Category: Firsts
First Agriculture Degrees Awarded
The first degrees in agriculture are granted by Boston University to students of the Massachusetts College of Agriculture, now University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The four-year curriculum includes courses in German, French, manual labor, and freehand drawing. Boston University continues to confer these degrees until 1912.
Photo courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, W.E.B. DuBois Library, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Centennial Exhibition Award
Alexander Graham Bell’s work on the telephone, completed while he was on a paid sabbatical from the University’s College of Oratory, earns the prize for science at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, which recognizes Boston University’s scientific pioneering. A year later, Bell becomes the first individual to receive an exclusive patent on the telephone.
Women Admitted to MED
Boston University is the first university to admit women to a medical college.
First Professor Exchange with Europe
Boston University is the first American university to exchange professors with European universities.
School of Theology Admits First International Student
The School of Theology admitted its first international student in 1869.
Divisions Open to Women
Boston University is among the first universities in the United States to open all of its divisions to female students.
