History of Harvard University History of Harvard University Harvard College, around which Harvard University eventually grew, was founded in 1636 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. For centuries, its graduates dominated Massachusetts' clerical and civil ranks and beginning in the 19th century its stature became national, then international, as a dozen graduate and professional schools were formed alongside the nucleus undergraduate College. Historically influential in national roles are the schools of medicine (1782), law (1817) and business (1908) as well as the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1890). Since the late 19th century
Harvard University Corbusier, housing the film archive, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, specializing in the cultural history and civilizations of the Western Hemisphere, and the Semitic Museum featuring artifacts from excavations in the Middle East. Among overall rankings, the "Academic Ranking of World Universities" ("ARWU") has ranked Harvard as the world's best university every year since it was first released. When QS and "Times Higher Education (THE)" were published in partnership as the "THE-QS World University Rankings" during 20042009, Harvard had held the top spot every year, so has it on "THE World Reputation Rankings" ever since it was released