notable individuals have served as trustees, including two presidents, John Quincy Adams and Ulysses S. Grant, and Alexander Graham Bell. GW has over 1,100 active alumni in the U.S. Foreign Service and is one of the largest feeder schools for the diplomatic corps. In the 2023–2024 academic year, GW had $227 million in externally funded research.
== History ==
=== Founding ===
The first president of the United States, George Washington, long favored the establishment of a university in a central part of the United States. He advocated for its establishment to the U.S. Congress and others throughout his political career. Washington envisioned the new university would be in a central part of the new national capital, and he hoped the university would educate the most promising students from across the country while reaping the benefits of its location in Washington, D.C.
On December 14, 1799, George Washington died at his home in Mount Vernon. Washington included a bequest of his shares in the Potomac Company …
