State-supported college in Williamsburg, Va.
The second-oldest institution of higher education in the U.S. (after Harvard University ), it was chartered in 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II . Its alumni include Thomas Jefferson , John Marshall , James Monroe , John Tyler , and Gen. Winfield Scott . George Washington was the college's first American chancellor, from 1788 to 1799. The honour society Phi Beta Kappa was organized as a social fraternity there in 1776.