About Boston College

Boston College was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1863 and, with three teachers and 22 students, openedits doors on September 5, 1864. Through its first seven decades, it remained a small undergraduate institution,providing the sons of Boston's Catholic immigrant community with a rigorous Jesuiteducation through courses in theology, philosophy, classical languages, rhetoric, math, and science

Originally located on Harrison Avenue in Boston’s South End, the College outgrew its urban setting early in thetwentieth century and moved to the former Lawrence Farm in Chestnut Hill, where ground was broken on June19, 1909, for the construction of a central Recitation Building, later named Gasson Hall in honor of PresidentThomas I. Gasson, S.J., who led the relocation. The Recitation Building opened in March 1913. The three otherbuildings that still shape the core of the Middle Campus—St. Mary’s Hall, Devlin Hall, and Bapst Library—opened in1917, 1924, and 1928, respectively.

Though incorporated as a university since its founding, Boston College did not begin to fill out the dimensionsof its university charter until the 1920s, with the addition of a graduate school of arts and sciences, the Law School, and the Evening College, today called the James A. Woods, S.J., College of Advancing Studies. The1930s saw the introduction of the Graduate School of Social Work, now the Boston College School of SocialWork, and the College of Business Administration, today the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management. The School of Nursing—named in honor of William F. Connell in 2003—and the School of Education and Human Development—named in 1999 for Carolyn A. and Peter S. Lynch—followed in 1947 and 1952, respectively. Theoldest and largest of the University’s nine schools and colleges, the Robert J. Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, was named in 2015 in honor of alumnus Robert Morrissey.

In 1974, Boston College acquired a 40-acre site 1.5 miles from the Chestnut Hill Campus that had been owned by Newton College of the Sacred Heart. The land is the present site of Boston College Law School and ofresidence halls housing some 800 first-year students.

Between 2004 and 2007, the University acquired a 65-acre parcel from the Archdiocese of Boston, just across Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton. The Brighton Campus is now home to the Clough School of Theology andMinistry, which was established in 2008, the Cadigan Alumni Center, the McMullen Museum of Art, and the University Conference Center.

To honor its 150th anniversary in 2013, Boston College celebrated three semesters of activities, including aMass at Fenway Park for 20,000 alumni, students, faculty, and friends; academic symposia; a naturalizationceremony; student and alumni service projects; and a student concert at Symphony Hall.

In 2016, Boston College was elevated to an “R1” institution by the Carnegie Foundation, a designation fordoctoral universities with the highest research activity, and concluded its “Light the World” capital campaign, having raised a record-breaking total of $1.605 billion in support of academic programs, student financial aid,faculty research, student formation initiatives, and capital projects.

In 2017, the University announced a new 10-year strategic plan, “Ever to Excel: Advancing Boston College’sMission,” which includes a commitment to liberal arts education, formation, research, and an increasedpresence and impact locally and globally.

In 2021, Boston College enrolled its first class of engineering students for its new major in human-centered engineering. It also announced a cost-free summer enrichment program for students in grades 8-12 calledThe Academy, and launched Messina College, an associate's degree granting two-year residential college aspart of the University’s $100 million Pine Manor Institute for Student Success initiative to enhance educationalopportunity for first-generation students.

In 2022, Boston College celebrated the opening of 245 Beacon Street, now Hayden Hall, a 150,000-square-foot facility thathouses the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, the Engineering and Computer ScienceDepartments, and the Shea Center for Entrepreneurship.

In September of 2023, Boston College launched "Soaring Higher"—the largest capital campaign in Universityhistory—a $3 billion initiative to raise money for key priorities in academics, financial aid, and student life.
In February of 2025, the Board of Trustees elected John T. "Jack" Butler, S.J., the 26th president of Boston College. He succeeded William P. Leahy, S.J., the University's longest-serving president, on July 31, 2026.