McMaster University is a public

Public university

A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...

 research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The main campus is located on 121 hectares (299 acre) of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale

Westdale, Ontario

Westdale is a residential neighbourhood in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is centred on the Westdale Village shopping district and located near McMaster University. Westdale has been the heart of the Jewish community of Hamilton for many years...

, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens

Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario

Royal Botanical Gardens is headquartered in Burlington and also include lands in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara Falls and Toronto, as well as a significant local and regional horticultural, education, conservation and scientific resource...

. The university operates six academic faculties: Engineering, Health Science, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, and the DeGroote School of Business. It is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.

The university bears the name of Honourable William McMaster

William McMaster

William McMaster was a wholesaler, Senator and banker in the 19th century. A director of the Bank of Montreal from 1864–1867, he was a driving force behind the creation of the Canadian Bank of Commerce of which he served as the founding president from 1867 to his death in 1887.He served in the...

, a prominent Canadian Senator and banker who bequeathed C$

Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...

900,000 to the founding of the university.