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{{Short description|Private university in Providence, Rhode Island, US}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{distinguish|text=[[John Brown University]] in Arkansas, United States}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Brown University
 | image                  = Shield of Brown University.svg
 | image_upright          = .5
 | caption                = [[Coat of arms of Brown University|Coat of arms]]
 | latin_name             = Universitas Brunensis<ref>{{cite web |title=1834: Third College Seal |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/history/timeline/third-college-seal |website=Brown University Timeline |publisher=Brown University |access-date=26 July 2024 |location=Providence, Rhode Island |quote=(“Sigillum Universitatis Brunensis” in Latin),}}</ref>
 | motto                  = ''In Deo Speramus'' ([[Latin]])
 | mottoeng               = "In God We Hope"<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html |title=Brown University Admission Facts and Figures |publisher=Brown University |access-date=October 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120708053600/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
 | established            = {{start date and age|1764|9|15}}
 | former_names           = Rhode Island College (1764–1804)
 | type                   = [[Private university|Private]] [[research university]]
 | accreditation          = [[New England Commission of Higher Education|NECHE]]
 | academic_affiliations  = {{hlist
|[[Association of American Universities|AAU]]|[[Consortium on Financing Higher Education|COFHE]]
|[[Universities Research Association|URA]]
|[[National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities|NAICU]]
|[[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space-grant]]
}}
 | endowment              = $8 billion (2025)<ref>As of October 17, 2025. {{cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2025-10-17/brown-endowment-return-2025|title=Brown endowment provides record support for academic priorities, with 11.9% return in 2025|date=October 17, 2025 |access-date=October 19, 2025 }}</ref>
 | budget                 = $1.28 billion (2023)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/11/brown-sees-22-increase-in-net-assets-27-return-on-endowment-in-2023-fiscal-year|title=Brown sees 2.2% increase in net assets, 2.7% return on endowment in 2023 fiscal year|website=The Brown Daily Herald}}</ref>
 | president              = [[Christina Paxson]]
 | provost                = [[Francis J. Doyle III]]
 | chancellor             = [[Brian Moynihan]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Brian T. Moynihan, Chancellor |url=https://corporation.brown.edu/people/brian-t-moynihan |website=The Corporation of Brown University |publisher=Brown University |access-date=26 May 2025}}</ref>
 | students               = 11,005<ref name="Brown at a Glance"/>
 | undergrad              = 7,272<ref name="Brown at a Glance"/>
 | postgrad               = 3,130<ref name="Brown at a Glance"/><br>602 [[Alpert Medical School|medical students]]<ref name="Brown at a Glance"/>
 | faculty                = 848<ref name="Brown at a Glance">{{cite web |title=Brown at a Glance |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/brown-glance |website=Brown University |access-date=July 22, 2025 }}</ref>
 | city                   = [[Providence, Rhode Island]]
 | country                = United States
 | coor                   = {{Coord|41.826|-71.403|region:US-RI_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
 | campus                 = Midsize city
 | campus_size            = {{Cvt|143|acres|ha}}
 | colors                 = {{college color list|team=Brown Bears}}
 | mascot                 = [[Brown Bears#Mascot|Bruno the Bear]]
 | athletics_nickname     = [[Brown Bears|Bears]]
 | sporting_affiliations  = {{hlist|[[NCAA Division I FCS]] – [[Ivy League]]|[[ECAC Hockey]]|[[Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges|EARC]]|[[Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges|EAWRC]]|[[New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association|NEISA]]|[[Collegiate Water Polo Association|CWPA]]|[[Intercollegiate Rowing Association|IRA]]}}
 | website                = [https://www.brown.edu/ brown.edu]
 | logo                   = Brown University logo.svg
 | logo_upright           = .8
 | free_label2            = Newspaper
 | free2                  = ''[[The Brown Daily Herald]]''
 | free_label             = Other campuses
 | free                   = {{hlist|[[Groton, Connecticut|Groton]]|[[Madrid]]}}
}}
'''Brown University''' is a [[Private university|private]] [[Ivy League]] [[research university]] in the [[College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island|College Hill]] neighborhood of [[Providence, Rhode Island]], United States.

The university is the [[List of colonial colleges|seventh-oldest institution]] of [[higher education]] in the United States, founded in 1764 as the ''College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations''. One of nine [[colonial colleges]] chartered before the [[American Revolution]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Bicentennial celebration |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=B0180 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528014708/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=B0180 |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |access-date=July 9, 2009 |publisher=Brown University}}</ref> it was the first American college to codify that admission and instruction of students was to be equal regardless of the [[religious affiliation]] of students.<ref name=":7.30">{{Cite book |last=Bronson |first=Walter Cochrane |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbrownun0000bron |title=The History of Brown University, 1764–1914 |date=1914 |location=Providence |publisher= The University |isbn=978-0-405-03697-2 |pages=30}}</ref>

The university is home to the oldest [[applied mathematics]] program in the country and oldest engineering program in the Ivy League.{{Efn|The school's founding was preceded by that of [[Harvard Medical School]] and [[Dartmouth Medical School]]. While Yale chartered a medical school in 1810, instruction did not begin for another three years.}}<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Suzuki |first=Jeff |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lew5IC5piCwC |title=Mathematics in Historical Context |date=2009-08-27 |publisher=MAA |isbn=978-0-88385-570-6 |pages=374 |language=en |access-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024044609/https://books.google.com/books?id=lew5IC5piCwC&newbks=0&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":14b">{{Cite book |last=Maugin |first=Gerard A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QhAAAAAQBAJ&q=brown+engineering+oldest+ivy+league&pg=PA55 |title=Continuum Mechanics Through the Twentieth Century: A Concise Historical Perspective |date=2013-04-08 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-94-007-6353-1 |language=en |access-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430064612/https://books.google.com/books?id=-QhAAAAAQBAJ&q=brown+engineering+oldest+ivy+league&pg=PA55 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Parsons |first1=Charles W |title=The medical school formerly existing in Brown University, its professors and graduates |last2=Rhode Island Historical Society |date=1881 |publisher=S.S. Rider |location=Providence, R.I. |language=English |oclc=1038137370}}</ref> It was one of the early doctoral-granting institutions in the U.S., adding masters and doctoral studies in 1887.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Bronson |first=Walter Cochrane |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofbrownun0000bron |title=The History of Brown University, 1764–1914 |date=1914 |location=Providence |publisher= The University |isbn=978-0-405-03697-2 |pages=147}}</ref> In 1969, it adopted its [[Open Curriculum (Brown University)|Open Curriculum]] after student lobbying, which eliminated mandatory [[Curriculum#Core curriculum|general education]] distribution requirements.<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Alex Skidmore |author2=Lydia Defusto |date=2019-05-24 |title=Open Curriculum at 50 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/open-curriculum-50/ |access-date=2021-04-09 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430064610/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/open-curriculum-50/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0780 |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Curriculum |publisher=Brown University |access-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720143046/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0780 |archive-date=July 20, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1971, Brown's coordinate women's institution, [[Pembroke College in Brown University|Pembroke College]], was fully merged into the university.

The university comprises the [[College of Brown University|College]], the [[Graduate School of Brown University|Graduate School]], [[Alpert Medical School]], the [[Brown University School of Engineering|School of Engineering]], the [[Brown University School of Public Health|School of Public Health]] and the School of Professional Studies. Its international programs are organized through the [[Watson School of International and Public Affairs]], and it is academically affiliated with the [[Marine Biological Laboratory]] and the [[Rhode Island School of Design]], which offers undergraduate and graduate [[#Brown and RISD|dual degree programs]]. The university is surrounded by a [[College Hill Historic District (Providence, Rhode Island)|federally listed architectural district]] with a concentration of [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial-era]] buildings. [[Benefit Street]] has one of America's richest concentrations of 17th- and 18th-century architecture.<ref>{{Cite book |author1=Phyllis Méras |title=Explorer's Guide Rhode Island |date=2012 |author2=Katherine Palmer Imbrie |isbn=978-1-58157-786-0 |edition=6 |location=Woodstock, VT |pages=42 |oclc=918312532}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=BILL RAPPLEYE |date=2017-10-13 |title=Homes on Benefit Street in Providence neglected |url=https://turnto10.com/news/local/homes-on-benefit-street-in-providence-neglected |access-date=2021-04-14 |website=WJAR |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414223716/https://turnto10.com/news/local/homes-on-benefit-street-in-providence-neglected |url-status=live}}</ref> Undergraduate admissions are among the most selective in the country, with an acceptance rate of 5% for the class of 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown admits record-low 5% of applicants to class of 2026 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408023827/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=2023-01-01 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Top 100 – Lowest Acceptance Rates |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate |website=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref>

{{As of|2025|October}}, 12 [[Nobel Prize]] winners, 1 [[Fields Medal]]ist, 7 [[National Humanities Medal]]ists,{{Efn|[[Vartan Gregorian]] (1998), [[Edmund Morgan (historian)|Edmund Morgan]] (2000), [[Donald Kagan]] (2002), [[Marilynne Robinson]] (2012), [[Gordon S. Wood]] (2010), [[Krista Tippett]] (2014), [[Natalie Zemon Davis]] (2012)}} and 11 [[National Medal of Science]] laureates have been affiliated with Brown as [[List of Brown University alumni|alumni]], [[List of Brown University faculty|faculty, or researchers]]. Alumni also include 29 [[Pulitzer Prize]] winners,{{Efn| 
[[George W. Potter]], [[Martin Bernheimer]], [[Kirk Scharfenberg]], [[Alfred Uhry]], [[Tony Horwitz]], [[Joan D. Hedrick]], [[David S. Rohde]], [[Steven Millhauser]], [[Nilo Cruz]], [[Jeffrey Eugenides]], [[Marilynne Robinson]], [[Gareth Cook]], [[James Risen]], [[Usha Lee McFarling]], [[Lynn Nottage]], [[Quiara Alegría Hudes]], [[Ayad Akhtar]], [[David Kertzer]], [[Alissa J. Rubin]], [[Peter Balakian]], [[Kathryn Schulz]], [[Lynn Nottage]], [[Andrew Sean Greer]], [[James Forman Jr.]], [[Jackie Sibblies Drury]], [[Benjamin Moser]], [[Marcia Chatelain]], [[Salamishah Tillet]], [[Percival Everett]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brennan |first=Elizabeth A. |title=Who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners |date=1999 |publisher=Oryx Press |others=Elizabeth C. Clarage |isbn=1-57356-111-8 |location=Phoenix, Ariz. |oclc=40126493}}</ref>| name= |group= }} 21 billionaires,{{Efn|[[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] (1897), [[Sidney Frank]] (Class of 1942), [[Ted Turner]] (Class of 1960), [[Wilbur Edwin "Ed" Bosarge]] (1969), [[Orlando Bravo]] (1970), [[Jonathan M. Nelson]] (1977), [[Paul Kazarian]] (1980), [[Barry Sternlicht]] (1982), [[Glenn Creamer]] (1984), [[Aneel Bhusri]] (1988), [[Chung Yong-jin]] (1994), {{ill|Cho Hyun-Sang|lt=Cho Hyun-Sang|ko|조현상}} (1994),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cho Hyun-Sang |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/cho-hyun-sang/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025163010/https://www.forbes.com/profile/cho-hyun-sang/ |archive-date=October 25, 2021 |access-date=2021-10-25 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> {{ill|Ferdinand Oetker|lt=Carl Ferdinand Oetker|de}} (1996),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carl Ferdinand Oetker |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/carl-ferdinand-oetker/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422032253/https://www.forbes.com/profile/carl-ferdinand-oetker/ |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> Andres Santo Domingo (2000), [[İpek Kıraç]] (2007),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ipek Kirac |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/ipek-kirac/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422032259/https://www.forbes.com/profile/ipek-kirac/ |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> Evan Wallace (2012),<ref name=":14">{{Cite web |last=Martin |first=Iain |title=Adobe's $20 Billion Takeover Of Figma Makes Cofounders Billionaires |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2022/09/15/adobes-20-billion-takeover-of-figma-makes-cofounders-billionaires/ |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=September 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915143644/https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2022/09/15/adobes-20-billion-takeover-of-figma-makes-cofounders-billionaires/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Akash Ambani (2013), [[Devin Finzer]] (2013), [[Dylan Field]] (Class of 2013½),<ref name=":14" /> [[Roberta Anamaria Civita]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roberta Anamaria Civita |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/roberta-anamaria-civita/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422032301/https://www.forbes.com/profile/roberta-anamaria-civita/ |archive-date=April 22, 2021 |access-date=2021-04-22 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref> |name= |group= }} 4 [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. secretaries of state]], over 100 members of the [[United States Congress]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greene |first=Richard Henry |title=Official Positions Held by Alumni of Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Brown, University of Pennsylvania, and by the Men Educated at William and Mary College: With a Comparative Statement, Including a Resumé from the Material Gathered Concerning Harvard College for the N. E. Hist. and Gen. Register, July, 1887, by Chief Justice Wm. A. Richardson, LL.D., the Papers on Official Positions Held by Alumni of Yale, College of New Jersey, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia College and Brown University |date=1890 |publisher=D. Clapp & Son, printers |pages=34 |language=en}}</ref> 58 [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholars]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown at a Glance |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/brown-glance |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514010457/https://www.brown.edu/about/brown-glance |archive-date=2021-05-14 |access-date=2021-08-02 |website=Brown University |language=en}}</ref> 22 [[MacArthur Fellows Program|MacArthur Genius]] Fellows,{{Efn|[[Richard Benson (photographer)|Richard Benson]], [[Joanna Scott]] (1985), [[Richard Foreman]] (1959), [[John C. Bonifaz]] (1989), [[Lucy Blake]] (1981), [[Michael Dickinson (biologist)|Michael H. Dickinson]] (1984), [[Jim Yong Kim]] (1982), [[Nawal M. Nour]] (1984), [[Sarah Ruhl]] (1997, 2001), [[Jennifer Richeson]] (1994), [[Lynn Nottage]] (1986), [[Edwidge Danticat]] (1993), [[Kelly Benoit-Bird]] (1998), [[Sebastian Ruth]] (1997), [[William Seeley (neurologist)|William Seeley]] (1993), [[Donald Antrim]] (1981), [[David Lobell]] (2000), [[Ben Lerner]] (2001, 2003), [[Lauren Redniss]] (1996), [[Greg Asbed]] (1985), [[Monica Muñoz Martinez]] (2006), [[Rina Foygel Barber]] (2005)| name= |group= }} and 38 Olympic medalists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Olympians |url=https://brownbears.com/sports/2018/4/27/athletics-history-olympians.aspx?id=1589 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727185837/https://brownbears.com/sports/2018/4/27/athletics-history-olympians.aspx?id=1589 |archive-date=2021-07-27 |access-date=2021-07-27 |website=Brown University Athletics |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Brown University}}

===Foundation and charter===
{{Multiple image
| align = 
| direction = 
| total_width = 350
| image1 = Ezra Stiles.jpg
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Petitioner [[Ezra Stiles]] later became the [[List of presidents of Yale University|seventh president]] of [[Yale College]].
| image2 = William Ellery (H. B. Hall).jpg
| caption2 = Petitioner [[William Ellery]] signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence]] in 1776.
}}
In 1761, three residents of [[Newport, Rhode Island]], drafted a petition to the colony's [[Rhode Island General Assembly|General Assembly]]:<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Stiles |first=Ezra |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924030935765 |title=Extracts From the Itineraries and Other Miscellanies of Ezra Stiles, D. D., Ll. D., 1755–1794: With a Selection From His Correspondence |date=1916 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |editor-last=Dexter |editor-first=Franklin Bowditch |location=[[New Haven, Connecticut]] |pages=25}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=That your Petitioners propose to open a literary institution or School for instructing young Gentlemen in the Languages, Mathematics, Geography & History, & such other branches of Knowledge as shall be desired. That for this End ... it will be necessary ... to erect a public Building or Buildings for the boarding of the youth & the Residence of the Professors.}}

The three petitioners were [[Ezra Stiles]], pastor of Newport's [[Clarke Street Meeting House|Second Congregational Church]] and future president of [[Yale University]]; [[William Ellery|William Ellery Jr.]], future [[Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence|signer]] of the [[United States Declaration of Independence]]; and [[Josias Lyndon]], future governor of the colony. Stiles and Ellery later served as co-authors of the college's charter two years later. The editor of Stiles's papers observes, "This draft of a petition connects itself with other evidence of Dr. Stiles's project for a Collegiate Institution in Rhode Island, before the charter of what became Brown University."<ref name=":8" /><ref>[[#Dexter|Dexter (1916)]], p. 25.</ref><ref name=":7" />

The [[Philadelphia]] Baptist Association was also interested in establishing a college in Rhode Island, which was founded as a [[Baptist]] colony in America, including the mother-church of all [[American Baptists]]: the [[First Baptist Church in America]]. At the time, the [[Baptists]] were unrepresented among the colonial colleges; the [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregationalists]] had [[Harvard University]] and Yale University, the [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterians]] had the College of New Jersey, which later became [[Princeton University]], and the [[Church of England|Episcopalians]] had the [[College of William & Mary]] and King's College, which later became [[Columbia University]]. The local [[University of Pennsylvania]] in their native Philadelphia was founded by [[Benjamin Franklin]] without direct association with any particular denomination.<ref>[https://chaplain.upenn.edu/about-us/history History] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220727045959/https://chaplain.upenn.edu/about-us/history/ |date=July 27, 2022 }} Note, however, that three-fourths of the original trustees of the University of Pennsylvania were affiliated with the [[Church of England]] as was the first provost, William Smith, an Anglican priest. The second provost, John Ewing, was a Presbyterian minister, and a succession of five ordained Anglicans headed the university for all but fifteen years between 1802 and 1868, the last year that an ordained minister was the chief administrator.</ref> [[Isaac Backus]], the Baptist minister and historian of the New England Baptists, who was an inaugural trustee of Brown University, wrote of the October 1762 resolution taken at Philadelphia:<ref name=":7" />

{{Blockquote|text=The Philadelphia Association obtained such an acquaintance with our affairs, as to bring them to an apprehension that it was practicable and expedient to erect a college in the Colony of Rhode-Island, under the chief direction of the Baptists; ... Mr. [[James Manning (minister)|James Manning]], who took his first degree in [[Princeton University|New-Jersey college]] in September, 1762, was esteemed a suitable leader in this important work.}}James Manning arrived at Newport in July 1763 and was introduced to Stiles, who agreed to write the charter for the college. Stiles' first draft was read to the General Assembly in August 1763, and rejected by Baptist members who worried that their denomination would be underrepresented in the College Board of Fellows. A revised charter written by Stiles and Ellery was adopted by the Rhode Island General Assembly on March 3, 1764, in [[East Greenwich, Rhode Island|East Greenwich]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Charter |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0350 |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown University |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024736/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0350 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Multiple image
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = James Manning head by Cosmo Alexander.jpg
| image2            = Brown University Ezra Stiles Charter.jpg
| total_width       = 350
| caption1          = Brown's first president, minister [[James Manning (minister)|James Manning]]
| caption2          = The [[Ezra Stiles]] copy of Brown's 1764 charter
}}

In September 1764, the inaugural meeting of the corporation—the college's governing body—was held in Newport's [[Old Colony House]]. Governor [[Stephen Hopkins (politician)|Stephen Hopkins]] was chosen chancellor, former and future governor [[Samuel Ward (Rhode Island politician)|Samuel Ward]] vice chancellor, John Tillinghast treasurer, and Thomas Eyres secretary. The charter stipulated that the board of trustees should be composed of 22 Baptists, 5 [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]], 5 Episcopalians, and 4 Congregationalists. Of the 12 Fellows, 8 should be Baptists—including the college president—"and the rest indifferently of any or all Denominations."<ref name=":7" />

At the time of its creation, Brown's charter was a uniquely progressive document.<ref>{{Cite book |title=International Dictionary of University Histories |date=1998 |others=Carol J. Summerfield, Mary Elizabeth Devine, Anthony Levi |isbn=978-1-134-26217-5 |location=Chicago |pages=56 |oclc=864899539}}</ref> Other colleges had curricular strictures against opposing doctrines, while Brown's charter asserted, "Sectarian differences of opinions, shall not make any Part of the Public and Classical Instruction." The document additionally "recognized more broadly and fundamentally than any other [university charter] the principle of denominational cooperation."<ref name=":7" /> The oft-repeated statement that Brown's charter alone prohibited a religious test for College membership is inaccurate; other college charters were similarly liberal in that particular.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Janet M |url=https://www.brown.edu/web/documents/short-history-of-brown.pdf |title=Brown University:A Short History |date=1992 |publisher=Office of University Relations, Brown University |location=Providence, RI |language=English |oclc=30582651 |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=January 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109150423/https://www.brown.edu/web/documents/short-history-of-brown.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Brown University 1792 engraving.jpg|thumb|This 1792 engraving is the first published image of Brown. [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]] stands on the right while the President's House sits on the left.]]
The college was founded as Rhode Island College, at the site of the First Baptist Church in Warren, Rhode Island.<ref name="Beebe">{{cite news |last1=Beebe |first1=Elaine |date=21 July 2008 |title=The small-town birthplace of Brown University |publisher=Brown University |url=https://today.brown.edu/articles/2008/07/warren |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223511/http://today.brown.edu/articles/2008/07/warren |url-status=live}}</ref> Manning was sworn in as the college's first president in 1765 and remained in the role until 1791. In 1766, the college authorized [[Morgan Edwards]] to travel to Europe to "solicit Benefactions for this Institution".<ref name=":4" /> During his year-and-a-half stay in the [[British Isles naming dispute|British Isles]], Edwards secured funding from benefactors including [[Thomas Penn]] and [[Benjamin Franklin]].<ref name=":4" />

In 1770, the college moved from Warren to Providence. To establish a campus, [[John Brown (Rhode Island politician)|John]] and [[Moses Brown]] purchased a four-acre lot on the crest of [[College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island|College Hill]] on behalf of the school. The majority of the property fell within the bounds of the original home lot of [[Chad Brown (minister)|Chad Brown]], an ancestor of the Browns and one of the original proprietors of [[Providence Plantations]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guild |first=Reuben Aldridge |title=History of Brown University: With Illustrative Documents |date=1867 |publisher=Providence Press Company, printers |pages=233 |oclc=770834 |language=en}}</ref> After the college was relocated to the city, work began on constructing its first building.

A building committee, organized by the corporation, developed plans for the college's first purpose-built edifice, finalizing a design on February 9, 1770. The subsequent structure, referred to as "The College Edifice" and later as [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]], may have been modeled on [[Nassau Hall]], built 14 years prior at the [[Princeton University|College of New Jersey]]. President Manning, an active member of the building process, was educated at Princeton and might have suggested that Brown's first building resemble that of his [[alma mater]].<ref name=":03">{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: University Hall |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=U0040 |access-date=2021-01-07 |website=Brown University |archive-date=January 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117204903/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=U0040 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Brown family====
[[File:Nicholas Brown Jr by Chester Harding 1836.jpg|thumb|Following the gift of [[Nicholas Brown Jr.]] (Class of 1786), the university was renamed in his honor.]] 
[[Nicholas Brown Sr.|Nicholas Brown]], [[John Brown (Rhode Island politician)|John Brown]], [[Joseph Brown (astronomer)|Joseph Brown]], and [[Moses Brown]] were instrumental in moving the college to Providence, constructing its first building, and securing its endowment. Joseph became a professor of [[natural philosophy]] at the college; John served as its treasurer from 1775 to 1796; and Nicholas Sr's son [[Nicholas Brown Jr.]] succeeded his uncle as treasurer from 1796 to 1825.<ref>Szep, Jason. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-slavery-brown/brown-exhibit-traces-links-to-slave-trade-idUSN2831643920070329#:~:text=PROVIDENCE%2C%20Rhode%20Island%20(Reuters),were%20shot%20dead%20or%20drowned. Brown exhibit traces links to slave trade] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719022715/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-slavery-brown/brown-exhibit-traces-links-to-slave-trade-idUSN2831643920070329#:~:text=PROVIDENCE%2C%20Rhode%20Island%20(Reuters),were%20shot%20dead%20or%20drowned. |date=July 19, 2020 }} Reuters, March 29, 2007.</ref>

On September 8, 1803, the corporation voted, "That the donation of $5,000, if made to this College within one Year from the late Commencement, shall entitle the donor to name the College." The following year, the appeal was answered by College Treasurer Nicholas Brown Jr. In a letter dated September 6, 1804, Brown committed "a donation of Five Thousand Dollars to Rhode Island College, to remain in perpetuity as a fund for the establishment of a Professorship of Oratory and Belles Letters." In recognition of the gift, the corporation on the same day voted, "That this College be called and known in all future time by the Name of Brown University."<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zl-AAAAIAAJ |title=Historical Catalogue of Brown University, 1764–1914 |date=1914 |publisher=Brown University |pages=11 |language=en |access-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028221008/https://books.google.com/books?id=6zl-AAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Over the years, the benefactions of Nicholas Brown Jr., totaled nearly $160,000 and included funds for building Hope College (1821–22) and Manning Hall (1834–35).

In 1904, the [[John Carter Brown Library]] was established as an independently funded research library on Brown's campus; the library's collection was founded on that of [[John Carter Brown]], son of Nicholas Brown Jr.

The Brown family was involved in various business ventures in Rhode Island, and accrued wealth both directly and indirectly from the [[Transatlantic Slave Trade|transatlantic slave trade]]. The family was divided on the issue of slavery. John Brown had defended slavery, while Moses and Nicholas Brown Jr. were fervent [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionists]].

In 2003, under the tenure of President [[Ruth Simmons]], the university established a steering committee to investigate these ties of the university to slavery and recommend a strategy to address them.<ref>Howell, Ricardo (2001, July). "[https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html Slavery, the Brown Family of Providence and Brown University] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409001105/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Info/Slavery.html |date=2008-04-09}}", ''Brown University News Service''</ref>

==== American Revolution ====
With British vessels patrolling [[Narragansett Bay]] in the fall of 1776, the college library was moved out of Providence for safekeeping. During the subsequent [[American Revolutionary War]], Brown's [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]] was used to house French and other revolutionary troops led by General [[George Washington]] and the [[Comte de Rochambeau]] as they waited to commence the [[Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route|march of 1781]] that led to the [[Siege of Yorktown]] and the [[Battle of the Chesapeake]]. This has been celebrated as marking the defeat of the British and the end of the war. The building functioned as barracks and hospital from December 10, 1776, to April 20, 1780, and as a hospital for French troops from June 26, 1780, to May 27, 1782.<ref name=":7" />

A number of Brown's founders and alumni played roles in the American Revolution and subsequent founding of the United States. Brown's first chancellor, Stephen Hopkins, served as a delegate to the [[Albany Congress|Colonial Congress in Albany]] in 1754, and to the [[Continental Congress]] from 1774 to 1776. James Manning represented Rhode Island at the [[Congress of the Confederation]], while concurrently serving as Brown's first president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Manning, James |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0100 |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown University |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410070356/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=M0100 |url-status=live}}</ref> Two of Brown's founders, William Ellery and Stephen Hopkins signed the [[Declaration of independence|Declaration of Independence]].

[[James Mitchell Varnum]], who graduated from Brown with honors in 1769, served as one of General George Washington's [[Continental Army]] [[brigadier general]]s and later as [[major general]] in command of the entire [[Rhode Island militia]]. Varnum is noted as the founder and commander of the [[1st Rhode Island Regiment]], widely regarded as the first Black battalion in U.S. military history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Farrell |title=America's First Black Regiment Gained Their Freedom by Fighting Against the British |url=https://www.history.com/news/first-black-regiment-american-revolution-first-rhode-island |access-date=2021-04-05 |website=HISTORY |date=February 3, 2021 |language=en |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410070356/https://www.history.com/news/first-black-regiment-american-revolution-first-rhode-island |url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Howell (jurist)|David Howell]], who graduated with an A.M. in 1769, served as a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] from 1782 to 1785.

===Presidents===
{{Multiple image
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| caption1          = Brown's 2nd President, [[Jonathan Maxcy]], was the first alum to serve as president.
| image2            = Francis Wayland by George Peter Alexander Healy (cropped).jpg
| caption2          = Brown's 4th President, [[Francis Wayland]], urged American universities to adopt a broader curriculum.
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| image3            = DrRuthJSimmons.jpg
| image4            = Christina paxson.jpg
| caption3          = Brown's 18th President, [[Ruth Simmons]], was the Ivy League's first [[African-American]] president.
| caption4          = Brown's 19th President, [[Christina Paxson]], has served in the role since 2012.
}}

{{Main|List of Presidents of Brown University}}

Nineteen individuals have served as presidents of the university since its founding in 1764. Since 2012, [[Christina Hull Paxson]] has served as president. Paxson had previously served as dean of [[Princeton University]]'s [[Princeton School of Public and International Affairs|School of Public and International Affairs]] and chair of Princeton's economics department.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lewin |first=Tamar |date=2012-03-02 |title=A Princeton Dean Is Named to Lead Brown |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/education/christina-hull-paxson-to-lead-brown-university.html |access-date=2021-04-10 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024733/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/education/christina-hull-paxson-to-lead-brown-university.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Paxson's immediate predecessor, [[Ruth Simmons]], is noted as the first [[African American]] president of an Ivy League institution.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Plomin |first=Joe |date=2001-10-16 |title=Ivy league appoints first black president |url=http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/oct/16/internationaleducationnews.highereducation1 |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=May 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140509213422/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/oct/16/internationaleducationnews.highereducation1 |url-status=live}}</ref> Other presidents of note include academic, [[Vartan Gregorian]]; and philosopher and economist, [[Francis Wayland]].

=== New Curriculum ===
{{Main|Open Curriculum (Brown University)}}

In 1966, the first Group Independent Study Project (GISP) at Brown was formed, involving 80 students and 15 professors. The GISP was inspired by student-initiated experimental schools, especially [[San Francisco State University|San Francisco State College]], and sought ways to "put students at the center of their education" and "teach students how to think rather than just teaching facts".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/2005/03/02/the-new-curriculum-then/ |title=The New Curriculum Then |last=Leubsdorf |first=Ben |date=2005-03-02 |work=Brown Daily Herald |access-date=2017-11-09 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110005326/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2005/03/02/the-new-curriculum-then/ |archive-date=November 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Members of the GISP, [[Ira Magaziner]] and Elliot Maxwell published a paper of their findings titled, "Draft of a Working Paper for Education at Brown University."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/papers/maxwell.php |title=Draft of a working paper for education at Brown University |author=Ira magaziner with Elliot Maxwell |publisher=Brown University Library |access-date=December 6, 2007|display-authors=etal |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028221010/https://library.brown.edu/info/libweb/maxwell/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The paper made proposals for a new curriculum, including [[interdisciplinary]] freshman-year courses that would introduce "modes of thought", with instruction from faculty from different disciplines as well as for an end to letter grades. The following year Magaziner began organizing the student body to press for the reforms, organizing discussions and protests.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1993 |title=Curriculum |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Brunoniana |publisher=Brown University Library |location=Providence, Rhode Island |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0780 |access-date=December 6, 2007 |last=Mitchell |first=Martha |oclc=31085279 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060911102040/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=C0780 |archive-date=September 11, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1968, university president [[Ray Heffner]] established a Special Committee on Curricular Philosophy. Composed of administrators, the committee was tasked with developing specific reforms and producing recommendations. A report, produced by the committee, was presented to the faculty, which voted the New Curriculum into existence on May 7, 1969. Its key features included:<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Alex Skidmore |author2=Lydia Defusto |date=2019-05-24 |title=Open Curriculum at 50 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/open-curriculum-50/ |access-date=2021-04-11 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430064610/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/open-curriculum-50/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
*Modes of Thought courses for first-year students
*The introduction of interdisciplinary courses
*The abandonment of "general education" distribution requirements
*The Satisfactory/No Credit (S/NC) grading option
*The ABC/No Credit grading system, which eliminated pluses, minuses, and D's; a grade of "No Credit" (equivalent to F's at other institutions) would not appear on external transcripts.

The Modes of Thought course was discontinued early on, but the other elements remain in place. In 2006, the reintroduction of plus/minus grading was proposed in response to concerns regarding grade inflation. The idea was rejected by the College Curriculum Council after canvassing alumni, faculty, and students, including the original authors of the Magaziner-Maxwell Report.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2002/grade_inflat.shtml |title=Grade Inflation and the Brown Grading System: 2001–2002 Sheridan Center Research Project |work=The Teaching Exchange |publisher=Sheridan Center for Teaching, Brown University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204090048/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/Sheridan_Center/pubs/teachingExchange/jan2002/grade_inflat.shtml |archive-date=February 4, 2007 |url-status=live |access-date=December 5, 2007 |df=mdy}}; {{cite news |url=http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2006/03/15/CampusNews/Plusminus.Fails.Key.Test-1686967.shtml |title=Plus/minus fails key test: Faculty could still vote to change grading system |last=Lutts |first=Chloe |date=March 15, 2006 |access-date=December 11, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328034948/http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2006/03/15/CampusNews/Plusminus.Fails.Key.Test-1686967.shtml |archive-date=March 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |newspaper=Brown Daily Herald |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==="Slavery and Justice" report===
In 2003, then-university president [[Ruth Simmons]] launched a steering committee to research Brown's eighteenth-century ties to slavery. In October 2006, the committee released a report documenting its findings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/documents/SlaveryAndJustice.pdf |title=Slavery and Justice |website=www.brown.edu |access-date=2019-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330161220/http://www.brown.edu/Research/Slavery_Justice/documents/SlaveryAndJustice.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Belluck |first=Pam |date=2006-10-19 |title=Panel Suggests Brown U. Atone for Ties to Slavery |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/education/19brown.html |access-date=2020-09-29 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109023551/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/education/19brown.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Titled "Slavery and Justice", the document detailed the ways in which the university benefited both directly and indirectly from the [[Atlantic slave trade|transatlantic slave trade]] and the labor of enslaved people. The report also included seven recommendations for how the university should address this legacy.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Lehrer-Small |first=Asher |date=2019-10-16 |title=Lehrer-Small '20: Revisiting the Slavery and Justice Report |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/10/16/lehrer-small-20-revisiting-slavery-justice-report/ |access-date=2020-09-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=June 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602182150/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/10/16/lehrer-small-20-revisiting-slavery-justice-report/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Brown has since completed a number of these recommendations including the establishment of its Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, the construction of its ''[[Slavery Memorial (Brown University)|Slavery Memorial]]'', and the funding of a $10 million permanent endowment for [[Providence Public School District|Providence Public Schools]].<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gimenes |first=Livia |date=2020-07-29 |title=Brown to fully fund $10 million endowment for Providence Public Schools |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/07/29/brown-to-fully-fund-10-million-endowment-for-providence-public-schools/ |access-date=2020-09-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=September 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927224232/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/07/29/brown-to-fully-fund-10-million-endowment-for-providence-public-schools/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

The "Slavery and Justice" report marked the first major effort by an American university to address its ties to slavery and prompted other institutions to undertake similar processes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The US is grappling with its history of slavery. The blueprint for dealing with it? Some say Brown University |url=https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2019/12/16/slavery-reparations-brown-university-antigua-colleges-paying-up/4401725002/ |access-date=2021-04-11 |author-first1=Deborah Barfield|author-last1=Berry|website=USA Today |date=December 17, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411044815/https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2019/12/16/slavery-reparations-brown-university-antigua-colleges-paying-up/4401725002/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cellini |first=Richard |title=How Universities Can Respond to Their Slavery Ties |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-universities-can-respond-to-their-slavery-ties/ |access-date=2020-09-29 |website=www.chronicle.com |date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107233159/https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-universities-can-respond-to-their-slavery-ties/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Interaction with the Trump administration===
On July 30, 2025, Brown struck a deal with the [[Second presidency of Donald Trump|Trump administration]] to restore federal research grant funding, after the administration froze it due to complaints mainly about antisemitism on the campus in the wake of [[2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses|pro-Palestinian protests]]. This deal included $50 million to be paid over ten years to state workforce development programs, a vow to exclude transgender women from women's spaces, a commitment to combatting antisemitism, and renewed partnership with Israeli institutions, among other items.<ref name="trump agreement">{{cite web |title=Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Secures Major Settlement with Brown University |date=July 30, 2025 |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-secures-major-settlement-with-brown-university/ |publisher=The White House |access-date=1 August 2025 |ref=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown 'functionally inaccessible' for trans students after Trump deal |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/transgender-students-unsafe-brown-university |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}</ref> This is the third settlement of its kind from a university to the administration, following Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Following the federal government's [[Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education|offer of compliance with increased restrictions in exchange for preferential treatment in funding decisions]], the university's leaders solicited comments from the university community. Once the period for comments concluded, they chose to reject the offer, becoming the second university to do so after [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2025-10-15 |title=Brown University Rejects White House Deal for Special Treatment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/brown-university-trump-compact-funding.html |access-date=2025-10-22 |language=en}}</ref>

=== 2025 shooting ===
{{Main|2025 Brown University shooting}}

On December 13, 2025, a [[mass shooting]] occurred in the Barus and Holley Engineering Building, killing two and injuring nine more.

==Coat of arms==

{{Main|Coat of Arms of Brown University}}

Brown's coat of arms was created in 1834. The prior year, president [[Francis Wayland]] had commissioned a committee to update the school's original seal to match the name the university had adopted in 1804. Central in the coat of arms is a white [[Escutcheon (heraldry)|escutcheon]] divided into four sectors by a red cross. Within each sector of the coat of arms lies an open book. Above the shield is a crest consisting of the upper half of a [[sun in splendor]] among the clouds atop a red and white [[torse]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Seal |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=S0090 |access-date=2021-04-18 |website=Brown University |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127223348/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=S0090 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Campus ==
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| caption1          = [[University Hall (Brown University)|University Hall]], Brown's oldest building, was constructed in 1770 and is a [[National Historic Landmark]]
| image2            = Das östliche Eingangstor der Brown University.jpg
| caption2          = Soldiers Memorial Gate (1921) long marked the eastern edge of Brown's campus.
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Brown is the largest institutional landowner in Providence, with properties on College Hill and in the [[Jewelry District (Providence)|Jewelry District]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Levitz |first=Jennifer |title=Providence Urges Brown to Pay Up |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204062704577221653128623004.html |access-date=2022-11-15 |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=February 13, 2012 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109121749/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204062704577221653128623004.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The university was built contemporaneously with the eighteenth and nineteenth-century precincts surrounding it, making Brown's campus tightly integrated into Providence's urban fabric. Among the noted architects who have shaped Brown's campus are [[McKim, Mead & White]], [[Philip Johnson]], [[Rafael Viñoly]], [[Diller Scofidio + Renfro]], and [[Robert A. M. Stern]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chafee |first=Louisa |date=2013-09-09 |title='Starchitects' design cutting-edge buildings |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/09/09/starchitects-design-cutting-edge-buildings/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423180818/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2013/09/09/starchitects-design-cutting-edge-buildings/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Main campus ===
{{further|List of Brown University buildings}}Brown's main campus, comprises 235 buildings and {{Convert abbreviated|143|acre|ha}} in the [[East Side, Providence, Rhode Island|East Side]] neighborhood of College Hill. The university's central campus sits on a {{Convert abbreviated|15|acre|ha|adj=on}} block bounded by Waterman, Prospect, George, and [[Thayer Street]]s; newer buildings extend northward, eastward, and southward. Brown's core, historic campus, constructed primarily between 1770 and 1926, is defined by three greens: the Front or Quiet Green, the Main or College Green, and the Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle (historically known as Lincoln Field).<ref name="campus_heritage2">{{cite web |author=R. M. Kliment & Frances Halsband Architects |date=February 2006 |title=Campus Heritage at Brown University |url=https://www.brown.edu/facilities/sites/facilities/files/CampusHeritage2-06.pdf |publisher=Brown University |access-date=2007-12-06 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411044815/https://www.brown.edu/facilities/sites/facilities/files/CampusHeritage2-06.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rasmussen |first=Amy |date=2012-09-19 |title=From swamp to Simmons: Lincoln, the legacy |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2012/09/19/from-swamp-to-simmons-lincoln-the-legacy/ |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=August 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805073800/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2012/09/19/from-swamp-to-simmons-lincoln-the-legacy/ |url-status=live}}</ref> A brick and wrought-iron fence punctuated by decorative gates and arches traces the block's perimeter. This section of campus is primarily [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] and [[Richardsonian Romanesque]] in its architectural character.<ref name="campus_heritage2" />

To the south of the central campus are academic buildings and residential quadrangles, including Wriston, Keeney, and Gregorian quadrangles. Immediately to the east of the campus core sit Sciences Park and Brown's [[Brown University School of Engineering|School of Engineering]]. North of the central campus are performing and visual arts facilities, life sciences labs, and the Pembroke Campus, which houses both dormitories and academic buildings. Facing the western edge of the central campus sit two of the Brown's seven libraries, the [[John Hay Library]] and the [[John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library]].

The university's campus is contiguous with that of the [[Rhode Island School of Design]], which is located immediately to Brown's west, along the slope of College Hill.

====Van Wickle Gates====
{{Main|Van Wickle Gates}}

[[File:The iconic Van Wickle Gates at Brown University, one of America's prestigious "Ivy League" colleges, in Providence, the capital of, and largest city in, Rhode Island.jpg|thumb|The [[Van Wickle Gates]] stand at the crest of [[College Hill, Providence, Rhode Island|College Hill]]]]
Built in 1901, the Van Wickle Gates are a set of wrought iron gates that stand at the western edge of Brown's campus. The larger main gate is flanked by two smaller side gates. At Convocation the central gate opens inward to admit the procession of new students; at Commencement, the gate opens outward for the procession of graduates.<ref>Mitchell, Martha. (1993). "[https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=V0020 Van Wickle Gates] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171141/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=V0020 |date=March 3, 2016 }}." ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana''</ref> A Brown superstition holds that students who walk through the central gate a second time prematurely will not graduate, although walking backward is said to cancel the hex.

===John Hay Library===
{{Main|John Hay Library}}

[[File:John Hay Library (Brown).jpg|thumb|The [[John Hay Library]] is home to rare books, special collections, and the university archives.]]The John Hay Library is the second oldest library on campus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ok |first=Katherine |date=2019-03-21 |title=Hay Library's Special Collections offer more than a human skin-bound book |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/03/21/hay-librarys-special-collections-offer-human-skin-bound-book/ |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926204901/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/03/21/hay-librarys-special-collections-offer-human-skin-bound-book/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Opened in 1910, the library is named for [[John Hay]] (class of 1858), private secretary to [[Abraham Lincoln]] and Secretary of State under [[William McKinley]] and [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. The construction of the building was funded in large part by Hay's friend, [[Andrew Carnegie]], who contributed half of the $300,000 cost of construction.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=J0080 |title=From Martha Mitchell's ''Encyclopedia Brunoniana'': John Hay Library |publisher=Brown.edu |access-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217214933/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=J0080 |archive-date=February 17, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The John Hay Library serves as the repository of the university's archives, rare books and manuscripts, and special collections. Noteworthy among the latter are the [[Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/collections/askb/ |title=The Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection :: Brown University Library |publisher=Dl.lib.brown.edu |access-date=February 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219174610/http://dl.lib.brown.edu/libweb/collections/askb/ |archive-date=February 19, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> (described as "the foremost American collection of material devoted to the history and iconography of soldiers and soldiering"),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection – Brown University Library |url=https://library.brown.edu/collatoz/info.php?id=27 |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=library.brown.edu |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012135616/https://library.brown.edu/collatoz/info.php?id=27 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays (described as "the largest and most comprehensive collection of its kind in any research library"), the Lownes Collection of the History of Science (described as "one of the three most important private collections of books of science in America"), and the papers of [[H. P. Lovecraft]]. The Hay Library is home to one of the broadest collections of [[Incunable|incunabula]] in the Americas, one of Brown's two [[First Folio|Shakespeare First Folios]], the manuscript of [[George Orwell]]'s ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]],'' and three books [[Anthropodermic bibliopegy|bound in human skin]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=M.L. |date=January 7, 2006 |agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=20060111&id=K-lYAAAAIBAJ&pg=5031,2157846 |title=Some of nation's best libraries have books bound in human skin |access-date=June 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231204804/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=20060111&id=K-lYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rVYMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5031,2157846 |archive-date=December 31, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== John Carter Brown Library ===
{{Main|John Carter Brown Library}}

[[File:Entrance to the John Carter Brown Library (cropped).jpg|thumb|The [[John Carter Brown Library]] is one of the world's leading repositories of books, maps, and manuscripts relating to the [[European colonization of the Americas|colonial Americas]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=EBSCO Publishing and the John Carter Brown Library Join Forces to Offer Free Historical Database |url=https://www.prweb.com/releases/EuropeanAmericana/EBSCOhost/prweb4526064.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920185938/http://www.prweb.com/releases/EuropeanAmericana/EBSCOhost/prweb4526064.htm |archive-date=September 20, 2010 |access-date=2021-05-01 |website=PRWeb}}</ref>]]
Founded in 1846, the John Carter Brown Library is generally regarded as the world's leading collection of primary historical sources relating to the exploration and colonization of the Americas. While administered and funded separately from the university, the library has been owned by Brown and located on its campus since 1904.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: John Carter Brown Library |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=J0070 |access-date=2021-04-11 |website=Brown University |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710170906/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=J0070 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The library contains the best preserved of the eleven surviving copies of the [[Bay Psalm Book]]—the earliest extant book printed in British North America and the most expensive printed book in the world.<ref>BBC News, "Bay Psalm Book is most expensive printed work at $14.2m," [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-25115524 BBC] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720185054/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-25115524 |date=July 20, 2018 }}; [http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2013/the-bay-psalm-book-sale-n09039/The-Bay-Psalm-Book/2013/10/census-of-copies-of-.html Sothebys.com] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121107/http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2013/the-bay-psalm-book-sale-n09039/The-Bay-Psalm-Book/2013/10/census-of-copies-of-.html |date=September 24, 2015 }}</ref> Other holdings include a Shakespeare [[First Folio]] and the world's largest collection of 16th-century Mexican texts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=64 Mexican incunables and counting |url=https://jcblibrary.org/news/64-mexican-incunables-and-counting |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=John Carter Brown Library |archive-date=August 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812124943/https://jcblibrary.org/news/64-mexican-incunables-and-counting |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Manning Hall, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island - 20091108 straighten.jpg|thumb|The galleries of Brown's anthropology museum, the [[Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology|Haffenreffer]], are located in Manning Hall.]]

===Haffenreffer Museum===
{{Main|Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology}}

The exhibition galleries of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown's teaching museum, are located in Manning Hall on the campus's main green. Its one million artifacts, available for research and educational purposes, are located at its Collections Research Center in [[Bristol, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Daniel |date=2019-03-07 |title=Haffenreffer Museum begins complete inventory of one million objects |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/03/07/haffenreffer-museum-catalog-entire-collection/ |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190307123519/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/03/07/haffenreffer-museum-catalog-entire-collection/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The museum's goal is to inspire creative and critical thinking about culture by fostering an interdisciplinary understanding of the material world. It provides opportunities for faculty and students to work with collections and the public, teaching through objects and programs in classrooms and exhibitions. The museum sponsors lectures and events in all areas of anthropology and also runs an extensive program of outreach to local schools.

=== Annmary Brown Memorial ===
{{Main|Annmary Brown Memorial}}

The Annmary Brown Memorial was constructed from 1903 to 1907 by the politician, Civil War veteran, and book collector General [[Rush Hawkins]], as a mausoleum for his wife, Annmary Brown, a member of the Brown family. In addition to its crypt—the final repository for Brown and Hawkins—the Memorial includes works of art from Hawkins's private collection, including paintings by [[Angelica Kauffman]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]], [[Gilbert Stuart]], [[Giovanni Battista Tiepolo]], [[Benjamin West]], and [[Eastman Johnson]], among others. His collection of over 450 [[Incunable|incunabula]] was relocated to the John Hay Library in 1990.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=A0370 |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Annmary Brown Memorial |website=Brown University |access-date=2019-02-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123220353/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=A0370 |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Today the Memorial is home to Brown's [[Medieval studies|Medieval Studies]] and [[Renaissance studies|Renaissance Studies]] programs.

=== The Walk ===
The Walk, a landscaped pedestrian corridor, connects the Pembroke Campus to the main campus. It runs parallel to [[Thayer Street]] and serves as a primary axis of campus, extending from Ruth Simmons Quadrangle at its southern terminus to the Meeting Street entrance to the Pembroke Campus at its northern end.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Corey |first=Patrick |date=2008-02-01 |title=Straight Path on Walk opens to public |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2008/02/01/straight-path-on-walk-opens-to-public/ |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024737/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2008/02/01/straight-path-on-walk-opens-to-public/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Geller |first=Sarah |date=2006-12-08 |title=Plans for the Walk begin to take shape |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2006/12/08/plans-for-the-walk-begin-to-take-shape/ |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028221009/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006/12/plans-for-the-walk-begin-to-take-shape/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The walk is bordered by departmental buildings as well as the [[Lindemann Performing Arts Center]] and [[Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts|Granoff Center for the Creative Arts]]

The corridor is home to public art including sculptures by [[Maya Lin]] and [[Tom Friedman (artist)|Tom Friedman]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Rubinton |first=Noel |date=2017-10-20 |title=Where to See (Really See) the Art of Maya Lin |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/travel/where-to-see-really-see-the-art-of-maya-lin.html |url-status=live |access-date=2018-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206001909/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/20/travel/where-to-see-really-see-the-art-of-maya-lin.html |archive-date=December 6, 2018 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Pembroke campus===
[[File:Brown University Pembroke campus.jpg|thumb|Three dormitories, Metcalf Hall (1919), Andrews Hall (1947), and Miller Hall (1910), formed the heart of Pembroke College and now serve as freshman residences.]]
The [[Pembroke College in Brown University|Women's College in Brown University]], known as Pembroke College, was founded in October 1891. Upon its 1971 merger with the College of Brown University, Pembroke's campus was absorbed into the larger Brown campus. The Pembroke campus is bordered by Meeting, Brown, Bowen, and Thayer Streets and sits three blocks north of Brown's central campus. The campus is dominated by brick architecture, largely of the [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] and [[Victorian architecture|Victorian styles]]. The west side of the quadrangle comprises Pembroke Hall (1897), Smith-Buonanno Hall (1907), and Metcalf Hall (1919), while the east side comprises Alumnae Hall (1927) and Miller Hall (1910). The quadrangle culminates on the north with Andrews Hall (1947).

East Campus, centered on Hope and Charlesfield streets, originally served as the campus of [[Bryant University]]. In 1969, as Bryant was preparing to relocate to [[Smithfield, Rhode Island]], Brown purchased their Providence campus for $5 million. The transaction expanded the Brown campus by {{cvt|10|acre|m2}} and 26 buildings. In 1971, Brown renamed the area East Campus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wrenn |first=John |date=2021-03-18 |title=Wrenn GS: College Hill's Grim Reaper |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/03/18/wrenn-gs-college-hills-grim-reaper/ |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=March 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318061020/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/03/18/wrenn-gs-college-hills-grim-reaper/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Today, the area is largely used for dormitories.

[[Thayer Street]] runs through Brown's main campus. As a commercial corridor frequented by students, Thayer is comparable to [[Harvard Square]] or Berkeley's [[Telegraph Avenue]]. [[Wickenden Street]], in the adjacent [[Fox Point, Providence, Rhode Island|Fox Point]] neighborhood, is another commercial street similarly popular among students.

Built in 1925, [[Brown Stadium]]—the home of the school's football team—is located approximately a mile and a half northeast of the university's central campus.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Geh |first1=Victoria |last2=Li |first2=Evan |last3=Puma |first3=Patrick |last4=Du |first4=Hong Sen |title=The 'inescapable' effect of off-campus athletics: How the distance to Baker has shaped Columbia's recruiting, performance, and sports culture |url=http://columbiaspectator.com/sports/2020/12/09/the-inescapable-effect-of-off-campus-athletics-how-the-distance-to-baker-has-shaped-columbias-recruiting-performance-and-sports-culture/ |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator |archive-date=June 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620212336/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/sports/2020/12/09/the-inescapable-effect-of-off-campus-athletics-how-the-distance-to-baker-has-shaped-columbias-recruiting-performance-and-sports-culture/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Marston Boathouse, the home of Brown's crew teams, lies on the [[Seekonk River]], to the southeast of campus. Brown's sailing teams are based out of the Ted Turner Sailing Pavilion at the [[Edgewood Yacht Club]] in adjacent [[Cranston, Rhode Island|Cranston]].

Since 2011, Brown's Warren Alpert Medical School has been located in Providence's historic [[Jewelry District (Providence)|Jewelry District]], near the medical campus of Brown's teaching hospitals, [[Rhode Island Hospital]] and the [[Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island|Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island]]. Other university facilities, including [[molecular medicine]] labs and administrative offices, are likewise located in the area.<ref>{{cite news |author=Elizabeth Abbott |date=December 13, 2011 |title=Providence Puts Focus on Making a Home for Knowledge |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/realestate/commercial/providence-makes-itself-a-home-for-knowledge.html?_r=1 |url-status=live |access-date=12 June 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240526010114/https://www.webcitation.org/68NBrLu7S?url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/realestate/commercial/providence-makes-itself-a-home-for-knowledge.html%3F_r=2 |archive-date=2024-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bai |first=Corrine |date=2019-01-30 |title=South Street Landing move improves staff experience |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/01/30/move-south-street-landing-improves-staff-experience/ |access-date=2021-04-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410183846/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/01/30/move-south-street-landing-improves-staff-experience/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brown's [[Brown University School of Public Health|School of Public Health]] occupies a landmark modernist building along the [[Providence River]]. Other Brown properties include the {{cvt|376|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[Mount Hope (Rhode Island)|Mount Hope Grant]] in Bristol, Rhode Island, an important Native American site noted as a location of [[King Philip's War]]. Brown's [[Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology]] Collection Research Center, particularly strong in Native American items, is located in the Mount Hope Grant.

=== Sustainability ===
Brown has committed to "minimize its energy use, reduce negative environmental impacts, and promote environmental stewardship."<ref name="Brown's Energy and Environmental Mission">{{cite web |title=Department of Facilities Management, Energy and Environmental Advisory Committee |url=https://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/energy_policy_recommendations.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724042058/http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/Facilities_Management/energy_policy_recommendations.php |archive-date=July 24, 2008 |access-date=May 28, 2008 |publisher=Brown University |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Since 2010, the university has required all new buildings meet [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED silver]] standards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raymond |first=Mark |date=2010-11-12 |title=U. moves toward greener campus |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/11/12/u-moves-toward-greener-campus/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423180817/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/11/12/u-moves-toward-greener-campus/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Between 2007 and 2018, Brown reduced its [[greenhouse gas emissions]] by 27 percent; the majority of this reduction is attributable to the university's Thermal Efficiency Project which converted its central heating plant from a steam-powered system to a hot water-powered system.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reed |first=Allie |date=2018-09-13 |title=University on track to meet sustainability goals |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/09/13/university-on-track-to-meet-sustainability-goals/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423180816/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/09/13/university-on-track-to-meet-sustainability-goals/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2020, Brown announced it had sold 90 percent of its [[fossil fuel]] investments as part of a broader divestment from direct investments and managed funds that focus on [[fossil fuels]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pender |first=Caelyn |date=2020-03-04 |title=Brown sells 90 percent of fossil fuel investments |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/03/04/brown-sells-90-percent-fossil-fuel-investments/ |access-date=2021-04-23 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427004840/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/03/04/brown-sells-90-percent-fossil-fuel-investments/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, the university adopted the goal of reducing quantifiable campus emissions by 75 percent by 2025 and achieving [[carbon neutrality]] by 2040.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pender |first=Caelyn |date=2021-03-05 |title=University launches strategic sustainability plan |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/03/05/university-launches-strategic-sustainability-plan/ |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024735/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/03/05/university-launches-strategic-sustainability-plan/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Brown is a member of the Ivy Plus Sustainability Consortium, through which it has committed to best-practice sharing and the ongoing exchange of campus sustainability solutions along with other member institutions.<ref>name="Leadership Through Partnership">{{cite web|title=Leadership Through Partnership|url=https://sustainability.yale.edu/priorities-progress/leadership/leadership-through-partnership|access-date=November 17, 2023|publisher=Yale Sustainability}}</ref>

According to the [[A. W. Kuchler]] U.S. [[potential natural vegetation]] types, Brown would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian [[Oak]] (''104'') with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern [[Hardwood]] Forest (''25'').<ref name="Conservation Biology Institute">{{cite web |title=U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions) |url=https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703145441/https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39 |archive-date=July 3, 2019 |access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Academics==

===The College===
{{Main|College of Brown University}}

[[File:Brown university robinson hall 2009a crop and straighten.jpg|thumb|Robinson Hall (1878) was designed by [[William R. Walker & Son|Walker and Gould]] in the [[Venetian Gothic architecture|Venetian Gothic]] style to house Brown's library.]]
Founded in 1764, the College is Brown's oldest school. About 7,200 undergraduate students are enrolled in the college {{When|date=November 2022}}, and 81 concentrations are offered. For the graduating class of 2020, the most popular concentrations were Computer Science, Economics, Biology, History, Applied Mathematics, International Relations, and Political Science. A quarter of Brown undergraduates complete more than one concentration before graduating.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Degrees and Completions Factbook |url=https://oir.brown.edu/institutional-data/factbooks/degrees-completions |access-date=March 21, 2021 |website=Brown University Office of Institutional Research |archive-date=March 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322005116/https://oir.brown.edu/institutional-data/factbooks/degrees-completions |url-status=live}}</ref> If the existing programs do not align with their intended curricular interests, undergraduates may design and pursue independent concentrations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aratani |first=Lauren |date=2015-04-06 |title=Independent concentrations reflect students' interdisciplinary interests |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/04/06/independent-concentrations-reflect-students-interdisciplinary-interests/ |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024739/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/04/06/independent-concentrations-reflect-students-interdisciplinary-interests/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Around 35 percent {{Update inline|date=November 2022}} of undergraduates pursue graduate or professional study immediately, 60 percent within 5 years, and 80 percent within 10 years.<ref name="admit-facts">{{cite web |author=Brown University |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/Admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html |title=Brown University Office of Admission facts and figures |publisher=Brown.edu |access-date=April 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606233934/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/admission/gettoknowus/factsandfigures.html |archive-date=June 6, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For the Class of 2009, 56 percent of all undergraduate alumni have since earned graduate degrees. Among undergraduate alumni who go on to receive graduate degrees, the most common degrees earned are J.D. (16%), M.D. (14%), M.A. (14%), M.Sc. (14%), and Ph.D. (11%). The most common institutions from which undergraduate alumni earn graduate degrees are Brown University, [[Columbia University]], and [[Harvard University]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Undergraduate Alumni Outcomes |url=https://oir.brown.edu/institutional-data/alumni-outcomes/undergraduate |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Office of Institutional Research |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024735/https://oir.brown.edu/institutional-data/alumni-outcomes/undergraduate |url-status=live}}</ref>

The highest fields of employment for undergraduate alumni ten years after graduation are education and higher education (15%), medicine (9%), business and finance (9%), law (8%), and computing and technology (7%).<ref name=":5" />

===Brown and RISD===
[[File:List Art Center, Brown University.jpg|thumb|The List Art Center, built 1969–71, designed by [[Philip Johnson]], houses Brown's Department of Visual Art and the [[David Winton Bell Gallery]].]]
Since its 1893 relocation to College Hill, [[Rhode Island School of Design]] (RISD) has bordered Brown to its west. Since 1900, Brown and RISD students have been able to cross-register at the two institutions, with Brown students permitted to take as many as four courses at RISD to count towards their Brown degree.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvzOAAAAMAAJ |title=Annual Report of the President to the Corporation of Brown University |date=1900 |publisher=Brown University |isbn= |location= |pages= |language=en |access-date=January 17, 2021 |archive-date=October 28, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028221010/https://www.google.com/gen_204?s=web&t=aft&atyp=csi&ei=wB97Yf7_Oc3L0PEPp62a6AU&rt=wsrt.180,aft.1401,prt.964&imn=17&ima=14&imad=14&aftp=14235&bl=VsEN |url-status=live}}</ref> The two institutions partner to provide various student-life services and the two student bodies compose a synergy in the College Hill cultural scene.

==== Dual Degree Program ====
After several years of discussion between the two institutions and several students pursuing dual degrees unofficially, Brown and RISD formally established a five-year dual degree program in 2007, with the first class matriculating in the fall of 2008.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2007-08/07-013.html |title=07-013 (Brown/RISD Joint Degree) |website=www.brown.edu |access-date=2018-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818025835/http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/2007-08/07-013.html |archive-date=August 18, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Brown|RISD Dual Degree Program, among the most selective in the country, offered admission to 20 of the 725 applicants for the class entering in autumn 2020, for an acceptance rate of 2.7%.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kubzansky |first=Will |date=2020-03-26 |title=Brown admits 6.9 percent of applicants amid COVID-19 crisis |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/03/26/brown-admits-6-9-percent-applicants-amid-covid-19-crisis/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414161011/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/03/26/brown-admits-6-9-percent-applicants-amid-covid-19-crisis/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The program combines the complementary strengths of the two institutions, integrating studio art and design at RISD with Brown's academic offerings. Students are admitted to the Dual Degree Program for a course lasting five years and culminating in both the Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) or Bachelor of Science (Sc.B.) degree from Brown and the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree from RISD. Prospective students must apply to the two schools separately and be accepted by separate admissions committees. Their application must then be approved by a third Brown|RISD joint committee.
[[File:Granoff Center (Brown).jpg|thumb|The [[Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts|Granoff Center]], designed by [[Diller Scofidio + Renfro]]<nowiki>, hosts the annual Brown|RISD Dual Degree exhibition</nowiki>.]]
Admitted students spend the first year in residence at RISD completing its first-year Experimental and Foundation Studies curriculum while taking up to three Brown classes. Students spend their second year in residence at Brown, during which students take mainly Brown courses while starting on their RISD major requirements. In the third, fourth, and fifth years, students can elect to live at either school or off-campus, and course distribution is determined by the requirements of each student's unique combination of Brown concentration and RISD major. Program participants are noted for their creative and original approach to cross-disciplinary opportunities, combining, for example, industrial design with engineering, or anatomical illustration with human biology, or philosophy with sculpture, or architecture with urban studies. An annual "BRDD Exhibition" is a well-publicized and heavily attended event, drawing interest and attendees from the broader world of industry, design, the media, and the fine arts.

==== MADE Program ====
In 2020, the two schools announced the establishment of a new joint Master of Arts in Design Engineering program. Abbreviated as MADE, the program intends to combine RISD's programs in industrial design with Brown's programs in engineering. The program is administered through Brown's School of Engineering and RISD's Architecture and Design Division.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Aubrey |date=2020-11-04 |title=Brown collaborates with RISD to create new joint master's program |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/11/04/brown-collaborates-risd-create-new-joint-masters-program/ |access-date=2021-04-10 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024735/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/11/04/brown-collaborates-risd-create-new-joint-masters-program/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Theatre and playwriting===
[[File:Marcus Aurelius statue and Lyman Hall at Brown University.jpg|thumb|Lyman Hall, built 1890–92, houses the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies.]]
Brown's theatre and playwriting programs are among the best-regarded in the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Abramovitch |first=Seth |date=June 10, 2019 |title=Top 25 Graduate Schools for an Acting Degree, Ranked |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/best-mfa-ma-acting-programs-us-uk-4746/#section2 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=May 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508193720/https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/best-mfa-ma-acting-programs-us-uk-4746/#section2 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-06-08 |title=The Best 25 College Drama Programs Around the World |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-25-college-drama-programs-around-world-1296819 |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |language=en |archive-date=February 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210064916/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/best-25-college-drama-programs-around-world-1296819 |url-status=live}}</ref> Six Brown graduates have received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]; [[Alfred Uhry]] '58, [[Lynn Nottage]] '86, [[Ayad Akhtar]] '93, [[Nilo Cruz]] '94, [[Quiara Alegría Hudes]] '04, and [[Jackie Sibblies Drury]] MFA '04.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Roberts |first=Bella |date=2017-04-27 |title=Pulitzer winners discuss MFA Program at University |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/04/27/pulitzer-winners-discuss-mfa-program-university/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=June 6, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606053830/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/04/27/pulitzer-winners-discuss-mfa-program-university/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In ''[[Theatre Communications Group|American Theater]]'' magazine's 2009 ranking of the most-produced American plays, Brown graduates occupied four of the top five places—Peter Nachtrieb '97, Rachel Sheinkin '89, [[Sarah Ruhl]] '97, and [[Stephen Karam]] '02.<ref>Kathy Borchers, "Brown University turning out one exceptional playwright after another," Associated Press (''Providence Journal''), December 18, 2009; {{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/features/article/most-produced-plays |title=Most-Produced Plays - Playbill.com |access-date=2014-08-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903071900/http://www.playbill.com/features/article/most-produced-plays |archive-date=September 3, 2014 |df=mdy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2019-04-15/pulitzer |title=Brown alumna, emeritus faculty member capture Pulitzers for drama, poetry |website=Brown University |date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=2019-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416045850/https://www.brown.edu/news/2019-04-15/pulitzer |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The undergraduate concentration encompasses programs in theatre history, performance theory, playwriting, dramaturgy, acting, directing, dance, speech, and technical production. Applications for doctoral and master's degree programs are made through the University Graduate School. Master's degrees in acting and directing are pursued in conjunction with the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program, which partners with the [[Trinity Repertory Company]], a local [[Regional theater in the United States|regional theatre]].<ref>Molly Lederer, "Trinity Rep is still shining after 50 years," ''East Side Monthly'', Oct. 2013, p. 17</ref> In January 2025, The Brown/Trinity Rep Master of Fine Arts Programs in Acting and Directing indefinitely paused its new student admissions, effectively ending the program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown, Trinity indefinitely pause admissions to MFA program |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025/01/brown-trinity-indefinitely-pause-admissions-to-mfa-program |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref>[[File:Fall view over Brown 2.jpeg|thumb|Aerial view of the Brown University English department]]

===Writing programs===
Writing at Brown—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, playwriting, screenwriting, electronic writing, mixed media, and the undergraduate writing proficiency requirement—is catered for by various centers and degree programs, and a faculty that has long included nationally and internationally known authors. The undergraduate concentration in literary arts offers courses in fiction, poetry, screenwriting, literary hypermedia, and translation. Graduate programs include the fiction and poetry MFA writing programs in the literary arts department and the MFA playwriting program in the theatre arts and performance studies department. The non-fiction writing program is offered in the English department. Screenwriting and cinema narrativity courses are offered in the departments of literary arts and modern culture and media. The undergraduate writing proficiency requirement is supported by the Writing Center.

====Author prizewinners====
Alumni authors take their degrees across the spectrum of degree concentrations, but a gauge of the strength of writing at Brown is the number of major national writing prizes won. To note only winners since the year 2000: [[Pulitzer Prize for Fiction]]-winners [[Jeffrey Eugenides]] '82 (2003), [[Marilynne Robinson]] '66 (2005), and [[Andrew Sean Greer]] '92 (2018); British [[Orange Prize]]-winners [[Marilynne Robinson]] '66 (2009) and [[Madeline Miller]] '00 (2012); [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]-winners [[Nilo Cruz]] '94 (2003), [[Lynn Nottage]] '86 (twice, 2009, 2017), [[Quiara Alegría Hudes]] '04 (2012), [[Ayad Akhtar]] '93 (2013), and [[Jackie Sibblies Drury]] MFA '04 (2019); [[Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography|Pulitzer Prize for Biography]]-winners [[David Kertzer]] '69 (2015) and [[Benjamin Moser]] '98 (2020); [[Pulitzer Prize|Pulitzer Prize for Journalism]]-winners [[James Risen]] '77 (2006), [[Gareth Cook]] '91 (2005), [[Tony Horwitz]] '80 (1995), [[Usha Lee McFarling]] '89 (2007), [[David Rohde]] '90 (1996), [[Kathryn Schulz]] '96 (2016), and [[Alissa J. Rubin]] '80 (2016); [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction]]-winner [[James Forman Jr.]] '88 (2018); [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction|Pulitzer Prize for History]]-winner [[Marcia Chatelain]] PhD '08 (2021); [[Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction|Pulitzer Prize for Criticism]]-winner [[Salamishah Tillet]] MAT '97 (2022); and [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]]-winner [[Peter Balakian]] PhD '80 (2016)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lutts |first=Chloe |date=2006-07-16 |title=Four Brown alums win 2006 Pulitzers |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2006/07/16/four-brown-alums-win-2006-pulitzers/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506091149/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2006/07/16/four-brown-alums-win-2006-pulitzers/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ryan |first=Cate |date=2019-04-16 |title=University alums win four Pulitzer Prizes |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/04/16/university-alums-win-four-pulitzer-prizes/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=May 31, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531200257/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/04/16/university-alums-win-four-pulitzer-prizes/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Computer science===
[[File:Computing Laboratory, Brown University (cropped).jpg|thumb|The Brown Computing Laboratory, designed by [[Philip Johnson]]]]
Brown began offering computer science courses through the departments of Economics and Applied Mathematics in 1956 when it acquired an IBM machine. Brown added an [[IBM 650]] in January 1958, the only one of its type between Hartford and Boston. In 1960, Brown opened its first dedicated computer building, the [[Brown University Computing Laboratory]]. The facility, designed by [[Philip Johnson]], received an [[IBM 7070]] computer the following year. The first undergraduate Computer Science degrees were awarded in 1974. Brown granted computer sciences full Departmental status in 1979. In 2009, IBM and Brown announced the installation of a supercomputer (by teraflops standards), the most powerful in the southeastern New England region.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2009/11/supercomputer |title=Brown, IBM Unveil Multimillion-Dollar Supercomputer – News from Brown |work=brown.edu |access-date=July 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724123003/https://news.brown.edu/articles/2009/11/supercomputer |archive-date=July 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1960s, [[Andries van Dam]], along with [[Ted Nelson]] and [[Bob Wallace (computer scientist)|Bob Wallace]] invented The [[Hypertext Editing System]]s, [[Hypertext Editing System|HES]] and [[FRESS]] while at Brown. Nelson coined the word ''[[hypertext]]'' while Van Dam's students helped originate [[XML]], [[XSLT]], and related Web standards. Among the school's computer science alumni are principal architect of the [[Classic Mac OS]], [[Andy Hertzfeld]]; principal architect of the [[Intel 80386]] and [[Intel 80486]] microprocessors, [[John Crawford (engineer)|John Crawford]]; former CEO of [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], [[John Sculley]]; and digital effects programmer [[Masi Oka]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hess |first=Abigail Johnson |date=2019-11-21 |title=Former Apple CEO John Sculley: 'The way we are educated is going to radically change' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/ex-apple-ceo-the-way-we-are-educated-is-going-to-radically-change.html |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=CNBC |language=en |archive-date=May 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519203212/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/ex-apple-ceo-the-way-we-are-educated-is-going-to-radically-change.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Myers |first=Marc |date=2019-12-17 |title=Masi Oka Found a Hollywood Solution to His Math Problem |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/masi-oka-found-a-hollywood-solution-to-his-math-problem-11576598476 |access-date=2021-03-19 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=October 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211012044559/https://www.wsj.com/articles/masi-oka-found-a-hollywood-solution-to-his-math-problem-11576598476 |url-status=live}}</ref> Other alumni include former CS department head at MIT, [[John Guttag]]; software-defined networking pioneer [[Scott Shenker]]; [[Workday, Inc.|Workday]] founder, [[Aneel Bhusri]]; [[MongoDB Inc.|MongoDB]] founder [[Eliot Horowitz]]; [[Figma (software)|Figma]] founders [[Dylan Field]] and Evan Wallace (the latter of whom also created [[esbuild]]); [[OpenSea]] founder [[Devin Finzer]]; and [[Edward D. Lazowska]], professor and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Chair emeritus at the [[University of Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aneel Bhusri |url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/aneel-bhusri/ |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307232934/https://www.forbes.com/profile/aneel-bhusri/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Between 2012 and 2018, the number of concentrators in CS tripled.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McCormick |first=Jango |date=2018-12-06 |title=Computer science department plans expansion |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/12/06/computer-science-department-plans-expansion/ |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015731/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/12/06/computer-science-department-plans-expansion/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, computer science overtook economics as the school's most popular undergraduate concentration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Sarah |date=2017-09-14 |title=Computer science surpasses economics as most popular concentration |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/09/14/draft-wang-cs-most-popular-concentration/ |access-date=2021-03-19 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112001804/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/09/14/draft-wang-cs-most-popular-concentration/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Applied mathematics ===
Brown's program in [[applied mathematics]] was established in 1941 making it the oldest such program in the United States.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Greenberg |first1=John L. |last2=Goodstein |first2=Judith R. |date=1983-12-23 |title=Theodore von Kármán and Applied Mathematics in America |url=https://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/math-history/hmath2-greenberg.pdf |journal=Science |volume=222 |issue=4630 |pages=1300–1304 |doi=10.1126/science.222.4630.1300 |pmid=17773321 |bibcode=1983Sci...222.1300G |s2cid=19738034 |access-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-date=October 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211024044608/https://www.ams.org/publicoutreach/math-history/hmath2-greenberg.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The division is highly ranked and regarded nationally.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-10-10 |title=Best Applied Math Programs – Top Science Schools – US News Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/applied-mathematics-rankings |access-date=2021-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010170113/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/applied-mathematics-rankings |archive-date=October 10, 2021}}</ref> Among the 67 recipients of the [[Timoshenko Medal]], 22 have been affiliated with Brown's applied mathematics division as faculty, researchers, or students.{{Efn|[[Maurice Anthony Biot]] (1962), [[William Prager]] (1966), [[Hillel Poritsky]] (1967), [[Albert E. Green]] (1974), [[Chia-Chiao Lin]] (1975), [[Erastus H. Lee]] (1976), [[George F. Carrier]] (1978), [[Daniel C. Drucker]] (1983), [[Eli Sternberg]] (1985), [[Ronald Rivlin]] (1987), [[Bernard Budiansky]] (1989), [[James R. Rice]] (1994), [[Rodney J. Clifton]] (2000), [[L. Ben Freund]] (2003), [[Morton Gurtin]] (2004), [[Kenneth L. Johnson]] (2006), [[Alan Needleman]] (2011), [[Subra Suresh]] (2012), [[Robert McMeeking]] (2014), [[Viggo Tvergaard]] (2017), [[Ares J. Rosakis]] (2018), [[Huajian Gao]] (2021)}}

=== The Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World ===
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| caption1          = [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] Rhode Island Hall (1840) on the Main Green is home to the [[Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World|Joukowsky Institute]].
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| caption2          = The Department of Egyptology and Assyriology in Wilbour Hall (1888). Wilbour Hall is named for Egyptologist [[Charles Edwin Wilbour]] (class of 1854).
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{{Main|Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World}}

Established in 2004, the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World is Brown's interdisciplinary research center for archeology and ancient studies. The institute pursues fieldwork, excavations, regional surveys, and academic study of the archaeology and art of the ancient Mediterranean, Egypt, and Western Asia from the [[Levant]] to the [[Caucasus]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lader |first=Mary-Catherine |date=2004-11-18 |title=University plans interdisciplinary approach for new archaeology institute |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2004/11/18/university-plans-interdisciplinary-approach-for-new-archaeology-institute/ |access-date=2021-04-11 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024737/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2004/11/18/university-plans-interdisciplinary-approach-for-new-archaeology-institute/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The institute has a very active fieldwork profile, with faculty-led excavations and regional surveys presently in [[Petra]] (Jordan), [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]] (Egypt), Turkey, Sudan, Italy, Mexico, Guatemala, [[Montserrat]], and Providence.

The Joukowsky Institute's faculty includes cross-appointments from the departments of Egyptology, Assyriology, Classics, Anthropology, and History of Art and Architecture. Faculty research and publication areas include Greek and Roman art and architecture, landscape archaeology, urban and religious architecture of the Levant, Roman provincial studies, the Aegean Bronze Age, and the archaeology of the [[Caucasus]]. The institute offers visiting teaching appointments and postdoctoral fellowships which have, in recent years, included Near Eastern Archaeology and Art, [[Classical archaeology|Classical Archaeology]] and Art, Islamic Archaeology and Art, and Archaeology and Media Studies.

'''Egyptology and Assyriology'''

Facing the Joukowsky Institute, across the Front Green, is the Department of Egyptology and Assyriology, formed in 2006 by the merger of Brown's departments of Egyptology and History of Mathematics. It is one of only a handful of such departments in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lutts |first=Chloe |date=2005-11-09 |title=Nation's only Egyptology dept. set to expand, but details not set in stone |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2005/11/09/nations-only-egyptology-dept-set-to-expand-but-details-not-set-in-stone/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801041022/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2005/11/nation-s-only-egyptology-dept-set-to-expand-but-details-not-set-in-stone |url-status=live}}</ref> The curricular focus is on three principal areas: [[Egyptology]], [[Assyriology]], and the history of the ancient exact sciences (astronomy, astrology, and mathematics). Many courses in the department are open to all Brown undergraduates without prerequisites and include archaeology, languages, history, and Egyptian and [[Ancient Mesopotamian religion|Mesopotamian religions]], literature, and science. Students concentrating in the department choose a track of either Egyptology or Assyriology. Graduate-level study comprises three tracks to the doctoral degree: Egyptology, Assyriology, or the History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity.

=== The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs ===
{{Main|Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs}}

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| caption1          = The main building at the [[Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs]] was designed by [[Rafael Viñoly]] in 2001
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| caption2          = Stephen Robert Hall (2018) at the Watson Institute, was designed by [[Toshiko Mori]]
}}

The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown's center for the study of global Issues and public affairs, is one of the leading institutes of its type in the country. The institute occupies facilities designed by Uruguayan architect [[Rafael Viñoly]] and Japanese architect [[Toshiko Mori]]. The institute was initially endowed by [[Thomas J. Watson Jr.|Thomas Watson Jr.]] (Class of 1937), former [[Ambassador to the Soviet Union]] and longtime president of [[IBM]].

Institute faculty and faculty emeritus include [[Prime Minister of Italy|Italian prime minister]] and [[European Commission]] president [[Romano Prodi]],<ref>[https://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/prodi Brown.edu] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930014537/http://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/prodi |date=September 30, 2014 }}</ref> Brazilian president [[Fernando Henrique Cardoso]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.watson.brown.edu/news/2012/former-professor-large-cardoso-awarded-kluge-prize-study-humanity |title=Brown.edu |access-date=September 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222012357/https://watson.brown.edu/news/2012/former-professor-large-cardoso-awarded-kluge-prize-study-humanity |archive-date=February 22, 2019 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Chilean president [[Ricardo Lagos|Ricardo Lagos Escobar]],<ref>[https://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/lagos Brown.edu] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402013501/http://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/lagos |date=April 2, 2015 }}</ref> Mexican novelist and statesman [[Carlos Fuentes]],<ref>{{cite web |title=The Social Fabric: Global Migration, Local Exclusions, and the New Iberoamerican Agenda |url=https://watson.brown.edu/events/2011/social-fabric-global-migration-local-exclusions-and-new-iberoamerican-agenda |publisher=Watson Institute |access-date=9 March 2015 |date=April 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160258/http://watson.brown.edu/events/2011/social-fabric-global-migration-local-exclusions-and-new-iberoamerican-agenda |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Brazilian statesman and United Nations commission head [[Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro]],<ref>[https://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/pinheiro Brown.edu] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930064440/http://www.watson.brown.edu/people/faculty/pinheiro |date=September 30, 2014 }}</ref> Indian foreign minister and ambassador to the United States [[Nirupama Rao]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Meera and Vikram Gandhi Fellows |url=https://brown.edu/initiatives/india/meera-and-vikram-gandhi-fellows |publisher=Brown University |access-date=9 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150309230031/http://brown.edu/initiatives/india/meera-and-vikram-gandhi-fellows |archive-date=March 9, 2015 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> American diplomat and [[Dayton Agreement|Dayton Peace Accords]] author [[Richard Holbrooke]] (Class of 1962),<ref>{{cite web |title=Brown University community mourns loss of Richard C. Holbrooke, alumnus and career diplomat |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2010/12/hol |publisher=Brown University |access-date=9 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402122237/https://news.brown.edu/articles/2010/12/hol |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Sergei Khrushchev]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Sergei Khrushchev Recalls the Cuban Missile Crisis on BBC |url=https://watson.brown.edu/news/2012/sergei-khrushchev-recalls-cuban-missile-crisis-bbc |publisher=Watson Institute |access-date=9 March 2015 |date=October 15, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125530/http://watson.brown.edu/news/2012/sergei-khrushchev-recalls-cuban-missile-crisis-bbc |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> editor of the papers of his father [[Nikita Khrushchev]], leader of the [[Soviet Union]].

The institute's curricular interest is organized into the principal themes of development, security, and governance—with further focuses on globalization, economic uncertainty, security threats, [[environmental degradation]], and poverty. Six Brown undergraduate concentrations are hosted by the Watson Institute: [[Development studies|Development Studies]], International and Public Affairs, International Relations, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Middle East Studies, Public Policy, and South Asian Studies. Graduate programs offered at the Watson Institute include the Graduate Program in Development (Ph.D.) and the Master of Public Affairs (M.P.A) Program. The institute also offers postdoctoral, professional development, and global outreach programming. In support of these programs, the institute houses various centers, including the Brazil Initiative, Brown-India Initiative, China Initiative, Middle East Studies Center, The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), and the Taubman Center for Public Policy. In recent years, the most internationally cited product of the Watson Institute has been its [[Casualties of the Iraq War|Costs of War Project]], first released in 2011 and continuously updated since. The project comprises a team of economists, anthropologists, political scientists, legal experts, and physicians, and seeks to calculate the economic costs, human casualties, and impact on civil liberties of the wars in [[Iraq War|Iraq]], [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]], and [[Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Pakistan]] since 2001.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ismay |first=John |date=2020-09-08 |title=At Least 37 Million People Have Been Displaced by America's War on Terror |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/magazine/displaced-war-on-terror.html |access-date=2021-04-01 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324005536/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/magazine/displaced-war-on-terror.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

===The School of Engineering===
{{main|Brown University School of Engineering}}

[[File:Brown University Engineering Research Center.jpg|thumb|The Brown University Engineering Research Center, completed in 2018 and designed by [[KieranTimberlake]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Defusto |first=Lydia |date=2017-10-23 |title=Engineering Research Center opens early |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/10/23/engineering-research-center-opens-early/ |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=September 14, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914165401/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2017/10/23/engineering-research-center-opens-early/ |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Established in 1847, Brown's engineering program is the oldest in the Ivy League and the third oldest civilian engineering program in the country.{{Efn|The program was preceded by that of the [[Rensselaer Institute]] (1824) and [[Union College]] (1845) |name= |group= }} In 1916, Brown's departments of electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering were merged into a single Division of Engineering. In 2010 the division was elevated to a School of Engineering.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ember |first=Sydney |date=2010-07-26 |title=Corporation approves engineering school at May meeting |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/07/26/corporation-approves-engineering-school-at-may-meeting/ |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801041022/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2010/07/corporation-approves-engineering-school-at-may-meeting/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Engineering at Brown is especially interdisciplinary. The school is organized without the traditional departments or boundaries found at most schools and follows a model of connectivity between disciplines—including biology, medicine, physics, chemistry, computer science, the humanities, and the social sciences. The school practices an innovative clustering of faculties in which engineers team with non-engineers to bring a convergence of ideas.

Student teams have launched two [[CubeSat]]s with the support of the School of Engineering. Brown Space Engineering developed [[EQUiSat]] a 1U satellite, and another interdisciplinary team developed [[SBUDNIC]] a 3U satellite.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schornstein |first1=Benjamin |title=Student-built satellite returns after two and a half years in space |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2021/03/student-built-satellite-returns-after-two-and-a-half-years-in-space |work=The Brown Daily Herald |access-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805114714/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2021/03/student-built-satellite-returns-after-two-and-a-half-years-in-space |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sandlow |first1=Haley |title=Student-led team delays launch of satellite to June 2022 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/student-led-team-delays-launch-of-satellite-to-june-2022 |access-date=5 August 2022 |work=The Brown Daily Herald |archive-date=August 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805114949/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/student-led-team-delays-launch-of-satellite-to-june-2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===IE Brown Executive MBA Dual Degree Program===
Since 2009, Brown has developed an Executive MBA program in conjunction with one of the leading Business Schools in Europe, [[IE Business School]] in Madrid. This relationship has since strengthened resulting in both institutions offering a dual degree program.<ref>{{cite web |author=Brown's website |date=October 2014 |url=https://brown.edu/professional/executive/iebrown-mba/ |title=IE Brown Executive MBA |publisher=Brown University News Service |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107114344/http://brown.edu/professional/executive/iebrown-mba/ |archive-date=November 7, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In this partnership, Brown provides its traditional coursework while IE provides most of the business-related subjects making a differentiated alternative program to other Ivy League's EMBAs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Clark |first1=Patrick |title=Brown University Gets Into the MBA Game |newspaper=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-05-23/brown-university-gets-into-the-mba-game |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |access-date=9 March 2015 |date=May 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308052742/http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-05-23/brown-university-gets-into-the-mba-game |archive-date=March 8, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The cohort typically consists of 25–30 EMBA candidates from some 20 countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iebrown.com/faqs.php |title=IE Brown Executive MBA – Faqs – IE Brown Executive MBA |work=iebrown.com |access-date=July 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217091212/http://www.iebrown.com/faqs.php |archive-date=December 17, 2014 |df=mdy}}</ref> Classes are held in Providence, [[Madrid]], [[Cape Town]] and Online.
[[File:Pembroke Hall at Brown University.jpg|thumb|Pembroke Hall (1897) houses the administrative offices of the [[Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women]].]]

===The Pembroke Center===
{{Main|Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women}}

The Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women was established at Brown in 1981 by [[Joan Wallach Scott]] as an interdisciplinary research center on gender.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hinds |first=Katherine |date=1985 |title=Joan Wallach Scott: Breaking New Ground for Women |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40164355 |journal=Change |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=48–53 |doi=10.1080/00091383.1985.9940534 |jstor=40164355 |issn=0009-1383 |access-date=April 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417132646/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40164355 |url-status=live}}</ref> The center is named for Pembroke College, Brown's former women's college, and is affiliated with Brown's [[Sarah Doyle Women's Center]]. The Pembroke Center supports Brown's undergraduate concentration in [[Gender studies|Gender and Sexuality Studies]], post-doctoral research fellowships, the annual Pembroke Seminar, and other academic programs. It also manages various collections, archives, and resources, including the Elizabeth Weed Feminist Theory Papers and the Christine Dunlap Farnham Archive.

===The Graduate School===
{{Main|Brown University Graduate School}}

[[File:Brown's Open Curriculum 50 years picnic.jpg|thumb|[[Sayles Memorial Hall|Sayles Hall]] on the Main Green ]]
Brown introduced graduate courses in the 1870s and granted its first advanced degrees in 1888. The university established a Graduate Department in 1903 and a full Graduate School in 1927.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Graduate School |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=G0200 |access-date=2021-04-11 |website=Brown University |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024737/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=G0200 |url-status=live}}</ref>

With an enrollment of approximately 2,600 students, the school currently offers 33 and 51 master's and doctoral programs, respectively. The school additionally offers a number of fifth-year master's programs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weissmann |first=Elena |date=2015-09-16 |title=Fifth-year master's programs see rise in enrollment, expand to new depts. |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/09/16/fifth-year-masters-programs-see-rise-in-enrollment-expand-to-new-depts/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=September 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910100815/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2015/09/16/fifth-year-masters-programs-see-rise-in-enrollment-expand-to-new-depts/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Overall, admission to the Graduate School is most competitive with an acceptance rate averaging at approximately 9 percent in recent years.

=== Carney Institute for Brain Science ===
{{Main|Carney Institute for Brain Science}}

The Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science is Brown's cross-departmental neuroscience [[research institute]]. The institute's core focus areas include [[Brain–computer interface|brain-computer interfaces]] and [[computational neuroscience]]; additional areas of focus include research into mechanisms of [[cell death]] with the interest of developing therapies for [[Neurodegeneration|neurodegenerative diseases]].

The Carney Institute was founded by [[John Donoghue (neuroscientist)|John Donoghue]] in 2009 as the Brown Institute for Brain Science and renamed in 2018 in recognition of a $100 million gift.<ref name="providencejournal_2018-04-182">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=G. Wayne |title=Brown University gets $100M gift for neuroscience institute |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180418/brown-university-gets-100m-gift-for-neuroscience-institute |access-date=2021-02-18 |website=providencejournal.com |language=en |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024735/https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20180418/brown-university-gets-100m-gift-for-neuroscience-institute |url-status=live}}</ref> The donation, one of the largest in the university's history, established the institute as one of the best-endowed university neuroscience programs in the country.<ref name=":04">{{Cite web |last=Renken |first=Elena |date=2019-05-24 |title=Brain science blooms at Brown |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/brain-science-blooms-brown/ |access-date=2021-02-18 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411024738/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2019/05/24/brain-science-blooms-brown/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Alpert Medical School===
{{Main|Alpert Medical School}}

[[File:Alpert Medical School, Providence, Rhode Island.jpg|thumb|The [[Alpert Medical School]] building on Richmond Street]]Established in 1811, Brown's Alpert Medical School is the fourth oldest medical school in the Ivy League.<ref name=":13"/>{{Efn|The school's founding was preceded by that of [[Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons|Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons]], [[Harvard Medical School]], and [[Dartmouth Medical School]]. While Yale chartered a medical school in 1810, instruction did not begin for another three years.}}

In 1827, medical instruction was suspended by President [[Francis Wayland]] after the program's faculty declined to follow a new policy requiring students to live on campus. The program was reorganized in 1972; the first M.D. degrees from the new Program in Medicine were awarded to a graduating class of 58 students in 1975. In 1991, the school was officially renamed the Brown University School of Medicine, then renamed once more to Brown Medical School in October 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://med.brown.edu/timeline/ |title=History of the Brown Medical School |publisher=Med.brown.edu |access-date=June 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504102538/http://med.brown.edu/timeline/ |archive-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2007, entrepreneur and philanthropist [[Warren Alpert]] donated $100 million to the school. In recognition of the gift, the school's name was changed to the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

In 2020, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' ranked Brown's medical school the 9th most selective in the country, with an acceptance rate of 2.8%.<ref name="usnews.com">{{cite web |last1=Smith-Barrow |first1=Delece |title=10 Medical Schools With the Lowest Acceptance Rates |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2014/03/27/10-medical-schools-with-the-lowest-acceptance-rates |publisher=U.S. News & World Report LP |date=March 27, 2014 |access-date=August 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316192021/http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2014/03/27/10-medical-schools-with-the-lowest-acceptance-rates |archive-date=March 16, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''U.S. News'' ranks the school 38th for research and 35th for primary care.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/primary-care-rankings?int=af3309&int=b3b50a&int=aac509 |title=Best Medical Schools (Primary Care) Ranked in 2019 – US News Rankings |publisher=Grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com |access-date=December 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808235910/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-medical-schools/primary-care-rankings?int=af3309&int=b3b50a&int=aac509 |archive-date=August 8, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brown's medical school is known especially for its eight-year [[Program in Liberal Medical Education]] (PLME), an eight-year combined baccalaureate-M.D. medical program. Inaugurated in 1984, the program is one of the most selective and renowned programs of its type in the country, offering admission to only 2% of applicants in 2021.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Kubzansky |first=Will |date=2021-04-06 |title=Brown admits record-low 5.4 percent of applicants to the class of 2025 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/04/06/brown-admits-record-low-5-4-percent-applicants-class-2025/ |access-date=2021-04-11 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=April 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210406235148/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/04/06/brown-admits-record-low-5-4-percent-applicants-class-2025/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 1976, the Early Identification Program (EIP) has encouraged Rhode Island residents to pursue careers in medicine by recruiting sophomores from [[Providence College]], [[Rhode Island College]], the [[University of Rhode Island]], and [[Tougaloo College]]. In 2004, the school once again began to accept applications from premedical students at other colleges and universities via [[AMCAS]] like most other medical schools. The medical school also offers M.D./PhD, M.D./[[Master of Public Health|M.P.H.]] and M.D./[[Master of Public Policy|M.P.P.]] dual degree programs.

=== School of Public Health ===
{{Main|Brown University School of Public Health}}

[[File:121 South Main St and Providence River.jpg|thumb|The primary building of the [[Brown University School of Public Health]] viewed from across the [[Providence River]]]]
Brown's School of Public Health grew out of the Alpert Medical School's Department of Community Health and was officially founded in 2013 as an independent school.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=February 14 |last2=Orenstein 401-863-1862 |first2=2013 Media contact: David |title=Brown creates School of Public Health |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/02/publichealth |access-date=2021-02-05 |website=news.brown.edu |language=en |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213050905/https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/02/publichealth |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":02">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Rhonda |date=2013-07-13 |title=Brown launches public-health school |url=https://pbn.com/brown-launches-public-health-school90092/ |access-date=2021-03-01 |website=Providence Business News |language=en-US |archive-date=August 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801041023/https://pbn.com/brown-launches-public-health-school90092/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The school issues undergraduate (A.B., Sc.B.), graduate (M.P.H., Sc.M., A.M.), doctoral (Ph.D.), and dual-degrees (M.P.H./M.P.A., M.D./M.P.H.).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wren |first=Kayli |date=2016-09-28 |title=Brown becomes first in country to offer four-year joint MD-MPA program |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2016/09/28/brown-becomes-first-country-offer-four-year-joint-md-mpa-program/ |access-date=2021-04-01 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=September 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929143057/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2016/09/28/brown-becomes-first-country-offer-four-year-joint-md-mpa-program/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Online programs===
The Brown University School of Professional Studies currently offers [[blended learning]] Executive master's degrees in [[Health administration|Healthcare Leadership]], Cyber Security, and Science and Technology Leadership.<ref>{{citation |title=Brown School of Professional Studies |url=https://professional.brown.edu/ |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413123935/https://professional.brown.edu/ |archive-date=April 13, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The master's degrees are designed to help students who have a job and life outside of academia to progress in their respective fields. The students meet in Providence every 6–7 weeks for a weekly seminar each trimester.

The university has also invested in [[MOOC]] development starting in 2013, when two courses, ''Archeology's Dirty Little Secrets'' and ''The Fiction of Relationship'', both of which received thousands of students.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brown launches two free online courses |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/06/coursera |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514141420/https://news.brown.edu/articles/2013/06/coursera |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, after a year of courses, the university broke its contract with [[Coursera]] and revamped its online persona and MOOC development department. By 2017, the university released new courses on [[EdX|edx]], two of which were ''The Ethics of Memory'' and ''Artful Medicine: Art's Power to Enrich Patient Care''. In January 2018, Brown published its first "game-ified" course called ''Fantastic Places, Unhuman Humans: Exploring Humanity Through Literature'', which featured out-of-platform games to help learners understand materials, as well as a story-line that immerses users into a fictional world to help characters along their journey.<ref>{{citation |title=BrownX |url=https://www.edx.org/school/brownx |access-date=May 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514065004/https://www.edx.org/school/brownx |archive-date=May 14, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Admissions and financial aid==
{{Infobox U.S. college admissions|year=2021|ref=<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2020_2021_Final2_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008203757/https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2020_2021_Final2_0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2021-10-08 |title=Brown University Common Data Set 2020–2021 |date=2021}}</ref>|change ref=<ref>{{cite web |url=https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2014-2015.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005092805/https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2014-2015.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-10-05 |title=Brown University Common Data Set 2014–2015 |date=2015}}</ref>|admit rate=4%|admit rate change=+0.67|yield rate=62.05%|yield rate change=+1.25|SAT EBRW=750–780|SAT Math=750–790|ACT=34–36|top decile=95%|top decile change=+4.7}}

=== Undergraduate ===
Undergraduate admission to Brown University is considered "most selective" by ''[[U.S. News & World Report]].''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Brown University |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/brown-university-3401#:~:text=Brown%20University%20admissions%20is%20most,score%20of%2033%20and%2035. |website=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-date=December 5, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205174347/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/brown-university-3401#:~:text=Brown%20University%20admissions%20is%20most,score%20of%2033%20and%2035. |url-status=live}}</ref> For the undergraduate class of 2026, Brown received 50,649 applications—the largest applicant pool in the university's history and a 9% increase from the prior year. Of these applicants, 2,560 were admitted for an acceptance rate of 5.0%, the lowest in the university's history.<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |title=Brown admits record-low 5% of applicants to class of 2026 |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408023827/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2022/03/brown-admits-record-low-5-of-applicants-to-class-of-2026 |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=2022-04-08 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2021, the university reported a yield rate of 69%.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kubzansky |first=Will |date=2021-07-26 |title=A 'waiting game': life on Brown's waitlist during an uncertain admissions season |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/07/26/waiting-game-life-browns-waitlist-uncertain-admissions-season/ |access-date=2021-07-27 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=July 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727042434/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2021/07/26/waiting-game-life-browns-waitlist-uncertain-admissions-season/ |url-status=live}}</ref> For the academic year 2019–20 the university received 2,030 transfer applications, of which 5.8% were accepted.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Common Data Set 2019–2020 |url=https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2019_2020.pdf |access-date=3 Feb 2021 |website=brown.edu |archive-date=February 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210223222557/https://oir.brown.edu/sites/g/files/dprerj381/files/2020-04/CDS_2019_2020.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

Brown's admissions policy is currently stipulated [[need-blind]] for all domestic first-year applicants,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/need-blind-admission|title=Need Blind Admission: Financial Aid|work=Brown University|access-date=2019-11-02}}</ref> but will be extended to international first-year applicants starting with the Class of 2029.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://admission.brown.edu/international/financial-aid|website=www.brown.edu|publisher=Brown University|access-date=2024-02-17 |title=Financial Aid for International Applicants }}</ref> In 2017, Brown announced that loans would be eliminated from all undergraduate financial aid awards starting in 2018–2019, as part of a new $30 million campaign called the ''Brown Promise''.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 7, 2017 |title=Brown to eliminate loans from University undergraduate aid packages in 2018–19 |publisher=Brown University |url=https://news.brown.edu/articles/2017/12/promise |url-status=dead |access-date=January 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180110054538/https://news.brown.edu/articles/2017/12/promise |archive-date=January 10, 2018}}</ref> In 2016–17, the university awarded need-based scholarships worth $120.5 million. The average need-based award for the class of 2020 was $47,940.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home – Financial Aid |url=https://brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006105016/http://brown.edu/about/administration/financial-aid/ |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 8, 2014 |publisher=Brown University}}</ref>

=== Graduate ===
In 2017, the Graduate School accepted 11% of 9,215 applicants.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/about/facts |title=Facts About Brown |publisher=Brown University |access-date=October 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006113951/http://www.brown.edu/about/facts |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021, Brown received a record 948 applications for roughly 90 spots in its Master of Public Health Degree.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 10, 2021 |title=As public health dominates public conversation, Brown receives record number of MPH applications |url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-03-10/mph |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310165433/https://www.brown.edu/news/2021-03-10/mph |archive-date=March 10, 2021}}</ref>

In 2020, ''U.S. News'' ranked Brown's [[Alpert Medical School|Warren Alpert Medical School]] the 9th most selective in the country, with an acceptance rate of 2.8 percent.<ref>{{cite web |title=10 Medical Schools With the Lowest Acceptance Rates |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2017-03-16/10-medical-schools-with-the-lowest-acceptance-rates |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316165128/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/the-short-list-grad-school/articles/2017-03-16/10-medical-schools-with-the-lowest-acceptance-rates |archive-date=March 16, 2017 |access-date=August 27, 2017 |work=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref>

==Rankings==
{{Infobox US university ranking
<!-- U.S. rankings -->| Forbes = 18
| THE_WSJ = 27
| USNWR_NU = 13 (tie)
| Wamo_NU = 29
<!-- Global rankings -->| QS_W = 69
| ARWU_W = 100–150
| THES_W = 58
| USNWR_W = 150 (tie)
}}
{| class="wikitable floatright plainrowheaders"
|+USNWR graduate school rankings (2022)<ref name="USNWR Grad School Rankings">{{cite magazine |title=Brown University Graduate Programs |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-graduate-schools/brown-university-217156 |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=March 29, 2022 |archive-date=March 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330004515/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-graduate-schools/brown-university-217156 |url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope="row" | Engineering
| 53
|-
! scope="row" | Medicine (Primary Care)
| 14
|-
! scope="row" | Medicine (Research)
| 35
|}

{|class="wikitable floatright plainrowheaders"
|+USNWR departmental rankings (2022)<ref name="USNWR Grad School Rankings" />
|-
! scope="row" | Biological Sciences
| 37
|-
! scope="row" | Biostatistics
|13
|-
! scope="row" | Chemistry
| 62
|-
! scope="row" | Computer Science
| 26
|-
! scope="row" | Earth Sciences
| 12
|-
! scope="row" | Economics
| 20
|-
! scope="row" | English
| 13
|-
! scope="row" | History
| 18
|-
! scope="row" | Mathematics
| 14
|-
! scope="row" | Physics
| 28
|-
! scope="row" | Political Science
| 41
|-
! scope="row" | Psychology
| 23
|-
! scope="row" | Public Affairs
| 62
|-
! scope="row" | Public Health
| 16
|-
! scope="row" | Sociology
| 20
|}

Brown University is [[Higher education accreditation in the United States|accredited]] by the [[New England Commission of Higher Education]].<ref>{{Citation |title=Rhode Island Institutions – NECHE |publisher=[[New England Commission of Higher Education]] |url=https://www.neche.org/institutions/ri/ |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-date=May 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512075952/https://www.neche.org/institutions/ri/ |url-status=live}}</ref> For their 2021 rankings, The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education ranked Brown 5th in the "Best Colleges 2021" edition.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=2020-09-17 |title=Best Colleges 2021: Explore the Full WSJ/THE College Ranking List |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-colleges-2021-explore-the-full-wsj-the-college-ranking-list-11600383830 |access-date=2020-09-21 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=January 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065454/https://www.wsj.com/articles/best-colleges-2021-explore-the-full-wsj-the-college-ranking-list-11600383830 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The ''[[Forbes]]'' magazine annual ranking of "America's Top Colleges 2022"—which ranked 600 research universities, liberal arts colleges and service academies—ranked Brown 19th overall and 18th among universities.<ref>{{cite web |title=Brown University |url=https://www.forbes.com/colleges/brown-university/?list=top-colleges |magazine=Forbes |date=August 15, 2019 |access-date=September 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422001952/http://www.forbes.com/colleges/brown-university/?list=top-colleges |archive-date=April 22, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' ranked Brown 9th among national universities in its 2023 edition.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=2021 Best National University Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities |access-date=March 2, 2021 |website=U.S. News & World Report |archive-date=February 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223062922/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities |url-status=live}}</ref> The 2022 edition also ranked Brown 2nd for undergraduate teaching, 25th in Most Innovative Schools, and 14th in Best Value Schools.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown University Overall Rankings |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/brown-university-3401/overall-rankings |access-date=March 1, 2021 |website=U.S. News & World Report |archive-date=February 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213091444/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/brown-university-3401/overall-rankings |url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[Washington Monthly]]'' ranked Brown 30th in 2024 among 438 national universities in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 National University Rankings |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024-college-guide/national/ |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=Washington Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2022, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' ranks Brown 129th globally.

In 2014, ''Forbes'' magazine ranked Brown 7th on its list of "America's Most Entrepreneurial Universities."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/liyanchen/2014/07/30/startup-schools-americas-most-entrepreneurial-universities/ |title=Startup Schools: America's Most Entrepreneurial Universities |author=Liyan Chen |work=Forbes |access-date=July 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150803165717/http://www.forbes.com/sites/liyanchen/2014/07/30/startup-schools-americas-most-entrepreneurial-universities/ |archive-date=August 3, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Forbes'' analysis looked at the ratio of "alumni and students who have identified themselves as founders and business owners on LinkedIn" and the total number of alumni and students. LinkedIn particularized the ''Forbes'' rankings, placing Brown third (between [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] and [[Princeton University|Princeton]]) among "Best Undergraduate Universities for Software Developers at Startups." LinkedIn's methodology involved a career-path examination of "millions of alumni profiles" in its membership database.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.linkedin.com/edu/rankings/us/undergraduate-software-engineering-small?trk=edu-rankings-ctg-card|title=LinkedIn.com}}</ref>

In 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 the university produced the most [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright]] recipients of any university in the nation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top Producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars and Students, 2020–21 |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/top-producers-of-fulbright-u-s-scholars-and-students-2020-21 |access-date=2021-04-09 |website=www.chronicle.com |date=February 15, 2021 |archive-date=April 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405223225/https://www.chronicle.com/article/top-producers-of-fulbright-u-s-scholars-and-students-2020-21 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown ranked nation's No. 2 producer of Fulbright winners for 2019–20 |url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-02-10/fulbright |access-date=2021-04-09 |website=Brown University |date=February 10, 2020 |language=en |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303185133/https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-02-10/fulbright |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown is nation's top Fulbright-producing university, U.S. State Department data shows |url=https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-02-28/fulbright |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=Brown University |date=February 28, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302004221/https://www.brown.edu/news/2022-02-28/fulbright |url-status=live}}</ref> Brown has also produced the 7th most Rhodes Scholars of all colleges and universities in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-11-26 |title=Universities by Number of Rhodes Scholars |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/universities-by-number-of-rhodes-scholars.html |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=WorldAtlas |language=en-US |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207061359/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/universities-by-number-of-rhodes-scholars.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2025 the university ranked 229 of 257 top colleges in free speech rankings by the [[Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression]] and "College Pulse", after ranking at 69 in 2024 and at 114 in 2022/2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free Speech Rankings |url=https://rankings.thefire.org/rank/school/brown-university |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=rankings.thefire.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 College Free Speech Rankings |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2024-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2022-2023 College Free Speech Rankings |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2022-2023-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=2025-02-16 |website=The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |language=en}}</ref>

==Research==
Brown is a member of the [[Association of American Universities]] since 1933 and is [[Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education|classified]] among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity".<ref>{{cite web |title=Brown University |url=https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members/brown-university |website=www.aau.edu |publisher=Association of American Universities (AAU) |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718030242/https://www.aau.edu/who-we-are/our-members/brown-university |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=217156 |website=carnegieclassifications.iu.edu |publisher=Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718030248/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=217156 |url-status=live}}</ref> In FY 2017, Brown spent $212.3 million on research and was ranked 103rd in the United States by total R&D expenditure by [[National Science Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |website=nsf.gov |publisher=National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=January 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170113144205/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NSF – NCSES Academic Institution Profiles – Brown University |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=reportsall&fice=3401 |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |publisher=National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics |access-date=18 July 2020 |archive-date=July 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718061927/https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=reportsall&fice=3401 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2021 Brown's School of Public Health received the 4th most funding in [[NIH grant|NIH awards]] among schools of public health in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nietzel |first=Michael T. |title=Johns Hopkins Tops List Of Leading Universities For NIH Funding In 2021 |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/02/24/johns-hopkins-tops-list-of-leading-universities-for-nih-funding-in-2021/ |access-date=2022-02-24 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=March 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302154205/https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2022/02/24/johns-hopkins-tops-list-of-leading-universities-for-nih-funding-in-2021/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Student life==
{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Undergraduate demographics as of Fall 2023<ref>{{cite web |title= College Scorecard: Brown University|url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school?217156-Brown-University|website=College Scorecard |publisher=[[United States Department of Education]] |access-date=July 15, 2025 }}</ref>
|-
! Race and ethnicity
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic whites|White]]
|align=right| {{bartable|36|%|2||background:cyan}}
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]]
|align=right| {{bartable|20|%|2||background:orange}}
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
|align=right| {{bartable|12|%|2||background:green}}
|-
| [[International student]]
|align=right| {{bartable|12|%|2||background:#008080}}
|-
| [[African Americans|Black]]
|align=right| {{bartable|9|%|2||background:purple}}
|-
| [[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races]]
|align=right| {{bartable|8|%|2||background:violet}}
|-
| Unknown
|align=right| {{bartable|2|%|2||background:grey}} 
|-
! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |[[Economic diversity]]
|-
| [[American lower class|Low-income]]{{efn|The percentage of students who received an income-based federal [[Pell grant]] intended for low-income students.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|14|%|2||background:red}}
|-
| [[Affluence in the United States|Affluent]]{{efn|The percentage of students who are a part of the [[American middle class]] at the bare minimum.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|86|%|2||background:black}}
|}
===Spring weekend===
{{Main|Spring Weekend}}

Established in 1950, Spring Weekend is an annual spring music festival for students. Historical performers at the festival have included [[Ella Fitzgerald]], [[Dizzy Gillespie]], [[Ray Charles]], [[Bob Dylan]], [[Janis Joplin]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], and U2. More recent headliners include [[Kendrick Lamar]], [[Young Thug]], [[Daniel Caesar]], [[Anderson .Paak]], [[Mitski]], [[Aminé]], and [[Mac DeMarco]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Connor |date=2018-03-20 |title=Anderson .Paak, NAO to headline Spring Weekend |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/03/20/anderson-paak-nao-headline-spring-weekend/ |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803122906/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/03/20/anderson-paak-nao-headline-spring-weekend/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Spring Weekend |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=S0380 |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=Brown University |archive-date=July 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710171216/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=S0380 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Nicholas Michael |author2=Katherine Ok, Nicholas |date=2020-04-23 |title=The ghosts of Spring Weekends past |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/04/23/ghosts-spring-weekends-past/ |access-date=2021-03-07 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=May 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505031832/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/04/23/ghosts-spring-weekends-past/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown Concert Agency announces 2019 Spring Weekend lineup |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2019/03/brown-concert-agency-announces-2019-spring-weekend-lineup |access-date=2023-02-04 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref> Since 1960, Spring Weekend has been organized by the student-run Brown Concert Agency.

[[File:Main Green at Brown University.jpg|thumb|Many Spring Weekend events are hosted on Brown's Main Green.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The ghosts of Spring Weekends past |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2020/04/the-ghosts-of-spring-weekends-past |access-date=2021-12-31 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=December 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211231055801/https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2020/04/the-ghosts-of-spring-weekends-past |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

=== Residential and Greek societies ===
Approximately 12 percent of Brown students participate in [[Fraternities and sororities|Greek Life]].<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Emily Teng |author2=Spencer Schultz |date=2020-04-06 |title=Spring 2020 Herald poll reflects student perspectives, experiences |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/04/06/spring-2020-herald-poll-reflects-student-perspectives-experiences/ |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=November 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111115454/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/04/06/spring-2020-herald-poll-reflects-student-perspectives-experiences/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The university recognizes thirteen active Greek organizations. Since the early 1950s, all Greek organizations on campus have been located in Wriston Quadrangle.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Fraternities |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=F0270 |access-date=2021-03-29 |website=Brown University |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505201808/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=F0270 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Societies and clubs ===
[[File:Ladd Observatory2.jpg|thumb|[[Ladd Observatory]], built 1890–1891, is used by Brown Space Engineering, a student group focused on [[aerospace engineering]].]]
The earliest societies at Brown were devoted to oration and debate. The Pronouncing Society is mentioned in the diary of [[Solomon Drowne]], class of 1773, who was voted its president in 1771.<ref name=":7" /> The organization seems to have disappeared during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. Subsequent societies include the Misokosmian Society (est. 1798 and renamed the Philermenian Society), the Philandrian Society (est. 1799), the United Brothers (1806), the Philophysian Society (1818), and the Franklin Society (1824). Societies served social as well as academic purposes, with many supporting literary debate and amassing large libraries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Franklin Society |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=F0260 |access-date=2021-08-06 |website=Brown University |archive-date=August 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806024223/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=F0260 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="brown.edu">{{Cite web |title=Encyclopedia Brunoniana: Philermenian Society |url=https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=P0190 |access-date=2021-08-06 |website=Brown University |archive-date=August 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806024221/https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=P0190 |url-status=live}}</ref> Older societies generally aligned with [[Federalist Party|Federalists]] while younger societies generally leaned [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]].<ref name=":7" />

Societies remained popular into the 1860s, after which they were largely replaced by fraternities.<ref name="brown.edu"/>
[[File:Liber Brunensis (1910)-Cammarian-Club-without-names.jpg|thumb|upright=.5|The Cammarian Club in 1910]]
The Cammarian Club was at first a semi-secret society that "tapped" 15 seniors each year. In 1915, self-perpetuating membership gave way to popular election by the student body, and thenceforward the club served as the ''de facto'' undergraduate student government. The organization was dissolved in 1971 and ultimately succeeded by a formal student government.

[[Societas Domi Pacificae]], known colloquially as "Pacifica House", is a present-day, self-described secret society. It purports a continuous line of descent from the Franklin Society of 1824, citing a supposed intermediary "Franklin Society" traceable in the nineteenth century.

=== Student organizations ===
{{See also|Category:Brown University organizations}}
There are over 300 registered student organizations on campus with diverse interests. The Student Activities Fair, during the orientation program, provides first-year students the opportunity to become acquainted with a wide range of organizations. A sample of organizations includes:

{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
*''[[The Brown Daily Herald]]''
*[[Brown Debating Union]]
*[[The Brown Derbies]]
*[[Brown International Organization]]
*''[[Brown Journal of World Affairs]]''
*''[[The Brown Jug]]''
*''[[The Brown Noser]]''
*''[[Brown Political Review]]''
*''[[The Brown Spectator]]''
*[[Brown Student/Community Radio|BSR]]
*[[Brown University Band]]
*[[Brown University Orchestra]]
*[[Chinese Students and Scholars Association]]
*''[[The College Hill Independent]]''
*''[[Critical Review (Brown University)|Critical Review]]''
*[[Ivy Film Festival]]
*[[Jabberwocks]]
*[[Production Workshop]]
*[[Strait Talk]]
*[[Starla and Sons]]
*[[Students for Sensible Drug Policy]]
*[[WBRU]]
{{div col end}}

=== LGBTQ+ ===
In 2023, 38% of Brown's students identified as being LGBTQ+, in a poll by ''[[The Brown Daily Herald]]''.<ref name="BrownLGBT23">{{cite news |last1=Barnett |first1=Sofia |last2=Doherty |first2=Ryan |title=LGBTQ+ student self-identification has doubled at Brown since 2010, according to Herald polling data |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/06/lgbtq-student-self-identification-has-doubled-since-2010-according-to-herald-polling-data |access-date=10 July 2023 |agency=The Brown Daily Herald |date=June 24, 2023}}</ref> The 2023 LGBTQ+ self-identification level was an increase, up from 14% LGBT identification in 2010.<ref name="BrownLGBT23"/> "Bisexual" was the most common answer amongst LGBTQ+ respondents to the poll.<ref name="BrownLGBT23"/>

=== Resource centers ===
[[File:Sarah Doyle Womens Center Brown University.jpg|thumb|The [[Sarah Doyle Women's Center]]]]
Brown has several resource centers on campus. The centers often act as sources of support as well as safe spaces for students to explore certain aspects of their identity. Additionally, the centers often provide physical spaces for students to study and have meetings. Although most centers are identity-focused, some provide academic support as well.

The [[Brown Center for Students of Color]] (BCSC) is a space that provides support for students [[People of color|of color]]. Established in 1972 at the demand of student protests, the BCSC encourages students to engage in critical dialogue, develop leadership skills, and promote [[social justice]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/about/frequently-asked-questions-faqs |website=Brown Center for Students of Color |publisher=Brown University |access-date=November 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141123094123/http://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/about/frequently-asked-questions-faqs |archive-date=November 23, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The center houses various programs for students to share their knowledge and engage in discussion. Programs include the Third World Transition Program, the Minority Peer Counselor Program, the Heritage Series, and other student-led initiatives. Additionally, the BCSC hopes to foster community among the students it serves by providing spaces for students to meet and study.

The [[Sarah Doyle Women's Center]] aims to provide a space for members of the Brown community to examine and explore issues surrounding [[gender]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Welcome to the Sarah Doyle Women's Center |url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/sarah-doyle-center/ |website=Sarah Doyle Women's Center |publisher=Brown University |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202235132/http://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/sarah-doyle-center/ |archive-date=December 2, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> The center was named after one of the first women to attend Brown, [[Sarah Doyle]]. The center emphasizes [[intersectionality]] in its conversations on gender, encouraging people to see gender as present and relevant in various aspects of life. The center hosts programs and workshops in order to facilitate dialogue and provide resources for students, faculty, and staff.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guiding Philosophies |url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/sarah-doyle-center/guiding-philosophies |website=Sarah Doyle Women's Center |publisher=Brown University |access-date=November 26, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012090922/http://brown.edu/campus-life/support/sarah-doyle-center/guiding-philosophies |archive-date=October 12, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Other centers include the LGBTQ Center, the Undocumented, First-Generation College and Low-Income Student (U-FLi) Center,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brown.edu/ufli/home |title=Undocumented, First-Generation College, and Low-Income Student Center |access-date=2020-08-03 |archive-date=July 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702210445/https://www.brown.edu/ufli/home |url-status=live}}</ref> and the Curricular Resource Center.

=== Activism ===
====1968 Black Student Walkout====
On December 5, 1968, several Black women from Pembroke College initiated a walkout in protest of an atmosphere at the colleges described by Black students as a "stifling, frustrating, [and] degrading place for Black students" after feeling the colleges were non-responsive to their concerns. In total, 65 Black students participated in the walkout. Their principal demand was to increase Black student enrollment to 11% of the student populace, in an attempt to match that of the proportion in the US. This ultimately resulted in a 300% increase in Black enrollment the following year, but some demands have yet to be met.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TWC History at Brown: Brown Center for Students of Color |url=https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/history |access-date=2020-09-08 |website=Brown University |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823234043/https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/support/students-of-color/history |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author1=Priyanka Podugu |author2=Trisha Thacker |author3=Katherine Bennett |date=2018-12-07 |title=Students commemorate legacy, impact of 1968 walkout |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/12/07/students-commemorate-legacy-impact-1968-walkout/ |access-date=2020-09-08 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US |archive-date=June 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610192404/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2018/12/07/students-commemorate-legacy-impact-1968-walkout/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Rape lists====
In the 1990s, walls in womens' bathrooms in the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Library were used to graffiti names of alleged male rapists.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2021/03/if-we-don-t-start-taking-care-of-each-other-no-one-will-how-women-started-a-movement-that-redefined-how-brown-handles-sexual-assault |first1=Caelyn |last1=Pender |date=2021-03-18 |accessdate=2025-09-13 |work=Brown Daily Herald |title="If we don't start taking care of each other, no one will": how women started a movement that redefined how Brown handles sexual assault}}</ref> The practice caused the school to re-evaluate how it handles sexual misbehaviour on campus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/architectureandmemory/8122.html |title=Architecture and Memory: The List in 1990 |first1=Erin |last1=Calfee |website=brown.edu |accessdate=2025-09-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-24-mn-4638-story.html |date=1990-11-24 |title=Assaults on Women, "Rape Lists" Alter Brown University Policy |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |accessdate=2025-09-13}}</ref>

====Divestment from South Africa====
In the mid-1980s, under student pressure, the university divested from certain companies involved in South Africa. Some students were still unsatisfied with partial divestment and began a fast in Manning Chapel and the university disenrolled them. In April 1987, "dozens" of students interrupted a university corporation meeting, leading to 20 being put on probation.<ref name=BAM>"The Big Issue: Monetary Morality," ''Brown Alumni Monthly'', Sept.-Oct. 2021, p. 16-17</ref>

====Protest of speech by NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly====

In 2013, students and Providence community members [[Protest of Ray Kelly at Brown University|protested and disrupted a speech]] by then-NYPD Commissioner [[Raymond Kelly]]. The incident was cited by [[Greg Lukianoff]], president of the [[Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression]], as a high-profile example of a form of student protest questioning conceptions of free speech.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-19 |title=In a Polarized Climate, Free-Speech Warriors Seize the Spotlight |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/in-a-polarized-climate-free-speech-warriors-seize-the-spotlight/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}</ref> The incident was also the subject of a short critical documentary in 2016 by Brown alumnus Rob Montz.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patinkin |first=Mark |title=Brown gets a lesson on political correctness |url=https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/education/campus/2016/08/30/mark-patinkin-brown-gets-lesson-on-political-correctness/25549605007/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=The Providence Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Israel-Gaza protests ====
In early November 2023, twenty students of Jewish background affiliated with the campus group "Jews for Ceasefire Now" (later renamed "Jews for Palestinian Liberation") staged a sit in at University Hall, resulting in their arrests by order of the University administration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Students occupying University Hall arrested after sit-in demanding divestment, ceasefire |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/11/students-at-university-hall-sit-in-for-ceasefire-detained-by-police |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref> The students were protesting the [[Gaza genocide]] and calling for a ceasefire, as well as for the university to divest from companies that "facilitate the 'Israeli military occupation' in Gaza." A few weeks later, the campus was  rocked by the shooting of an undergraduate student from Palestine, Hisham Awartani, while he was visiting family in Vermont.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown junior among three Palestinian students shot in Vermont Saturday night |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2023/11/brown-junior-among-three-palestinian-students-shot-in-vermont-saturday-night |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref> In the wake of the shooting, in early December 2023, forty-one more students held a sit-in with similar demands which resulted in additional arrests by the University. The following semester, as the administration continued to press charges on the forty-one sit-in participants,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Paxson reaffirms plans to pursue charges against 41 students arrested in Dec. 11 sit-in |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2024/03/paxson-reaffirms-plans-to-pursue-charges-against-41-students-arrested-in-dec-11-sit-in |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=The Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref> nineteen students participated in an eight-day hunger strike preceding a corporation meeting with the demand to present their case to corporation members.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Forty-One Brown Students Arrested during Anti-Israel Sit-In on Campus — National Review |url=https://apple.news/AXMl6_9pVSmmK-XXlS7ev7A |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=apple.news |language=en-US}}</ref> During the wave of [[2024 pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses|pro-Palestine university protests]] in the spring of that year, Brown University students erected a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" on the University's Main Green, which involved over 80 students and stood for a week before negotiations between the protestors and the Brown administration brought the standoff to a close, resulting in a large number of students being put on probations of various lengths.<ref>{{cite web|title=Around eighty students begin indefinite encampment on Main Green in support of divestment|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2024/04/around-eighty-students-begin-indefinite-encampment-on-main-green-in-support-of-divestment|website=browndailyherald.com|access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref>  In October 2024, the corporation held an early vote on the issue of divestment, rejecting the proposal in an 8-2 vote.<ref>{{cite web|title=Brown University Corporation votes to reject divestment resolution|url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2024/10/divestment-voted-down-by-brown-university-corporation|website=browndailyherald.com|access-date=2025-10-03}}</ref> Following a University investigation into student protests resulting from this decision, the University suspended the [[Students for Justice in Palestine]] chapter at Brown.  

==Athletics==
{{Main|Brown Bears}}

[[File:The 1879 Brown University Baseball Team.jpg|left|thumb|The 1879 Brown baseball varsity, with [[William Edward White|W.E. White]] seated second from right. White's appearance in an 1879 major league game may be the first person of color to play professional baseball, 68 years before [[Jackie Robinson]].<ref>Robert Siegel, "Black Baseball Pioneer William White's 1879 Game," National Public Radio, broadcast January 30, 2004 (audio at npr.org)</ref><ref>Stefan Fatsis, "Mystery of Baseball: Was William White Game's First Black?" ''Wall Street Journal'', January 30, 2004 (online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB107541676333815810)</ref><ref>Peter Morris and Stefan Fatsis, "Baseball's Secret Pioneer: William Edward White, the first black player in major-league history," ''Slate'', February 4, 2014</ref><ref>Rick Harris, ''Brown University Baseball: A Legacy of the game'' (Charleston: The History Press, 2012), pp. 41–3</ref>]]
Brown is a member of the [[Ivy League]] athletic conference, which is categorized as a [[NCAA Division I|Division I]] (top-level) conference of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA).

The Brown Bears has one of the largest university sports programs in the United States, sponsoring 32 [[varsity team|varsity]] intercollegiate teams.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://brownbears.com/ |title=Brown University Athletics – Official Athletics Website |website=Brown University Athletics |access-date=March 12, 2021 |archive-date=March 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311113350/https://brownbears.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Brown's athletic program is one of the ''U.S. News & World Report'' top 20—the "College Sports Honor Roll"—based on breadth of the program and athletes' graduation rates. {{Multiple image
| header            = Athletic facilities
| align             = right
| perrow            = 1/2/1
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Brown Stadium Providence Rhode Island wide view.jpg
| caption1          = [[Brown Stadium]] (opened 1925)
| image2            = Nelson Fitness Center (Brown).jpg
| alt2              = 
| caption2          = Nelson Fitness Center (opened 2012)
| image3            = Brown University's Marston Boathouse.jpg
| caption3          = Marston Boathouse, on the [[Seekonk River]]
| image4            = Meehan Auditorium Brown University.jpg
| caption4          = [[Meehan Auditorium]] (opened 1961)
| caption_align     = center
}}

Brown's newest varsity team is women's rugby, promoted from club-sport status in 2014. Brown women's rowing has won 7 national titles between 1999 and 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.brownbears.com/exceptional_bears/nat_champions_teams |title=National Champions (Teams) |work=Brown |access-date=2018-05-16 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517152633/http://www.brownbears.com/exceptional_bears/nat_champions_teams |archive-date=May 17, 2018 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Brown University Rowing|Brown men's rowing]] perennially finishes in the top 5 in the nation, most recently winning silver, bronze, and silver in the national championship races of 2012, 2013, and 2014. The men's and women's crews have also won championship trophies at the [[Henley Royal Regatta]] and the [[Henley Women's Regatta]]. Brown's men's soccer is consistently ranked in the top 20<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brown Men's College Soccer |url=http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-details/men/brown/clgid-425 |access-date=2021-07-02 |website=TopDrawerSoccer.com |language=en |archive-date=July 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725151039/https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer/college-soccer-details/men/brown/clgid-425 |url-status=live}}</ref> and has won 18 Ivy League titles overall; recent{{when|date=October 2014}} soccer graduates play professionally in [[Major League Soccer]] and overseas.

Brown football, under its most successful coach historically, [[Phil Estes]], won Ivy League championships in 1999, 2005, and 2008. high-profile alumni of the football program include former [[Houston Texans]] head coach [[Bill O'Brien (American football)|Bill O'Brien]]; former [[Pennsylvania State University|Penn State]] football coach [[Joe Paterno]], [[Heisman Trophy]] namesake [[John W. Heisman]], and Pollard Award namesake [[Fritz Pollard]].

Brown women's gymnastics won the Ivy League tournament in 2013 and 2014. The Brown women's sailing team has won 5 national championships, most recently in 2019<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/miller-trophy |title=ICSA: Inter-collegiate Sailing Association |website=College Sailing|access-date=2019-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412191815/https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/miller-trophy |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> while the coed sailing team won 2 national championships in 1942 and 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/henry-a.-morss-memorial-trophy |title=ICSA: Inter-collegiate Sailing Association |website=College Sailing |access-date=2019-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412191807/https://collegesailing.org/hall-of-fame/regattas/henry-a.-morss-memorial-trophy |archive-date=April 12, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Both teams are consistency ranked in the top 10 in the nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collegesailing.org/racing/sw-rankings |title=ICSA: Inter-collegiate Sailing Association |website=College Sailing |access-date=2019-05-27 |archive-date=May 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512055908/https://collegesailing.org/racing/sw-rankings |url-status=live}}</ref>

The first intercollegiate ice hockey game in America was played between Brown and Harvard on January 19, 1898.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Harvard University]] |url=http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mice/1897-98/schedule |title=Harvard 1897–98 Men's Ice Hockey Schedule |access-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325091430/http://www.gocrimson.com/sports/mice/1897-98/schedule |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The first university rowing regatta larger than a dual-meet was held between Brown, Harvard, and Yale at [[Lake Quinsigamond]] in Massachusetts on July 26, 1859.<ref>Robert B. Johnson, ''A History of Rowing in America'' (1871), pp. 60–1</ref><ref name=":7" />

Brown also supports competitive intercollegiate club sports, including [[ultimate (sport)|ultimate frisbee]]. The men's ultimate team, Brownian Motion, has won four national championships, in 2000, 2005, 2019 and 2024.<ref>{{cite web |title=2000 College |url=http://www.usaultimate.org/archives/2000_college.aspx |website=USAultimate.org |access-date=9 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150324204351/http://www.usaultimate.org/archives/2000_college.aspx |archive-date=March 24, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Notable people==
=== Alumni ===
{{Main|List of Brown University alumni}}

Alumni in politics and government include [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[John Hay]] (1852), U.S. Secretary of State and [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]] [[Richard Olney]] (1856), [[Chief Justice of the United States]] and U.S. Secretary of State [[Charles Evans Hughes]] (1881), [[List of governors of Wyoming|Governor of Wyoming Territory]] and [[List of governors of Nebraska|Nebraska Governor]] [[John Milton Thayer]] (1841), [[Governor of Rhode Island|Rhode Island Governor]] [[Augustus O. Bourn|Augustus Bourn]] (1855), [[List of governors of Louisiana|Louisiana Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]] '92, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] [[Maggie Hassan]] '80 of New Hampshire, [[List of governors of Delaware|Delaware Governor]] [[Jack Markell]] '82, Rhode Island Representative [[David Cicilline]] '83, Minnesota Representative [[Dean Phillips]] '91, [[2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2020]] Presidential candidate and entrepreneur [[Andrew Yang]] '96, [[Democratic National Committee|DNC Chair]] [[Tom Perez]] '83, diplomat [[Richard Holbrooke]] '62, and career United States diplomat [[W. Stuart Symington (diplomat)|W. Stuart Symington]] '74.<ref>{{cite web |title=Symington, W. Stuart |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/227407.htm |publisher=U.S. Department of State}}</ref>

Prominent alumni in business and finance include philanthropist [[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]] (1897), managing director of [[McKinsey & Company]] and "father of modern [[management consulting]]" [[Marvin Bower]] '25, former [[Chair of the Federal Reserve]] and current [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|U.S. Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Janet Yellen]] '67, [[President of the World Bank Group|World Bank President]] [[Jim Yong Kim]] '82, [[Bank of America]] CEO [[Brian Moynihan]] '81, [[CNN]] founder [[Ted Turner]] '60, [[IBM]] chairman and CEO [[Thomas J. Watson Jr.|Thomas Watson Jr.]] '37, co-founder of [[Starwood Capital Group]] [[Barry Sternlicht]] '82, [[Apple Inc.]] CEO [[John Sculley]] '61, [[BlackBerry Limited|Blackberry Ltd.]] CEO [[John S. Chen]] '78, [[Facebook]] CFO [[David Ebersman]] '91, and [[Uber]] CEO [[Dara Khosrowshahi]] '91.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hansell |first=Saul |date=August 8, 2005 |title=Spinoff of Expedia Comes at Tough Time for Its Sector |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/technology/08expedia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114065455/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/08/technology/08expedia.html |archive-date=November 14, 2014 |access-date=August 28, 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>[https://archive.today/20120713173534/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=534990&ticker=EXPE:US "Dara Khosrowshahi: Executive Profile & Biography"], ''BusinessWeek''</ref> Companies founded by Brown alumni include [[CNN]],''[[The Wall Street Journal]],'' [[Searchlight Pictures]], [[Netgear]], [[W Hotels]], [[Workday, Inc.|Workday]], [[Warby Parker]], [[Casper Sleep|Casper]], [[Figma (software)|Figma]], [[ZipRecruiter]], and [[Cards Against Humanity]].''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosenberg |first=Jerry Martin |title=Inside the Wall Street Journal: The History and the Power of Dow Jones & Company and America's Most Influential Newspaper |date=1982 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-604860-6 |location= |pages= |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Out Of China |url=https://www.forbes.com/2007/05/21/outsourcing-entrepreneurs-immigrants-oped-cx_mc_0522entrepreneurs.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612231052/https://www.forbes.com/2007/05/21/outsourcing-entrepreneurs-immigrants-oped-cx_mc_0522entrepreneurs.html |archive-date=June 12, 2021 |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>''<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |last=Mac |first=Ryan |date=January 6, 2014 |title=Tech Exec Aneel Bhusri Becomes A Billionaire As Workday Shares Soar |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2014/01/06/tech-exec-aneel-bhusri-becomes-a-billionaire-as-workday-shares-soar/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128030417/https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2014/01/06/tech-exec-aneel-bhusri-becomes-a-billionaire-as-workday-shares-soar/ |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |access-date=2021-01-19 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Albert-Deitch |first=Cameron |date=2018-01-02 |title=Why These Casper Co-Founders Swear by Their Morning Routine (Hint: It's Not Just Sleep) |url=https://www.inc.com/cameron-albert-deitch/why-these-casper-co-founders-swear-by-their-morning-routine-hint-its-not-just-sleep.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128101418/https://www.inc.com/cameron-albert-deitch/why-these-casper-co-founders-swear-by-their-morning-routine-hint-its-not-just-sleep.html |archive-date=January 28, 2021 |access-date=2021-01-20 |website=Inc.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Heft-Luthy |first=Sam |date=2012-10-17 |title=Two alums develop risque card game |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2012/10/17/two-alums-develop-risque-card-game/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130052911/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2012/10/17/two-alums-develop-risque-card-game/ |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |access-date=2021-01-24 |website=Brown Daily Herald |language=en-US}}</ref>

Alumni in the arts and media include actors [[Emma Watson]] '14, [[John Krasinski]] '01, [[Daveed Diggs]] '04,<ref>{{cite magazine |date=August 31, 2015 |title=Something Great |url=http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/4012/40/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101135317/http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/4012/40/ |archive-date=January 1, 2018 |access-date=9 June 2017 |magazine=Brown Alumni Magazine}}</ref> [[Julie Bowen]] '91, [[Tracee Ellis Ross]] '94, and [[Jessica Capshaw]] '98; NPR program host [[Ira Glass]] '82; singer-composer [[Mary Chapin Carpenter]] '81; humorist and [[Marx Brothers]] screenwriter [[S. J. Perelman]] '25; novelists [[Nathanael West]] '24, [[Jeffrey Eugenides]] '83, [[Edwidge Danticat]] (MFA '93), and [[Marilynne Robinson]] '66; personal essayist and documentary filmmaker [[David Shields]] ’78; 
and composer and synthesizer pioneer [[Wendy Carlos]] '62, journalist [[James Risen]] '77; political pundit [[Mara Liasson]]; [[MSNBC]] hosts [[Alex Wagner]] '99 and [[Chris Hayes]] '01; ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' publisher [[A. G. Sulzberger]] '03, and magazine editor [[John F. Kennedy Jr.]] '83.

Important figures in the history of education include the father of American public school education [[Horace Mann]] (1819), civil [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] and [[Amherst College]] president [[Alexander Meiklejohn]], first president of the [[University of South Carolina]] [[Jonathan Maxcy]] (1787), [[Bates College]] founder [[Oren B. Cheney]] (1836), [[University of Michigan]] president (1871–1909) [[James Burrill Angell]] (1849), [[University of California]] president (1899–1919) [[Benjamin Ide Wheeler]] (1875), and [[Morehouse College]]'s first African-American president [[John Hope (educator)|John Hope]] (1894).

Alumni in the computer sciences and industry include architect of [[Intel 80386|Intel 386]], [[Intel 80486|486]], and [[Pentium]] microprocessors [[John H. Crawford]] '75, inventor of the first silicon transistor [[Gordon Kidd Teal]] '31, [[MongoDB]] founder [[Eliot Horowitz]] '03, [[Figma (software)|Figma]] founder [[Dylan Field]], and Macintosh developer [[Andy Hertzfeld]] '75.

Other notable alumni include "Lafayette of the [[Greek War of Independence|Greek Revolution]]" and its historian [[Samuel Gridley Howe]] (1821), [[NASA]] head during first seven [[Apollo program|Apollo]] missions [[Thomas O. Paine]] '42, sportscaster [[Chris Berman]] '77, [[Houston Texans]] head coach [[Bill O'Brien (American football)|Bill O'Brien]] '92, 2018 Miss America [[Cara Mund]] '16, [[Pennsylvania State University|Penn State]] football coach [[Joe Paterno]] '50, [[Heisman Trophy]] namesake [[John W. Heisman]] '91, distinguished professor of law [[Cortney Lollar]] '97, Former SEC Commissioner [[Annette Nazareth]] '78, Olympic and world champion triathlete [[Joanna Zeiger]], [[Royal family|royals]] and [[Nobility|nobles]] such as [[Prince Rahim Aga Khan]], [[Prince Faisal bin Al Hussein]] of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Princess [[Leila Pahlavi]] of Iran, [[Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark]], [[Prince Nikita Romanov]], [[Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark (born 1983)|Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark]], [[Prince Jaime, Count of Bardi|Prince Jaime of Bourbon-Parma, Duke of San Jaime and Count of Bardi]], [[Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid]], [[Lady Gabriella Windsor]], [[Prince Alexander von Fürstenberg]], [[Cosima von Bülow Pavoncelli|Countess Cosima von Bülow Pavoncelli]], and her half-brother [[Prince Alexander-Georg von Auersperg]].

[[Nobel Prize|Nobel]] Laureate alumni include humanitarian [[Jerry White (activist)|Jerry White]] '87 ([[Nobel Peace Prize|Peace]], 1997), biologist [[Craig Mello]] '82 ([[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine]], 2006), economist [[Guido Imbens]] (AM '89, PhD '91; [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economic Sciences]], 2021), and economist [[Douglas Diamond]] '75 ([[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economic Sciences]], 2022).

<gallery class="center" mode="packed" widths="140" heights="140" perrow="8" caption="'''Notable Brown University alumni include:'''">
File:Southworth_and_Hawes_-_Horace_Mann_(Zeno_Fotografie)_(cropped).jpg|[[Horace Mann]], class of 1819, regarded as the father of American public education
File:John_Hay,_bw_photo_portrait,_1897.jpg|[[John Hay]], class of 1858, private secretary to [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]]
File:Charles_Evans_Hughes_cph.3b15401.jpg|[[Charles Evans Hughes]], class of 1881, [[Chief Justice of the United States]] and [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]]
File:John_D._Rockefeller_Jr._cph.3a03736_(cropped).jpg|[[John D. Rockefeller Jr.]], class of 1897, philanthropist and developer of [[Rockefeller Center]]
File:Ted_Turner.jpg|[[Ted Turner]], class of 1960, founder of [[CNN]], [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]], and [[World Championship Wrestling|WCW]] and philanthropist
File:Janet_Yellen_official_Federal_Reserve_portrait.jpg|[[Janet Yellen]], class of 1967, the first woman to serve as [[Chair of the Federal Reserve]] and [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|U.S. Secretary of the Treasury]]
File:Maggie_Hassan,_official_portrait,_115th_Congress.jpg|[[Maggie Hassan]], class of 1980, [[United States Senate|U.S. Senator]] of [[New Hampshire]]
File:Brian_Moynihan_FT_CNBC_Nightcap.jpg|[[Brian Moynihan]], class of 1981, chairman and CEO of [[Bank of America]]
File:John_Kennedy_Jr_1997_(cropped).jpg|[[John F. Kennedy Jr.]], class of 1983, lawyer, journalist, and magazine publisher
File:Laura_Linney_2016_(cropped).jpg|[[Laura Linney]], class of 1986, actress, recipient of 4 [[Emmy Award|Emmy Awards]] and 3 time [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominee
File:Jesse_Tyler_Ferguson,_Jason_Winer,_Horace_Newcomb_and_Julie_Bowen,_May_2010_(1)_(cropped).jpg|[[Julie Bowen]], class of 1991, actress, six time [[Emmy Award]] nominee
File:TraceeEllisRossbyErikMelvin_(1).jpg|[[Tracee Ellis Ross]], class of 1994, actress, model, comedienne, and television host
File:MSNBC_host_Chris_Hayes_(8024131849)_(cropped,_closeup).jpg|[[Chris Hayes]], class of 2001, political commentator and host of ''[[All In with Chris Hayes]]''
File:John_Krasinski_and_Josh_Wood_(cropped).jpg|[[John Krasinski]], class of 2001, actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
File:Daveed_Diggs_Worldcon_75,_Helsinki.jpg|[[Daveed Diggs]], class of 2004, actor, rapper, [[Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]] and [[Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical|Tony Award for Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical]] recipient
File:Emma_Watson,_2012.jpg|[[Emma Watson]], class of 2014, actress and model
</gallery>

=== Faculty ===
{{Main|List of Brown University faculty}}

Among Brown's past and present faculty are eight [[Nobel Laureates]]: [[Lars Onsager]] ([[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Chemistry]], 1968), [[Leon Cooper]] ([[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]], 1972), [[George Davis Snell|George Snell]] ([[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine|Physiology or Medicine]], 1980), [[George Stigler]] ([[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economic Sciences]], 1982), [[Henry David Abraham]] ([[Nobel Peace Prize|Peace]], 1985), [[Vernon L. Smith]] ([[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economic Sciences]], 2002), and [[J. Michael Kosterlitz]] ([[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]], 2016), [[Peter Howitt (economist)|Peter Howitt]] ([[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economic Sciences]], 2025).

Notable past and present faculty include biologists [[Anne Fausto-Sterling]] (Ph.D. 1970) and [[Kenneth R. Miller]] (Sc.B. 1970); computer scientists [[Robert Sedgewick (computer scientist)|Robert Sedgewick]] and [[Andries van Dam]]; economists [[Hyman Minsky]], [[Glenn Loury]], [[George Stigler]], [[Mark Blyth]], and [[Emily Oster]]; historians [[Gordon S. Wood]] and [[Joan Wallach Scott]]; mathematicians [[David Gale]], [[David Mumford]], [[Mary Cartwright]], and [[Solomon Lefschetz]]; physicists [[Sylvester James Gates]] and [[Gerald Guralnik]]. Faculty in literature include [[Chinua Achebe]], [[Ama Ata Aidoo]], [https://vivo.brown.edu/display/jortega Julio Ortega], and [[Carlos Fuentes]]. Among Brown's faculty and fellows in political science, and public affairs are the former prime minister of Italy and former [[European Union|EU]] chief, [[Romano Prodi]]; former [[president of Brazil]], [[Fernando Cardoso]]; former [[president of Chile]], [[Ricardo Lagos]]; and son of [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Nikita Khrushchev]], [[Sergei Khrushchev]]. Other faculty include philosopher [[Martha Nussbaum]], author [[Ibram X. Kendi]], and public health doctor [[Ashish Jha]].

===In popular culture===
{{Main|Brown University in popular culture}}

Mentions of Brown in fiction and popular culture include the following.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vanity Fair names Brown most elite, explores stereotypes of Ivy League |url=http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/1998/02/vanity-fair-names-brown-most-elite-explores-stereotypes-of-ivy-league/ |first=Ian |last=Shapira |date=9 February 1998 |access-date=1 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094431/http://dailyprincetonian.com/news/1998/02/vanity-fair-names-brown-most-elite-explores-stereotypes-of-ivy-league/ |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[Family Guy]]'' character [[Brian Griffin]] is a Brown alumnus.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Not-So-Far-Fetched Fictitious Alumni and Attendees of the Ivy League, Part I of II |url=http://www.ivygateblog.com/2012/04/the-not-so-far-fetched-fictitious-alumni-and-attendees-of-the-ivy-league-part-i-of-ii/ |first=Ben |last=Driver |date=26 April 2012 |access-date=5 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306074630/http://www.ivygateblog.com/2012/04/the-not-so-far-fetched-fictitious-alumni-and-attendees-of-the-ivy-league-part-i-of-ii/ |archive-date=March 6, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> ''[[The O.C.]]''{{'}}s main character [[Seth Cohen]] is denied acceptance to Brown while his girlfriend [[Summer Roberts]] is accepted.<ref name="Alvarez">{{cite news |title=Is Brown's popularity a passing trend or here to stay? |url=http://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/04/19/is-browns-popularity-a-passing-trend-or-here-to-stay/ |first=Ana |last=Alvarez |work=[[The Brown Daily Herald]] |date=19 April 2010 |access-date=5 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402114824/http://www.browndailyherald.com/2010/04/19/is-browns-popularity-a-passing-trend-or-here-to-stay/ |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Renewable energy}}
*[[List of Brown University statues]]
*[[Brown University alma mater]]
*[[Josiah S. Carberry]]

{{clear}}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website|https://www.brown.edu/}}
* [https://brownbears.com/index.aspx Brown University Athletics] – Official Athletics Website

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