The Ivy League: Truly our Best and Brightest

Although the Ivy League is the athletic conference where football started, it's best known for the academic prowess of its eight member institutions. The US News & World Report ranks Harvard, Princeton and Yale as the top three universities in the nation, and the entire league ranks in the top 16. Despite losses during the recession, their endowments are in the multi-billion dollar range, consistently the highest in the country and even the world. For centuries, these institutions have sustained their success – seven of them were Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution. As a result, they've produced some of our nation's best and brightest leaders, innovators and entertainers.

Each of America's last four presidents received an education from an Ivy League university. George HW Bush attained his degree in economics from Yale in 1948 after serving in World War II. His son George W Bush also spent his undergraduate years at Yale, earning a degree in history. He later received his MBA from rival school Harvard. Bill Clinton attended Yale Law School where he met his future wife – and future First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State – Hillary Clinton. Current President Barack Obama earned his law degree from Harvard Law School, where he was elected the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

Overall, Harvard has produced the most presidents of any college in the country. In addition to George HW Bush and Obama, Crimson presidents include John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John F Kennedy. Of course, given the age and prestige of the Ivy League, it's no surprise that many of our founding fathers were educated at what are now its member institutions. James Madison attended Princeton, Alexander Hamilton graduated from Colombia when it was known as King's College, and John Hancock earned a bachelor's degree from Harvard. Eleven signers of the Constitution were Penn products.

It's common knowledge that countless Supreme Court justices, senators and governors attended Ivy League schools, but it's often overlooked that just as many talented entertainers have shared the same classrooms. NYU in particular has produced some of Hollywood's finest actors and directors. Former Violets include actors Adam Sandler and Billy Crystal, and directors Oliver Stone, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee and Spike Lee – the Lees were actually classmates. Meryl Streep and Paul Newman were trained in the Yale School of Drama. Jimmy Stewart, who's most well-known for his part in It's a Wonderful Life, graduated from Princeton in 1932. Legendary Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno is a 1950 Brown graduate. Writers Kurt Vonnegut and EB White were a couple of Cornell Big Red. Each Ivy League institution possesses an impressive list of alumni who've also become Nobel Prize winners, notable researchers, and billionaire CEOs. The possibilities are endless for the select students who are allowed to attend these prestigious schools.