The university is often referred to as the Sorbonne or La Sorbonne after the collegiate institution (Collège de Sorbonne) founded about 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, but the university as such is older and was never completely centred on the Sorbonne.

The University of Paris remains one of the most famous and prestigious of universities in the world, having produced Nobel Prize winners from its faculty and student body, as well as a number of the greatest intellectuals, political theorists, scientists, physicians, theologians, and artists of the Western tradition and canon.

(see wikipedia for more)

Wikipedia gives a list of famous alumni of the University. Juste cite some of them:

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie (1867-1934)
• Pierre Curie (1859-1906)
• Victor Hugo- 1802-1885
• Irène Joliot-Curie, (1897-1956)
• Benoît Mandelbrot (b. 1923)
• Jean-Pierre Serre- 1926

And among the professors:

• Jean-Jacques Ampère 1800-1864
• Henri Poincaré 1854-1912