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Veterans

In Focus

Tradition of Service

Harvard celebrates the long, proud legacy of students and alumni who answer the call to military service.

Last updated: November 2024

Long history

Since the colonial period, the U.S. military and Harvard University have shared a deeply interwoven history.

Learn more about these ties

I look forward to applying the lessons that I learned at HBS to be a more effective leader and make a lasting impact on the Navy.”

Rex Willis

Harvard Business School alum

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On campus and beyond


ROTC graduates stand on state

A home for ROTC

Harvard was home to the first Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) battalion in the nation, formed in 1916. In recent years, we have seen an increase in students interested in military service.

A home for ROTC

Protecting rights

Students in the Law School’s Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinic work to protect the rights of veterans and their families.

Protecting rights

Managing physical and mental health

Harvard Medical School traumatic brain injury expert Ron Hirschberg is senior director of health and wellness at the nonprofit Home Base, where he hosts a podcast about military service and mental health.

Managing physical and mental health

Providing care

Each year, military veterans and their spouses receive dental care at Harvard School of Dental Medicine’s annual Give Veterans a Smile event.

Providing care

Researching and analyzing

Innovative PTSD research from Harvard SEAS, NYU School of Medicine, and the U.S. Army could provide faster and more accurate diagnoses.

Researching and analyzing
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Civic engagement

Research by Harvard Kennedy School Professor Desmond Ang found that Black men who served in WWI were three times more likely to join the NAACP after their service ended, and were similarly more likely to become prominent civic activists after the war.

Explore the video

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Ben Bellet

During his deployments in Afghanistan and Kuwait, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alum Ben found himself interested in the question of human suffering, particularly among the soldiers he led.

Read the episode transcript