The Haverford College experience is a vibrant one enriched by traditions, scholarship, service, the arts, athletics, and new experiences learned living in a diverse, intimate residential community.
Haverford was founded in 1833 by Quakers for whom academic excellence, offered in a setting of tolerance and mutual respect, would serve a larger goal of "educating the whole person".
Though we are nonsectarian today, Quaker values continue to guide the community and its stewardship.
Our picturesque 216-acre campus is open to the public throughout the year.
Haverford offers a one-of-a-kind education. There is no place where students are more trusted, are more directly engaged with their education, and have more opportunity to shape their own path.
- 1,353 Students
- 9:1 Student to Faculty ratio
- 98% Live on campus
- 1833 Founded
- >50% Receive a college grant
- 99% Faculty with highest degree in field
The core of the classroom experience is learning from the professor’s research and scholarship, and having the opportunity to be an active, vital participant in every class.
It is expected that all students will be involved in research—students are true collaborators and trusted colleagues in the classroom, working directly with the material and ideas of the discipline.
Alexandra Morrison '18 in the field in Alaska, analyzing a large oil residue sample that was released into the coastal environment in Prince William Sound following the 1964 earthquake. Morrison conducted her senior research with Associate Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Environmental Studies Program Helen White.
Photo: Helen White
Our Academic Centers enrich scholarship beyond the boundaries of the traditional classroom.
They play an essential role by supporting cutting edge research, invigorating the arts on campus, and sending students across the globe for life-changing experiences that give them firsthand contact with the material they’re studying.
With support from the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship and the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center, students from Kristen Whalen’s "Advanced Topics in Biology of Marine Life" class spent a week exploring tropical coral ecosystems in Roatán, Honduras.
Photo: Patrick Montero
The Honor Code is written and governed solely by students. It is an important example of the ways in which students determine the course of their Haverford experience.
Students here are uncommonly engaged in the life of the community: In addition to governing the honor code, students serve on hiring committees, manage budgets, and run more than 140 clubs and organizations
Students voting on proposed resolutions to the Honor Code at Fall Plenary. A Plenary vote requires a quorum of more than half the student-body and all resolutions are proposed by students.
Photo: Abigail Harrison '19
Our serene campus, located just outside Philadelphia, is a beautiful and stimulating environment.
The campus has 200 acres of award-winning architecture and landscaping, more than 50 academic, athletic and residential buildings, and a nationally recognized arboretum with 400 species of trees and shrubs, a 3.5-acre duck pond, gardens and wooded areas.
A view of Barclay Hall from the Duck Pond
Notable Alumni
Science & Medicine
Dr. Kari Nadeau '88
Kari Nadeau is one of the nation's foremost experts in adult and pediatric allergy. She leads translational research and clinical studies at Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and directs the Nadeau Laboratory at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Nadeau sties the mechanisms involved in food allergies to better understand how to prevent and cure the disease. Her work has been recognized with numerous grants and awards. Kari is currently conducting clinical trial testing for a technique to desensitize chidden with multiple severe food allergies. Read the Haverford magazine article about Kari.
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. '63
Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. is an astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 for his discovery with Russell Alan Hulse of a new type of pulsar that opened up new possibilities for the study of gravitation. He was among the first group of MacArthur Fellows, also called the "Genius Grant", in 1981. Taylor has been recognized with many awards throughout his career, including the first Heineman Prize for the American Astronomical Society and the Henry Draper Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. Taylor is also well known in the field of amateur radio weak signal communication.
- Roger Bacon '51 - physicist, inventor of carbon fiber in 1958
- William H. Harris '49 - for which Harris Hip Score was named after (complete hip replacement); Director Emeritus, Harvard Medical School; Alan Gerry Chair of Orthopedic Surgery, Harvard Medical School
- Jon Kabat-Zinn '64 - noted mindfulness meditation practitioner and researcher; Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; Founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. Read a Haverford news story about Jon.
- Robert T. Sataloff '71 - Otolaryngologist and Choral Director, Thomas Jefferson University and Curtis Institute of Music
- Theodore William Richards 1885 (d) - Nobel laureate (Chemistry, 1914); first American to win a Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Joel Selanikio '86 - Physician and former epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control. CEO of Magpi. Health and technology activist. Watch Joe's TED talk.
- George P. Smith '63 - Emeritus professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri and one of the 2018 winners of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Written Word
Dave Barry '69
Barry has been a syndicated humor columnist for The Miami Herald since 1983. His work has appeared in more than 500 newspapers in the United States and abroad. In 1988, he became the first (and is still the only) humor writer to win the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Barry has also written 30 books, two of which inspired the CBS sitcom, Dave's World. He plays lead guitar for a literary rock band called the Rock Bottom Remainders.
Juan Williams '76
A journalist, Emmy award-winning documentary writer and best-selling author, Williams worked at the Washington Post for 23 years, serving as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House correspondent. In 2000, Williams joined National Public Radio, first as host of Talk of the Nation and later as a senior correspondent. Williams is now a political analyst for the Fox News Channel.
- Nicholson Baker '79, novelist, author of Vox: A Novel, The Fermata, and the controversial non-fiction book Human Smoke about the road to World War II
- Frank Conroy '58, author of Stop-Time (memoir) and the short stories Mid-Air; former director Iowa Writers' Workshop
- Evan Jones '49, poet, playwright, and screenwriter
- Ricard Lederer '59, author of The Miracle of Language (and more than 30 other books) on the English language and word usage'
- John Carroll '63, former editor of the Los Angeles Times
- Norman Pearlstine '64, former editor-in-chief of Time, Inc.
- Tamar Adler '99, author of An Everlasting Meal
- Adi Ignatius '81 - editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review, former deputy managing editor of Time magazine
- Richard R. Lingeman '53 - Senior Editor, The Nation; author of many books on literary, historical and linguistic topics
- Lara Wozniak '90 - Editor, Finance Asia; Former Money Editor, Far Eastern Economic Review (Hong Kong)
The Business World
Howard Lutnick '83
Now the chairman and CEO of leading financial services firms Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick started at the company the year he graduated from Haverford. After Cantor Fitzgerald lost its main offices and 658 of its employees in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Lutnick guided the rebirth of the company and provided $180 million to the families of the employees who were killed. Lutnick is a member of the Board of Directors of the National September 11 Museum, and has received the Department of the Navy's Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest honor granted to non-military personnel.
John Whitehead '43
Whitehead spent 37 years at the investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs, eventually becoming co-chairman of the company. He was named deputy secretary of state in the Reagan Administration and worked on several initiatives at the close of the Cold War, including the expansion of NATO. Whitehead has also served as a director of the New York Stock Exchange and as chairman of the board of both the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the organization tasked with rebuilding the World Trade Center site. Haverford's Whitehead Campus Center was named in his honor.
- Henry Ritchotte '85, COO of Deutsche Bank
- Jane Silber '85, CEO of Canonical (maintainers of the Ubuntu operating system)
- Ken Stern '85, former CEO of NPR
- Josh Brynes '92 - senior vice president of baseball operations, San Diego Padres
- Oscar B. Goodman '61 - Former mayor of Las Vegas; Former Senior Partner of Goodman & Chesnoff (Law Firm); Guest-starred in an episode of CSI
- Emily Best '02, founder of crowdfunding platform Seed&Spark. Read Haverford Magazine article about Emily
- John M. Morse '73, president and publisher of Merriam-Webster
- Arn Tellem '76, attorney, sports agent for NBA and MLB players
- Ronald M. Shapiro '64 - attorney; sports agent, Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler whose past clients include Hall of Famers Cal Ripken, Jr., Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Kirby Puckett, and Eddie Murray
Entertainment
Deborah Colette Freedman '90
Deborah Colette Freedman '90 is an internationally produced playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She has more than 25 produced plays and co-wrote, with International bestselling novelist Jackie Collins, the play Jackie Collins Hollywood Lies. The Dramatist's Guild voted her "One of the 50 to Watch". Colette Freedman wrote the thriller The Thirteen Hallows with The New York Times bestselling author Michael Scott. She has written two novels, The Affair (Kensington, 2013) and The Consequences (Kensington, 2014)
Daniel Dae Kim '90
Though he is best known for his portrayal of Jin Soo Kwon on ABC's hit series Lost, Kim has also appeared on the New York stage and in such films as The Hulk and Crash. He has had recurring roles in a number of television shows , including 24, E.R. and Angel, and starred in the mini-series The Andromeda Strain. Kim holds an MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and shares Screen Actors Guild Awards for Lost and for the film Crash. People magazine named him one of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005.
- Tony Petitti '83 - President and CEO of the MLB Network; winner of six Emmy Awards
- Ken Ludwig '72 - Tony award winning playwright of Lend Me a tenor and Crazy for You
- Rand Ravich '84 - writer, director and producer. Read the Haverford Magazine article about Rand
- Mark Hudis '90 - co-executive producer of "True Blood", writer and co-executive producer, "Nurse Jackie", former executive producer of "That '70s Show"
- Peter Rockwell '58 - Sculptor and Art historian; sculpture restorer; one of his works appears on Haverford campus; son of late artist Norman Rockwell
- Roger Director '71 - scriptwriter for television shows "Moonlighting" and "Hill Street Blues" among others; nominated twice for Emmys; consulting producers for shows "NCIS", "Wolf Lake"; wrote Dream in Blue about the New York Giants football team, & "A Place to Fall: A Novel"
Notice to Campus Visitors
Given the rapid spread of COVID-19, Haverford College has decided to close the admission office to visitors until further notice.
Our responsibility to manage the risk of spreading COVID-19 outweighs our significant disappointment at not being able to welcome campus visitors at this time. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to connecting with you and your family in the near future.
Dining in Philly: http://www.visitphilly.com/restaurants-dining/
Places to Stay
Here is a partial list of local hotels and bed and breakfasts within 10 miles of the College. There is also a variety of hotels in the greater Philadelphia area as well as other accommodation options on airbnb.com.
Wyndham Alumni House
- Type: Bed and Breakfast
- Address: 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
- Phone: (610) 526-5236
- Distance: 1.3 miles
- Website
The Radnor Hotel
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 591 East Lancaster Avenue, St. Davids, PA 19087
- Phone: (610) 688-5800 or (800) 537-3000
- Distance: 4 miles
- Website
The Wayne Hotel
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 139 East Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087
- Phone: (610) 687-5000 or (800) 962-5850
- Distance: 5 miles
- Website
Hilton Philadelphia City Avenue
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 1913
- Phone: (215) 879-4000 ext. 2016
- Distance: 5 miles
- Website
Crowne Plaza Philadelphia City Avenue
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 4010 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131
- Phone: (215) 477-0200 or (800) 2-CROWNE
- Distance: 5 miles
- Website
Philadelphia Marriott West
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 111 Crawford Avenue, West Conshohocken, PA 19428
- Phone: (610) 941-5600
(800) 237-3639 - Distance: 5.5 miles
- Website
Residence Inn Philadelphia Conshohocken
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 191 Washington Street, Conshohocken, PA 19428
- Phone: (610) 828-8800 or (800) 331-3131
- Distance: 5.5 miles
- Website
Wayne Bed and Breakfast Inn
- Type: Bed and Breakfast
- Address: 211 Strafford Ave., Wayne, PA 19087
- Phone: (610) 989-9610
- Distance: 6 miles
- Website
Best Western Plus The Inn at King of Prussia
- Type: Hotel
- Address: 127 S Gulph Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406
- Phone: (610) 265-4500
- Distance: 8 miles
- Website