Keywords Colleges & Universities

The reorganization of U of T in the 1850s had resulted in the abolishment of the faculties of law and medicine, but these were restored in 1887. The Royal College of Dental Surgeons (founded 1875) was affiliated with the university from 1888 until 1925, when it became the Faculty of Dentistry. Engineering students attended the School of Practical Science, which was affiliated with the university from its inception in 1878 until 1887, when it amalgamated. The Conservatory of Music became an affiliate in 1896.

After the turn of the century the university expanded rapidly. New faculties included home economics (1906), education (1907), forestry (1907), social work (1914), nursing (1920), graduate studies (1922), hygiene (1926) and the School of Architecture (1948). Affiliate research institutions such as the ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM (1914), Connaught Medical Laboratories (1914) and the David Dunlap Observatory (1935) played an important role in the development of the university. The building program during this period included Hart House, a social, cultural and recreational centre that was built between 1911 and 1919 and given to the university in 1919 by Vincent MASSEY.

Canada's evolution was reflected in the growth and diversification of the university. The University of Toronto Press was established in 1901, and became a full-scale academic publishing house after 1945; by 1988, it was publishing 88 titles and 25 periodicals a year (see UNIVERSITY PRESSES). Today the U of T Press releases approximately 140 new scholarly, reference and general-interest books annually, including the renowned reference titles Canadian Who's Who and Canadian Books in Print. Graduate institutes in various areas of specialization were developed, the first being the Institute of Business Administration (1958). The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) was founded in 1965 as a research and development institute and as a graduate school of education. In 1996 OISE and U of Ts Faculty of Education were integrated to form OISE/UT.

As of 2002 the School of Graduate Studies at the U of T had over 80 graduate departments representing a broad array of fields from theoretical astrophysics to medieval studies, with the most recent arrivals being museum studies and knowledge media design.

The need to decentralize the university to meet the needs of metropolitan Toronto's growing population led to the development of 2 suburban campuses, Scarborough College (1964), now U of T at Scarborough, and Erindale College (1966), now U of T at Mississauga. The undergraduate college system was expanded at the central campus to include New College (1962) and Innis College (1964). MASSEY COLLEGE, the only college solely for graduates in U of T, was built and furnished by the Massey Foundation and opened in 1963 with Robertson DAVIES as master. YORK UNIVERSITY was affiliated with the University of Toronto from its creation in 1959 until it became fully independent in 1965.

U of T has made important contributions in many areas of scholarship and research. The discovery of INSULIN and the development of Pablum, liquid helium, an artificial pancreas, the genes for cystic fibrosis and the most severe form of Alzheimer's disease and the laser-beam image recorder took place at the university. The university is also the home of many research projects in the arts and humanities, including the DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY, Records of Early English Drama, the Dictionary of Old English and the editing of the works of John Stuart Mill.

Noted alumni include: authors Margaret ATWOOD, Farley MOWAT and Michael ONDAATJE; humorist Stephen LEACOCK; film directors Arthur HILLER, Atom EGOYAN, David CRONENBERG and Norman JEWISON; actors Donald SUTHERLAND, Raymond MASSEY and Don HARRON; opera singers Teresa STRATUS and Maureen FORRESTER; media personalities Peter GZOWSKI and Barbara AMIEL; astronaut Roberta BONDAR; former prime ministers William Lyon MACKENZIE, Arthur MEIGHEN and Lester PEARSON; and Governor General Adrienne CLARKSON. The U of T has over 55 000 full-time and part-time students.

University of Toronto
Founded as King's College in 1827 and controlled by the Church of England, on 31 December 1849 the institution was secularized, becoming on 1 January 1850 the nondenominational University of Toronto. Watercolour by architect W.G. Storm. (Courtesy National Gallery of Canada).

Woodsworth College
Woodsworth College at University of Toronto (courtesy Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects).

Hart House
Hart House, on the University of Toronto campus, was endowed by the Massey family and named for Hart Massey (Photo from U. of T. Archives).

Earth Sciences Building, U of T
University of Toronto, designed by A.J. Diamond, Donald Schmitt and Co (photo by Steven Evans).

Links to Other Sites
University of Toronto
The official website of the University of Toronto.

University of Toronto Museum of Scientific Instruments
Check out the collections of antique medical equipment and information about the history of medicine in Canada at this University of Toronto website.

University Affairs
The magazine takes you inside Canada's universities with the latest news, people on the move, book reviews, provocative opinion, research highlights and in-depth articles on a wide range of topics of interest to faculty, administrators and graduate students.

Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto
The first faculty at a Canadian university for the scholarly and professional study of music. Their website features bios of current faculty, an extensive listing of academic programs, and more.

The art of university architecture
This article highlights the distinctive architectural styles of buildings located at the St. George Campus of the University of Toronto.

Soldiers' Tower Carillon
The website for the Soldiers' Tower Carillon, located at the downtown campus of the University of Toronto. Features information about upcoming events, a photo gallery, music downloads, and an archives section that includes profiles of John Lewis Skillicorn and other former carillonneurs associated with the Soldiers' Tower.