Toronto University
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university, it comprises twelve colleges that differ in character and history, each retaining substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs.
Academically, the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory, known collectively as the Toronto School. The university was the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research, and was the site of the first practical electron microscope, the development of multi-touch technology, the identification of Cygnus X-1 as a black hole, and the theory of NP completeness. By a significant margin, it receives the most annual research funding of any Canadian university. It is one of two members of the Association of American Universities located outside the United States.
The Varsity Blues are the athletic teams that represent the university in intercollegiate league matches, with particularly long and storied ties to gridiron football and ice hockey. The university's Hart House is an early example of the North American student centre, simultaneously serving cultural, intellectual and recreational interests within its large Gothic-revival complex.
The University of Toronto is ranked 1st in Canada and 19th worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings; 1st in Canada and 26th worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities; 2nd in Canada and 23rd globally in the QS World University Rankings; and 1st in Canada and third overall in Newsweek's ranking of top institutions outside of the United States. The university has educated two Governors General and four Prime Ministers of Canada, four foreign leaders, fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court, and has been affiliated with ten Nobel laureates.
History
The founding of a colonial college had long been the desire of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. As an Oxford-educated military commander who had fought in the American Revolutionary War, Simcoe believed a college was needed to counter the spread of republicanism from the United States. The Upper Canada Executive Committee recommended in 1798 that a college be established in York, the colonial capital.
A painting by Sir Edmund Walker depicts University College as it appeared in 1858.
On 15 March 1827, a royal charter was formally issued by King George IV, proclaiming "from this time one College, with the style and privileges of an University ... for the education of youth in the principles of the Christian Religion, and for their instruction in the various branches of Science and Literature ... to continue for ever, to be called King's College." The granting of the charter was largely the result of intense lobbying by John Strachan, the influential Anglican Bishop of Toronto who took office as the first president of the college. The original three-storey Greek Revival school building was constructed on the present site of Queen's Park.
Under Strachan's guidance, King's College was a religious institution that closely aligned with the Church of England and the British colonial elite, known as the Family Compact. Reformist politicians opposed the clergy's control over colonial institutions and fought to have the college secularized. In 1849, after a lengthy and heated debate, the newly-elected responsible government of Upper Canada voted to rename King's College as the University of Toronto and severed the school's ties with the church. Having anticipated this decision, the enraged Strachan had resigned a year earlier to open Trinity College as a private Anglican seminary. University College was created as the nondenominational teaching branch of the University of Toronto. During the American Civil War, the threat of Union blockade on British North America prompted the creation of the University Rifle Corps, which saw battle in resisting the Fenian raids on the Niagara border in 1866.
A Sopwith Camel aircraft rests on the Front Campus lawn in 1918, during World War I.
Established in 1878, the School of Practical Science was precursor to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, which has been nicknamed Skule since its earliest days. While the Faculty of Medicine opened in 1843, medical teaching was conducted by proprietary schools from 1853 until 1887, when the faculty absorbed the Toronto School of Medicine. Meanwhile, the university continued to set examinations and confer medical degrees during that period. The university opened the Faculty of Law in 1887, and it was followed by the Faculty of Dentistry in 1888, when the Royal College of Dental Surgeons became an affiliate. Women were admitted to the university for the first time in 1884.A devastating fire in 1890 gutted the interior of University College and devoured thirty-three thousand volumes from the library, but the university restored the building and replenished its library within two years. Over the next two decades, a collegiate system gradually took shape as the university arranged federation with several ecclesiastical colleges, including Strachan's Trinity College in 1904. The university operated the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1896 to 1991 and the Royal Ontario Museum from 1912 to 1968; both still retain close ties with the university as independent institutions. The University of Toronto Press was founded in 1901 as the first academic publishing house in Canada. The Faculty of Forestry was established in 1907, with Bernhard Fernow as founding dean; it was the first university faculty devoted to forest science in Canada. In 1910, the Faculty of Education opened its laboratory school, the University of Toronto Schools. The First and Second World Wars curtailed some university activities as undergraduate and graduate men eagerly enlisted. Intercollegiate athletic competitions and the Hart House Debates were suspended, although exhibition and interfaculty games were still held. The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill opened in 1935, followed by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies in 1949. The university opened satellite campuses in Scarborough in 1964 and in Mississauga in 1967. The university's former affiliated schools at the Ontario Agricultural College and Glendon Hall became fully independent as University of Guelph in 1964 and York University in 1965, respectively. Beginning in the 1980s, reductions in government funding prompted more rigorous fundraising efforts.The University of Toronto was the first Canadian university to amass a financial endowment greater than C$1 billion.
Mission statement
The mission of the University of Toronto Library is to foster the search for knowledge and understanding in the University and the wider community. To this end, we shall provide innovative services and comprehensive access to information founded upon our developing resources as one of the leading research libraries in the world.
We listen and treat each other with respect
We are committed to delivery of services in a helpful and courteous manner
We are committed to providing accessible and reliable services which are instructive, accurate and timely
We are committed to acquiring, organizing, preserving and enhancing the value of our resources
We are committed to delivering information using the most effective technologies available
We are committed to maintaining, with both the University and our users, a clean, attractive and secure library environment
We are committed to working together as a team, sharing information and expertise
We share a commitment to learning in order to enhance our capabilities to provide good service
Statement of Service Values
We are responsive to our user communitiesWe listen and treat each other with respect
We are committed to delivery of services in a helpful and courteous manner
We are committed to providing accessible and reliable services which are instructive, accurate and timely
We are committed to acquiring, organizing, preserving and enhancing the value of our resources
We are committed to delivering information using the most effective technologies available
We are committed to maintaining, with both the University and our users, a clean, attractive and secure library environment
We are committed to working together as a team, sharing information and expertise
We share a commitment to learning in order to enhance our capabilities to provide good service
Programs and Courses
Students at the University of Toronto have access to a greater variety of academic programs than at any other university in Canada.
With the help of faculty and staff, students can tailor their university experience from more than 800 different undergraduate programs and more than 400 different graduate and professional programs. In all of these programs, students learn directly from some of the world's top professors -- teachers with a track record of discovery, collaboration, and innovation.
Undergraduate students at U of T have the opportunity to become actively involved in research and discovery. And to provide the best possible environment for study and learning, U of T is broken down into many smaller learning communities: three welcoming campuses, seven undergraduate colleges, and a range of faculties, schools and centres.
We invite our students to create a unique and personal learning experience.
Academic Units
- Applied Science and Engineering, Faculty of
- Architecture, Landscape, and Design, John H. Daniels Faculty of
- Arts & Science, Faculty of
- Continuing Studies, School of
- Dentistry, Faculty of
- Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in
- Forestry, Faculty of
- Graduate Studies, School of
- Information, Faculty of
- Global Affairs, School of
- Law, Faculty of
- Management, Joseph L. Rotman School of
- Medicine, Faculty of
- Music, Faculty of
- Nursing, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of
- Pharmacy, Leslie L. Dan Faculty of
- Physical Education and Health, Faculty of
- Public Health, Dalla Lana School of
- Public Policy and Governance, School of
- Social Work, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of
- University of Toronto Mississauga
- University of Toronto Scarborough
Departments
- Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology
- Anaesthesia
- Anatomy, Division of (Dept. of Surgery)
- Anthropology
- Anthropology and the Study of Religion (UTM)
- Art
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Banting and Best Department of Medical Research
- Biochemistry
- Biology (UTM)
- Cell and Systems Biology
- Chemical and Physical Sciences (UTM)
- Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
- Chemistry
- Civil Engineering
- Classics
- Commerce Programs
- Computer and Mathematical Sciences (UTSC)
- Computer Science
- Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
- Earth Sciences
- East Asian Studies
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Economics
- Economics (UTM)
- Electrical & Computer Engineering
- Engineering Science
- English
- English and Drama(UTM)
- Environmental Engineering and Energy Systems
- Family and Community Medicine
- French
- French, German and Italian (UTM)
- Geography
- Geography (UTM)
- Germanic Languages and Literatures
- Historical Studies (UTM)
- History
- Human Development and Applied Psychology
- Humanities (UTSC)
- Immunology
- Italian Studies
- Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology
- Lassonde Program in Mineral Engineering
- Life Sciences (UTSC)
- Linguistics
- Management (UTM)
- Management (UTSC)
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Mathematical and Computational Sciences (UTM)
- Mathematics
- Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
- Medical Biophysics
- Medical Imaging
- Medicine
- Molecular Genetics
- Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Nutritional Sciences
- Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
- Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences
- Otolaryngology
- Paediatrics
- Pharmacology
- Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Philosophy
- Philosophy (UTM)
- Physical and Environmental Sciences (UTSC)
- Physical Therapy
- Physics
- Physiology
- Political Science
- Political Science (UTM)
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Public Health Sciences
- Radiation Oncology
- Rehabilitation Science
- Religion
- Slavic Languages and Literatures
- Social Sciences (UTSC)
- Sociology
- Sociology (UTM)
- Sociology and Equity Studies in Education
- Spanish and Portuguese
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Statistics
- Theory and Policy Studies in Education
Centres and Institutes
- Aboriginal Studies, Centre for
- Aerospace Studies, Institute for
- Asian Institute
- Bioethics, Joint Centre for
- Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Institute of (IBBME)
- Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
Undergraduate Programs
Computer Science (BSc)
- Computer Science
Engineering (BASc)
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Engineering Science (BASc in Engineering Science):
- Aerospace Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Energy Systems Engineering
- Infrastructure Engineering
- Engineering Mathematics, Statistics and Finance
- Nanoengineering
- Engineering Physics
- Industrial Engineering
- Materials Science Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Mineral Engineering
- TrackOne (first year only)
- Engineering Minors
Humanities and Social Sciences (BA)
- Aboriginal Studies
- African Studies
- American Studies
- Anthropology
- Anthropology (Social, Culture and Language)
- Archaeology
- Architectural Studies
- Art History
- Asian Geographies (offered jointly with the National University of Singapore)
- Asian Literatures and Cultures (offered jointly with the National University of Singapore)
- Asia-Pacific Studies
- Bioethics
- Book and Media Studies
Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health
- Buddhist Studies
- Business German
- Canadian Studies
- Caribbean Studies
- Celtic Studies
- Christianity and Culture
- Christianity and Culture: Religious Education
- Christianity and Education
- Cinema Studies
- Classical Civilization
- Classics (Greek and Latin)
- Cognitive Science
- Criminology
- Croatian and Serbian Studies
- Czech and Slovak Studies
- Diaspora and Transnational Studies
- Drama
- East Asian Studies
- Economics
- Education and Society
- Employment Relations
- English
- Environmental Anthropology
- Environmental Economics
- Environmental Ethics
- Environmental Geography
- Environmental Studies
- Equity Studies
- Estonian Studies
- Ethics, Society and Law
- European Studies
- European Union Studies
- Finnish Studies
- Forest Conservation
- French as a Second Language
- French Language and French Linguistics
- French Language and Literature
- French Language Learning
- French Studies
- Geographic Information Systems
- German Studies
- Greek
- Health Studies
- History
- History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
- Human Geography
- Hungarian Studies
- International Relations
- International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies
- Islamic Studies
- Italian
- Italian Culture and Communication Studies
- Jewish Studies
- Latin
- Latin American Studies
- Linguistics
- Literary Studies
- Literary Studies (Comparative Literature Stream)
- Literary Studies (Cultural Theory Stream)
- Mediaeval Studies
- Music
- Music History and Culture
- Music with Ensemble Option
- Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
- Paradigms and Archetypes
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Philosophy
- Philosophy of Science
- Polish Language and Literature
- Polish Studies
- Political Science
- Portuguese
- Prehistoric Archaeology
- Public Policy
- Religion
- Religion: Christian Origins
- Renaissance Studies
- Russian Language
- Russian Language and Literature
- Russian Literature in Translation
- Semiotics and Communication Theory
- Sexual Diversity Studies
- Sociology
- South Asian Studies
- Spanish
- Ukrainian Language and Literature
- Urban Studies
- Visual Studies
- Women and Gender Studies
- Writing and Rhetoric
- Yiddish
Kinesiology and Physical Education
- Concurrent Teacher Education Program (CTEP)
- Kinesiology (BKIN)
- Physical and Health Education (BPHE)
Life Sciences (BSc)
- Animal Physiology
- Anthropology (Biological)
- Archaeological Science
- Biochemistry
- Biodiversity and Conservation Biology
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
- Biological Chemistry
- Biological Physics
- Biology
- Biomedical Toxicology
- Cell and Molecular Biology
- Cognitive Science
- Developmental Biology
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- Environment and Behaviour
- Environment and Energy
- Environment and Health
- Environmental and Science
- Environmental and Toxicology
- Environmental Biology
- Environmental Biology (offered jointly with the National University of Singapore)
- Environmental Chemistry
- Environmental Geosciences
- Forest Biomaterials Science
- Forest Conservation Science
- Genome Biology
- Human Biology
- Human Biology: Genes, Genetics and Biotechnology
- Human Biology: Global Health
- Human Biology: Health and Disease
- Human Biology: Health Care Ethics
- Human Biology: Neuroscience
- Immunology
- Life, Environment, and General Physics
- Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
- Nutritional Sciences
- Pathobiology
- Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacology and Biomedical Toxicology
- Physical and Environment Geography
- Physiology
- Psychology
Psychology (Research Specialist)
Music (MusBac)
- Composition
- Jazz
- Music History and Theory
- Music Education
- Performance
- Theory (BMus)
Physical and Mathematical Sciences (BSc)
- Actuarial Science
- Applied Mathematics
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Astronomy and Physics
- Chemical Physics
- Chemistry
- Economics and Mathematics
- Financial Economics
- Geology
- Geophysics
- Materials Science
- Mathematics
- Mathematical Applications in Economics and Finance
- Mathematics and its Applications
- Mathematics and Philosophy
- Mathematics and Physics
- Molecular Biophysics
- Nanoscience (offered jointly with the National University of Singapore)
- Physics
- Physics and Philosophy
- Planetary Science
- Statistics
- Statistics and Mathematics
- Synthetic and Catalytic Chemistry
Rotman Commerce (BCom)
- Accounting
- Finance and Economics
- Management
UofT Mississauga
- Academic Departments / Programs
- Chemical and Physical Sciences
- Commerce and Management
- Communication and Culture
- Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics
- Concurrent Education
- Forensic Science
- Humanities
- Life Sciences
- Psychology
- Social Sciences
- Theatre and Drama
- Visual Studies
- Internships
- Research Opportunity
UofT Scarborough
- Academic Department/Programs
- Computer Science
- Concurrent Teacher Education
- Humanities
- Life Sciences
- Management
- Sciences
- Social Sciences
- Co-op Programs:
- Arts & Science Co-op
- Management Co-op
- Joint Programs
Graduate Programs
- Adult Education and Community Development - MA, MEd, PhD
- Aerospace Science and Engineering - MASc, MEng, PhD
- Anthropology - MA, MSc, PhD
- Applied Computing - MScAC
- Architecture - MArch
- Astronomy and Astrophysics - MSc, PhD
- Biochemistry - MSc, PhD
- Bioethics - MHSc
- Biomedical Communications - MScBMC
- Biomedical Engineering - MASc, PhD
- Biotechnology - MBiotech
- Cell and Systems Biology – MSc, PhD
- Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry – MASc, MEng, PhD
- Chemistry – MSc, PhD
- Child Study and Education – MA
- Cinema Studies – MA
- Civil Engineering – MASc, MEng, PhD
- Classics – MA, PhD
- Clinical Biomedical Engineering – MHSc
- Community Health - MScCH
- Comparative Literature – MA, PhD
- Computer Science – MSc, PhD
- Counselling Psychology - MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
- Criminology – MA, Combined JD/MA, PhD
- Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development - MEd, MA, PhD
- Dentistry – MSc, PhD
- Design and Manufacturing – MEngDM
- Developmental Psychology and Education – MA, MEd, PhD
- Drama – MA, PhD
- Earth Sciences – MASc, MSc, PhD
- East Asian Studies – MA, PhD
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology – MSc, PhD
- Economics – MA, Combined JD/MA, PhD, Combined JD/PhD
- Educational Administration – MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
- Electrical and Computer Engineering – MASc, MEng, PhD
- Elementary and Secondary Education - MT
- English – MA, Combined JD/MA, PhD
- Environmental Science – MEnvSc, PhD
- European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies – MA, JD/MA
- Exercise Sciences – MSc, PhD
- Financial Economics – MFE
- Forest Conservation – MFC
- Forestry – MScF, PhD
- French Language and Literature – MA, PhD
- Genetic Counselling - MSc
- Geography – MA, MSc, PhD
- German Literature, Culture and Theory – MA, PhD
- Global Affairs – MGA, Combined JD/MGA, Combined MGA/MBA
- Health Administration – MHSc, Combined MHSc/MN, Combined MHSc/MSW
- Health Informatics – MHI
- Health Policy, Management and Evaluation – MSc, PhD
- Higher Education – MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
- History – MA, PhD
- History and Philosophy of Education – MA, MEd
- History and Philosophy of Science and Technology - MA, PhD
- History of Art – MA, PhD
- Immunology – MSc, PhD
- Industrial Relations and Human Resources – MIRHR, PhD
- Information – MI, Combined JD/MI
- Information Studies – PhD
- Italian Studies – MA, PhD
- Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology – MSc, PhD
- Landscape Architecture - MLA
- Law – LLM, GPLLM, MSL, SJD
- Linguistics – MA, PhD
- Management - Executive Master of Business Administration - MBA
- Management - Finance - MF
- Management – MBA, Combined BASc/MBA, Combined JD/MBA, PhD
- Management - Omnium Global Executive Master of Business Administration - MBA
- Management & Professional Accounting – MMPA
- Management of Innovation – MMI
- Materials Science and Engineering – MASc, MEng, PhD
- Mathematical Finance – MMF
- Mathematics – MSc, PhD
- Mechanical and Industrial Engineering - MASc, MEng, PhD
- Medical Biophysics – MSc, PhD
- Medical Radiation Science - MHSc
- Medical Science - MSc, PhD
- Medicine - MD/PhD
- Medieval Studies – MA, PhD
- Molecular Genetics – MSc, PhD
- Museum Studies – MMSt
- Music – MA, PhD
- Music Performance – MMus, DMA
- Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations – MA, PhD
- Nursing Science – MN, Combined MHSc (Health Administration)/MN, PhD
- Nutritional Sciences – MSc, PhD
- Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy – MScOT
- Pharmaceutical Sciences – MSc, PhD
- Pharmacology – MSc, PhD
- Philosophy - MA, PhD, Combined JD/PhD
- Physical Therapy – MScPT
- Physics – MSc, PhD
- Physiology – MSc, PhD
- Planning – MScPl, PhD
- Political Science – MA, Combined JD/MA, PhD, Combined JD/PhD
- Psychology - MA, PhD
- Public Health Sciences – MPH, MSc, MScCH, PhD
- Public Policy - MPP
- Rehabilitation Science – MSc, PhD
- Religion – MA, PhD
- School and Clinical Child Psychology – MA, PhD
- Second Language Education - MEd, MA, PhD
- Slavic Languages and Literatures – MA, PhD
- Social Work – MSW; Combined JD/MSW; Combined MHSc/MSW; PhD
- Sociology – MA, PhD
- Sociology in Education – MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
- Spanish – MA, PhD
- Speech-Language Pathology – MHSc, MSc, PhD
- Statistics – MSc, PhD
- Urban Design - MUD
- Urban Design Studies – MUDS
- Visual Studies – MVS
- Women and Gender Studies – MA
Diploma Programs
- Advanced Study in Information Studies
- Community Health
- Diploma in Anesthesia Care
- Investigative & Forensic Accounting
- Post-Master's Nurse Practitioner
- Social Service Administration
Campus
Soldiers' Tower, a memorial to alumni fallen in the World Wars, contains a 51-bell carillon.
The university grounds lie about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the Financial District in Downtown Toronto, and immediately south of the neighbourhoods of Yorkville and The Annex. The site encompasses 71 hectares (180 acres) bounded mostly by Bay Street, Bloor Street, Spadina Avenue and College Street. An enclave surrounded by university grounds, Queen's Park contains the Ontario Legislative Building and several historic monuments. With its green spaces and many interlocking courtyards, the university forms a distinct region of urban parkland in the city's downtown core. The namesake University Avenue is a ceremonial boulevard and arterial thoroughfare that runs through downtown between Queen's Park and Front Street. The Spadina, St. George, Museum, Bay, and Queen's Park stations of the Toronto subway system are located in the vicinity.
Stone pillars of the Bennett Gates mark the southern entrance of Philosopher's Walk.
The architecture is defined by a combination of Romanesque and Gothic Revival buildings spread across the eastern and central portions of campus, most of them dated between 1858 and 1929. The traditional heart of the university, known as Front Campus, is located near the centre of the campus in an oval lawn enclosed by King's College Circle. The centrepiece is the main building of University College, built in 1857 with an eclectic blend of Richardsonian Romanesque and Norman architectural elements. The dramatic effect of this blended design by architect Frederick William Cumberland drew praise from European visitors of the time: "Until I reached Toronto," remarked Lord Dufferin during his visit in 1872, "I confess I was not aware that so magnificent a specimen of architecture existed upon the American continent." The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968. Built in 1907, Convocation Hall is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic-pillared rotunda. Although its foremost function is hosting the annual convocation ceremonies, the building serves as a venue for academic and social events throughout the year. The sandstone buildings of Knox College epitomizes the North American collegiate Gothic design, with its characteristic cloisters surrounding a secluded courtyard.
The neoclassical Convocation Hall is characterized by its domed roof and Ionic-pillared rotunda.
A lawn at the northeast is anchored by Hart House, a Gothic-revival student centre complex. Among its many common rooms, the building's Great Hall is noted for large stained-glass windows and a long quotation from John Milton's Areopagitica that is inscribed around the walls. The adjacent Soldiers' Tower stands 143 feet (44 m) tall as the most prominent structure in the vicinity, its stone arches etched with the names of university members lost to the battlefields of the two World Wars. The tower houses a 51-bell carillon that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day and convocation. The oldest surviving building on campus is the former Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory building, built in 1855. North of University College, the main building of Trinity College displays Jacobethan Tudor architecture, while its chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style of Giles Gilbert Scott. The chapel features exterior walls of sandstone and interiors of Indiana Limestone, and was constructed by Italian stonemasons using ancient building methods. Philosopher's Walk is a scenic footpath that follows a meandering, wooded ravine linking with Trinity College, Varsity Arena and the Faculty of Law. Victoria College is on the eastern side of Queen's Park, centred on a Romanesque main building made of contrasting red sandstone and grey limestone.Developed after the Second World War, the western section of the campus consists mainly of modernist and internationalist structures that contain laboratories and faculty offices. The most significant example of Brutalist architecture is the massive Robarts Library complex, built in 1972 and opened a year later in 1973. It features raised podia, extensive use of triangular geometric designs and a towering fourteen-storey concrete structure that cantilevers above a field of open space and mature trees. The library is undergoing renovations to increase indoor space. The Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, completed in 2006, exhibits a modern style of glass and steel by British architect Norman Foster.
Governance and colleges
Old Vic, the main building of Victoria College, typifies the Richardsonian Romanesque style.
The University of Toronto has traditionally been a decentralized institution, with governing authority shared among its central administration, academic faculties and colleges. The Governing Council is the unicameral legislative organ of the central administration, overseeing general academic, business and institutional affairs. Before 1971, the university was governed under a bicameral system composed of the board of governors and the university senate. The chancellor, usually a former governor general, lieutenant governor, premier or diplomat, is the ceremonial head of the university. The president is appointed by the council as the chief executive.Unlike most North American institutions, the University of Toronto is a collegiate university with a model that resembles those of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in Britain. The colleges hold substantial autonomy over admissions, scholarships, programs and other academic and financial affairs, in addition to the housing and social duties of typical residential colleges. The system emerged in the 19th century, as ecclesiastical colleges considered various forms of union with the University of Toronto to ensure their viability. The desire to preserve religious traditions in a secular institution resulted in the federative collegiate model that came to characterize the university.
The Chapel of Trinity College reflects the college's Anglican heritage.
University College was the founding nondenominational college, created in 1853 after the university was secularized. Knox College, a Presbyterian institution, and Wycliffe College, a low church seminary, both encouraged their students to study for non-divinity degrees at University College. In 1885, they entered a formal affiliation with the University of Toronto, and became federated schools in 1890. The idea of federation initially met strong opposition at Victoria University, a Methodist school in Cobourg, but a financial incentive in 1890 convinced the school to join. Decades after the death of John Strachan, the Anglican seminary Trinity College entered federation in 1904, followed in 1910 by St. Michael's College, a Roman Catholic college founded by the Basilian Fathers. Among the institutions that had considered federation but ultimately remained independent were McMaster University, a Baptist school that later moved to Hamilton, and Queen's College, a Presbyterian school in Kingston that later became Queen's University.
Constituent colleges
| Federated colleges
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The post-war era saw the creation of New College in 1962, Innis College in 1964 and Woodsworth College in 1974, all of them nondenominational. Along with University College, they comprise the university's constituent colleges, which are established and funded by the central administration and are therefore financially dependent. Massey College was established in 1963 by the Massey Foundation as a college exclusively for graduate students. Regis College, a Jesuit seminary, entered federation with the university in 1979.
In contrast with the constituent colleges, the colleges of Knox, Massey, Regis, St. Michael's, Trinity, Victoria and Wycliffe continue to exist as legally distinct entities, each possessing a separate financial endowment. While St. Michael's, Trinity and Victoria continue to recognize their religious affiliations and heritage, they have since adopted secular policies of enrolment and teaching in non-divinity subjects. Some colleges have, or once had, collegiate structures of their own: Emmanuel College is a college of Victoria and St. Hilda's College is part of Trinity; St. Joseph’s College had existed as a college within St. Michael's until it was dissolved in 2006. Ewart College existed as an affiliated college until 1991, when it was merged into Knox College. Postgraduate theology degrees are conferred by the colleges of Knox, Regis and Wycliffe, along with the divinity faculties within Emmanuel, St. Michael's and Trinity, including joint degrees with the university through the Toronto School of Theology.
Academics
The Munk School of Global Affairs encompasses programs and research institutes for international relations.
The Sandford Fleming Building contains offices of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.
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Library
Robarts Library houses the university's main collection for humanities and social sciences.
Reputation
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| University of Toronto | |
| ARWU World | 26 |
| ARWU Natural Science & Math | 34 |
| ARWU Engineering & CS | 21 |
| ARWU Life Sciences | 49 |
| ARWU Clinical Medicine | 27 |
| ARWU Social Sciences | 48 |
| THE-WUR World | 19 |
| THE_WUR Reputation | 16 |
| THE-WUR Arts/Humanities | 10 |
| THE-WUR Life Sciences | 22 |
| THE-WUR Health Sciences | 17 |
| THE-WUR Physical Sciences | 18 |
| THE-WUR Engineering/Tech. | 18 |
| Canadian rankings | |
| ARWU National | 1 |
| Maclean's Medical/Doctoral | 2 |
| THE-WUR National | 1 |
Research
Since 1926, the University of Toronto has been a member of the Association of American Universities, a consortium of the leading North American research universities. The university manages by far the largest annual research budget of any university in Canada, with sponsored direct-cost expenditures of $878.725 million in 2010. The federal government was the largest source of funding, with grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council amounting to about one-third of the research budget. About 8 percent of research funding came from corporations, mostly in the health care industry.
The discovery of stem cells by McCulloch and Till is the basis for all modern stem cell research.
The first practical electron microscope was built by the physics department in 1938. During World War II, the university developed the G-suit, a life-saving garment worn by Allied fighter plane pilots, later adopted for use by astronauts. Development of the infrared chemiluminescence technique improved analyses of energy behaviours in chemical reactions. In 1963, the asteroid 2104 Toronto is discovered in the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill and is named after the university. In 1972, studies on Cygnus X-1 led to the publication of the first observational evidence proving the existence of black holes. Toronto astronomers have also discovered the Uranus moons of Caliban and Sycorax, the dwarf galaxies of Andromeda I, II and III, and the supernova SN 1987A. A pioneer in computing technology, the university designed and built UTEC, one of the world's first operational computers, and later purchased Ferut, the second commercial computer after UNIVAC I. Multi-touch technology was developed at Toronto, with applications ranging from handheld devices to collaboration walls.
The Donnelly Centre is part of the Discovery District, one of the world's largest biotechnology research clusters.
Athletics
The 44 sports teams of the Varsity Blues represent the university in intercollegiate competitions. The two main leagues in which the Blues participate are Canadian Interuniversity Sport for national competitions, and the auxiliary Ontario University Athletics conference at the provincial level. The athletic nickname of Varsity Blues was not consistently used until the 1930s; previously, references such as "Varsity", "The Big Blue", "The Blue and White" and "The Varsity Blue" also appeared interchangeably. The Blue and White is commonly played and sung in athletic games as a fight song.
The University of Toronto Rowing Club trains in Toronto Harbour for the 1924 Summer Olympics. The team won silver for Canada.
North American football traces its very origin to the University of Toronto, with the first documented football game played at University College on 9 November 1861 The Blues played their first intercollegiate football match in 1877 against the University of Michigan, in a game that ended with a scoreless draw. Since intercollegiate seasons began in 1898, the Blues have won four Grey Cup, two Vanier Cup and 25 Yates Cup championships, including the inaugural championships for all three trophies. However, the football team has hit a rough patch following its last championship in 1993. From 2001 until 2008, the Blues suffered the longest losing streak in Canadian collegiate history, recording 49 consecutive winless games. This was preceded by a single victory in 2001 that ended a run of 18 straight losses. The site of Varsity Stadium has served as the primary playing grounds of the Varsity Blues football and soccer programs since 1898.
Formed in 1891, the storied Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team has left many legacies on the national, professional and international hockey scenes. Conn Smythe played for the Blues as a centre during his undergraduate years, and was a Blues coach from 1923 to 1926. When Smythe took over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927, the familiar blue-and-white sweater design of the Varsity Blues was adopted by his new team. Blues hockey competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics and captured the gold medal for Canada.
At the 1980 Winter Olympics, Blues coach Tom Watt served as co-coach of the Canadian hockey team in which six players were Varsity grads. In all, the Blues have won the University Cup national hockey title ten times, last in 1984. Varsity Arena has been the permanent home of the Blues ice hockey programs since it opened in 1926. In men's basketball, the Varsity Blues have won 14 conference titles, including the inaugural championship in 1909, but have not won a national title. In swimming, the men's team has claimed the national crown 16 times since 1964, while the women's team has claimed the crown 14 times since 1970. Established in 1897, the University of Toronto Rowing Club is the oldest collegiate rowing club in Canada. It earned a silver medal for the country in the 1924 Summer Olympics, finishing second to Yale's crew.
Culture and student life
Generations of students have attended speeches, debates and concerts at Hart House.
In the heart of social, cultural and recreational life at the University of Toronto lies Hart House, the sprawling neo-Gothic student activity centre that was conceived by alumnus-benefactor Vincent Massey and named for his grandfather Hart. Opened in 1919, the complex established a communitarian spirit in the university and its students, who at the time kept largely within their own colleges under the decentralized collegiate system.
At Hart House, a student can read in the library, dine casually or formally, have a haircut, visit the art gallery, watch a play in the theatre, listen to a concert, observe or join in debates, play billiards, or go for a swim and find a place to study, all under the same roof and within the span of a day. The confluence of assorted functions is the result of a deliberate effort to create a holistic educational experience, a goal summarized in the Founders' Prayer. The Hart House model was influential in the planning of student centres at other universities, notably Cornell University's Willard Straight Hall.
Hart House resembles some traditional aspects of student representation through its financial support of student clubs, and its standing committees and board of stewards that are composed mostly of undergraduate students. However, the main students' unions on administrative and policy issues are the University of Toronto Students' Union, Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students and the Graduate Students' Union. Student representative bodies also exist at the various colleges, academic faculties and departments.
The Hart House Debating Club employs a debating style that combines the American emphasis on analysis and the British use of wit. Smaller debating societies at Trinity, University and Victoria College have served as initial training grounds for debaters who later progress to Hart House. The club won the World Universities Debating Championship in 1981 and 2006. University of Toronto Model United Nations (UTMUN) hosts an annual Model United Nations conference in Toronto, while the United Nations Society participates in various North American and international conferences. The Toronto chess team has captured the top title six times at the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. The Formula SAE Racing Team won the Formula Student European Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
Greek life
The University of Toronto is home to the first collegiate fraternity in Canada, Zeta Psi, whose Toronto chapter has been active since 1879. Because few other Canadian universities in the 19th century were deemed comparable to their American counterparts in repute, age and secularity, most early American fraternities chose to open their first international chapter at the University of Toronto, including Sigma Chi, Delta Upsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Sigma, Phi Gamma Delta, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Psi Upsilon, Alpha Delta Phi, Beta Theta Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Lambda Phi Epsilon, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Theta Delta Chi, Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Lambda Chi Alpha. Other Greek-letter societies include Alpha Gamma Delta, Alpha Phi, Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Society, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Pi, and Alpha Epsilon Pi. A secret society known as Episkopon has operated from Trinity College since 1858.
Theatre and music
Sunlight fills Knox College Chapel during a Christmas concert of the engineering faculty's Skule Choir.
Student media
William Lyon Mackenzie King was active in student media during his undergraduate years.
The Varsity is one of Canada's oldest student-run newspapers, in publication since 1880. The paper was originally a daily broadsheet, but has since adopted a compact format and is now weekly with three summer issues. Hart House Review, a literary magazine by students of the Literary and Library Committee of Hart House, features prose, poetry, art and photography from emerging writers and artists. The Newspaper is an independent student-run community newspaper, published weekly since 1978. CIUT-FM is the university's campus radio station, while the University of Toronto Television broadcasts student-produced content. Students at each college and academic faculty also produce their own set of journals and news publications. University College's The Gargoyle was an early training ground for such notables as journalist Naomi Klein, and musician/comedian Paul Shaffer.Members of the student press have contributed to activist causes on several notable occasions. At the height of debate on coeducation in 1880, The Varsity published an article in its inaugural issue voicing in favour of admitting women. In 1895, the university suspended the editor of The Varsity for breach of collegiality, after he published a letter that harshly criticized the provincial government's dismissal of a professor and involvement in academic affairs. University College students then approved a motion by Varsity staff member William Lyon Mackenzie King and boycotted lectures for a week.
After Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau decriminalized homosexuality in 1969, a medical research assistant placed an advertisement in The Varsity seeking volunteers to establish the first university homophile association in Canada.
Residences
Teefy House, a residence hall of St. Michael's College, is home to senior undergraduate students.
Each college at the University of Toronto operates its own set of residence halls and dining halls clustered in a different area of the campus. Innis, New, St. Michael's, Trinity, University, Victoria, and Woodsworth colleges reserve most of their dormitories for their undergraduate students within the Faculty of Arts and Science, while setting a portion available to students from the professional and postgraduate faculties. Massey College is exclusively for graduate students, while Knox and Wycliffe Colleges mainly house graduate theology students. Annesley Hall of Victoria College, a National Historic Site, was the first university residence for women in Canada. After St. Hilda's College became coeducational in 2005, Annesley Hall and Loretto College of St. Michael's College are the last remaining women's halls at the university.
As campus residences accommodate just 6,400 students in all, the university guarantees housing only for undergraduates in their first year of study, while most upper-year and graduate students reside off-campus. Traditionally, the adjacent neighbourhoods of The Annex and Harbord Village are popular settling grounds for University of Toronto students, forming a distinct student quarter enclave. In 2004, the university purchased and converted a nearby hotel into the Chestnut Residence, which houses students from all colleges and faculties. There are also numerous fraternity houses and student housing cooperatives, where boarders pay reduced rent for assuming housekeeping duties.
- Housing on the St George Campus :
- Housing on the Mississauga Campus :
- Housing on the Scarborough Campus :
Hospital
The combination of U of T and the 10 partner hospitals affiliated with the university creates one of the world’s largest and most innovative health research forces. More than 1,600 researchers and 3,000 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows pursue the next vital steps in every area of health research imaginable. The community of scholars experts. And the global community benefits from a stunning array of new developments, findings and inventions.
Noted people
Sir Frederick Banting (1891–1941): M.B. 1916, M.D. 1922, medical faculty 1922–41
List of University of Toronto people :
In addition to Havelock, Innis, Frye, Carpenter and McLuhan, former professors of the past century include Frederick Banting, Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, Robertson Davies, John Charles Fields, Leopold Infeld and C. B. Macpherson. Ten Nobel laureates studied or taught at the University of Toronto. As of 2006, University of Toronto academics accounted for 15 of 23 Canadian members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (65%) and 20 of 72 Canadian fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (28%). Among honorees from Canada between 1980 and 2006, University of Toronto faculty made up 11 of 21 Gairdner Foundation International Award recipients (52%), 44 of 101 Guggenheim Fellows (44%), 16 of 38 Royal Society fellows (42%), 10 of 28 members in the United States National Academies (36%) and 23 of 77 Sloan Research Fellows (30%).Alumni of the University of Toronto's colleges, faculties and professional schools have assumed notable roles in a wide range of fields and specialties. In government, Governors General Vincent Massey and Adrienne Clarkson, Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King, Arthur Meighen, Lester B. Pearson and Paul Martin, and 14 Justices of the Supreme Court have all graduated from the university, while world leaders include President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Premier of the Republic of China Liu Chao-shiuan and President of Trinidad and Tobago Noor Hassanali. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, political scientist David Easton, historian Margaret MacMillan, philosophers David Gauthier and Ted Honderich, anthropologist Davidson Black, social activist Ellen Pence, sociologist Erving Goffman, psychologists Endel Tulving, Daniel Schacter, and Lisa Feldman Barrett, physicians Norman Bethune and Charles Best, geologists Joseph Tyrrell and John Tuzo Wilson, mathematicians Irving Kaplansky and William Kahan, physicists Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Bertram Brockhouse, architect James W. Strutt, engineer Gerald Bull, computer scientists Alfred Aho and Brian Kernighan, astronauts Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette are also some of the most well-known academic figures from the university.In business, University of Toronto alumni include Rogers Communications' Ted Rogers, Toronto-Dominion Bank's W. Edmund Clark, Bank of Montreal's Bill Downe, Scotiabank's Peter Godsoe, Barrick Gold's Peter Munk, Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie, eBay's Jeffrey Skoll and Fiat S.p.A.'s Sergio Marchionne. In literature and media, the university has produced writers Stephen Leacock, John McCrae, Rohinton Mistry, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, film directors Arthur Hiller, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan, actor Donald Sutherland, screenwriter David Shore, television producer and writer Hart Hanson, musician Paul Shaffer, journalists Malcolm Gladwell, Naomi Klein and Barbara Amiel.Photo of University
University of Toronto University College stock photo © MaximImages - stock photos in style
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