Brandeis University Founded in 1948, Brandeis University is named for the late Louis Dembitz Brandeis, the distinguished associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, and reflects the ideals of academic excellence and social justice he personified. The only nonsectarian Jewish-founded institution of higher learning in the United States, Brandeis is one of the world’s youngest private research universities. In 1985, Brandeis was elected to membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU), which represents the 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Brandeis has been ranked among the top 35 national universities by U.S. News & World Report every year since the rankings inception. Located on 235 rolling acres nine miles west of Boston in Waltham, Brandeis distinguished faculty are dedicated to the education and support of 3,600 undergraduates and more than 2,000 graduate students. Brandeis combines the faculty and resources of a world-class research institution with the intimacy and personal attention of a small liberal arts college. For students, that means unsurpassed access - both in and out of the classroom - to a distinguished faculty known for groundbreaking research, scholarship and artistic output. As a research university, Brandeis promotes strong interdisciplinary research, particularly in the sciences, and collaborative teaching opportunities across disciplines.