Johnson & Wales University is a private, nonprofit institution with its principal campus located downtown in Providence. Founded in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales as a modest business school, it has grown into a multifaceted university known globally for its culinary, hospitality, business, arts, sciences, engineering, and food innovation programs.
The Providence campus spans two interlinked zones—Downcity, embedded in the heart of the city’s cultural and arts district, and Harborside, facing Narragansett Bay—together comprising nearly 170 acres and over 50 buildings that host academic, residential, recreational, and administrative functions. It supports small class sizes and practical, career-focused curricula, privileging hands-on learning with real-world impact.
