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Bentley University is a private university focused on business and located in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Bentley University was founded in 1917 as the Bentley School of Accounting and Finance by Harry C. Bentley, who served as the school's president until 1953. In 1961, the college was accredited to confer four-year Bachelor of Science degrees under President Morison, who moved the college from its Boylston Street address in Boston to its current-day location in Waltham, Massachusetts. Land for this move was purchased from the Lyman Estate in 1962, and the construction to develop the campus then lasted from 1963 to 1968.
Gregory H. Adamian, a major driving force in the college's development, became the fourth president in 1970. Under his guidance, the college became accredited to confer four-year Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1971 and graduate degrees in 1973. During this time, the school also changed its name to Bentley College.
In 2002, Bentley College opened up a campus in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain in partnership with the Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance. The college was accredited to confer its first doctoral degrees in the fields of business and accountancy in 2005. A main fixture of the campus, The Bentley Library, underwent a sweeping renovation in 2006 during which time the school's logo was changed to showcase the clock tower that sits atop the building. One year later, Gloria Cordes Larson, a former state and federal government official and Boston-based lawyer, became the first female president of Bentley College. In 2008, the school changed its name to Bentley University after being authorized by the state board of higher education to do so.