
Boston University Terriers compete in the
NCAA Division I
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...
. BU athletic teams compete in the
Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
, and
Hockey East
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...
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
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
.
Among its alumni and current or past faculty, the university counts 8
Nobel
Nobel often refers to:
*Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel
Nobel may also refer to:
Companies
*AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994
*Branobel, or ...
Laureates, 23
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
winners, 10
Rhodes Scholars
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, 6
Marshall Scholars, 9
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
winners, and several
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
and
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
winners. BU also has
MacArthur,
Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
, and
Truman Scholars
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...
, as well as
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
and
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
members, among its past and present graduates and faculty. In 1876, BU professor
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
invented the
telephone
A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...
in a BU lab.
History
Predecessor institutions and University Charter
Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in
Newbury, Vermont Newbury could be either of the following places in the U.S. state of Vermont:
*Newbury (town), Vermont
*Newbury (village), Vermont
Newbury is an incorporated village in the town of Newbury in Orange County, Vermont, United States. The population ...
, in 1839,
and was chartered with the name "Boston University" by the
Massachusetts Legislature
The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
in 1869. The university organized formal centennial observances both in 1939 and 1969.
[Boston University , Visitor Center , About the University , History](_blank)
, retrieved May 6, 2006 One or the other, or both dates may appear on various official seals used by different schools of the university.
On April 24–25, 1839, a group of
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
ministers and laymen at the Old Bromfield Street Church in Boston elected to establish a Methodist theological school. Set up in Newbury,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, the school was named the "Newbury Biblical Institute".
In 1847, the Congregational Society in
Concord, New Hampshire
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua.
The village of ...
, invited the institute to relocate to Concord and offered a disused
Congregational church
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
building with a capacity of 1200 people. Other citizens of Concord covered the remodeling costs. One stipulation of the invitation was that the Institute remain in Concord for at least 20 years. The charter issued by New Hampshire designated the school the "Methodist General Biblical Institute", but it was commonly called the "Concord Biblical Institute".
With the agreed twenty years coming to a close, the trustees of the Concord Biblical Institute purchased on Aspinwall Hill in
Brookline, Massachusetts
Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
, as a possible relocation site. The institute moved in 1867 to 23 Pinkney Street in the
Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood
* Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia
* Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan
* Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec
United ...
neighborhood of Boston, and received a Massachusetts Charter as the "Boston Theological Seminary".
In 1869, three trustees of the Boston Theological Institute obtained from the Massachusetts Legislature a charter for a university by the name of "Boston University".
These trustees were successful Boston businessmen and Methodist laymen, with a history of involvement in educational enterprises, and they became the founders of Boston University. They were Isaac Rich (1801–1872), Lee Claflin (1791–1871), and Jacob Sleeper (1802–1889), for whom Boston University's three
West Campus dormitories were later named. Lee Claflin's son,
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
, was then Governor of Massachusetts and signed the University Charter on May 26, 1869, after it was passed by the Legislature.
As reported by Kathleen Kilgore in her book ''Transformations, A History of Boston University'' (see
Further reading
Further or Furthur may refer to:
* ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus
*Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
*Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
* ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers alb ...
), the founders directed the inclusion in the Charter of the following provision, unusual for its time:
:No instructor in said University shall ever be required by the Trustees to profess any particular religious opinions as a test of office, and no student shall be refused admission ... on account of the religious opinions he may entertain; provided, nonetheless, that this section shall not apply to the theological department of said University.
Every department of the new university was also open to all on an equal footing regardless of sex, race, or (with the exception of the School of Theology) religion.
Early years (1870–1900)
![688 Boylston St](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/688_Boylston_St.jpg)
The Boston Theological Institute was absorbed into Boston University in 1871 as the
BU School of Theology.
On January 13, 1872,
Isaac Rich died, leaving the vast bulk of his estate to a trust that would go to Boston University after ten years of growth while the university was organized. Most of this bequest consisted of real estate throughout the core of the city of Boston, which was appraised at more than $1.5 million. Kilgore describes this as the largest single donation to an American college or university as of that time. By December, however, the
Great Boston Fire of 1872
The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on Saturday, November 9, 1872, in the basement of a com ...
had destroyed all but one of the buildings Rich had left to the university, and the insurance companies with which they had been insured were
bankrupt. The value of his estate, when turned over to the university in 1882, was half what it had been in 1872.
As a result, the university was unable to build its contemplated campus on Aspinwall Hill, and the land was sold piecemeal as development sites. Street names in the area, including Claflin Road, Claflin Path, and University Road, are the only remaining evidence of university ownership in this area. Following the fire, Boston University established its new facilities in buildings scattered throughout
Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to:
Places Canada
* Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood
* Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia
* Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan
* Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec
United ...
, and later expanded into the
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...
and
Copley Square
Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to it ...
area, before building its Charles River Campus in the 1930s.
After receiving a year's salary advance to allow him to pursue his research in 1875,
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
, then a professor at the school, invented the telephone in a Boston University laboratory.
In 1876,
Borden Parker Bowne
Borden Parker Bowne (January 14, 1847 – April 1, 1910) was an American Christian philosopher, Methodist minister and theologian. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times.
Life
Bowne was born on January 14, 1847, near Leona ...
was appointed professor of philosophy. Bowne, an important figure in the history of American religious thought, was an American Christian philosopher and theologian in the
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
tradition. He is known for his contributions to
personalism
Personalism is an intellectual stance that emphasizes the importance of human persons. Personalism exists in many different versions, and this makes it somewhat difficult to define as a philosophical and theological movement. Friedrich Schleierm ...
, a philosophical branch of
liberal theology. The movement he led is often referred to as
Boston Personalism.
![Helen magill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Helen_magill.jpg)
The university continued its tradition of openness in this period. In 1877, Boston University became the first American university to award a PhD to a woman, when classics scholar
Helen Magill White
Helen Magill White (November 28, 1853 – October 28, 1944) was an American academic and instructor. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States.
Early life and education
Helen Magill was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Edwar ...
earned hers with a thesis on "The Greek Drama".
Then in 1878 Anna Oliver became the first woman to receive a degree in theology in the United States, but the
Methodist Church
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
would not ordain her.
Lelia J. Robinson
Lelia Josephine Robinson (July 23, 1850 – August 10, 1891) was the first woman to be admitted to the bar and practice in the courts of Massachusetts in 1882.
Early life
Lelia J. Robinson was born on July 23, 1850 to a white, middle-class famil ...
, who graduated from the university's law school in 1881, became the first woman admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.
Solomon Carter Fuller, who graduated from the university's School of Medicine in 1897, became the first black psychiatrist in the United States and would make significant contributions to the study of
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...
.
20th century and establishment of the Charles River campus
![Tribute to John Silber (from joncouture](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Tribute_to_John_Silber_%28from_joncouture.com%29.jpeg)
Seeking to unify a geographically scattered school and enable it to participate in the development of the city, school president Lemuel Murlin arranged that the school buy the present campus along the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
. Between 1920 and 1928, the school bought the of land that had been reclaimed from the river by the Riverfront Improvement Association. Plans for a riverside quadrangle with a
Gothic Revival administrative tower modeled on the
"Old Boston Stump" in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, England were scaled back in the late 1920s when the State Metropolitan District Commission used
eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
to seize riverfront land for
Storrow Drive. Murlin was never able to build the new campus, but his successor,
Daniel L. Marsh Daniel Lash Marsh (April 12, 1880 – May 20, 1968) was president of Boston University from 1926 to 1951.
Biography
Marsh was raised in Pennsylvania. He became a Methodist preacher before going to study at Northwestern University, where he got an u ...
, led a series of fundraising campaigns (interrupted by both the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
) that helped Marsh to achieve his dream and to gradually fill in the university's new campus. By spring 1936, the student body included 10,384 men and women.
![Boston University (8609103615)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Boston_University_%288609103615%29.jpg)
In 1951,
Harold C. Case
Harold Claude Case (1902 – February 20, 1972) was an American academic administrator and Methodist preacher. He served as president of Boston University from 1951 to 1967 and was later named acting president of Whittier College.
Biography
Born ...
became the school's fifth president and under his direction the character of the campus changed significantly, as he sought to change the school into a national research university. The campus tripled in size to , and added 68 new buildings before Case retired in 1967. The first large dorms, Claflin, Rich and Sleeper Halls in
West Campus were built, and in 1965 construction began on 700
Commonwealth Avenue, later named
Warren Towers
Warren Towers is one of the three Boston University dormitories traditionally intended for underclassmen, the others being The Towers and West Campus. The building is located at central campus, next to the College of Communication (COM) and a ...
, designed to house 1800 students. Between 1961 and 1966, the
BU Law Tower, the
George Sherman Union, and the
Mugar Memorial Library
The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery ...
were constructed in the
Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style, a departure from the school's traditional architecture. The
College of Engineering
Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...
and
College of Communication were housed in a former stable building and auto-show room, respectively. Besides his efforts to expand the university into a rival for Greater Boston's more prestigious academic institutions, such as
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(both in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
across the Charles River from the BU campus), Case involved himself in the start of the student/societal upheavals that came to characterize the 1960s.
When a mini-squabble over editorial policy at
college radio
Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...
WBUR-FM – whose offices were under a tall radio antenna mast in front of the School of Public Relations and Communications (later College of Communications) – started growing in the spring of 1964, Case persuaded university trustees that the university should take over the widely-heard radio station (now a major outlet for
National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
and still a BU-owned broadcast facility). The trustees approved the firing of student managers and clamped down on programming and editorial policy, which had been led by Jim Thistle, later a major force in Boston's broadcast news milieu. The on-campus political dispute between Case's conservative administration and the suddenly active and mostly liberal student body led to other disputes over BU student print publications, such as the ''B.U. News'' and the ''Scarlet'', a fraternity association newspaper.
The Presidency of
John Silber
John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again ...
also saw much expansion of the campus and programs. In the late 1970s, the
Lahey Clinic
The Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, formerly known as the Lahey Clinic, is a physician-led nonprofit teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The hospital was founded in Boston in 1923 by sur ...
vacated its building at 605 Commonwealth Avenue and moved to
Burlington, Massachusetts
Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 26,377 at the 2020 census.
History
It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, but this has never b ...
. The vacated building was purchased by BU to house the
School of Education
In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...
. After arriving from the University of Texas in 1971, Silber set out to remake the university into a global center for research by recruiting star faculty. Two of his faculty "stars",
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...
and
Derek Walcott
Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...
, won Nobel Prizes shortly after Silber recruited them.
Two others,
Saul Bellow and
Sheldon Glashow won Nobel Prizes before Silber recruited them.
In addition to recruiting new scholars, Silber expanded the physical campus, constructing the
Photonics Center for the study of light, a new building for the School of Management, and the Life Science and Engineering Building for interdisciplinary research, among other projects. Campus expansion continued in the 2000s with the construction of new dormitories and the
Agganis Arena.
History of student and faculty activism on campus
To protest the poor condition of Boston University's African-American curriculum, on April 25, 1968 (three weeks after the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...
), African-American students conducted a
sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
and locked BU President
Dr. Arland F. Christ-Janer out of his office for 12 hours.
Umoja, BU's Black Student Union, put forward ten demands to Dr. Christ-Janer and got nine of them approved that included the creation of a Martin Luther King Chair of Social Ethics, expansion of African-American library resources and tutoring services, opening an "Afro-American coordinating center," admission and selection of more Black students and faculty. No disciplinary action was taken against the students who only opened the chains after their demands were met. "There was no surprise, or feeling of victory on the students' parts," said Dr. Christ-Janer in response to the sit-in. "They had confidence in their demands, and I had a confidence in them. The university, black and white alike, was the winner."
![Back page BU exposure March 1979](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Back_page_BU_exposure_March_1979.jpg)
The late twentieth century saw a culmination in student activism at Boston University during the presidency of
John R. Silber
John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again ...
. In 1972, student protests rose against the university administration's endorsement of
Marine Corps recruitment on campus which faced significant opposition from the
Student Democratic Society.
On March 27, 1972, 50 police officers in "riot gear" defused a demonstration of 150 protesters at 195 Bay State Road, the BU Placement Office, where Marine recruiters were holding student interviews. A few protesters were arrested while some sustained minor injuries, including a student and two officers. Contrary to student claims of a peaceful protest, Silber said, "Civilization doesn't abdicate in face of barbarism. Those students or nonstudents who deliberately seek violent confrontation and refuse all efforts at peaceful resolution of issues must expect society to use its police power in its own defense." In response to Silber's decision of a forceful police intervention, the Faculty State conducted a vote on Silber's resignation which could not pass due to a "vote of 140-25 with 32 abstentions."
As a result of this failed motion, Peter P. Gabriel resigned his position as the dean of
Boston University's School of Management in protest of Silber's presidency and his "counterproductive" leadership. Silber's support of military recruitment on campus, which he pushed to make the university eligible for Federal grants,
caused other demonstrations. On December 5, 1972, fifteen BU Student Government officers started a three-day hunger strike at
Marsh Chapel
Marsh Chapel is a building on the campus of Boston University used as the official place of worship of the school. It was named for Daniel L. Marsh, a former president of BU and a Methodist minister. The building is Gothic in style.
While Meth ...
demanding Silber "to file a lawsuit against the Federal government challenging the constitutionality of the Herbert Amendment."
On March 16, 1978, about 900 Boston University students gathered at the
George Sherman Union to protest against the $400 rise in tuition and $150 rise in housing charges declared by the trustees on March 7.
The protest interrupted a board of trustees conference. While John Silber and
Arthur G.B. Metcalf, the chairman of the board of trustees, were negotiating with student government representatives to discuss the matter further on a separate occasion, the protesters marched into the building from two entrances, effectively trapping 40 trustees and 10 university administrators in the building for over thirty minutes. Twenty officers from the
Boston University Police Department
The Boston University Police Department (BUPD) is the primary law-enforcement agency of Boston University and provides services to more than 41,000 students, faculty, and staff on of University property and surrounding streets. Its headquarter ...
had to disperse the crowd from the stairwells. The protest resulted in the arrest of 19 year old Joshua Grossman, while another student and two BUPD officers were taken to hospitals.
On April 5, 1979, several hundred faculty members, as well as clerical workers and librarians,
went on strike. The faculty members were seeking a labor contract while the clerical workers and librarians were seeking union recognition. The strike ended by mid-April under terms favorable to the employees.
On November 27, 1979, the committee to Defend Iranian Students- composed of Iranian students, Youths Against Foreign Fascism and the Revolutionary Communist Party, held a demonstration at the George Sherman Union against the
deposed Shah of Iran and the deportation of Iranian students from the US. "To the Iranian people, that man (the shah) is Adolf Hitler," students protested. "The Shah Must Face the Wrath of the People." This was met with chants of "God Bless America" from the opposing group. Twenty policemen broke up the confronting parties though no arrests were made.
21st century
Robert A. Brown
Robert A. Brown (born July 22, 1951) is the 10th president of Boston University. He was formerly the provost of MIT.
In 1991, Brown was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for the application of computing techniques to ...
's presidency, which started in 2005, has sought to further the consolidation of campus infrastructure that was commenced by earlier administrations. During his tenure, Brown has strengthened the core missions of undergraduate, graduate, and professional education, interdisciplinary work, and research and scholarship across all 17 schools and colleges.
In 2012, the university was invited to join the
Association of American Universities, comprising 66 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. BU, one of four universities at the time invited to join the group since 2000, became the 62nd member. In the Boston area, Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and Brandeis are also members.
That same year, a $1 billion fundraising campaign was launched, its first comprehensive campaign, emphasizing financial aid, faculty support, research, and facility improvements. In 2016, the campaign goal was reached. The Board of Trustees voted to raise the goal to $1.5 billion and extend through 2019. The campaign has funded 74 new faculty positions, including 49 named full professorships and 25 Career Development Professorships.
The campaign concluded in September 2019, raising a total of $1.85 billion over seven years.
In February 2015 the faculty adopted an
open-access policy to make its scholarship
publicly accessible
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
online.
In 2016, ''Times Higher Education (THE)'' named Boston University to a list of 53 "international powerhouse" institutions, schools that have the best chance of being grouped alongside—or ahead of—''THE'' most elite global "old stars", a group that includes the University of Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Princeton.
The Charles River and Medical Campuses have undergone physical transformations since 2006, from new buildings and playing fields to dormitory renovations. The campus has seen the addition of a 26-floor student residence at 33 Harry Agganis Way, nicknamed
StuVi2, the New Balance Playing Field, the Yawkey Center for Student Services, the Alan and Sherry Leventhal Center, the Law tower and Redstone annex, the Engineering Product Innovation Center (EPIC), the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, and the Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre, which opened in fall 2017. The construction of the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering was funded by part of BU's largest ever gift, a $115 million donation from
Rajen Kilachand. The Dahod Family Alumni Center in the renovated
BU Castle
The Boston University Castle (or BU Castle or simply "The Castle") is a Tudor Revival-style mansion owned by Boston University on Bay State Road. The school typically uses it for receptions or concerts, but also rents out The Castle to cater event ...
began in May 2017 and was completed in fall 2018. Development of the university's existing housing stock has included significant renovations to BU's oldest dorm,
Myles Standish Hall and Annex, and to
Kilachand Hall, formerly known as Shelton Hall, and a brand new student residence on the Medical Campus.
In 2019, Boston University expanded its financial aid program so that it would "meet the full need for all domestic students who qualify for financial aid," starting in fall 2020.
In September 2022,
Robert A. Brown
Robert A. Brown (born July 22, 1951) is the 10th president of Boston University. He was formerly the provost of MIT.
In 1991, Brown was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering for the application of computing techniques to ...
announced he will step down at the end of the 2022–2023 academic year. Brown began his presidency in September 2005, and his contract was set to run through 2025.
Response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The university closed down due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and shifted to online learning for the remainder of the semester on March 11, 2020. For the fall 2020 semester, BU offered a hybrid system that allows for students to decide whether to take a remote class or participate in-person. Larger classes would be broken down into smaller groups that rotate between online and in-person sessions. The school started administering its own
COVID-19 testing
COVID-19 testing involves analyzing samples to assess the current or past presence of SARS-CoV-2. The two main types of tests detect either the presence of the virus or antibodies produced in response to infection. Molecular tests for viral ...
for faculty, staff, and students on July 27, 2020. The new BU Clinical Testing Laboratory has accelerated testing that can give results to students, staff, and faculty by the next day. The lab uses eight robots to process up to 6,000 tests per day. A contact tracing team is part of the process to contain infections on campus. BU also started a new website "Back2BU" to provide students with the latest information on reopening.
The results of the tests are published on BU's public COVID-19 Testing Data Dashboard.
BU's
National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, or NEIDL, is a biosciences facility of Boston University located near Boston Medical Center on Albany Street in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
The lab is part of a nati ...
(NEIDL) has been working with live coronavirus samples since March 2020, and—at the time—was the only New England lab to have live samples.
In August 2020, BU filed a
service mark
A service mark or servicemark is a trademark used in the United States and several other countries to identify a service rather than a product.
When a service mark is federally registered, the standard registration symbol ® or "Reg U.S. ...
application with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alexa ...
to secure the phrase "F*ck It Won't Cut It" for a student-led COVID-19 safety program on campus. The slogan is meant to promote "safe and smart actions and behaviors for college and university students in a COVID-19 environment", according to the application.
In July 2021, BU announced faculty and staff will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for the fall 2022 semester. This comes after a vaccine requirement for all students, which was announced in April.
COVID-19 research and gain-of-function controversy
In October 2022, Boston University's National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories conducted research in a Biosafety Level 3 lab that modified the original strain of the virus that causes COVID-19 with the spike proteins of the Omicron variant.
This resulted in a virus that was more lethal to lab mice than the Omicron variant itself, but less lethal than the original strain.
Some medical authorities criticized the research as dangerous "gain of function" research, but others argued that it did not ''technically'' count as gain of function research because the modified virus happened not to be quite as lethal as the original strain. Marc Lipsitch of Harvard, however, argued "these are unquestionably gain-of-function experiments. As many have noted, this is a very broad term encompassing many harmless and some potentially dangerous experiments. GOF is a scientific technique, not an epithet." While the BU researchers gained internal research and Boston government approvals for the research, they failed to notify the US Government's
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases that was a funder of the lab.
Campus
Boston campuses and facilities
The university's main Charles River Campus follows
Commonwealth Avenue and the
Green Line
Green Line may refer to:
Places Military and political
* Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II
* Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours
** City Line ( ...
, beginning near
Kenmore Square and continuing for over a mile and a half to its end near the border of Boston's
Allston
Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...
neighborhood. The
Boston University Bridge
The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a steel truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the Charles River, connecting the Boston University ca ...
over the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles b ...
into
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
represents the dividing line between Main Campus, where most schools and classroom buildings are concentrated, and
West Campus, home to several athletic facilities and playing fields, the large West Campus dorm, and the new John Hancock Student Village complex.
The main campus buildings of BU are separated from the
Charles River Esplanade parkland and the
Paul Dudley White Bike Path along the banks of the nearby Charles River, by heavily trafficked
Storrow Drive, a high-speed
limited-access
A limited-access road, known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway, expressway, limited access freeway, and partial controlled access highway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which ...
major roadway connecting downtown Boston to its western suburbs. The separation occurred in the late 1920s, when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts seized land by
eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
for the construction of the new roadway along the riverbank. A narrow strip of grassy lawn between BU academic buildings lining Commonwealth Avenue and the torrent of traffic on Storrow Drive has been humorously dubbed "BU Beach", because it is a favorite hangout for
sunbathing in good weather. The lounging students are protected from traffic incursions by a raised earthen
berm, which also muffles the traffic noise to a dull roar. To protect pedestrians from vehicular collisions, Storrow Drive is enclosed by fencing, with
pedestrian bridges allowing safe crossings at Silber Way and at Marsh Chapel. An additional crossing is possible at the BU Bridge, which also allows street traffic to cross from the Boston side to the Cambridge side of the Charles River.
As a result of its continual expansion, the Charles River campus contains an array of architecturally diverse buildings. The College of Arts and Sciences, Marsh Chapel, and the School of Theology buildings are the university's most recognizable, and were built in the late-1930s and 1940s in
collegiate gothic
Collegiate Gothic is an architectural style subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture, popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries for college and high school buildings in the United States and Canada, and to a certain extent Europ ...
style. A sizable amount of the campus is traditional Boston
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Type ...
, especially at
Bay State Road
The Boston University housing system is the 2nd-largest of any private university in the United States, with 76% of the undergraduate population living on campus. On-campus housing at BU is an unusually diverse melange, ranging from individual 19t ...
and South Campus, where BU has acquired almost every townhouse those areas offer. The buildings are primarily dormitories, but many also serve as various institutes as well as department offices.
From the 1960s–1980s many contemporary buildings were constructed, including the Mugar Library, BU Law School, and
Warren Towers
Warren Towers is one of the three Boston University dormitories traditionally intended for underclassmen, the others being The Towers and West Campus. The building is located at central campus, next to the College of Communication (COM) and a ...
, all of which were built in the
brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style of architecture. The
Metcalf Science Center for Science and Engineering
Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering (SCI) is a building owned by Boston University named for Arthur G.B. Metcalf. Metcalf founded what would later become the university's College of Engineering and served as its chair. He also donated milli ...
, constructed in 1983, might more accurately be described as
Structural Expressionism.
Morse Auditorium Alfred L. Morse Auditorium is a domed theater that is now owned by Boston University (BU) and used as an auditorium.
Built in 1906 as Temple Israel, the edifice was intended by the architect and congregation as a replica of Solomon's Temple. Bost ...
, adjacent, stands in stark architectural contrast, as it was originally constructed as a Jewish
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
. The most recent architectural additions to BU's campus are the
Photonics Center, Life Science and Engineering Building, The Student Village (which includes the
FitRec Center and
Agganis Arena), and the
Questrom School of Business
The Questrom School of Business (formerly, the Boston University School of Management) is the business school at Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1913 as the College of Business Administration, the school offe ...
. All these buildings were built in brick, a few with a substantial amount of brownstone. Boston University converted the old Nickelodeon Cinemas complex into College of Engineering labs and offices. In 2016, the university sold the building that housed the
Huntington Theatre Company and constructed the Joan & Edgar Booth Theatre and College of Fine Arts Production Center to consolidate the theater program on campus.
BU has earned several historic preservation awards with recent extensive building renovation projects, such as the School of Law tower, the Alan & Sherry Leventhal Center, Myles Standish Hall, and the Dahod Family Alumni Center (formerly The Castle). Construction of the brick and glass Yawkey Center for Student Services was designed to follow the requirements of the Bay State Road historic district. Use of glass and steel for new construction on Commonwealth Avenue includes the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering, which opened in 2017, and the 19-story
Center for Computing & Data Sciences, which is due to open in 2022.
In 2018, following negotiations in the preceding year, Boston University purchased the former
Wheelock College, which is now referred to as the Boston University Fenway Campus (although it is actually located in the adjacent neighborhood of
Longwood).
, BU has sold or leased to real estate developers several building sites it owned in Kenmore Square next to its campus. Large multistory buildings are being constructed there, which will transform the long-time appearance of the busy traffic hub.
In September 2021, BU completed a $115 million project to renovate and expand the Henry M. School of Dental Medicine. The project expanded clinical spaces, added a simulation learning center, and improved collaborative spaces for students.
Student housing
![Myles Standish Hall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Myles_Standish_Hall.jpg)
Boston University's housing system is the nation's 10th largest among four-year colleges. BU was originally a commuter school, but the university now guarantees the option of on-campus housing for four years for all undergraduate students. Currently, 76 percent of the undergraduate population lives on campus. Boston University requires that all students living in dormitories be enrolled in a year-long meal plan with several combinations of meals and dining points which can be used as cash in on-campus facilities.
[Boston University , Office of Housing , Dining Plans and Convenience Points , Dining Plans](_blank)
retrieved May 6, 2006
Housing at BU is an unusually diverse melange, ranging from individual 19th-century
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Type ...
townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
s and apartment buildings acquired by the school to large-scale high-rises built in the 1960s and 2000s.
The large dormitories include the 1,800-student
Warren Towers
Warren Towers is one of the three Boston University dormitories traditionally intended for underclassmen, the others being The Towers and West Campus. The building is located at central campus, next to the College of Communication (COM) and a ...
, the largest on campus, as well as West Campus and
The Towers. The smaller dormitory and apartment style housing are mainly located in two parts of campus: Bay State Road and the South Campus residential area. Bay State Road is a tree-lined street that runs parallel to Commonwealth Avenue and is home to the majority of BU's townhouses, often called "brownstones". South Campus is a student residential area south of Commonwealth Avenue and separated from the main campus by the
Massachusetts Turnpike. Some of the larger buildings in that area have been converted into dormitories, while the rest of the South Campus buildings are apartments.
Boston University's newest residence and principal apartment-style housing area is officially called 33 Harry Agganis Way, "StuVi2" unofficially, and is part of The John Hancock Student Village project. The north-facing, 26-story building is apartment style while the south-facing, 19-story building is in an 8-bedroom dormitory-style suite pattern. In total, the building houses 960 residents.
Aside from these main residential areas, smaller residential dormitories are scattered along Commonwealth Avenue.
Boston University also provides
specialty houses or specialty floors to students who have particular interests.
All large dormitories have 24/7 security and require all students to swipe and validate their school identification before entering.
Kilachand Hall, formerly
Shelton Hall, is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of playwright
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...
. O'Neill lived in what was originally room 401 (now 419) while the building was a residential hotel. He died in a hospital on November 27, 1953, and his ghost is rumored to haunt both the room and the floor. The fourth floor is now a specialty floor called the Writers' Corridor.
John Hancock Student Village
![Student Village II at Boston University](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Student_Village_II_at_Boston_University.jpg)
The Student Village is a large new residential and recreational complex covering between Buick Street and
Nickerson Field, ground formerly occupied by a
National Guard Armory, which had been used by the university for indoor track and field and as a storage facility before its
demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
and the start of construction. The dormitory of apartment suites at 10 Buick Street (often abbreviated to "StuVi" by students) opened to juniors and seniors in the fall of 2000. In 2002,
John Hancock Insurance
John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot.
In 2004, John Hancock was acquired by the Canadian multinational li ...
announced its sponsorship of the multimillion-dollar project.
The
Agganis Arena, named after
Harry Agganis
Aristotle George "Harry" Agganis (April 20, 1929 – June 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Golden Greek", was an American college football player and professional baseball player. After passing up a potential professional football career, he played in M ...
, was opened to concerts and
hockey games in January 2005. The Agganis Arena is capable of housing 6,224 spectators for
Terrier hockey games, replacing the smaller
Walter Brown Arena
Walter Brown Arena is a 3,806-seat multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Boston University Terriers women's ice hockey team and hosted the men's team before they moved to Agganis Arena. It is named in honor of Walter A. ...
. It can also be used for concerts and shows. In March 2005, the final element of phase II of the Student Village complex, the
Fitness and Recreation (FitRec) Center, was opened, drawing large crowds from the student body. Construction on the rest of phase II, which included 19- and 26-story residential towers was finished in fall 2009.
Other facilities
![Kilachand Honors College - Boston University - DSC03072](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Kilachand_Honors_College_-_Boston_University_-_DSC03072.JPG)
The
Mugar Memorial Library
The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery ...
is the central academic library for the Charles River Campus. It also houses the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, formerly called the Twentieth Century Archive, where documents belonging to thousands of eminent figures in literature, journalism, diplomacy, the arts, and other fields are housed.
The
George Sherman Union (GSU), located next to
Mugar Memorial Library
The Mugar Memorial Library is the primary library for study, teaching, and research in the humanities and social sciences for Boston University. It was opened in 1966. Stephen P. Mugar, an Armenian immigrant who was successful in the grocery ...
, provides students with a food court featuring many fast-food chains, including
Panda Express, Basho,
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
, and
Pinkberry
Pinkberry is a franchise of frozen dessert restaurants headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. There are currently over 260 stores in 20 countries. The first store was opened in January 2005 by Hye Kyung (Shelly) Hwang and Young Lee. The restaurant ...
. The GSU also provides lounge areas for students to relax or study. The basement of the George Sherman Union is home to the BU Central lounge, which hosts concerts and other activities and events.
"The Castle" located on the West end of Bay State Road is one of the older buildings on campus. The building was commissioned by William Lindsay for his own use in 1905, long before his daughter's honeymoon on the ill-fated ''
Lusitania
Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and
a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...
''.
[403 Forbidden](_blank)
accessed May 8, 2006 In 1939, the university acquired the property by agreement with the city to repay all back taxes owed; these funds were raised through donations from, among others, Dr. William Chenery, a University Trustee.
[Salzman, Nancy Lurie. Buildings and builders : a history of Boston University. Boston : Boston University Press, 1985. ()] It served as the residence of the university president until 1967, when President Christ-Janer found it too large for his needs as a residence and turned it to other uses. It is now a conference space. Underneath the Castle is the
BU Pub
The Boston University Castle (or BU Castle or simply "The Castle") is a Tudor Revival-style mansion owned by Boston University on Bay State Road. The school typically uses it for receptions or concerts, but also rents out The Castle to cater event ...
, the only BU-operated drinking establishment on campus.
The Florence and Chafetz Hillel House on Bay State Road is the
Hillel House
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, also known as Hillel International or Hillel, is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally. Hillel is represented at more than 550 coll ...
for the university. With four floors and a basement, the facility includes lounges, study rooms and a
kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
dining hall, open during the academic year (including Passover) to students and walk-ins from the community. The first floor also includes the Granby St. Cafe as well as TVs and ping-pong, pool and foosball tables. The Hillel serves as a focal point for BU's large and active Jewish community. It hosts approximately 30 student groups, including social, cultural, and religious groups, and BU Students for Israel (BUSI), Holocaust Education, and the Center for Jewish Learning and Experience. It hosts a plethora of programs and speakers as well as Shabbat services and meals.
Cultural life
The university is located at the junction of
Fenway-Kenmore,
Allston
Allston is an officially recognized neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was named after the American painter and poet Washington Allston. It comprises the land covered by the zip code 02134. For the most part ...
, and
Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
. In the Fenway-Kenmore area are the
Museum of Fine Arts, the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the nightlife of Landsdowne Street as well as Fenway Park, home of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. Allston has been Boston's largest
bohemian
Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to:
*Anything of or relating to Bohemia
Beer
* National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst
* Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors
Culture and arts
* Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
neighborhood since the 1960s. Nicknamed "Allston Rock City", the neighborhood is home to many artists and musicians, as well as a variety of cafés, and many of Boston's small music halls.
Beyond the southern border of the campus in Brookline, Harvard Avenue offers independent and foreign films at
Coolidge Corner Theatre, and author readings at the Brookline Booksmith. Other nearby cultural institutions include
Symphony Hall,
Jordan Hall, the
main branch of the Boston Public Library in Copley Square, the art and commerce of fashionable
Newbury Street
Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entranc ...
, and across the Charles River, the museums, shops, and galleries in
Harvard Square
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...
and elsewhere in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
![CharlesRiver Boston Sunset](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/CharlesRiver_Boston_Sunset.jpg)
BU is home to the
Boston Playwrights' Theatre. BU was previously associated with the Huntington Theatre Company on
Huntington Avenue
Huntington Avenue is a secondary thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, beginning at Copley Square, and continuing west through the Back Bay, Fenway, Longwood, and Mission Hill neighborhoods. Huntington Avenue is signed as Route 9 ...
, but put the BU Theatre property up for sale in 2016, casting a shadow over the future of the organization.
BU replaced the old Huntington Theatre facilities with the new Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre, located next to the Fuller Building housing the College of Fine Arts.
BU hosts campus and non-campus musical performances in the
Tsai
Cài () is a Chinese-language surname that derives from the name of the ancient Cai state. In 2019 it was the 38th most common surname in China, but the 9th most common in Taiwan (as of 2018), where it is usually romanized as "Tsai" (based on ...
Performance Center at 685 Commonwealth Avenue, and the CFA Concert Hall at 855 Commonwealth Avenue.
Visual art works by students and by visiting artists are displayed in rotating exhibitions in the university's three galleries: the BU Art Gallery (BUAG) at the Stone Gallery, the 808 Gallery, and the Sherman Gallery, located respectively at 855, 808, and 775 Commonwealth Avenue. In addition, BU had been associated with the Photographic Resource Center located at 832 Commonwealth Avenue, which mounts several exhibitions yearly, as well as special events for student and professional photographers. However, BU withdrew its support ,
and the Photographic Resource Center is now a resident partner with the College of Art and Design at
Lesley University.
Guest and visitor policies
Prior to September 2007, Boston University had a restrictive visitor policy, which limited the ability of students from different dormitories to visit each other at night. This changed when a new policy approved by Brown took effect. The new policy allows for students living on campus to swipe into any on-campus dormitory between the hours of 7 am and 2 am using their Terrier cards. Student residents can also sign in guests with photo identification at any time, day or night. Overnight visitors of the opposite sex are no longer required to seek a same-sex "co-host". However, during reading period and the week before final exams, no guests are permitted in the halls overnight, and are expected to be out of the hall by 2 am.
Mass transit
![Boston University College of Arts and Sciences](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Boston_University_College_of_Arts_and_Sciences.jpg)
Most of the buildings of the main campus are located on or near Commonwealth Avenue, served by the subway stop on the
Green Line
Green Line may refer to:
Places Military and political
* Green Line (France), the German occupation line in France during World War II
* Green Line (Israel), the 1949 armistice line established between Israel and its neighbours
** City Line ( ...
and five surface stops on the
Green Line B branch. Crowding on the busy B branch is very seasonal; during the summer, ridership falls by more than half, largely due to the reduced student population.
The South Campus area is served by on the
C branch and on the
D branch.
MBTA bus
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates List of MBTA bus routes, 170 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance (defined as ) for all residents ...
route parallels the B branch on Commonwealth Avenue; on the
MBTA Commuter Rail
The MBTA Commuter Rail system serves as the commuter rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's transportation coverage of Greater Boston in the United States. Trains run over of track to 141 different stations, with 58 statio ...
Framingham/Worcester Line is located near East Campus.
Bicycle traffic on Commonwealth Avenue is heavy,
and advocacy groups have held public meetings with BU, the MBTA, and the City of Boston to improve safety and congestion along this travel corridor.
The MBTA plans to consolidate and reduce the number of stops along Commonwealth Avenue to speed travel and to reduce construction costs to upgrade the remaining stations. Improvements planned include full
handicapped accessibility
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advoca ...
at the new stations, fencing to encourage pedestrians to use protected
crosswalk
A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna and Geneva Conventions, both of which pertain to road ...
s,
traffic signal prioritization
Traffic signal preemption (also called traffic signal prioritisation) is a system that allows the normal operation of traffic lights to be preempted. The most common use of these systems manipulates traffic signals in the path of an emergency vehi ...
for transit vehicles, and improved esthetics. The Commonwealth Avenue Improvement Project is coordinated by the
Massachusetts Highway Department, in cooperation with BU, the MBTA, the City of Boston, the
Boston Water and Sewer Commission, and other organizations.
The Medical Campus is served by the #1 and CT1 crosstown buses which run along Massachusetts Avenue, as well as the No. 47 and CT3 crosstown buses which connect the Boston University Medical Center with the
Longwood Medical Area. The
Silver Line Washington Street Branch runs the entire length of the Medical Campus, one block north of most parts of the campus; it connects Boston University Medical Center with
Tufts Medical Center
Tufts Medical Center (until 2008 Tufts-New England Medical Center) in Boston, Massachusetts is a downtown Boston hospital midway between Chinatown and the Boston Theater District.
The hospital is a community based medical center for biomedical r ...
station and downtown Boston. The nearest rapid transit subway station is the
Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to:
* Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...
station on the
Orange Line, located three blocks north of the Medical Center.
Sustainability
The university has a sustainability initiative and a sustainability office. Boston University's Strategic Plan for Campus Sustainability is also integrated into the university's overarching strategic plan in many areas including the Climate Action Plan Task Force, a faculty-led initiative developing the university's first Climate Action Plan.
The university bought a wind farm in South Dakota to meet its goal of
carbon neutrality by 2040.
Other campuses
London Campus
![43 Harrington Gardens - BU London](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/43_Harrington_Gardens_-_BU_London.jpg)
Boston University's largest study abroad program is located in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, England. Boston University London Programmes offers a semester of study and work in London through their London Internship Program (LIP), as well as a number of other specialized programs. The LIP program combines a professional internship with coursework that examines a particular academic area in the context of Britain's history, culture, and society and its role in modern Europe. Courses in each academic area are taught exclusively to students enrolled in the Boston University program by a selected faculty body representing multiple cultural backgrounds. Upon successful completion of a semester, students earn 16 Boston University credits. BU London Programmes are headquartered in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London. The campus consists of the main building at 43 Harrington Gardens, as well as three nearby residences to house students. This program is open to Boston University students, as well as students at other American colleges.
Los Angeles Campus
In
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, BU has an internship program for students to study and work in the heart of the film, television, advertising, public relations, and entertainment management and law industries. The program offers three tracks from which undergraduate and graduate students can choose: Advertising and Public Relations, Film and Television, and Entertainment Management. Graduated students have the opportunity to continue their education by enrolling in the Los Angeles Certificate Program, where students can choose either the Acting in Hollywood or the Writer in Hollywood track. Courses are taught by Boston University faculty and alumni who serve as mentors in and out of the classroom. Upon successful completion of a semester students will earn 16 Boston University credits. Students who successfully complete the Los Angeles Certificate Program will receive 8 Boston University credits and a certificate from Boston University College of Fine Arts or College of Communication.
Paris Campus
The
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
Center runs several programs, the largest of which is the Paris Internship Program dating from 1989. Students take language and elective courses with French faculty at the BU Paris Center, then are placed in internships with French businesses and organizations in the area. Students live with host families or in a dormitory for the extent of the semester. Boston University Paris also organizes exchange programs with the business school
Paris Dauphine University and a yearlong program with the ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' (
Sciences Po
, motto_lang = fr
, mottoeng = Roots of the Future
, type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école''
, established =
, founder = Émile Boutmy
, a ...
).
Washington, DC Campus
In
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, BU has internship, journalism and management programs. Students study in the university's building on
Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to:
* Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line
** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...
in
Dupont Circle and take advantage of the city by interning at different locations. In 2011, the university completed construction of a new, multistory residence to house students in the program featuring touch-less entry cards for security and suites with communal kitchens, right next to the
Woodley Park Metro station. The Multimedia and Journalism program allows students to act as Washington, D.C. correspondents for newspapers and television stations across the Northeast and New England while interning at major news outlets in the city, as well as at many PR internships in politics, government and public affairs. Internship opportunities are also offered in a wide variety of sectors for students enrolled in other BU Study Abroad Washington programs.
Sydney Campus
In
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, BU has internship, management, film festival, travel writing, engineering, and School of Education programs that vary based on semester. Around 150 students live in the university's building in
Chippendale developed by Tony Owen Partners. The building uses "fissures to provide maximum solar access to bedrooms as well as natural ventilation throughout the building". The building opened in the beginning of 2011 and features underground classrooms, a lecture hall, office space, library, and a roof patio.
Other internship and study abroad opportunities are available through the Study Abroad office.
Academics
Colleges and schools
Boston University offers
bachelor's degrees,
master's degrees, and
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
s, and medical, dental, and law degrees through its 17 schools and colleges. The newest school at Boston University is the
Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies (established 2014).
was renamed in 2018 following the merger with Wheelock College. In 2019, BU created the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, which is an interdisciplinary academic unit that will train students in computing and enable them to combine data science with their chosen field. In 2022, BU's medical school was renamed the Aram V. Chobanian & Edward Avedisian School of Medicine (following a $100 million gift from Edward Avedisian).
Each school and college at the university has a three letter abbreviation, which is commonly used in place of their full school or college name. For example, the College of Arts & Sciences is commonly referred to as CAS, the College of Engineering is ENG, and the College of Fine Arts is CFA, etc.
The College of Fine Arts was formerly named the School of Fine Arts (SFA). The College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) was formerly named the College of Liberal Arts (CLA). The College of Communication was formerly named the School of Public Communication (SPC). The Questrom School of Business (Questrom) was formerly known as the School of Management (SMG), and the College of Business Administration (CBA) prior to that. The College of General Studies (CGS) was formerly named the College of Basic Studies (CBS).
The Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine (MHCBM) Program at
Boston University School of Medicine
The Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, formerly the Boston University School of Medicine, is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school was the first institution in the world ...
offers a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. for students who wish to become licensed to practice as a
mental health counselor
A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor (counsellor in British English), is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with ad ...
. The program adheres to educational guidelines and standards of the
American Counseling Association (ACA),
American Mental Health Counselors Association
The American Mental Health Counselors Association (abbreviated AMHCA) is an organization of licensed mental health counselors in the United States. Its activities include setting and enforcing standards for education, licensing, and ethics for Amer ...
(AMHCA), and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), which is an independent agency recognized by the
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for academic quality through accreditation in order t ...
. The MHCBM Program is the only
counselor education
The American Counseling Association (ACA) is a membership organization representing licensed professional counselors (LPCs), counseling students, and other counseling professionals in the United States. It is the world's largest association exclus ...
program in the entire United States that is housed in a medical school for solely training students in clinical mental health counseling to treat clients and patients with a
mental disorder
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
via counseling and
psychotherapy
Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of psychological methods, particularly when based on regular personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase happiness, and overcome pro ...
. Boston University is
accredited by the
New England Commission of Higher Education.
Admissions
Fall Freshman statistics
Based on currently enrolled student responses within the university student database 50.6%
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 14%
Asian
Asian may refer to:
* Items from or related to the continent of Asia:
** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia
** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia
** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 11.6% international students, 8.6%
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
, and 3.2%
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
. Fall 2015 international student enrollment at Boston University is 43% Chinese, 9% Indian, 5% Korean, 5% Saudi Arabian, 4% Canadian, 4% Taiwanese, 2% Turkish, and 1% from each of the following countries: Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, France, Thailand, Spain, and Japan. The other 18% of international enrollment comes from 123 other countries.
Among international students, 39% are pursuing undergraduate degrees, 37% are pursuing graduate degrees, and 23% are enrolled in other programs.
[ BU also has the second highest number of Jews of any private school (after ]NYU
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-United States Secretary of the Treasu ...
) in the country with between 3,000 and 4,000, or roughly 15%[ identifying as Jewish.
The plurality of registrants were from (19%), followed by ]New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
(16%), New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
(9%), California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
(8%), Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
(4%), Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
(4%), and Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
(2%).
Boston University's financial aid program, "affordableBU," meets the full demonstrated need of domestic students.
Rankings
'' U.S. News & World Report'' ranks Boston University tied for 41st among national universities and tied for 57th among global universities for 2022. It also ranked BU 29th in "Best Value Schools", tied for 41st in "Most Innovative Schools", and tied for 45th in "Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs" at schools whose highest degree is a doctorate and 12th in Biomedical Engineering. ''U.S. News & World Report'' also ranks Boston University's online graduate information technology programs tied for 10th in the U.S., the online graduate criminal justice programs tied for 3rd, and the online graduate business programs (excluding MBAs) tied for 10th.
Boston University is ranked No. 40 nationally in the 2021 ''Wall Street Journal/Time Higher Education'' U.S. colleges and universities ranking.
''QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
'' ranked Boston University 93rd overall in the world in its 2019 rankings, with a 5-star rating.
''Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' ranked Boston University 54th in the world for 2021.
''Times Higher Education'' ranked Boston University 6th in the 2017 Global University Employability Rankings.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
ranks Boston University 36th in the United States, and 76th in the world, in its 2019 list.
''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' (International Edition), in its list of the Top 100 Global Universities, ranked Boston University the 35th in the United States, and 65th in the world.[MSN](_blank)
Retrieved September 18, 2006.
The Chronicle of Higher Education places the Boston University School of Social Work as sixth in the nation for research productivity by faculty.
BU is one of 96 American universities receiving the highest research classification ("RU/VH") by the Carnegie Foundation.
Research
In FY2016, the university reported in $368.9 million in sponsored research, comprising 1,896 awards to 722 faculty investigators. Funding sources included the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
(NSF), the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
(NIH), the US Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
, the European Commission of the European Union, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and the federal Health Resources and Services Administration
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for peop ...
. The university's research enterprise encompasses dozens of fields, but its primary focus currently lies in seven areas: Data Science, Engineering Biology, Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Neuroscience, Photonics, and Urban Health.
In 2017, BU received a $20 million grant over five years from the NSF in order to establish an Engineering Research Center (ERC). The ERC's goal is to bioengineer functional heart tissue. The director of the center is David Bishop, a professor of physics and computer and electrical engineering.
As of FY2021, the university reported $526.6 million in sponsored research, and 56% of federal funding was from the National Institutes of Health.
In 2003, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases awarded Boston University a grant to build one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories. The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, or NEIDL, is a biosciences facility of Boston University located near Boston Medical Center on Albany Street in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
The lab is part of a nati ...
(NEIDL) was created to study emerging infectious diseases that pose a significant threat to public health. NEIDL has biosafety level 2, 3, and 4 (BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4, respectively) labs that enable researchers to work safely with the pathogens. BSL-4 labs are the highest level of biosafety labs and work with diseases with a high risk of aerosol transmission.
The strategic plan also encouraged research collaborations with industry and government partners. In 2016, as part of a broadbased effort to solve the critical problem of antibiotic resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance. ...
, the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) selected the Boston University School of Law (LAW)—and Kevin Outterson use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinates = ...
, a BU professor of law—to lead a $350 million trans-Atlantic public-private partnership called CARB-X The Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) is a global nonprofit partnership focused on supporting antibacterial research. Its mission is to strengthen the pipeline of therapeutics, diagnostics and preventativ ...
to foster the preclinical development of new antibiotics and antimicrobial rapid diagnostics and vaccines. CARB-X was allotted an additional $370 million in funding in May 2022. HHS will continue to support CARB-X with up to $300 million over 10 years, and global charity Wellcome will fund up to $70 million over three years.
In its effort to increase diversity and inclusion, Boston University appointed Ibram X. Kendi in July 2020 as a history professor and the director and founder of its newly established Center for Antiracist Research. The university also appointed alumna Andrea Taylor as its first senior diversity officer.
Ibram Kendi was named a 2021 MacArthur fellow and will receive a "genius grant" of $625,000 split over five years for his center's research.
Grade deflation
The independently run student newspaper at Boston University, '' The Daily Free Press'', as well as ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', have published articles exploring the existence of grade deflation. The ''Times'' discovered that administrators have suggested to faculty members deflated ideal grade distributions. Although an article in the official publication ''BU Today'' asserted that "the GPAs of BU undergrads and the percentage of As and Bs have both risen over the last two decades", ''The New York Times'' has found BU grades have been rising more slowly with respect to many other schools.
In 2014, the average GPA of a BU undergraduate was 3.16, compared to the averages of 3.35 for Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
(2007), 3.48 for Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...
(2006), 3.52 for New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(2015), and 3.65 for Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
(2015).
About 81 percent of all grades earned in either the A or B range (75% in the B range). The article went on to note that although the university attempted to curb grade inflation
Grade inflation (also known as grading leniency) is the awarding of higher grades than students deserve, which yields a higher average grade given to students.
The term is also used to describe the tendency to award progressively higher academic g ...
and inconsistency in the late 1990s, both the percentage of As and GPAs have been rising since. They attributed the grade inflation that has occurred not to teachers' grading policies, but to the increasing quality of each incoming class which leads to more top grades.
Journals and publications
Boston University is home to several academic journals and publications. The School of Law hosts six nationally recognized law journals: the ''Boston University Law Review'', ''American Journal of Law and Medicine
The ''American Journal of Law & Medicine'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering health law. It was established in 1975 and is published by Sage Publications till December 2020, in association with both Boston University School of ...
'', ''Review of Banking & Financial Law'', ''Boston University International Law Journal'', ''Journal of Science and Technology Law'', and ''Public Interest Law Journal''. The School of Education
In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...
houses the ''Journal of Education
The Journal of Education () is an academic journal, published by SAGE Publishing on behalf of the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development, with Hardin Coleman as its editor-in-chief. It bills itself as "the oldest educa ...
'', which is the oldest continuously published journal in the field of education in the country. In the College of Arts and Sciences
A College of Arts and Sciences or School of Arts and Sciences is most commonly an individual institution or a unit within a university that focuses on instruction of the liberal arts and pure sciences, although they frequently include programs and ...
, '' Studies in Romanticism'' is housed at the Department of English and the ''Journal of Field Archeology
A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to:
*Bullet journal, a method of personal organization
*Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period
*Daybook, also known as a general journal, a ...
'' is housed at the Department of Archeology. The Department of History is affiliated with The Historical Society, which publishes ''The Journal of the Historical Society'' and ''Historically Speaking''.
The ''American Journal of Media Psychology'' and the ''Public Relations Journal
The ''Public Relations Journal'' is an open-access peer-reviewed, electronic academic journal covering topics having to do with public relations and communication studies. It is published quarterly by the Public Relations Society of America. The ...
'' are currently edited by professors at the College of Communication, which is also home to the ''New England Center for Investigative Reporting'', which generates numerous publications yearly.
Special academic programs
General Education: the BU Hub
BU Hub, the university-wide undergraduate general education curriculum, requires course work in the core capacities of: philosophical, aesthetic, and historical interpretation; scientific and social inquiry; quantitative reasoning; diversity, civic engagement, and global citizenship; written, oral, and multimedia communication; and an intellectual toolkit that includes critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.
Kilachand Honors College
The University Honors College matriculated its first class in 2010. In 2011, it was renamed Arvind and Chandan Nandlal Kilachand Honors College following a $25 million donation from Rajen Kilachand; the largest donation in the history of the university. The Kilachand Honors College is a university-wide community of faculty and students dedicated to preserving, renewing, and rethinking classic ideals of liberal education: love of learning, intellectual curiosity, self-discovery, empathy, clarity of thought and expression. It rests on three pillars: an integrated, four-year curriculum; an extensive series of co-curricular events that include site-visits to leading cultural institutions as well as talks and readings by leading figures in the arts, sciences, and professions; and, finally, a "living and learning" community that offers students the personal atmosphere of a small liberal arts college and fosters responsibility and citizenship.
Trustee Scholars Program
Around 20 freshmen from every Boston University graduating class are part of the Trustee Scholars Program. These students are recipients of the Trustee Scholarship, known to be the most prestigious merit-based, full-tuition scholarship for undergraduates. Although not an academic program per se, students "become part of a unique campus community that offers many intellectual, cultural, and social opportunities", such as special lectures by distinguished professors and scholars. They also gather for events, such as plays and performances in the Boston area, movie screenings, and book discussions.
Boston University Academy
Boston University Academy
Boston University Academy (BUA) is a private high school operated by Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historica ...
is a private high school operated by Boston University. Founded in 1993, the school sits within the university's campus and students are offered the opportunity to take university courses.
Student life
Student publications
Independent from the university, '' The Daily Free Press'' (often referred to as ''The FreeP'') is the campus student newspaper and the fourth largest daily newspaper in Boston. Since 1970, it has provided students with campus news, city and state news, sports coverage, editorials, arts and entertainment, and special feature stories. ''The Daily Free Press'' is published every regular instruction day of the university year and is available in BU dorms, classroom buildings, and commercial locations frequented by students.
The literary magazine ''Clarion
Clarion may refer to:
Music
* Clarion (instrument), a type of trumpet used in the Middle Ages
* The register of a clarinet that ranges from B4 to C6
* A trumpet organ stop that usually plays an octave above unison pitch
* "Clarion" (song), a 2 ...
'' has been printed since 1998. The first issue, titled "?", was published by the group Students for Literary Awareness with the sponsorship of the Department of English; subsequent issues were issued by the BU Literary Society, and most recently, by the BU BookLab. ''Burn Magazine'' is a younger literary magazine, affiliated with ''Clarion'', but publishing the work of student authors only.
''Boink
''Boink'' was a magazine of erotica started by Alecia Oleyourryk, a magazine journalism student at Boston University, and the photographer Christopher Anderson. The magazine was also educational in scope and purpose. The first issue was released i ...
'' was launched in February 2005 by a group of undergrads led by Alecia Oleyourryk, who was then a senior at the College of Communications. The magazine featured BU students posing nude, as well as articles on sexuality.
ROTC
The Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at BU traces its origins back to August 16, 1919, when the US War Department stood up the Students' Army Training Corps at Boston University, the predecessor to the current Army ROTC program. Today, BU is one of twenty five colleges and universities in the country to host all three ROTC programs – Army, Navy, and Air Force. Students wishing to be commissioned into the Marine Corps study as Navy Midshipmen.
Honor Societies
Alpha Phi Sigma - Nu Mu Chapter
Athletics
Boston University's NCAA Division I Terriers compete in men's basketball, cross country, golf, ice hockey, rowing, soccer, swimming, tennis, track, and lacrosse, and in women's basketball, dance, cross country, field hockey, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, and track. Boston University athletics
The Boston University Terriers are the ten men's and fourteen women's varsity athletic teams representing Boston University in NCAA Division I competition. Boston University's team nickname is the Terriers, and the official mascot is Rhett the ...
teams compete in the Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
, Hockey East
The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference.
Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...
, and Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...
conferences, and their mascot is Rhett the Boston Terrier. , a majority of Boston University's teams compete in the Patriot League
The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective gr ...
. On April 1, 2013, the university announced it would cut its wrestling program following the 2013–14 season.
The Boston University men's hockey team is the most successful on campus, and is a storied college hockey power, with five NCAA championships, most recently in 2009. The team was coached by hall-of-famer Jack Parker for 40 seasons, and is a major supplier of talent to the NHL, as well as to the 1980 USA Olympic gold medal-winning men's hockey team. The Terriers have won 31 Beanpot
A beanpot is a deep, wide-bellied, short-necked vessel used to cook bean-based dishes. Beanpots are typically made of ceramic, though some are made of other materials, such as cast iron. The relatively narrow mouth of the beanpot minimizes evapo ...
titles, more than any other team in the tournament, which includes Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...
, and Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
. The BU Women's ice hockey team has won 2 beanpot titles, once in 1981 and once in 2019. Boston University also won a game in 2010 against Boston College at Fenway Park by a score of 3–2, played a week after the NHL Winter Classic
The NHL Winter Classic (french: La Classique hivernale de la LNH) is an annual regular season outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on or around New Year's Day, generally in a football or baseball stadium in an area ...
.
BU has also won two national championships in women's rowing, in 1991 and 1992.
In 2020, the men's basketball team won the Patriot League Men's Basketball Championship for the first time, but the NCAA men's Division I basketball tournament was canceled due to coronavirus concerns.
Boston University recently constructed the new Agganis Arena, which opened on January 3, 2005, with a men's hockey game between the Terriers and the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
Golden Gophers. The arena also hosts non-sporting events, such as concerts, ice shows, and other performances.
Boston University disbanded its football team in 1997. The university used the nearly $3 million from its football program to build the multimillion-dollar John Hancock Student Village and athletic complex. The university also increased funding to women's athletic programs. "By implementing the total plan, we can achieve a much more balanced set of sports programs for both men and women, which is consistent with the philosophy underlying Title IX", said former BU athletic director Gary Strickler.
Club sports
Boston University students also compete in athletics at the club level. Thirty-four club sports are recognized by the university: badminton; baseball; cricket; cycling; equestrian; fencing; figure skating; golf; gymnastics; inline, men's, and women's ice hockey; jiu-jitsu; kendo; kung fu; women's and men's rugby; sailing; Shotokan karate; ski racing; snowboarding; men's and women's soccer; squash; women's synchronized skating; synchronized swimming; table tennis; triathlon; women's and men's ultimate frisbee; men's and women's volleyball; and women's and men's water polo.
The BU Sailing Team is one of the most successful teams in college sailing. The team has won seven National Championships, most recently in 1999. They have also had three team members graduate as "College Sailor of the Year". Notable alumni of the team include Ken Read, skipper for PUMA Ocean Racing in the Volvo Ocean Race, and 2012 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year nominee, John Mollicone.
The BU Figure Skating Team has won five Intercollegiate National Figure Skating Championships and has not finished outside of the top three since 2009.
The BU Men's Club Volleyball team won the NCVF 1AA National Championship in 2016.
The BU Roller Hockey Team advanced to the NCHRA Tournament in 2001, 2002, and 2003. The team advanced all the way to the Final Four in 2001.
Both Men's and Women's Intervarsity Table Tennis Teams have attended the National Collegiate Table Tennis Tournaments and ranked as high as the top 10 nationwide.
Notable alumni and academics
Over the course of its history, a number of people associated with Boston University have become notable in their fields. Affiliates of Boston University have won seven Nobel prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
s. With over 342,000 alumni, Boston University graduates can be found around the world. American civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
leader Martin Luther King Jr. earned his doctorate in systematic theology at BU in 1955. After gaining prominence by advocating nonviolent resistance to segregation, he won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
. Howard Thurman
Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements ...
, the Dean of Marsh Chapel, influenced King's embrace of nonviolence. Three other alumni hold special historical importance: Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Rebecca Lee Crumpler, born Rebecca Davis, (February 8, 1831March 9, 1895), was an American physician, nurse and author. After studying at the New England Female Medical College, in 1864 she became the first African-American woman to become a ...
was the first African-American woman and Charles Eastman (first named Ohiyesa) the first American Indian to be certified as doctors, and Helen Magill White
Helen Magill White (November 28, 1853 – October 28, 1944) was an American academic and instructor. She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in the United States.
Early life and education
Helen Magill was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Edwar ...
was the first woman in the US to earn a PhD.
Mathematics and sciences
Among the most famous of Boston University scientists is Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell (, born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Te ...
, an inventor of the telephone who conducted many of his experiments on the BU campus when he was professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution. In Boston, Bell was "swept up" by the excitement engendered by the many scientists and inventors residing in the city. In 1875, the university gave Bell a year's salary advance to allow him to pursue his research. The following year, he invented the telephone in a Boston University laboratory. In the twenty-first century, the university has become a pioneering center for synthetic biology thanks to the work of James Collins James, Jim, Jimmy, or Jamie Collins may refer to:
Sports Association football
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born 1872) (1872–1900), Scottish footballer
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born 1895), Scottish footballer
* Jimmy Collins (footballer, born ...
. Collins and co-workers also discovered that sublethal levels of antibiotics activate mutagenesis by stimulating the production of reactive oxygen species, leading to multidrug resistance. This discovery has important implications for the widespread use and misuse of antibiotics.
Dr. Christopher Chen, an interdisciplinary researcher whose work involves engineering, medicine, and biology, joined BU in 2013. Chen directs the Biological Design Center at the Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering. His research focuses on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Other notable Boston University scientists include Sheldon Glashow, winner of the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, Daniel Tsui
Daniel Chee Tsui (, born February 28, 1939) is a Chinese-born American physicist, Nobel laureate, and the Arthur Legrand Doty Professor of Electrical Engineering, Emeritus, at Princeton University. Tsui's areas of research include electrical prop ...
, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
, and Osamu Shimomura, winner of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then "M ...
.
Humanities, music, and art
Numerous actors trained at Boston University, including Faye Dunaway, Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...
, Russell Hornsby, Jason Alexander
Jay Scott Greenspan (born September 23, 1959), known professionally as Jason Alexander, is an American actor, comedian, host and director. An Emmy and Tony winner, he is best known for his role as George Costanza in the television series '' Se ...
, Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fanta ...
, Marisa Tomei, Emily Deschanel
Emily Erin Deschanel (; born October 11, 1976) is an American actress. She portrayed Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in the Fox crime procedural series ''Bones'' (2005–2017).
Early life
Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, to cin ...
, Marc Maron
Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...
, Viola Léger, Julianne Moore, Uzo Aduba, Paul Michael Glaser
Paul Michael Glaser (born Paul Manfred Glaser March 25, 1943) is an American actor and director best known for his role as Detective Dave Starsky on the 1970s television series, ''Starsky & Hutch''. In between his work writing and directing, Gla ...
, Michael Chiklis, Sarah Chase, and Geena Davis. Notable musicians include Taiwanese composer Wen-Pin Hope Lee
Wen-Pin Hope Lee (; born 1967) is a Hoklo Taiwanese contemporary music composer and Professor. His works comprise a variety of genres, including symphonies, theatre, dance, solo works, chamber music, computer music, and multimedia performanc ...
, rapper Aesop Rock and Russian-American Violinist Yevgeny Kutik
Yevgeny Kutik (born 1985) is a Belarusian-American concert violinist whose career debuted in 2003 with an appearance with the Boston Pops and Maestro Keith Lockhart, an honor awarded to him as the 1st prize recipient of the Boston Symphony Orche ...
. Folk singer Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
attended BU for several months before dropping out to concentrate on her musical career.
Law
David A Rose (judge)
David Allan Rose (1906–April 29, 1995) was an American lawyer and judge who served as a Massachusetts state court judge for more than 40 years and active in many community and civil rights organizations. He was a judge of the Massachusetts ...
, noted judge in Boston, Associate Justice 1972–1976, Recalled retired justice 1978–1985, who headed Rights Panel.
Literature
Two US Poets Laureate have taught at Boston University: Robert Lowell
Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects i ...
and Robert Pinsky. During John Silber's tenure as president, he recruited two Nobel Prize–winning literary figures to the university's faculty: Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...
, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
, and Saul Bellow, winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
. Another Nobel Prize winner in the English Department in the twentieth century was Derek Walcott
Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...
, winner of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature
)
, image = Nobel Prize.png
, caption =
, awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature
, presenter = Swedish Academy
, holder = Annie Ernaux (2022)
, location = Stockholm, Sweden
, year = 1901
, ...
. Alumni of the university have earned over thirty Pulitzer Prizes
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made hi ...
. Other writers associated with the university include Bob Zelnick
Carl Robert Zelnick (August 9, 1940 – September 23, 2019) was an American journalist, author and professor of journalism at the Boston University College of Communication, and winner of two Emmy Awards and two Gavel Awards.
Career
Early in ...
, executive editor of the Frost-Nixon interviews
The Nixon interviews were a series of conversations between former American president Richard Nixon and British journalist David Frost, produced by John Birt. They were recorded and broadcast on television and radio in four programs in 1977. Th ...
, Lambda Literary Award winner Ellen Bass, historian Andrew Bacevich
Andrew J. Bacevich Jr. (, ; born July 5, 1947) is an American historian specializing in international relations, security studies, American foreign policy, and American diplomatic and military history. He is a Professor Emeritus of International ...
, Ha Jin
Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (). ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement.
Early life
Ha Jin was born in L ...
, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri, and Isaac Asimov
yi, יצחק אזימאװ
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR
, spouse =
, relatives =
, children = 2
, death_date =
, death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
, nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
.
In 1986, literary critic Christopher Ricks
Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Univ ...
, whom W. H. Auden called "exactly the kind of critic every poet dreams of finding", joined the university's faculty and founded the Editorial Institute The Editorial Institute at Boston University was founded in 2000 by Christopher Ricks and Geoffrey Hill with "the conviction that the textually sound, contextually annotated edition is central to the intellectual life of many disciplines." The prima ...
with Geoffrey Hill. Controversial historian Howard Zinn taught in the political science department for many years. Journalist Thomas B. Edsall
Thomas Byrne Edsall (born August 22, 1941) is an American journalist and academic. He is best known for his weekly opinion column for ''The New York Times'', for his 25 years covering national politics for the ''Washington Post'' and for his eigh ...
and playwright Eliza Wyatt
Eliza Wyatt is an American playwright born in England, who has been part of the Boston theater scene for more than thirty years.
Life and career
Eliza Wyatt completed an undergraduate degree at Boston University in Philosophy and Master of Art ...
graduated from Boston University. Paul Beatty
Paul Beatty (born June 9, 1962) is an American author and an associate professor of writing at Columbia University. In 2016, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Booker Prize for his novel '' The Sellout''. It was the first time ...
, who earned bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology at BU, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
for his novel ''The Sellout''. He is the first writer from the United States honored with the Man Booker. The bestselling author Casey Sherman
Casey Sherman is a ''New York Times'', USA Today, and ''Wall Street Journal'' Bestselling American author, journalist and screenwriter most famous for his 2009 book ''The Finest Hours'', which was adapted into the big budget Walt Disney Studios ( ...
graduated from BU in 1992.
Politics
Boston University counts eleven current or former governors
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...
of US states, seven United States senators
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and power ...
, and 33 members of the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
among its alumni. Notable Boston University alumni in American politics include former Defense Secretary William Cohen
William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979 ...
, former US Ambassador to China Gary Locke
Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...
, former Senator Judd Gregg, former United States Senator Edward Brooke; the first popularly elected African-American senator, former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley
Martha Mary Coakley (born July 14, 1953) is an American lobbyist and lawyer who served as Attorney General of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County from 1999 to 20 ...
, former Second Lady Tipper Gore, and the former First Vice President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Earle O. Latham
Earle O. Latham (1908–1999) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Biography Education
He attended Boston University, Rutgers University School of Banking and Columbia University Graduate School of Management.
Career
During 46 years of employment, ...
. Former President William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) was the 27th president of the United States (1909–1913) and the tenth chief justice of the United States (1921–1930), the only person to have held both offices. Taft was elected pr ...
lectured on Legal Ethics at the university's law school
A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction.
Law degrees Argentina
In Argentina, ...
from 1918 to 1921. After leaving politics in 2014, former Boston mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...
was professor of the practice of political science at the university until his death later in the year. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...
, the youngest woman elected to the House of Representatives, graduated in 2011.
Television personality Bill O'Reilly studied journalism at the university in the 1970s and was a columnist for the student newspaper, ''The Daily Free Press''. Describing his time at the university, he wrote, "Throughout that fall at BU, covering stories became a passion for me. I loved going places and seeing new things. I ran around Boston annoying the hell out of everyone, but bringing back good, crisp copy" and "what I learned at Boston University firmly set me on the course I continue to this day. Amidst the chaos of Commonwealth Avenue, I found an occupation that I enjoyed."
In international politics, Boston University alumni include Sherwin Gatchalian
Sherwin Ting Gatchalian (born April 6, 1974), known as Win Gatchalian, is a Filipino politician and businessman serving as a Senator since 2016. A member of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), he previously served as the Representative o ...
, a Philippine senator elected in 2016, and Daniyal Aziz
Daniyal Aziz Choudhry ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 25 February 1965) is a Pakistani politician who served as Minister for Privatisation, in Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to May 2018. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan between ...
, a Pakistani politician affiliated with the Pakistan Muslim League (N)
The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Teh ...
who is currently a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...
. Archbishop Makarios, the first President of Cyprus
The president of Cyprus, officially the president of the Republic of Cyprus, is the head of state and the head of government of Cyprus. The office was created in 1960, after Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
Currently, t ...
, studied at Boston University under a World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
scholarship. The founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Fan S. Noli
Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, Archbishop, Metropolitan and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox A ...
, received a doctorate from Boston University. Moeed Yusuf
Moeed W. Yusuf is a Pakistani national security scholar who served as the 9th National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Previously he served in the capacity of a Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on National ...
, the current National Security Advisor (Pakistan) to the Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...
, received his master's and doctoral degrees from Boston University.
Hollywood
In 2014, ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' took note of the number of female BU graduates working in Hollywood. The university estimates that more than 5,000 alums, 54 percent of them women, work in entertainment. They include actresses Geena Davis, Julianne Moore, Uzo Aduba, Marisa Tomei, Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard (; born November 8, 1952) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards (tying the record for the most acting Emmys won by an African-American performer, along with Regina King), ...
, Rosie O'Donnell, Ginnifer Goodwin
Jennifer Michelle "Ginnifer" Goodwin (born May 22, 1978) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Margene Heffman in the HBO drama series ''Big Love'' (2006–2011) and Snow White / Mary Margaret Blanchard in the ABC fanta ...
, Yunjin Kim. Behind the scenes players include former CBS Entertainment Chair Nina Tassler
Nina Tassler is an American television executive and producer. She was most recently the chairwoman of CBS Entertainment until 2015.
Life and career
Tassler was born in New York City to a Jewish father and a Puerto Rican mother who converted t ...
, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group' Bonnie Hammer, A&E Networks' Nancy Dubuc
Nancy Jean Dubuc is an American businesswoman who currently serves as chief executive officer of the American-Canadian media company Vice Media.
Early life and education
Dubuc is the daughter of Carol D. Smith and Robert H. Dubuc Jr. Her parents ...
, Warner Horizon Television Brooke Karzen, ''V'' writer Corinne Brinkerhoff
Corinne Noel Brinkerhoff (born 1979) is an American television writer and producer. She has worked on the series ''The Good Wife'' and ''Boston Legal''. She was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for best new series in 2010.
Backgrou ...
, DreamWorks Animation's Bonnie Arnold
Bonnie Arnold is an American film producer and executive who has worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation. Arnold was born in Atlanta, Georgia and rose to prominence ...
, and Red Hour Films' Debbie Liebling
Deborah Liebling is an American entertainment executive and film producer. She was formally President of Production of Universal Pictures. Previously, she was a Senior Production Executive at 20th Century Fox.
Before her tenure at 20th Centur ...
.
Popular culture
A number of Boston University graduates have reached fame in popular culture. These include radio personality Howard Stern, Bravo executive Andy Cohen (television personality), Andy Cohen, CBS producer Gordon Hyatt, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, bestselling self-help author Mark Manson, reality show contestant and television host Rob Mariano, Kevin O'Connor (television), Kevin O'Connor presenter of This Old House, and cohost of Project Runway and fashion editor for Marie Claire Magazine Nina Garcia. American comedian Marc Maron
Marcus David Maron (born September 27, 1963) is an American stand-up comedian, podcaster, writer, actor, and musician.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Maron was a frequent guest on the '' Late Show with David Letterman'' and has appeared more than forty ...
and YouTube personality Jenna Mourey, Jenna Marbles studied for a master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in education at the university. The "Craigslist killer" Philip Markoff studied medicine at the university. YouTube essayist Evan Puschak of The Nerdwriter and musician and YouTube personality Dan Avidan both went to Boston University.
Athletics
1968 Olympic 400 m hurdles gold medalist David Hemery was a student at BU in the 1960s, and a coach in the 1970s and 1980s. John Thomas (athlete), John Thomas attended BU in the early 1960s and he won a silver medal in the Olympic High Jump. He was an assistant track coach at BU during the 1970s.
On October 29, 2020, Travis Roy, a philanthropist, motivational speaker, and former BU ice hockey player, died. In 1995, Roy collided with the boards and was paralyzed just 11 seconds into his first hockey game for Boston University, making him quadriplegic. In 1996, Roy founded the Travis Roy Foundation to fund research for and help other spinal cord injury survivors. In 2017, BU created the Travis M. Roy Professorship in Rehabilitation Sciences after receiving $2.5 million from anonymous donors.
In popular culture
Boston University is sometimes referenced in art or pop culture. Here below are some notable examples.
*The Standells, a 1960s California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
rock and roll band mocked the curfew that applied to female students in that time in their 1966 song "Dirty Water", singing, "Frustrated women have to be in by twelve o'clock".
*Parts of the 2008 film ''21 (2008 film), 21'' were filmed at BU Castle, The Castle when Robert Luketic could not film at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT. Other areas around the Boston University campus, including BU's School of Management, Mugar Library and FitRec also provided production locations for the film.
*Ash, a character in Ubisoft's 2015 game ''Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, Rainbow Six Siege'', studied at Boston University.
*In 1962, Timothy Leary performed his Marsh Chapel Experiment, also known as the "Good Friday Experiment", in the university's Marsh Chapel.[Penner, James]
"The Good Friday Experiment"
''Timothy Leary: The Harvard Years: Early Writings on LSD and Psilocybin with Richard Alpert, Huston Smith, Ralph Metzner, and others'', July 21, 2014. Retrieved on February 12, 2016. The experiment investigated whether psilocybin (the active principle in psilocybin mushrooms) would act as a reliable entheogen in religiously predisposed subjects.
Gallery
File: Morsefront.JPG, Morse Auditorium Alfred L. Morse Auditorium is a domed theater that is now owned by Boston University (BU) and used as an auditorium.
Built in 1906 as Temple Israel, the edifice was intended by the architect and congregation as a replica of Solomon's Temple. Bost ...
(built 1906)
File: Boston University Marsh Chapel, Boston MA.jpg, Marsh Chapel
Marsh Chapel is a building on the campus of Boston University used as the official place of worship of the school. It was named for Daniel L. Marsh, a former president of BU and a Methodist minister. The building is Gothic in style.
While Meth ...
(Ralph Adams Cram)
File: Boston University School of Education, Boston MA.jpg, School of Education
In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...
(built 1925)
File: Boston University Theatre (24.05.2007).jpg, Boston University Theatre
File: BU Law Tower.JPG, Boston University School of Law, Law Tower (built 1964, Josep Lluís Sert)
File: Boston University Photonics Center, Boston MA.jpg, Photonics Center (built 1997)
File: Boston University Talbot Building 01.JPG, Talbot Building, Boston University School of Public Health, School of Public Health
File: Boston_University_Medical_Center.jpg, Moakley Building, Boston Medical Center
File: Boston_University_Medical_Campus_01.JPG, Boston University School of Medicine
The Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, formerly the Boston University School of Medicine, is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school was the first institution in the world ...
File: Instructional Building, BU School of Medicine, Boston MA.jpg, Instructional building on Boston University School of Medicine, medical campus
File: National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories Building.jpg, National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, or NEIDL, is a biosciences facility of Boston University located near Boston Medical Center on Albany Street in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
The lab is part of a nati ...
File: Bu-bridge.jpg, Boston University Bridge, BU Bridge
File: Agganis Arena Exterior.jpg, Agganis Arena
File: Panoramic Boston.jpg, View of Boston from the John Hancock Student Village
See also
*Boston University Tanglewood Institute
*Boston University Police Department
The Boston University Police Department (BUPD) is the primary law-enforcement agency of Boston University and provides services to more than 41,000 students, faculty, and staff on of University property and surrounding streets. Its headquarter ...
*Einstein Papers Project
*Framingham Heart Study
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
*
''The Brink''
Boston University research news
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Boston University,
1869 establishments in Massachusetts
Educational institutions established in 1869
Fenway–Kenmore
Universities and colleges in Boston
Private universities and colleges in Massachusetts