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John Langill Jr., age 10, of McAllen, Tex., for his question:

WHAT IS THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES?

Oldest institution of higher learning in the United States is Harvard University. It was founded in 1636, just 16 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth.

Harvard's main campus is in Cambridge, Mass., but the university also has several schools in Boston. It is one of the richest private universities in the nation.

The College was founded at Newtowne on October 26, 1636. Two years later Newtowne was renamed Cambridge after Cambridge University in England. The college actually opened for students in the summer of 1638.

In 1639 the school was named after John Harvard, a Puritan minister who gave the college a collection of over 400 books and left half his estate to the school when he died in 1638. The first class graduated in 1642.

Harvard is actually the oldest collegiate foundation in North America. It still operates under a charter that was granted in 1650.

A corporation of five fellows, together with a president and a treasurer, manage the university. A board of 30 overseers, elected periodically by alumni, must approve the acts of the corporation.

The school's educational system was put together by a man named Charles Eliot. He was president of the school from 1869 until 1909. When Eliot came to Harvard, it was a small New England college. When he left, it was a national institution.

Under Eliot's leadership, Harvard established the elective studies system, replacing the prescribed classical curriculum, and raised scholarly and professional standards in the graduate branches.

The Harvard College Yard, center of the original, college, still keeps much of its Old World charm and dignity today. Many of the old colonial buildings still stand.

Today Harvard has 10 graduate and professional schools that are open to both men and women. These schools have over half the university's enrollment. Harvard also has two major undergraduate divisions: Harvard College and Radcliffe College. All classes at both schools are coeducational and students receive Harvard University degrees.

Harvard has the world's largest university library. Its collection includes more than 9 million books and pamphlets.

President of Harvard from 1909 until 1933 was Abbott Lawrence Lowell. He refined the elective system to include a tutorial system, specialized fields of study and general exams.

Under Jams B. Conant, president from 1933 until 1953, Harvard reorganized professional training in the fields of engineering, architecture and dental medicine. Conant also developed the general education program for undergraduates.

Nathan Pusey served as president of the university from 1953 until 1971. During his administration the school strengthened its departments of divinity, education, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, medicine and public health.

Derek Bok became president in 1971. During his administration the number of women students increased greatly.

 

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