Boston University (commonly referred to as BU) is a private, non-profit, research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian,but has been historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The university has more than 3,900 faculty members and nearly 33,000 students, and is one of Boston's largest employers. It offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctorates, and medical, dental, business, and law degrees through 17 schools and colleges on two urban campuses. The main campus is situated along the Charles River in Boston's Fenway-Kenmore and Allstonneighborhoods, while the Boston University Medical Campus is in Boston's South Endneighborhood.

BU is categorized as an R1: Doctoral University (very high research activity) in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. BU is a member of the Boston Consortium for Higher Educationand the Association of American Universities. The University was ranked 37th among undergraduate programs at national universities, and 39th among global universities by U.S. News & World Report in its 2017 rankings.

Among its alumni and current or past faculty, the university counts eight Nobel Laureates, 23 Pulitzer Prize winners, 10 Rhodes Scholars,six Marshall Scholars,48 Sloan Fellows,nine Academy Awardwinners, and several Emmy and Tony Awardwinners. BU also has MacArthur, Fulbright, Truman and Guggenheim Fellowship holders as well as American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciencesmembers among its past and present graduates and faculty. In 1876, BU professor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in a BU lab.

History of BOSTON Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839, and was chartered with the name "Boston University" by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869. The University organized formal Centennial observances both in 1939 and 1969.[18]

On April 24–25, 1839 a group of Methodistministers and laymen at the Old Bromfield Street Church in Boston elected to establish a Methodist theological school. Set up in Newbury, Vermont, the school was named the "Newbury Biblical Institute".

In 1847, the Congregational Society in Concord, New Hampshire, invited the Institute to relocate to Concord and offered a disused Congregational church 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."