Pierson College

Pierson College is a residential college at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Opened in 1933, it is named for Abraham Pierson, a founder and the first rector of the Collegiate School, the college later known as Yale. With just under 500 undergraduate members, Pierson is the largest of Yale's residential colleges by number of students. History Yale built the Pierson College buildings in the Georgian or "Georgian Revival" architectural style. These include a prominent tower, inspired by that of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. It is one of the eight original residential colleges bequeathed by Edward Harkness and designed by James Gamble Rogers. Pierson College's first master was Alan Valentine, then in 1935 international relations scholar Arnold Wolfers took over the role, one he held until 1949. Wolfers and his wife Doris made the Master's House at Pierson a center for entertaining on the campus second only to the house of the president of the university. Among those they hosted where diplomats who visited the campus.