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Yale University

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Yale University, one of eight Ivy League universities, was founded in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1701 by Congregationalist ministers. It moved to New Haven, Connecticut in 1716. The Yale campus is in downtown New Haven, and the university is one of the city's largest employers, which sometimes leads to tension between students and local residents.

The college's original name was the "Collegiate School"; it was renamed "Yale" after an early benefactor, Elihu Yale. In the early 20th century, Yale merged with the Sheffield Scientific School.

In addition to a respected undergraduate college, Yale is noted for its law school, medical school, and school of music. The Divinity School was founded in the early 19th century by Congregationalists who felt that the Harvard University divinity school had become too liberal.

Yale's library system is among the largest in North America. The main library, Sterling Memorial Library, contains about 4 million volumes. The Beinecke Rare Book Library is housed in a marble building designed by Gordon Bunshaft, of the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. Its courtyard sculptures are by Isamu Noguchi.

Other resources include the Peabody Museum of Natural History and a museum of British art.

Yale's sports teams are called the Bulldogs. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A.

Heads of Collegiate School / Yale College / Yale University 

Rectors of Yale College   (birth-death)  (years as rector)
1  Rev. Abraham Pierson    (1641-1707)   (1701-1707) Collegiate School
2  Rev. Samuel Andrew      (   -    )    (1707-1719) (pro tempore)
3  Rev. Timothy Cutler     (   -    )    (1719-1726) 1718/9: renamed Yale College
4  Rev. Elisha William     (1694-1755)   (1726-1739)
5  Rev. Thomas Clap        (1703-1767)   (1740-1745)

Presidents of Yale College (birth-death) (years as president)
1  Rev. Thomas Clap        (1703-1767)   (1745-1766)
2  Rev. Naphtali Daggett   (1727-1780)   (1766-1777) (pro tempore)
3  Rev. Ezra Stiles        (1727-1795)   (1778-1795)
4  Timothy Dwight IV       (1752-1817)   (1795-1817)
5  Jeremiah Day            (1773-1867)   (1817-1846)
6  Theodore Dwight Woolsey (1801-1899)   (1846-1871)
7  Noah Porter III         (1811-1892)   (1871-1886)
8  Timothy Dwight V        (1828-1916)   (1886-1899) 1887: renamed Yale University
9  Arthur Twining Hadley   (1856-1930)   (1899-1921)
10 James Rowland Angell    (1869-1949)   (1921-1937)
11 Charles Seymour         (1885-1963)   (1937-1951)
12 Alfred Whitney Griswold (1906-1963)   (1951-1963)
13 Kingman Brewster, Jr.   (1919-1988)   (1963-1977)
14 Hanna Holborn Gray      (1930-    )   (1977-1977) (acting)
15 A. Bartlett Giamatti    (1938-1989)   (1977-1986)
16 Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.   (    -    )   (1986-1992)
17 Howard R. Lamar         (    -    )   (1992-1993)
18 Richard C. Levin        (    -    )   (1993-    )

Yale has a system of twelve residential colleges modelled after the system found in British universities, and instituted in 1930:

  1. Pierson - named for Yale's first rector, Abraham Pierson
  2. Davenport - named for Rev. John Davenport
  3. Jonathan Edwards - named for theologian Jonathan Edwards
  4. Branford - named for Branford, Connecticut
  5. Saybrook - named for Old Saybrook, Connecticut
  6. Trumbull - named for Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut
  7. Berkeley - named for Rev. George Berkeley (1685-1753)
  8. Calhoun - named for John C. Calhoun
  9. Silliman - named for Benjamin Silliman
  10. Timothy Dwight - named for the two Yale presidents of that name, Timothy Dwight IV and Timothy Dwight V
  11. Ezra Stiles - named for Rev. Ezra Stiles
  12. Morse - named for Samuel Morse
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