Clarkson University is a private research university with its main campus in Potsdam, New York. Clarkson has additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital District and Beacon, New York. It was founded in 1896 and has an enrollment of about 4,600 students studying toward bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in each of its schools or institutes: the Institute for a Sustainable Environment, the School of Arts & Sciences, the David D. Reh School of Business, the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering, and the Earl R. and Barbara D. Lewis School of Health Sciences. The university is classified as an R2 research institution.

Potsdam is a village located in the Town of Potsdam in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The population was 8,312 at the 2020 census. The Village of Potsdam is in the eastern part of the town and is northeast of Canton, the county seat. The village is the locale of the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University.