The first college established in America and one of the standard-bearers of learning in the U.S. and around the world, Harvard was founded in 1636. It owes its name to the pastor John Harvard who bequeathed half his fortune and his library to the institution. The 500 buildings on the campus are a town within a town, in which every architectural style is represented, from the early colonial period to modern works by Gropius and Le Corbusier.