Boston University

Boston University is one of the leading private research and teaching institutions in the world today, with two primary campuses in the heart of Boston and programs around the world.

Boston University was chartered in 1869 by Lee Claflin, Jacob Sleeper, and Isaac Rich, three successful Methodist businessmen whose abolitionist ideals led them to envision and create a university that was inclusive—that opened its doors to the world—and engaged in service to and collaboration with the city of Boston.

From the day of its opening, Boston University has admitted students of both sexes and every race and religion. It is with pride that we count Martin Luther King, Jr. among our alumni. What makes us prouder still is the fact that when he received his doctorate from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in 1955, Dr. King was taking his place in a long line of individuals that stretches back to the University’s founding. Other notable alumni include the first woman to earn a Ph.D., the first woman admitted to the bar in Massachusetts, the first Native American to graduate with a doctorate in medicine, and the first African-American psychiatrist in the United States.