Brown University is a leading Ivy League institution with a distinctive undergraduate academic program. With outstanding faculty, graduate and medical students, and a tradition of innovative studies, Brown has kept a commitment to diversity and intellectual freedom since its establishment in 1764.
Brown was originally called "Rhode Island College," and it was located in Warren. However, in 1770 it was relocated to Providence.
Brown University has an intercollegiate athletic tradition more than 100 years old, competing against the other seven Ivy League schools, along with other colleges and universities, the Brown Bears compete at the NCAA Division I level.
The University has a vast amount of information housed in five libraries, the David Winton Bell Gallery, and the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology. The first building to be erected was the College Edifice, built soon after the campus was moved to Providence. The Edifice was used as a hospital and barracks for French and American troops during the Revolutionary War. A citizen of Providence named Nicholas Brown donated $5,000, of an eventual $160,000, to the college in 1804, after which the college changed its name to Brown University.