University of Toronto
Encyclopedia
The University of Toronto (U of T, UToronto, or 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 first in Canada and 27th worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities
; first in Canada and 17th worldwide in the Times Higher Education global ranking; second in Canada and 23rd globally in the QS World University Rankings
; and first 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.
, 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.
On March 15, 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.
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. 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 campus
es 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.
in Downtown Toronto
, and immediately south of the neighbourhoods of Yorkville
and The Annex
. The site encompasses 71 hectares (175.4 acre) 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 park
land 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.
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.
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
.
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 college
s. 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.
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 school
s 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 University of Trinity College
entered federation in 1904, followed in 1910 by the University of 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
.
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 enrollment 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
.
is the university's main undergraduate faculty, and administers most of the courses in the college system. While the colleges are not entirely responsible for teaching duties, most of them house specialized academic programs and lecture series. Among other subjects, Trinity College is associated with programs in international relations
, as are University College with Canadian studies
, Victoria College with Renaissance
studies, Innis College with film studies
, New College with gender studies
, Woodsworth College with industrial relations and St. Michael's College with Medievalism
. The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
is the other major faculty that allows direct-entry into bachelor's degree programs from secondary schools; undergraduate programs in other faculties generally admit by second entry
. Postgraduate programs in arts and science are administered by the School of Graduate Studies.
The University of Toronto is the birthplace of an influential school of thought on communication theory
and literary criticism
, known as the Toronto School
. Described as "the theory of the primacy of communication in the structuring of human cultures and the structuring of the human mind", the school is rooted in the works of Eric A. Havelock
and Harold Innis
and the subsequent contributions of Edmund Snow Carpenter
, Northrop Frye
and Marshall McLuhan
. Since 1963, the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology
of the Faculty of Information
has carried the mandate for teaching and advancing the Toronto School.
Several notable works in arts and humanities are based at the university, including the Dictionary of Canadian Biography
since 1959 and the Collected Works of Erasmus
since 1969. The Records of Early English Drama collects and edits the surviving documentary evidence of dramatic arts in pre-Puritan
England
, while the Dictionary of Old English
compiles the early vocabulary of the English language from the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Munk School of Global Affairs
encompasses the university's various programs and curricula in international affairs and foreign policy. As the Cold War
heightened, Toronto's Slavic studies program evolved into an important institution on Soviet politics and economics, financed by the Rockefeller
, Ford
and Mellon
foundations. The Munk School is also home to the G20 Research Group, which conducts independent monitoring and analysis on the Group of Twenty
, and the Citizen Lab
, which conducts research on Internet censorship
as a joint founder of the OpenNet Initiative
. The university operates international offices in Berlin
, Hong Kong
and Siena
.
The Faculty of Medicine
is affiliated with a network of ten teaching hospital
s, providing medical treatment, research and advisory services to patients and clients from Canada and abroad. A core member of the network is University Health Network
, itself a specialized federation of Toronto General Hospital
, Princess Margaret Hospital and Toronto Western Hospital
. Physicians in the medical institutes have cross-appointments to faculty and supervisory positions in university departments. The Rotman School of Management
developed the discipline and methodology of integrative thinking
, upon which the school bases its curriculum. Founded in 1887, the Faculty of Law
's emphasis on formal teachings of liberal arts
and legal theory was then considered unconventional, but gradually helped shift the country's legal education system away from the apprenticeship model that prevailed until the mid-20th century. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
is the teachers college of the university, affiliated with its two laboratory school
s, the Institute of Child Study
and the University of Toronto Schools
. Autonomous institutes at the university include the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
and the Fields Institute
.
is the fourth-largest academic library
system in North America, following those of Harvard
, Yale
and Illinois
, measured by number of volumes held. The collections include more than 10 million bound volumes, 5.4 million microfilms, 70,000 serial titles and 1 million maps, films, graphics and sound recordings. The largest of the libraries, Robarts Library
, holds about five million bound volumes that form the main collection for humanities
and social sciences
. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
constitutes one of the largest repositories of publicly accessible rare book
s and manuscript
s. Its collections range from ancient Egyptian papyri
to incunabula and libretti
; the subjects of focus include British
, European
and Canadian literature
, Aristotle
, Darwin
, the Spanish Civil War
, the history of science
and medicine
, Canadiana
and the history of books. Most of the remaining holdings are dispersed at departmental and faculty libraries, in addition to about 1.3 million bound volumes that are held by the colleges. The university has collaborated with the Internet Archive
since 2005 to digitize
some of its library holdings.
Housed within University College, the University of Toronto Art Centre contains three major art collections. The Malcove Collection is primarily represented by Early Christian and Byzantine
sculptures, bronzeware, furniture, icons and liturgical items. It also includes glassware and stone reliefs from the Greco-Roman
period, and the painting Adam and Eve
by Lucas Cranach the Elder
, dated from 1538. The University of Toronto Collection features Canadian contemporary art, while the University College Art Collection holds significant works by the Group of Seven
and 19th century landscape art
ists.
of 2011-12 ranks the University of Toronto at 19th place globally and first in Canada. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities
of 2011, the University of Toronto is placed at 26th in the world and first in Canada; by academic subject, it ranks 21st in engineering and computer science, 27th in medicine, 34th in natural science and mathematics, 49th in life and agricultural sciences, and 48th in social science. It is ranked 43rd in Mathematics, 41st in Physics, 23rd in Chemistry, 10th in Computer Science, and 47th in Economics/Business in the world. The QS World University Rankings
of 2011 place the University of Toronto at 23rd in the world (and second overall in Canada), 21st in natural sciences, 21st in engineering and technology, 14th in arts and humanities, 16th in life sciences and biomedicine, and 20th in social sciences. In Newsweek
global rankings of 2011, the university ranks 3rd among institutions outside the United States
, after Cambridge
and Oxford
. It ranked 9th worldwide in the 2010 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities
, and 14th in the High Impact Universities
ranking. In 2010, the university received a grade of B for environmental sustainability from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
The University of Toronto ranked as the nation's top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's
magazine for twelve consecutive years between 1994 and 2005. Since 2009, it has joined 22 other national institutions in withholding data from the magazine, citing continued concerns regarding methodology. The university places second in the Maclean's ranking of 2009. The university has placed first among Canada's research universities in the annual ranking by Research Infosource since 2001. In 2010, the Faculty of Law
was named the top law school in Canada by Maclean's for the fourth consecutive year.
, 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 $845 million in 2008. 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 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 hole
s. 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 wall
s.
The discovery of insulin
at the University of Toronto in 1921 is considered among the most significant events in the history of medicine
. The stem cell
was discovered at the university in 1963, forming the basis for bone marrow transplantation and all subsequent research on adult
and embryonic stem cell
s. This was the first of many findings at Toronto relating to stem cells, including the identification of pancreatic and retina
l stem cells. The cancer stem cell
was first identified in 1997 by Toronto researchers, who have since found stem cell associations in leukemia
, brain tumor
s and colorectal cancer
. Medical inventions developed at Toronto include the glycaemic index
, the infant cereal Pablum
, the use of protective hypothermia
in open heart surgery
and the first artificial pacemaker
. The first successful single-lung transplant
was performed at Toronto in 1981, followed by the first nerve
transplant in 1988, and the first double-lung transplant in 1989. Researchers identified the maturation promoting factor
that regulates cell division
, and discovered the T-cell receptor which trigger responses of the immune system. The university is credited with isolating the genes that cause Fanconi anemia
, cystic fibrosis
and early-onset Alzheimer's disease
, among numerous other diseases. Between 1914 and 1972, the university operated the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, now part of the pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi-Aventis
. Among the research conducted at the laboratory was the development of gel electrophoresis
.
The University of Toronto is the primary research presence that supports one of the world's largest concentrations of biotechnology
firms. More than 5,000 principal investigator
s reside within 2 kilometres from the university grounds in Toronto's Discovery District
, conducting $1 billion of medical research annually. MaRS Discovery District
is a research park
that serves commercial enterprises and the university's technology transfer
ventures. In 2008, the university disclosed 159 inventions and had 114 active start-up companies. Its SciNet Consortium
operates the most powerful supercomputer
in Canada.
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
.
North American football
traces its very origin to the University of Toronto, with the first documented football game played at University College on November 9, 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.
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' union
s 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.
, 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
, and Lambda Chi Alpha
. Other Greek-letter societies include Alpha Gamma Delta
, Alpha Phi
, Gamma Phi Beta
, Kappa Alpha Society
, Kappa Kappa Gamma
, and Pi Beta Phi
. A secret society known as Episkopon
has operated from Trinity College since 1858.
Hart House Theatre
is the university's student amateur theatre
, generally producing four major plays every season. As old as Hart House itself, the theatre is considered a pioneer in Canadian theatre for introducing the Little Theatre Movement
from Europe. It has cultivated numerous performing-arts talents, including Donald Sutherland
, Lorne Michaels
, Wayne and Shuster
and William Hutt
. Three members of the Group of Seven
artists (Harris
, Lismer
and MacDonald
) have been set designers at the theatre, and composer Healey Willan
was director of music for fourteen productions. The theatre also hosts annual variety shows run by several student theatrical companies at the colleges and academic faculties, the most prominent of which are U.C. Follies of University College, Skule Nite of the Faculty of Engineering, and Daffydil of the Faculty of Medicine, the latter in its hundredth year of production in 2010-2011.
The main musical ensemble
s at Hart House are the orchestra, the chamber strings, the chorus, the jazz choir, the jazz ensemble and the symphonic band. The Jazz at Oscar's concert series performs big band
and vocal jazz
on Friday nights at the period lounge and bar of the Hart House Arbor Room. Open Stage is the monthly open mike
event featuring singers, comics, poets and storytellers. The Sunday Concert is the oldest musical series at Hart House; since 1922 the series has performed more than 600 classical music
concerts in the Great Hall, freely attended by the university community and general audiences. The public may also screen midday events held at noon, when concerts are recited prior to formal debut.
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.
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.
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 cooperative
s, where boarders pay reduced rent for assuming housekeeping duties.
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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
, sociologist Erving Goffman
, psychologists Endel Tulving
and Daniel Schacter
, 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
, musician Paul Shaffer
, television producer Lorne Michaels
, journalists Malcolm Gladwell
, Naomi Klein
and Barbara Amiel
.
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 in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, 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...
, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
. Originally controlled by the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university
Collegiate university
A collegiate university is a university in which governing authority and functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges...
, 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
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and communication theory
Communication theory
Communication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
, known collectively as the Toronto School
Toronto School of communication theory
The Toronto School is a school of thought in communication theory and literary criticism, the principles of which were developed chiefly by scholars at the University of Toronto. It is characterized by exploration of Ancient Greek literature and the theoretical view that communication systems...
. The university was the birthplace of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
and stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
research, and was the site of the first practical electron microscope
Electron microscope
An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope, because electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than...
, the development of multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
technology, the identification of Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
as a black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
, and the theory of NP completeness. By a significant margin, it receives the most annual research funding
Research funding
Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and only the most...
of any Canadian university. It is one of two members of the Association of American Universities
Association of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
located outside the United States.
The Varsity Blues
Varsity Blues
The Varsity Blues is the name for the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 26 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to 1877, with the formation...
are the athletic teams that represent the university in intercollegiate league matches, with particularly long and storied ties to gridiron football
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
and ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
. 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
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
complex.
The University of Toronto is ranked first in Canada and 27th worldwide in the Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
; first in Canada and 17th worldwide in the Times Higher Education global ranking; second in Canada and 23rd globally in the QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
; and first in Canada and third overall in Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
's ranking of top institutions outside of the United States. The university has educated two Governors General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
and four Prime Ministers of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
, 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 SimcoeJohn Graves Simcoe
John Graves Simcoe was a British army officer and the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791–1796. Then frontier, this was modern-day southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior...
, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. As an Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
-educated military commander who had fought in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Simcoe believed a college was needed to counter the spread of republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Upper Canada Executive Committee recommended in 1798 that a college be established in York
York, Upper Canada
York was the name of Old Toronto between 1793 and 1834. It was the second capital of Upper Canada.- History :The town was established in 1793 by Governor John Graves Simcoe, with a new 'Fort York' on the site of the last French 'Fort Toronto'...
, the colonial capital.
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
was formally issued by King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
, 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
John Strachan
John Strachan was an influential figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto.-Early life:Strachan was the youngest of six children born to a quarry worker in Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from King's College, Aberdeen in 1797...
, the influential Anglican
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
Bishop of Toronto
Anglican Diocese of Toronto
The Diocese of Toronto is an administrative division of the Anglican Church of Canada covering the central part of southern Ontario. It has the most members of any Anglican diocese in Canada. It is also one of the biggest Anglican dioceses in the Americas in terms of numbers of parishioners, clergy...
who took office as the first president of the college. The original three-storey Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
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
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
colonial elite, known as the Family Compact
Family Compact
Fully developed after the War of 1812, the Compact lasted until Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841. In Lower Canada, its equivalent was the Château Clique. The influence of the Family Compact on the government administration at different levels lasted to the 1880s...
. Reformist politicians opposed the clergy's control over colonial institutions and fought to have the college secularized
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
. In 1849, after a lengthy and heated debate, the newly-elected responsible government
Responsible government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...
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
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
as a private Anglican seminary. University College
University College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
was created as the nondenominational teaching branch of the University of Toronto. During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, the threat of Union blockade
Union blockade
The Union Blockade, or the Blockade of the South, took place between 1861 and 1865, during the American Civil War, when the Union Navy maintained a strenuous effort on the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the Confederate States of America designed to prevent the passage of trade goods, supplies, and arms...
on British North America
British North America
British North America is a historical term. It consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783.At the start of the Revolutionary War in 1775 the British...
prompted the creation of the University Rifle Corps, which saw battle in resisting the Fenian raids
Fenian raids
Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...
on the Niagara border in 1866.
Established in 1878, the School of Practical Science was precursor to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is an academic division of the University of Toronto devoted to study and research in engineering. Founded in 1873 as the School of Practical Science, it is still known today by the longtime nickname of Skule...
, which has been nicknamed Skule since its earliest days. While the Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto is the medical school of the University of Toronto. The faculty is based in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along with most of its teaching hospitals and research institutes. Founded in 1843, it is one of Canada's oldest institutions of...
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
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been...
in 1887, and it was followed by the Faculty of Dentistry
University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry
The Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Toronto is the largest dental school in Canada. The Faculty is considered the leading dental faculty in Canada and is highly regarded throughout the world...
in 1888, when the Royal College of Dental Surgeons
Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario
-The Organization:The Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, more commonly known as RCDSO, was established on March 4th, 1868 by Ontario Statute...
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
Collegiate university
A collegiate university is a university in which governing authority and functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges...
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
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
from 1912 to 1968; both still retain close ties with the university as independent institutions. The University of Toronto Press
University of Toronto Press
University of Toronto Press is Canada's leading scholarly publisher and one of the largest university presses in North America. Founded in 1901, UTP has published over 6,500 books, with well over 3,500 of these still in print....
was founded in 1901 as the first academic publishing house
University press
A university press is an academic, nonprofit publishing house that is typically affiliated with a large research university, and publishes work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. It produces mainly scholarly works...
in Canada. In 1910, the Faculty of Education opened its laboratory school
Laboratory school
A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentation, educational research, and professional...
, the University of Toronto Schools
University of Toronto Schools
The University of Toronto Schools is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
.
The First
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and Second World Wars
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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
David Dunlap Observatory
The David Dunlap Observatory is a large astronomical observatory site once owned by the University of Toronto, located just north of the city in Richmond Hill, Ontario within a estate. Its primary instrument is a 74-inch reflector telescope, at one time the second largest telescope in the world,...
in Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...
opened in 1935, followed by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies is an advanced research facility for aeronautics and aerospace engineering, located in the Downsview district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
in 1949. The university opened satellite campus
Satellite campus
A satellite campus or branch campus is a campus of a college or university that is physically detached from the main university or college area, and is often smaller than the main campus of an institution....
es in Scarborough
University of Toronto Scarborough
The University of Toronto Scarborough is a satellite campus of the University of Toronto. Based in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upon suburban parkland in the residential neighbourhood of Highland Creek...
in 1964 and in Mississauga
University of Toronto Mississauga
The University of Toronto Mississauga is a satellite campus of the University of Toronto, located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The university is set upon a park-like campus on the valley of the Credit River, approximately 33 kilometres west of Downtown Toronto...
in 1967. The university's former affiliated schools at the Ontario Agricultural College
Ontario Agricultural College
The Ontario Agricultural College originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto...
and Glendon Hall
Glendon College
Glendon College is one of the two campuses of York University, Canada's third-largest university, in Toronto, Ontario. A bilingual liberal arts college with 84 full-time faculty members and a student population of about 2400, Glendon is located in midtown Toronto's Lawrence Park neighbourhood...
became fully independent as University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...
in 1964 and York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary 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
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
greater than C$1 billion.
Grounds
The university grounds lie about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the Financial DistrictFinancial District, Toronto
The Financial District is a business district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, within the downtown core. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York . It is the main financial district in Toronto, and is the financial heart of Canada...
in Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto
Downtown Toronto is the central business district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately bounded by Bloor Street to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, the Don River to the east, and Bathurst Street to the west...
, and immediately south of the neighbourhoods of Yorkville
Yorkville, Toronto
Yorkville is a district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, well known for its shopping. It is a former village, annexed by the City of Toronto. It is roughly bounded by Bloor Street to the south, Davenport Road to the north, Yonge Street to the east and Avenue Road to the west, and is considered part of...
and The Annex
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road...
. The site encompasses 71 hectares (175.4 acre) bounded mostly by Bay Street
Bay Street
Bay Street, originally known as Bear Street, is a major thoroughfare in Downtown Toronto. It is the centre of Toronto's Financial District and is often used by metonymy to refer to Canada's financial industry since succeeding Montreal's St. James Street in that role in the 1970s...
, Bloor Street
Bloor Street
Bloor Street is a major east–west residential and commercial thoroughfare in Toronto, in the Canadian province of Ontario. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct westward into Mississauga, where it ends at Central Parkway. East of the viaduct, Danforth Avenue continues along the same...
, Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue
Spadina Avenue is one of the most prominent streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running through the western section of downtown, the road has a very different character in different neighbourhoods....
and College Street
College Street (Toronto)
College Street is a principal arterial thoroughfare in downtown Toronto, connecting former streetcar suburbs in the west with the city centre. The street is home to an ethnically diverse population in the western residential reaches, and institutions like the Ontario Legislature and the University...
. 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 park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...
land in the city's downtown core. The namesake University Avenue
University Avenue (Toronto)
University Avenue is a major north-south road in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At its north end, University Avenue is the site of the Ontario Legislative Building. The eight-lane wide street is the location for several hospitals, numerous office buildings, Osgoode Hall and the Four Seasons...
is a ceremonial boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
and arterial thoroughfare that runs through downtown between Queen's Park and Front Street
Front Street (Toronto)
Front Street is an east-west road in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street marks the rough outline of the shoreline of Lake Ontario as it existed during the original English settlement of York, then called Palace Street...
. The Spadina
Spadina (TTC)
Spadina is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Out of all the interchange stations, this one is the least-used with approximately 47,570 people using both platforms each day...
, St. George
St. George (TTC)
St. George is a station on the Yonge-University-Spadina and Bloor-Danforth lines of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 323 Bloor Street West at St. George Street. This is the second busiest station, after Bloor-Yonge Station, serving a combined total of approximately ...
, Museum
Museum (TTC)
Museum is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located at 75 Queen's Park at Charles Street West...
, Bay
Bay (TTC)
Bay is a station on the Bloor–Danforth line of the subway system in Toronto, Canada. It is located at 64 Bloor Street West at Bay Street.One major amenity of this station is the Toronto Transit Commission's Lost articles office, where objects lost on TTC property are kept.-History:Bay Station was...
, and Queen's Park
Queen's Park (TTC)
Queen's Park is a station on the Yonge–University–Spadina line of the subway system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at 671 University Avenue at College Street, the station opened in 1963....
stations of the Toronto subway system
Toronto subway and RT
The Toronto subway and RT is a rapid transit system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, consisting of both underground and elevated railway lines, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission . It was Canada's first completed subway system, with the first line being built under Yonge Street, which opened in...
are located in the vicinity.
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
and Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
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
University College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
, built in 1857 with an eclectic blend of Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
and Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
architectural elements. The dramatic effect of this blended design by architect Frederick William Cumberland
Frederick William Cumberland
Frederick William Cumberland was a Canadian engineer, architect and political figure. He represented the riding of Algoma in the 1st and 2nd Ontario Parliaments and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1871 to 1872....
drew praise from European visitors of the time: "Until I reached Toronto," remarked Lord Dufferin
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava
Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society...
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
Convocation Hall (University of Toronto)
Convocation Hall is a domed rotunda on the grounds of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Designed by Pearson and Darling and completed in 1907, it was inspired by the grand theatre of the Sorbonne and the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford...
is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
-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
Collegiate Gothic in North America
Collegiate Gothic is an architectural genre, a subgenre of Gothic Revival architecture.-History:The beginnings of Collegiate Gothic in North America date back to 1894 when Cope & Stewardson completed Pembroke Hall on the campus of Bryn Mawr College...
design, with its characteristic cloisters surrounding a secluded courtyard.
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
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Areopagitica
Areopagitica
Areopagitica: A speech of Mr. John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a 1644 prose polemical tract by English author John Milton against censorship...
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
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth...
and convocation. The oldest surviving building on campus is the former Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory
Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory
The Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory is a historical observatory located on the grounds of the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project run by Edward Sabine to determine the cause of...
building, built in 1855. North of University College, the main building of Trinity College
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
displays Jacobethan
Jacobethan
Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance , with elements of Elizabethan and...
Tudor
Tudor style architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
architecture, while its chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style of Giles Gilbert Scott
Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, OM, FRIBA was an English architect known for his work on such buildings as Liverpool Cathedral and Battersea Power Station and designing the iconic red telephone box....
. The chapel features exterior walls of sandstone and interiors of Indiana limestone
Indiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
, and was constructed by Italian stonemasons using ancient building methods. Philosopher's Walk
Philosopher's Walk (Toronto)
The Philosopher's Walk is a scenic footpath in the main campus of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It runs in the north-south direction along the ravine landscape created by Taddle Creek, once a natural waterway that was buried during the Industrial Age and now flowing...
is a scenic footpath that follows a meandering, wooded ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
linking with Trinity College, Varsity Arena
Varsity Arena
Varsity Arena is an arena in Toronto, Ontario. It is located at 299 Bloor Street West and is primarily home to the ice hockey teams of the University of Toronto, the Varsity Blues, though it also hosted the Toronto Toros of the WHA from 1973–74 and the Toronto Planets of the RHI in 1993...
and the Faculty of Law
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been...
. Victoria College
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
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
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the western section of the campus consists mainly of modernist
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
and internationalist
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
structures that contain laboratories and faculty offices. The most significant example of Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is a style of architecture which flourished from the 1950s to the mid 1970s, spawned from the modernist architectural movement.-The term "brutalism":...
is the massive Robarts Library
Robarts Library
The John P. Robarts Research Library, commonly referred to as Robarts Library, is the main humanities and social sciences library of the University of Toronto Libraries and the largest individual library in the university...
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
Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building
The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy is a pharmacy school and an academic division of the University of Toronto. The faculty is located on the northwestern corner of College Street and University Avenue, placing it across from the Ontario Legislative Building and at the entrance to Queen's Park station...
, completed in 2006, exhibits a modern style of glass and steel by British architect Norman Foster
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....
.
Governance and colleges
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
, lieutenant governor
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Lieutenant Governor of Ontario is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United...
, 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
Collegiate university
A collegiate university is a university in which governing authority and functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges...
with a model that resembles those of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
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 college
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
s. 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.
University College, University of Toronto
University College is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, created in 1853 specifically as an institution of higher learning free of religious affiliation. It was the founding member of the university's modern collegiate system, and its secularism contrasted with contemporary...
was the founding nondenominational college, created in 1853 after the university was secularized. Knox College
Knox College, University of Toronto
Knox College is a postgraduate theological college of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1844 as part of a schism movement in the Church of Scotland following the Disruption...
, a Presbyterian
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
institution, and Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College
Wycliffe College is an Anglican Church of Canada seminary federated with the University of Toronto. It is evangelical and Low church in orientation. On the other hand, the University of Toronto's other Anglican college, the University of Trinity College is Anglo-Catholic in outlook. While being an...
, a low church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
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 school
Federated school
An affiliated school is an educational institution that operates independently, but also has a formal collaborative agreement with another, usually larger institution that may have some level of control or influence over its academic policies, standards or programs.While a university may have one...
s in 1890. The idea of federation initially met strong opposition at Victoria University
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
, a Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
school in Cobourg
Cobourg, Ontario
Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...
, but a financial incentive in 1890 convinced the school to join. Decades after the death of John Strachan, the Anglican seminary University of Trinity College
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
entered federation in 1904, followed in 1910 by the University of St. Michael's College
University of St. Michael's College
The University of St. Michael's College is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1852 by the Congregation of St. Basil of Annonay, France. While mainly an undergraduate college for liberal arts and sciences, St. Michael's retains its Roman Catholic affiliation through its postgraduate...
, a Roman Catholic college founded by the Basilian Fathers. Among the institutions that had considered federation but ultimately remained independent were McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
school that later moved to 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...
, and Queen's College, a Presbyterian school in Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
that later became Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
.
Constituent colleges
Theological colleges
|
Federated colleges
Graduate college
|
The post-war era saw the creation of New College
New College, University of Toronto
New College is one of the four constituent Colleges of the University of Toronto in Canada. One of the larger colleges with nearly 5000 students, it stands on Huron Street in the historic campus' west-end, nestled alongside the major Science research buildings...
in 1962, Innis College
Innis College
Innis College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Toronto. It is one of the University of Toronto's smallest colleges in terms of size and the second smallest college in terms of population with approximately 1870 registered students...
in 1964 and Woodsworth College
Woodsworth College
Woodsworth College, named after politician and clergyman James Shaver Woodsworth , is a college within the University of Toronto. It is the largest college in the Faculty of Arts and Science on the St. George Campus. It is also the newest of the colleges at the University of Toronto, created in...
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
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
was established in 1963 by the Massey Foundation
Massey Foundation
The Massey Foundation was incorporated in 1918. It is responsible for the construction of many Toronto landmarks. It was the first trust of its kind in Canada.-History:...
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
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
. While St. Michael's, Trinity and Victoria continue to recognize their religious affiliations and heritage, they have since adopted secular policies of enrollment and teaching in non-divinity subjects. Some colleges have, or once had, collegiate structures of their own: Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, University of Toronto
Emmanuel College is a theological college of Victoria University at the University of Toronto. Affiliated with the United Church, it is a member institution of the Toronto School of Theology. The principal is the Rev. Dr Mark G. Toulouse...
is a college of Victoria and St. Hilda's College
St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
St Hilda's College is the women's college of the University of Trinity College, itself a federated college of the University of Toronto, Canada...
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
Ewart College
Ewart College was a historical women's college located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in Canada. In September 1991, it merged with Knox College, University of Toronto....
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
Toronto School of Theology
The Toronto School of Theology is an ecumenical centre for graduate theological education and the largest of its kind in Canada. Affiliated with the University of Toronto, the TST comprises seven member colleges in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Reformed traditions, as well as four affiliated...
.
Academics
The Faculty of Arts and ScienceUniversity of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science
The Faculty of Arts and Science at the University of Toronto is one of Canada's largest and most prestigious arts and science teaching and research institutions. With almost 22,000 undergraduate and 3,000 graduate students, Arts and Science represents over half the student population on the...
is the university's main undergraduate faculty, and administers most of the courses in the college system. While the colleges are not entirely responsible for teaching duties, most of them house specialized academic programs and lecture series. Among other subjects, Trinity College is associated with programs in international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
, as are University College with Canadian studies
Canadian Studies
Canadian Studies is a Collegiate study of Canadian culture, Canadian languages, literature, Quebec, agriculture, history, and their government and politics. Most universities recommend that students take a double major and French, if not included in the course...
, Victoria College with Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
studies, Innis College with film studies
Film studies
Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to films. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies...
, New College with gender studies
Gender studies
Gender studies is a field of interdisciplinary study which analyses race, ethnicity, sexuality and location.Gender study has many different forms. One view exposed by the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: "One is not born a woman, one becomes one"...
, Woodsworth College with industrial relations and St. Michael's College with Medievalism
Medievalism
Medievalism is the system of belief and practice characteristic of the Middle Ages, or devotion to elements of that period, which has been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture.Since the 18th century, a...
. The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is an academic division of the University of Toronto devoted to study and research in engineering. Founded in 1873 as the School of Practical Science, it is still known today by the longtime nickname of Skule...
is the other major faculty that allows direct-entry into bachelor's degree programs from secondary schools; undergraduate programs in other faculties generally admit by second entry
Second entry degree
A second entry degree is a term used for an academic degree that requires at minimum 1-3 years of pre-requisite university courses for admission. It is most commonly used to refer to first professional degree programs in Canada and the United States....
. Postgraduate programs in arts and science are administered by the School of Graduate Studies.
The University of Toronto is the birthplace of an influential school of thought on communication theory
Communication theory
Communication theory is a field of information and mathematics that studies the technical process of information and the human process of human communication.- History :- Origins :...
and literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
, known as the Toronto School
Toronto School of communication theory
The Toronto School is a school of thought in communication theory and literary criticism, the principles of which were developed chiefly by scholars at the University of Toronto. It is characterized by exploration of Ancient Greek literature and the theoretical view that communication systems...
. Described as "the theory of the primacy of communication in the structuring of human cultures and the structuring of the human mind", the school is rooted in the works of Eric A. Havelock
Eric A. Havelock
Eric Alfred Havelock was a British classicist who spent most of his life in Canada and the United States. He was a professor at the University of Toronto and was active in the Canadian socialist movement during the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as chair of the classics departments at...
and Harold Innis
Harold Innis
Harold Adams Innis was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory and Canadian economic history. The affiliated Innis College at the University of Toronto is named for him...
and the subsequent contributions of Edmund Snow Carpenter
Edmund Snow Carpenter
Edmund "Ted" Snow Carpenter was an anthropologist best known for his work on tribal art and visual media.-Early life:...
, Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
and Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
. Since 1963, the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology
McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology
The McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology started in 1963 as the Centre for Culture and Technology.In 1994, the McLuhan Program became a part of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Information Studies....
of the Faculty of Information
University of Toronto Faculty of Information Studies
The Faculty of Information is a graduate unit within the University of Toronto and is devoted to the study of information science. It is located on St. George Campus, in the Claude Bissell building, at 140 St. George Street, which is attached to John P...
has carried the mandate for teaching and advancing the Toronto School.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The DCB, which was initiated in 1959, is a collaboration between the University of Toronto and Université Laval...
since 1959 and the Collected Works of Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus , known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and a theologian....
since 1969. The Records of Early English Drama collects and edits the surviving documentary evidence of dramatic arts in pre-Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, while the Dictionary of Old English
Dictionary of Old English
The Dictionary of Old English is a dictionary published by the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto under the direction of Angus Cameron , Ashley Crandell Amos , and Antonette diPaolo Healey. It "defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries of the English language, using...
compiles the early vocabulary of the English language from the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Munk School of Global Affairs
Munk School of Global Affairs
The Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary academic centre on global issues that integrates research with teaching and public education...
encompasses the university's various programs and curricula in international affairs and foreign policy. As the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
heightened, Toronto's Slavic studies program evolved into an important institution on Soviet politics and economics, financed by the Rockefeller
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, Ford
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and Mellon
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, endowed with wealth accumulated by the late Andrew W. Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969...
foundations. The Munk School is also home to the G20 Research Group, which conducts independent monitoring and analysis on the Group of Twenty
G-20 major economies
The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies: 19 countries plus the European Union, which is represented by the President of the European Council and by the European Central Bank...
, and the Citizen Lab
Citizen Lab
The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. Founded Professor Ronald Deibert, the Citizen Lab focuses on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media, global security, and human...
, which conducts research on Internet censorship
Internet censorship
Internet censorship is the control or suppression of the publishing of, or access to information on the Internet. It may be carried out by governments or by private organizations either at the behest of government or on their own initiative...
as a joint founder of the OpenNet Initiative
OpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
. The university operates international offices in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
.
The Faculty of Medicine
University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto is the medical school of the University of Toronto. The faculty is based in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along with most of its teaching hospitals and research institutes. Founded in 1843, it is one of Canada's oldest institutions of...
is affiliated with a network of ten teaching hospital
Teaching hospital
A teaching hospital is a hospital that provides clinical education and training to future and current doctors, nurses, and other health professionals, in addition to delivering medical care to patients...
s, providing medical treatment, research and advisory services to patients and clients from Canada and abroad. A core member of the network is University Health Network
University Health Network
University Health Network is a medical centre that comprises three teaching hospitals affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine....
, itself a specialized federation of Toronto General Hospital
Toronto General Hospital
The Toronto General Hospital , is a part of the University Health Network, and a major teaching hospital in downtown Toronto, Ontario. It is located in the Discovery District, directly north of the Hospital for Sick Children, across Gerrard Street West, and east of Princess Margaret Hospital and...
, Princess Margaret Hospital and Toronto Western Hospital
Toronto Western Hospital
-External links:****...
. Physicians in the medical institutes have cross-appointments to faculty and supervisory positions in university departments. The Rotman School of Management
Rotman School of Management
The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management commonly known as Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's business school, located in St. George Street in Downtown Toronto. The school, named after Joseph L...
developed the discipline and methodology of integrative thinking
Integrative thinking
Integrative Thinking is a field in Applied Mind Science which was originated by [Graham Douglas] in 1986.-Definition:Integrative thinking is a discipline and methodology for solving complex or wicked problems...
, upon which the school bases its curriculum. Founded in 1887, the Faculty of Law
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been...
's emphasis on formal teachings of liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
and legal theory was then considered unconventional, but gradually helped shift the country's legal education system away from the apprenticeship model that prevailed until the mid-20th century. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto is a teachers' college in Toronto, Ontario.-History:OISE/UT traces its origins to the founding of the Provincial Normal School in 1847...
is the teachers college of the university, affiliated with its two laboratory school
Laboratory school
A laboratory school or demonstration school is an elementary or secondary school operated in association with a university, college, or other teacher education institution and used for the training of future teachers, educational experimentation, educational research, and professional...
s, the Institute of Child Study
Institute of Child Study
The Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study is a laboratory school and research institute of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto...
and the University of Toronto Schools
University of Toronto Schools
The University of Toronto Schools is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
. Autonomous institutes at the university include the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
The Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics is a national research institute funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, located at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies is a research institute in the University of Toronto that is dedicated to advanced studies in the culture of the Middle Ages....
and the Fields Institute
Fields Institute
The Fields Institute is an international centre for research in mathematical sciences at the University of Toronto. The institute is named for University of Toronto mathematician John Charles Fields, founder of the Fields Medal...
.
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University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine The Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto is the medical school of the University of Toronto. The faculty is based in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along with most of its teaching hospitals and research institutes. Founded in 1843, it is one of Canada's oldest institutions of... University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry The Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Toronto is the largest dental school in Canada. The Faculty is considered the leading dental faculty in Canada and is highly regarded throughout the world... |
University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance The University of Toronto School of Public Policy and Governance is a public policy and public administration school located in Toronto, Ontario. The SPPG is headquartered in the Canadiana Gallery at 14 Queen's Park Crescent West.... University of Toronto Faculty of Law Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been... Rotman School of Management The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management commonly known as Rotman School of Management is the University of Toronto's business school, located in St. George Street in Downtown Toronto. The school, named after Joseph L... Ontario Institute for Studies in Education The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto is a teachers' college in Toronto, Ontario.-History:OISE/UT traces its origins to the founding of the Provincial Normal School in 1847... Toronto School of Theology The Toronto School of Theology is an ecumenical centre for graduate theological education and the largest of its kind in Canada. Affiliated with the University of Toronto, the TST comprises seven member colleges in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Reformed traditions, as well as four affiliated... |
Library and collections
The University of Toronto LibrariesUniversity of Toronto Libraries
The University of Toronto Libraries is the library system of the University of Toronto, comprising about 30 individual libraries that hold more than 10 million bound volumes and 5 million microform volumes...
is the fourth-largest academic library
Academic library
An academic library is a library that is attached to academic institutions above the secondary level, serving the teaching and research needs of students and staff...
system in North America, following those of Harvard
Harvard University Library
The Harvard University Library system comprises about 90 libraries, with more than 16 million volumes. It is the oldest library system in the United States, the largest academic and the largest private library system in the world...
, Yale
Yale University Library
Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It is the second-largest academic library in the North America, with approximately 12.5 million volumes housed in 20 buildings on campus...
and Illinois
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
, measured by number of volumes held. The collections include more than 10 million bound volumes, 5.4 million microfilms, 70,000 serial titles and 1 million maps, films, graphics and sound recordings. The largest of the libraries, Robarts Library
Robarts Library
The John P. Robarts Research Library, commonly referred to as Robarts Library, is the main humanities and social sciences library of the University of Toronto Libraries and the largest individual library in the university...
, holds about five million bound volumes that form the main collection for humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is a library in the University of Toronto, constituting the largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada. The library is also home to the university archives which, in addition to institutional records, also contains the papers...
constitutes one of the largest repositories of publicly accessible rare book
Book collecting
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given individual collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and collect...
s and manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s. Its collections range from ancient Egyptian papyri
Papyrus
Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
to incunabula and libretti
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
; the subjects of focus include British
British literature
British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...
, European
European literature
European literature refers to the literature of Europe.European literature includes literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by the...
and Canadian literature
Canadian literature
Canadian literature is literature originating from Canada. Collectively it is often called CanLit. Some criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes, although this is only a small portion of Canadian Literary criticism...
, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
, Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, the history of science
History of science
The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....
and medicine
History of medicine
All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
, Canadiana
Canadiana
Canadiana is a term referring to things related to the country of Canada. It is most often used to refer to a class of books somewhat wider than Canadian Literature because it also includes books about Canada as well as Canadian non-fiction works....
and the history of books. Most of the remaining holdings are dispersed at departmental and faculty libraries, in addition to about 1.3 million bound volumes that are held by the colleges. The university has collaborated with the Internet Archive
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
since 2005 to digitize
Digitizing
Digitizing or digitization is the representation of an object, image, sound, document or a signal by a discrete set of its points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal...
some of its library holdings.
Housed within University College, the University of Toronto Art Centre contains three major art collections. The Malcove Collection is primarily represented by Early Christian and Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
sculptures, bronzeware, furniture, icons and liturgical items. It also includes glassware and stone reliefs from the Greco-Roman
Greco-Roman world
The Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman culture, or the term Greco-Roman , when used as an adjective, as understood by modern scholars and writers, refers to those geographical regions and countries that culturally were directly, protractedly and intimately influenced by the language, culture,...
period, and the painting Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
by Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, dated from 1538. The University of Toronto Collection features Canadian contemporary art, while the University College Art Collection holds significant works by the Group of Seven
Group of Seven (artists)
The Group of Seven, sometimes known as the Algonquin school, were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley...
and 19th century landscape art
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
ists.
Reputation
The Times Higher Education World University RankingsTimes Higher Education World University Rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
of 2011-12 ranks the University of Toronto at 19th place globally and first in Canada. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
of 2011, the University of Toronto is placed at 26th in the world and first in Canada; by academic subject, it ranks 21st in engineering and computer science, 27th in medicine, 34th in natural science and mathematics, 49th in life and agricultural sciences, and 48th in social science. It is ranked 43rd in Mathematics, 41st in Physics, 23rd in Chemistry, 10th in Computer Science, and 47th in Economics/Business in the world. The QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
of 2011 place the University of Toronto at 23rd in the world (and second overall in Canada), 21st in natural sciences, 21st in engineering and technology, 14th in arts and humanities, 16th in life sciences and biomedicine, and 20th in social sciences. In Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
global rankings of 2011, the university ranks 3rd among institutions outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, after Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. It ranked 9th worldwide in the 2010 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities
HEEACT – Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities
The Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities is a ranking system of 500 world universities by scientific paper volume, impact, and performance output. The ranking is published by the Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation Council of Taiwan The project employs...
, and 14th in the High Impact Universities
High Impact Universities
Initially launched in September 2010, the High Impact Universities research performance index or RPI is an Australian initiative to benchmark the research performance of world's universities. The pilot project involved a study of over 1,000 universities and 5,000 faculties worldwide. Ranked results...
ranking. In 2010, the university received a grade of B for environmental sustainability from the Sustainable Endowments Institute.
The University of Toronto ranked as the nation's top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...
magazine for twelve consecutive years between 1994 and 2005. Since 2009, it has joined 22 other national institutions in withholding data from the magazine, citing continued concerns regarding methodology. The university places second in the Maclean's ranking of 2009. The university has placed first among Canada's research universities in the annual ranking by Research Infosource since 2001. In 2010, the Faculty of Law
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been...
was named the top law school in Canada by Maclean's for the fourth consecutive year.
Research
Since 1926, the University of Toronto has been a member of the Association of American UniversitiesAssociation of American Universities
The Association of American Universities is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education...
, a consortium of the leading North American research universities. The university manages by far the largest annual research budget
Research funding
Research funding is a term generally covering any funding for scientific research, in the areas of both "hard" science and technology and social science. The term often connotes funding obtained through a competitive process, in which potential research projects are evaluated and only the most...
of any university in Canada, with sponsored direct-cost expenditures of $845 million in 2008. The federal government was the largest source of funding, with grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada. It is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. It aims to create new health knowledge, and to translate that knowledge from the research setting into real world...
, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada is a Canadian government agency that provides grants for research in the natural sciences and in engineering. Its mandate is to promote and assist research....
and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is an arm of the Canadian federal funding agency. SSHRC supports a wide range of research and scholarship in the social sciences and humanities. The current president of the Council is Chad Gaffield.- History :SSHRC was formally...
amounting to about one-third of the research budget. About 8 percent of research funding came from corporations, mostly in the health care industry.
Electron microscope
An electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses a beam of electrons to illuminate the specimen and produce a magnified image. Electron microscopes have a greater resolving power than a light-powered optical microscope, because electrons have wavelengths about 100,000 times shorter than...
was built by the physics department in 1938. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the university developed the G-suit
G-suit
A G-suit, or the more accurately named anti-G suit, is worn by aviators and astronauts who are subject to high levels of acceleration force . It is designed to prevent a black-out and G-LOC caused by the blood pooling in the lower part of the body when under acceleration, thus depriving the...
, a life-saving garment worn by Allied fighter plane pilots, later adopted for use by astronauts. Development of the infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
chemiluminescence technique improved analyses of energy behaviours in chemical reactions. In 1963, the asteroid 2104 Toronto
2104 Toronto
2104 Toronto is a main-belt asteroid discovered on August 15, 1963 by Karl W. Kamper at the David Dunlap Observatory on plates taken at the Tautenburg Observatory by Sidney van den Bergh...
is discovered in the David Dunlap Observatory
David Dunlap Observatory
The David Dunlap Observatory is a large astronomical observatory site once owned by the University of Toronto, located just north of the city in Richmond Hill, Ontario within a estate. Its primary instrument is a 74-inch reflector telescope, at one time the second largest telescope in the world,...
in Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...
and is named after the university. In 1972, studies on Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
led to the publication of the first observational evidence proving the existence of black hole
Black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that...
s. Toronto astronomers have also discovered the Uranus
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. It is named after the ancient Greek deity of the sky Uranus , the father of Cronus and grandfather of Zeus...
moons of Caliban
Caliban (moon)
Caliban is the second largest retrograde irregular moon of Uranus. It was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Brett J. Gladman, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns, and John J...
and Sycorax
Sycorax (moon)
Sycorax is the largest retrograde irregular satellite of Uranus. Sycorax was discovered on 6 September 1997 by Brett J. Gladman, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns, and John J...
, the dwarf galaxies
Dwarf galaxy
A dwarf galaxy is a small galaxy composed of up to several billion stars, a small number compared to our own Milky Way's 200-400 billion stars...
of Andromeda I
Andromeda I
Andromeda I is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 2.40 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. Andromeda I is part of the Local group of galaxies and a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy . It is roughly 3.5 degrees south and slightly east of M31...
, II
Andromeda II
Andromeda II is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 2.22 Mly away in the constellation Andromeda. It is part of the Local group of galaxies and is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy but it's also situated closely to the Triangulum Galaxy , it is not quite clear if it is a satellite of the...
and III
Andromeda III
Andromeda III is a dwarf spheroidal galaxy about 2.44 million light-years away in the constellation Andromeda. And III is part of the Local group of galaxies and is a satellite galaxy of the Andromeda Galaxy . And III was discovered by Sidney van den Bergh on photographic plates taken in 1970 and...
, and the supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
SN 1987A
SN 1987A
SN 1987A was a supernova in the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a nearby dwarf galaxy. It occurred approximately 51.4 kiloparsecs from Earth, approximately 168,000 light-years, close enough that it was visible to the naked eye. It could be seen from the Southern...
. A pioneer in computing technology, the university designed and built UTEC
UTEC
UTEC was a computer built at the University of Toronto in the early 1950s. It was one of the first working computers in the world, although only built in a prototype form while awaiting funding for expansion into a full-scale version. This funding was eventually used to purchase a surplus...
, one of the world's first operational computers, and later purchased Ferut, the second commercial computer after UNIVAC I
UNIVAC I
The UNIVAC I was the first commercial computer produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the inventors of the ENIAC...
. Multi-touch
Multi-touch
In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...
technology was developed at Toronto, with applications ranging from handheld devices to collaboration wall
Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall
The Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall is a large monitor invented by Jeff Han that employs multi-touch technology, and is marketed by Han's company,Perceptive Pixel. Han initially developed the technology for military applications...
s.
The discovery of insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
at the University of Toronto in 1921 is considered among the most significant events in the history of medicine
History of medicine
All human societies have medical beliefs that provide explanations for birth, death, and disease. Throughout history, illness has been attributed to witchcraft, demons, astral influence, or the will of the gods...
. The stem cell
Stem cell
This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...
was discovered at the university in 1963, forming the basis for bone marrow transplantation and all subsequent research on adult
Adult stem cell
Adult stem cells are undifferentiated cells, found throughout the body after embryonic development, that multiply by cell division to replenish dying cells and regenerate damaged tissues...
and embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cell
Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, an early-stage embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4–5 days post fertilization, at which time they consist of 50–150 cells...
s. This was the first of many findings at Toronto relating to stem cells, including the identification of pancreatic and retina
Retina
The vertebrate retina is a light-sensitive tissue lining the inner surface of the eye. The optics of the eye create an image of the visual world on the retina, which serves much the same function as the film in a camera. Light striking the retina initiates a cascade of chemical and electrical...
l stem cells. The cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cell
Cancer stem cells are cancer cells that possess characteristics associated with normal stem cells, specifically the ability to give rise to all cell types found in a particular cancer sample. CSCs are therefore tumorigenic , perhaps in contrast to other non-tumorigenic cancer cells...
was first identified in 1997 by Toronto researchers, who have since found stem cell associations in leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
, brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
s and colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer, commonly known as bowel cancer, is a cancer caused by uncontrolled cell growth , in the colon, rectum, or vermiform appendix. Colorectal cancer is clinically distinct from anal cancer, which affects the anus....
. Medical inventions developed at Toronto include the glycaemic index
Glycemic index
The glycemic index, glycaemic index, or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels. Carbohydrates that break down quickly during digestion and release glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down more slowly, releasing glucose more...
, the infant cereal Pablum
Pablum
Pablum is a processed cereal for infants originally marketed by the Mead Johnson Company in 1931. The trademarked name is a contracted form of the Latin word pabulum, meaning "foodstuff", which had long been used in botany and medicine to refer to nutrition, or substances of which the nutritive...
, the use of protective hypothermia
Hypothermia
Hypothermia is a condition in which core temperature drops below the required temperature for normal metabolism and body functions which is defined as . Body temperature is usually maintained near a constant level of through biologic homeostasis or thermoregulation...
in open heart surgery
Open Heart Surgery
Open Heart Surgery was released on August 8, 2000 by rock band Virginwool. The band signed to Breaking/Atlantic Records after initially beginning signed to Universal Records. The album was produced and mixed by Brad Wood....
and the first artificial pacemaker
Artificial pacemaker
A pacemaker is a medical device that uses electrical impulses, delivered by electrodes contacting the heart muscles, to regulate the beating of the heart...
. The first successful single-lung transplant
Lung transplantation
Lung transplantation, or pulmonary transplantation is a surgical procedure in which a patient's diseased lungs are partially or totally replaced by lungs which come from a donor...
was performed at Toronto in 1981, followed by the first nerve
Nerve
A peripheral nerve, or simply nerve, is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of peripheral axons . A nerve provides a common pathway for the electrochemical nerve impulses that are transmitted along each of the axons. Nerves are found only in the peripheral nervous system...
transplant in 1988, and the first double-lung transplant in 1989. Researchers identified the maturation promoting factor
Maturation promoting factor
Maturation-promoting factor is a heterodimeric protein composed of cyclin B and cyclin-dependent kinase that stimulates the mitotic and meiotic cell cycles...
that regulates cell division
Cell division
Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells . Cell division is usually a small segment of a larger cell cycle. This type of cell division in eukaryotes is known as mitosis, and leaves the daughter cell capable of dividing again. The corresponding sort...
, and discovered the T-cell receptor which trigger responses of the immune system. The university is credited with isolating the genes that cause Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anemia is a genetic disease with an incidence of 1 per 350,000 births, with a higher frequency in Ashkenazi Jews and Afrikaners in South Africa.FA is the result of a genetic defect in a cluster of proteins responsible for DNA repair...
, cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
and early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Early-onset Alzheimer's disease
Early-onset Alzheimer's disease, also called early-onset Alzheimer's, or early-onset AD, is the term used for cases of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5-10% of all Alzheimer's sufferers...
, among numerous other diseases. Between 1914 and 1972, the university operated the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, now part of the pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi-Aventis
Sanofi S.A. is a multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Paris, France, the world's fourth-largest by prescription sales. Sanofi engages in the research and development, manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products for sale principally in the prescription market, but the...
. Among the research conducted at the laboratory was the development of gel electrophoresis
Gel electrophoresis
Gel electrophoresis is a method used in clinical chemistry to separate proteins by charge and or size and in biochemistry and molecular biology to separate a mixed population of DNA and RNA fragments by length, to estimate the size of DNA and RNA fragments or to separate proteins by charge...
.
The University of Toronto is the primary research presence that supports one of the world's largest concentrations of biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
firms. More than 5,000 principal investigator
Principal investigator
A principal investigator is the lead scientist or engineer for a particular well-defined science project, such as a laboratory study or clinical trial....
s reside within 2 kilometres from the university grounds in Toronto's Discovery District
Discovery District
The Discovery District is an area of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that features a high concentration of hospitals and research institutions, particularly those related to biotechnology...
, conducting $1 billion of medical research annually. MaRS Discovery District
MaRS Discovery District
MaRS Discovery District is a not-for-profit corporation founded in Toronto in 2000. Its stated goal is to commercialize publicly funded medical research with the help of local private enterprises and as such is a public-private partnership....
is a research park
Research park
A Research park is a research facility that is often linked with a major research university. Throughout North America, there are more than 170 research parks. They exist to create linkages between the university, industry and the community...
that serves commercial enterprises and the university's technology transfer
Technology transfer
Technology Transfer, also called Transfer of Technology and Technology Commercialisation, is the process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments or universities and other institutions to ensure that...
ventures. In 2008, the university disclosed 159 inventions and had 114 active start-up companies. Its SciNet Consortium
SciNet Consortium
SciNet is a consortium of the University of Toronto and affiliated Ontario hospitals. It has received funding from both the federal and provincial government, Faculties at the University of Toronto, and affiliated hospitals....
operates the most powerful supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
in Canada.
Athletics
The 44 sports teams of the Varsity BluesVarsity Blues
The Varsity Blues is the name for the intercollegiate sports program at the University of Toronto. Its 26 athletic teams regularly participate in competitions held by Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The Varsity Blues traces its founding to 1877, with the formation...
represent the university in intercollegiate competitions. The two main leagues in which the Blues participate are Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is The Canadian Colleges Athletic Association...
for national competitions, and the auxiliary Ontario University Athletics
Ontario University Athletics
Ontario University Athletics is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and events to the public...
conference at the provincial level. The athletic nickname
Athletic nickname
The athletic nickname, or equivalently athletic moniker, of a university or college within the United States is the name officially adopted by that institution for at least the members of its athletic teams...
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
Fight song
A fight song is primarily an American and Canadian sports term, referring to a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team...
.
North American football
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
traces its very origin to the University of Toronto, with the first documented football game played at University College on November 9, 1861. The Blues played their first intercollegiate football match in 1877 against the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of 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
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, two Vanier Cup
Vanier Cup
The Vanier Cup is the name of the championship of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl...
and 25 Yates Cup
Yates Cup
The Yates Cup is a Canadian sports trophy, presented annually to the winner of the Ontario University Athletics football conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport federation. It is the oldest still-existing football trophy in North America, dating back to 1898 and surpassing both the Grey...
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
Losing streak (sport)
In sports, a losing streak is an uninterrupted string of contests lost by a team or individual. A losing streak can last as few as two games, or it may last much longer...
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
Varsity Stadium
Varsity Stadium is a collegiate football stadium that is home to the Varsity Blues, the athletic teams of the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While the present structure was built in 2007, it is in fact the third major incarnation of the stadium that has occupied the same site...
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
Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team
The Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team operated by the Varsity Blues athletics program of the University of Toronto. The Varsity Blues senior team won the Allan Cup in 1921 and 1927, and won the gold medal for Canada at the 1928 Winter Olympics.The Blues play in the Ontario...
has left many legacies on the national, professional and international hockey scenes. Conn Smythe
Conn Smythe
Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...
played for the Blues as a centre
Centre (ice hockey)
The centre in ice hockey is a forward position of a player whose primary zone of play is the middle of the ice, away from the side boards. Centres have more flexibility in their positioning and are expected to cover more ice surface than any other player...
during his undergraduate years, and was a Blues coach from 1923 to 1926. When Smythe took over the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
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
1928 Winter Olympics
The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...
and captured the gold medal for Canada. At the 1980 Winter Olympics
1980 Winter Olympics
The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...
, Blues coach Tom Watt
Tom Watt
Tom Watt is a pro scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Prior to joining the leafs, Tom worked with the Florida Panthers on August 16, 2005, as Pro Scout. He previously worked in Player Development for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He originally joined the Mighty Ducks on January 5, 2001 as Special...
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
University Cup
The University Cup is awarded annually to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's ice hockey champions.The trophy was presented to the CIS, for presentation to a national champion starting with the 1962-63 season, by Queen's University and the Royal Military College of Canada...
national hockey title ten times, last in 1984. Varsity Arena
Varsity Arena
Varsity Arena is an arena in Toronto, Ontario. It is located at 299 Bloor Street West and is primarily home to the ice hockey teams of the University of Toronto, the Varsity Blues, though it also hosted the Toronto Toros of the WHA from 1973–74 and the Toronto Planets of the RHI in 1993...
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
University of Toronto Rowing Club
The University of Toronto Rowing Club was founded on February 10, 1897 and represents the Varsity Blues at local and international regattas. It is the oldest university rowing club in Canada....
is the oldest collegiate rowing club
Rowing club
A rowing club is a club for people interested in the sport of Rowing. Rowing clubs are usually located near a body of water, whether natural or artificial, that is large enough for manoeuvering of the shells . Clubs usually have racks to store boats and a dock to put them in the water...
in Canada. It earned a silver medal for the country in the 1924 Summer Olympics
1924 Summer Olympics
The 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
, finishing second to Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
's crew.
Culture and student life
In the heart of social, cultural and recreational life at the University of Toronto lies Hart House, the sprawling neo-GothicGothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
student activity centre that was conceived by alumnus-benefactor Vincent Massey
Vincent Massey
Charles Vincent Massey was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Canadian Confederation....
and named for his grandfather Hart
Hart Massey
Hart Almerrin Massey was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist born in Haldimand Township in what was then known as Upper Canada. His parents were Daniel Massey and Lucina Bradley...
. 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
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
's Willard Straight Hall
Willard Straight Hall
Willard Straight Hall is the student union building on the central campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is located on Campus Road, adjacent to the Ho Plaza and the Gannett Health Center.-History:...
.
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' union
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
s 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
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
style that combines the American emphasis on analysis
Analysis
Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle , though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.The word is...
and the British use of wit
Wit
Wit is a form of intellectual humour, and a wit is someone skilled in making witty remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.-Forms 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
World Universities Debating Championship
The World Universities Debating Championship is the world's largest debating tournament, and one of the largest annual international student events in the world. It is a parliamentary debating event, held using the British Parliamentary Debate format. Each year, the event is hosted by a university...
in 1981 and 2006. University of Toronto Model United Nations (UTMUN) hosts an annual Model United Nations
Model United Nations
Model United Nations is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy and the United Nations agenda....
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
Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship
The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship is the foremost intercollegiate team chess championship in the Americas...
. The Formula SAE
Formula SAE
Formula SAE is a student design competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers . The competition was started back in 1978 and was originally called SAE Mini Indy.-Concept:...
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 CanadaFraternities and sororities in Canada
The expansion of Greek Letter Organizations into Canada was an important stage of the North American fraternity movement. In the nineteenth century, apart from the University of Toronto, very few Canadian universities had the same repute and secularity as their American counterparts...
, Zeta Psi
Zeta Psi
The Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America was founded June 1, 1847 as a social college fraternity. The organization now comprises about fifty active chapters and twenty-five inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand brothers, and is a founding member of the North-American...
, 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
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
, Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon
Delta Upsilon is the sixth oldest international, all-male, college Greek-letter organization, and is the oldest non-secret fraternity in North America...
, Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...
, Phi Kappa Sigma
Phi Kappa Sigma
Phi Kappa Sigma is an international all-male college social fraternity. Its members are known as "Phi Kaps", "Skulls" and sometimes "Skullhouse", the latter two because of the skull and crossbones on the Fraternity's badge and coat of arms. Phi Kappa Sigma was founded by Dr. Samuel Brown Wylie...
, Phi Gamma Delta
Phi Gamma Delta
The international fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is a collegiate social fraternity with 120 chapters and 18 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and its headquarters are located in Lexington, Kentucky, USA...
, Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
, Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon
Psi Upsilon is the fifth oldest college fraternity in the United States, founded at Union College in 1833. It has chapters at colleges and universities throughout North America. For most of its history, Psi Upsilon, like most social fraternities, limited its membership to men only...
, Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi is a Greek-letter social college fraternity and the fourth-oldest continuous Greek-letter fraternity in the United States and Canada. Alpha Delta Phi was founded on October 29, 1832 by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College and includes former U.S. Presidents, Chief Justices of the U.S....
, Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
, Pi Kappa Phi
Pi Kappa Phi
Pi Kappa Phi is an American social fraternity. It was founded by Andrew Alexander Kroeg, Jr., Lawrence Harry Mixson, and Simon Fogarty, Jr. on December 10, 1904 at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina...
, Lambda Phi Epsilon
Lambda Phi Epsilon
Lambda Phi Epsilon is an internationally-recognized fraternity in the United States and Canada. With a total of 53 chapters, it is the largest Asian-interest fraternity in North America...
, Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
, Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
, Theta Delta Chi
Theta Delta Chi
Theta Delta Chi is a social fraternity that was founded in 1847 at Union College. While nicknames differ from institution to institution, the most common nicknames for the fraternity are Theta Delt, Thete, TDX, and TDC. Theta Delta Chi brothers refer to their local organization as Charges rather...
, Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta is an international women's fraternity, who are mainly sluts, founded in 1904 at Syracuse University. The Fraternity promotes academic excellence, philanthropic giving, ongoing leadership and personal development, and a spirit of loving sisterhood. Also known as "Alpha Gam" and...
, Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Omicron Pi is an international women's fraternity promoting friendship for a lifetime, inspiring academic excellence and lifelong learning, and developing leadership skills through service to the Fraternity and community. ΑΟΠ was founded on January 2, 1897 at Barnard College on the campus...
, Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international sorority founded on November 27, 1888, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. With over 200,000 initiates, Tri Delta is one of the world's largest NPC sororities.-History:...
, and Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...
. Other Greek-letter societies include Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Gamma Delta is an international women's fraternity, who are mainly sluts, founded in 1904 at Syracuse University. The Fraternity promotes academic excellence, philanthropic giving, ongoing leadership and personal development, and a spirit of loving sisterhood. Also known as "Alpha Gam" and...
, Alpha Phi
Alpha Phi
Alpha Phi International Women's Fraternity was founded at Syracuse University on September 18, 1872. Alpha Phi currently has 152 active chapters and over 200,000 initiated members. Its celebrated Founders' Day is October 10. It was the third Greek-letter organization founded for women. In Alpha...
, Gamma Phi Beta
Gamma Phi Beta
Gamma Phi Beta is an international sorority that was founded on November 11, 1874, at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. The term "sorority," meaning sisterhood, was coined for Gamma Phi Beta by Dr. Frank Smalley, a professor at Syracuse University.The four founders are Helen M. Dodge,...
, Kappa Alpha Society
Kappa Alpha Society
The Kappa Alpha Society , founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It was the first of the fraternities which would eventually become known as the Union Triad...
, Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Kappa Kappa Gamma is a collegiate women's fraternity, founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois, USA. Although the groundwork of the organization was developed as early as 1869, the 1876 Convention voted that October 13, 1870 should be recognized at the official Founders Day, because no...
, and Pi Beta Phi
Pi Beta Phi
Pi Beta Phi is an international fraternity for women founded as I.C. Sorosis on April 28, 1867, at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. Its headquarters are located in Town and Country, Missouri, and there are 134 active chapters and over 330 alumnae organizations across the United States and...
. A secret society known as Episkopon
Episkopon
Episkopon is a controversial secret society at Trinity College in the University of Toronto, which has been active since 1858 when its male branch was founded. The 225th reading was held in 2011. A female branch of Episkopon has been active since 1899, holding their 150th Reading in 2009...
has operated from Trinity College since 1858.
Theatre and music
Hart House Theatre
Hart House Theatre is a 454-seat theatre in Toronto, Ontario located on the campus of the University of Toronto in the Hart House Student Centre. Hart House Theatre has been the University of Toronto Performing Arts Leader Since 1919....
is the university's student amateur theatre
Amateur theatre
Amateur theatre is theatre performed by amateur actors. These actors are not typically members of Actors' Equity groups or Actors' Unions as these organizations exist to protect the professional industry and therefore discourage their members from appearing with companies which are not a signatory...
, generally producing four major plays every season. As old as Hart House itself, the theatre is considered a pioneer in Canadian theatre for introducing the Little Theatre Movement
Little Theatre Movement
As the new medium of cinema was beginning to replace theatre as a source of large-scale spectacle, the Little Theatre Movement developed in the United States around 1912...
from Europe. It has cultivated numerous performing-arts talents, including Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
, Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
and William Hutt
William Hutt (actor)
William Ian DeWitt Hutt, was a Canadian actor of stage, television and film. Hutt's distinguished career spanned more than fifty years and won him many accolades and awards...
. Three members of the Group of Seven
Group of Seven (artists)
The Group of Seven, sometimes known as the Algonquin school, were a group of Canadian landscape painters from 1920-1933, originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael , Lawren Harris , A. Y. Jackson , Franz Johnston , Arthur Lismer , J. E. H. MacDonald , and Frederick Varley...
artists (Harris
Lawren Harris
Lawren Stewart Harris, CC was a Canadian painter. He was born in Brantford, Ontario and is best known as a member the Group of Seven who pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century. A. Y. Jackson has been quoted as saying that Harris provided the stimulus for the...
, Lismer
Arthur Lismer
Arthur Lismer, CC was an English-born Canadian painter and member of the Group of Seven.-Early life:At age 13 he apprenticed at a photo-engraving company. He was awarded a scholarship, and used this time to take evening classes at the Sheffield School of Arts from 1898 until 1905...
and MacDonald
J. E. H. MacDonald
James Edward Hervey MacDonald was a member of the famous Group of Seven Canadian artists. He is the father of Thoreau MacDonald.-Life:...
) have been set designers at the theatre, and composer Healey Willan
Healey Willan
Healey Willan, was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and piano...
was director of music for fourteen productions. The theatre also hosts annual variety shows run by several student theatrical companies at the colleges and academic faculties, the most prominent of which are U.C. Follies of University College, Skule Nite of the Faculty of Engineering, and Daffydil of the Faculty of Medicine, the latter in its hundredth year of production in 2010-2011.
The main musical ensemble
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
s at Hart House are the orchestra, the chamber strings, the chorus, the jazz choir, the jazz ensemble and the symphonic band. The Jazz at Oscar's concert series performs big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
and vocal jazz
Vocal jazz
Jazz singing can be defined by the instrumental approach to the voice, where the singer can match the instruments in their stylistic approach to the lyrics, improvised or otherwise, or through scat singing; that is, the use of nonsensical meaningless non-morphemic syllables to imitate the sound of...
on Friday nights at the period lounge and bar of the Hart House Arbor Room. Open Stage is the monthly open mike
Open mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
event featuring singers, comics, poets and storytellers. The Sunday Concert is the oldest musical series at Hart House; since 1922 the series has performed more than 600 classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
concerts in the Great Hall, freely attended by the university community and general audiences. The public may also screen midday events held at noon, when concerts are recited prior to formal debut.
Student media
The VarsityThe Varsity (newspaper)
The Varsity is one of the main student newspapers of the University of Toronto. In publication since 1880, it is the second-oldest student newspaper in Canada....
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
Hart House Review
Hart House Review is a Canadian literary magazine managed by student members of Hart House at the University of Toronto and published by Coach House Press. The magazine is best known for prose, poetry, art, and photography contributed by emerging writers and artists in Canada.The inaugural issue...
, a literary magazine
Literary magazine
A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...
by students of the Literary and Library Committee of Hart House, features prose, poetry, art and photography from emerging writers and artists. The Newspaper
The Newspaper
The Newspaper, published by non-profit corporation Planet Publications Inc., is the largest independent student-run campus newspaper in Canada with circulation on the University of Toronto campus. It began publishing in 1978 and was briefly operated as The Independent Weekly...
is an independent student-run community newspaper, published weekly since 1978. CIUT-FM
CIUT-FM
CIUT-FM is a campus and community radio station owned and operated by the University of Toronto community. The station broadcasts live and continuously from Toronto on the 89.5 FM frequency. Programming can also be heard nationally via channel 826 on Shaw Direct, and over the internet via the CIUT...
is the university's campus radio
Campus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
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.
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
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
and boycotted lectures for a week. After Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
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
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
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
Massey College
Massey College is a postgraduate residential college at the University of Toronto, established in 1963 with an endowment by the Massey Foundation. Similar to All Souls College, Oxford, members of Massey College are nominated from the university community, and are elected by and as fellows of the...
is exclusively for graduate students, while Knox and Wycliffe Colleges mainly house graduate theology students. Annesley Hall
Annesley Hall
Annesley Hall is the all-female residence at Victoria College, University of Toronto campus. The residence is a National Historic Site located across from the Royal Ontario Museum....
of Victoria College, a National Historic Site, was the first university residence for women in Canada. After St. Hilda's College
St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto
St Hilda's College is the women's college of the University of Trinity College, itself a federated college of the University of Toronto, Canada...
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
The Annex
The Annex is a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The traditional boundaries of the neighbourhood are north to Dupont Street, south to Bloor Street, west to Bathurst Street and east to Avenue Road...
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
Chestnut Residence
89 Chestnut Residence is a university residence operated by the University of Toronto, opposite the Metropolitan Hotel on Chestnut Street. Known as "The Nut" by its student residents, it was converted from the Colony Hotel in 2004 and turned into a student residence to accommodate the incoming...
, which houses students from all colleges and faculties. There are also numerous fraternity houses and student housing cooperative
Housing cooperative
A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...
s, where boarders pay reduced rent for assuming housekeeping duties.
Noted people
In addition to Havelock
Eric A. Havelock
Eric Alfred Havelock was a British classicist who spent most of his life in Canada and the United States. He was a professor at the University of Toronto and was active in the Canadian socialist movement during the 1930s. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as chair of the classics departments at...
, Innis
Harold Innis
Harold Adams Innis was a Canadian professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory and Canadian economic history. The affiliated Innis College at the University of Toronto is named for him...
, Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
, Carpenter
Edmund Snow Carpenter
Edmund "Ted" Snow Carpenter was an anthropologist best known for his work on tribal art and visual media.-Early life:...
and McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
, former professors of the past century include Frederick Banting
Frederick Banting
Sir Frederick Grant Banting, KBE, MC, FRS, FRSC was a Canadian medical scientist, doctor and Nobel laureate noted as one of the main discoverers of insulin....
, Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter
Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter
Harold Scott MacDonald "Donald" Coxeter, was a British-born Canadian geometer. Coxeter is regarded as one of the great geometers of the 20th century. He was born in London but spent most of his life in Canada....
, Robertson Davies
Robertson Davies
William Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...
, John Charles Fields
John Charles Fields
John Charles Fields, FRS, FRSC was a Canadian mathematician and the founder of the Fields Medal for outstanding achievement in mathematics...
, Leopold Infeld
Leopold Infeld
Leopold Infeld was a Polish physicist who worked mainly in Poland and Canada . He was a Rockefeller fellow at Cambridge University and a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences....
and C. B. Macpherson
C. B. Macpherson
Crawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
. 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
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
(65%) and 20 of 72 Canadian fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
(28%). Among honorees from Canada between 1980 and 2006, University of Toronto faculty made up 11 of 21 Gairdner Foundation International Award
Gairdner Foundation International Award
The Gairdner Foundation International Award is given annually at a special dinner to three to six people for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a precursor to winning the Nobel Prize in Medicine; as of 2007, 69 Nobel...
recipients (52%), 44 of 101 Guggenheim Fellows (44%), 16 of 38 Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
fellows (42%), 10 of 28 members in the United States National Academies
United States National Academies
The United States National Academies comprises four organizations:* National Academy of Sciences * National Academy of Engineering * Institute of Medicine * National Research Council...
(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
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Vincent Massey
Vincent Massey
Charles Vincent Massey was a Canadian lawyer and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 18th since Canadian Confederation....
and Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
, Prime Ministers
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...
, Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen
Arthur Meighen, PC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served two terms as the ninth Prime Minister of Canada: from July 10, 1920 to December 29, 1921; and from June 29 to September 25, 1926. He was the first Prime Minister born after Confederation, and the only one to represent a riding...
, Lester B. Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
and Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, and 14 Justices of the Supreme Court have all graduated from the university, while world leaders include President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was the sixth President of Latvia, the first female President of Latvia and the first female leader in eastern Europe. She was elected President of Latvia in 1999 and re-elected in 2003.Dr...
, Premier of the Republic of China
Premier of the Republic of China
The President of the Executive Yuan , commonly known as the Premier of the Republic of China , is the head of the Executive Yuan, the executive branch of the Republic of China , which currently administers Taiwan, Matsu, and Kinmen. The premier is appointed by the President of the Republic of China...
Liu Chao-shiuan
Liu Chao-shiuan
Liu Chao-shiuan is a Taiwanese educator and politician. He is a former president of the National Tsing Hua University and Soochow University and a former Premier of the Republic of China.-Biography:...
and President of Trinidad and Tobago
President of Trinidad and Tobago
The President of Trinidad and Tobago is the head of state of Trinidad and Tobago, and the commander in chief of its armed forces. The office was established when the country became a republic in 1976, before which the head of state was Queen Elizabeth II...
Noor Hassanali
Noor Hassanali
Noor Mohamed Hassanali,TC was the second President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . A retired High Court judge, President Hassanali was the first Indo-Trinidadian to hold the office of President and was the first Muslim head of state in the Americas...
. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth Galbraith
John Kenneth "Ken" Galbraith , OC was a Canadian-American economist. He was a Keynesian and an institutionalist, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism...
, political scientist David Easton
David Easton
David Easton is a Canadian political scientist who was born in Toronto, Ontario, went to the United States in 1943, and is currently Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine.He is a former President of the American Political...
, historian Margaret MacMillan
Margaret MacMillan
Margaret Olwen MacMillan, OC is a historian and professor at the University of Oxford, where she is Warden of St. Antony's College. She is former provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously, at Ryerson University...
, philosophers David Gauthier
David Gauthier
David Gauthier is a Canadian-American philosopher best known for his neo-Hobbesian social contract theory of morality, as laid out in his book Morals by Agreement.-Biography:...
and Ted Honderich
Ted Honderich
Ted Honderich is a Canadian-born British philosopher, Grote Professor Emeritus of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic, University College London and Visiting Professor, University of Bath...
, anthropologist Davidson Black
Davidson Black
Davidson Black, FRS was a Canadian paleoanthropologist, best known for his naming of Sinanthropus pekinensis . He was Chairman of the Geological Survey of China and a Fellow of the Royal Society...
, sociologist Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman was a Canadian-born sociologist and writer.The 73rd president of American Sociological Association, Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical perspective that began with his 1959 book The Presentation of Self...
, psychologists Endel Tulving
Endel Tulving
Endel Tulving is an experimental psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist whose research on human memory has influenced generations of psychological scientists, neuroscientists, and clinicians...
and Daniel Schacter
Daniel Schacter
Daniel Lawrence Schacter is an American psychologist. He is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. His research has focused on psychological and biological aspects of human memory and amnesia, with a particular emphasis on the distinction between conscious and nonconscious forms of...
, physicians Norman Bethune
Norman Bethune
Henry Norman Bethune was a Canadian physician and medical innovator. Bethune is best known for his service in war time medical units during the Spanish Civil War and with the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
and Charles Best, geologists Joseph Tyrrell
Joseph Tyrrell
Joseph Burr Tyrrell was a Canadian geologist, cartographer, and mining consultant. He discovered dinosaur bones in Alberta's Badlands and coal around Drumheller in 1884....
and John Tuzo Wilson, mathematicians Irving Kaplansky
Irving Kaplansky
Irving Kaplansky was a Canadian mathematician.-Biography:He was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, after his parents emigrated from Poland and attended the University of Toronto as an undergraduate. After receiving his Ph.D...
and William Kahan
William Kahan
William Morton Kahan is a mathematician and computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1989 for "his fundamental contributions to numerical analysis", and was named an ACM Fellow in 1994....
, physicists Arthur Leonard Schawlow
Arthur Leonard Schawlow
Arthur Leonard Schawlow was an American physicist. He is best remembered for his work on lasers, for which he shared the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nicolaas Bloembergen and Kai Siegbahn.-Biography:...
and Bertram Brockhouse
Bertram Brockhouse
Bertram Neville Brockhouse, was a Canadian physicist. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for pioneering contributions to the development of neutron scattering techniques for studies of condensed matter", in particular "for the development of neutron spectroscopy".-Life:Brockhouse was...
, architect James W. Strutt, engineer Gerald Bull
Gerald Bull
Gerald Vincent Bull was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to launch economically a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon "supergun" for the Iraqi government...
, computer scientists Alfred Aho
Alfred Aho
Alfred Vaino Aho is a Canadian computer scientist.-Career:Aho received a B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science from Princeton University...
and Brian Kernighan
Brian Kernighan
Brian Wilson Kernighan is a Canadian computer scientist who worked at Bell Labs alongside Unix creators Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie and contributed to the development of Unix. He is also coauthor of the AWK and AMPL programming languages. The 'K' of K&R C and the 'K' in AWK both stand for...
, astronauts Roberta Bondar
Roberta Bondar
Roberta Bondar,is OC, O.Ont, FRCP, FRSC is Canada's first female astronaut and the first neurologist in space. Following more than a decade as NASA's head of space medicine, Bondar became a consultant and speaker in the business, scientific and medical communities.-Education:Roberta Bondar had...
and Julie Payette
Julie Payette
Julie Payette, OC, CQ is a Canadian engineer and a Canadian Space Agency astronaut. Payette has completed two spaceflights, STS-96 and STS-127, logging more than 25 days in space...
are also some of the most well-known academic figures from the university.
In business, University of Toronto alumni include Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications
Rogers Communications Inc. is one of Canada's largest communications companies, particularly in the field of wireless communications, cable television, home phone and internet with additional telecommunications and mass media assets...
' Ted Rogers
Edward Samuel Rogers
Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers, Jr., OC was the President and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc., and the fifth richest person in Canada in terms of net worth. His father Edward S. Rogers, Sr...
, Toronto-Dominion Bank
Toronto-Dominion Bank
The Toronto-Dominion Bank , is the second-largest bank in Canada by market capitalization and based on assets. It is also the sixth largest bank in North America. Commonly known as TD and operating as TD Bank Group, the bank was created in 1955 through the merger of the Bank of Toronto and the...
's W. Edmund Clark
W. Edmund Clark
William Edmund "Ed" Clark is the President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Bank Financial Group , roles he held since December 20, 2002....
, Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal
The Bank of Montreal , , or BMO Financial Group, is the fourth largest bank in Canada by deposits. The Bank of Montreal was founded on June 23, 1817 by John Richardson and eight merchants in a rented house in Montreal, Quebec. On May 19, 1817 the Articles of Association were adopted, making it...
's Bill Downe
Bill Downe
William A. Downe is a Canadian bank executive. He became president and chief executive officer of Bank of Montreal on March 1, 2007.- Career :...
, Scotiabank
Scotiabank
The Bank of Nova Scotia , commonly known as Scotiabank , is the third largest bank in Canada by deposits and market capitalization. It serves some 18.6 million customers in more than 50 countries around the world and offers a broad range of products and services including personal, commercial,...
's Peter Godsoe
Peter Godsoe
Peter Cowperthwaite Godsoe, is a Canadian businessman and former President, Chairman and Chief executive officer of the Bank of Nova Scotia from 1992 to 2003. He is a member of the board of directors of multiple corporations, and serves as the Chairman of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and...
, Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold
Barrick Gold Corporation is the largest pure gold mining company in the world, with its headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and four regional business units located in Australia, Africa, North America and South America...
's Peter Munk
Peter Munk
Peter Munk, CC is a Canadian businessman. He is the chairman and founder of the mining company Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining corporation.-Early years:...
, Research In Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
's Jim Balsillie
Jim Balsillie
James Laurence "Jim" Balsillie is a Canadian businessman and co-CEO of the Canadian company Research In Motion. He is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a private political organization...
, eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
's Jeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll
Jeffrey Skoll is a Canadian-born engineer and internet entrepreneur who lives in Los Angeles, California. With an estimated net worth of $US 3.2 billion , Skoll was ranked by Forbes as the 7th wealthiest Canadian and 347th in the world.He was the first employee and also first president of internet...
and Fiat S.p.A.
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
's Sergio Marchionne
Sergio Marchionne
Sergio Marchionne is an international manager best known for his turnaround of the Italian automotive group Fiat and, more recently, for managing the US automotive group Chrysler from bankruptcy to profitability...
. In literature and media, the university has produced writers Stephen Leacock
Stephen Leacock
Stephen Butler Leacock, FRSC was an English-born Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist...
, John McCrae
John McCrae
Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae was a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres...
, Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton Mistry
Rohinton Mistry is an Indian-born Canadian writer in English. Residing in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, Mistry is of Indian origin, originally from Mumbai, Zoroastrian and belongs to the Parsi community. Mistry is a Neustadt International Prize for Literature laureate .-Biography:Rohinton Mistry was...
, Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood, is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history; she is a winner of the Arthur C...
and Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, film directors Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller
Arthur Hiller, OC is a Canadian film director. His filmography includes 33 major studio releases, including the 1970 film Love Story...
, Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
, David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...
and Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...
, actor Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland
Donald McNichol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian actor with a film career spanning nearly 50 years. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, , MASH , and Kelly's Heroes , as well as in such popular films as Klute, Invasion of the...
, screenwriter David Shore
David Shore
David Shore is a Canadian writer, best known for his work writing and producing in television. As a former lawyer, Shore became known for his work on Family Law, NYPD Blue, and Due South...
, musician Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
, television producer Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
, journalists Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
, Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein
Naomi Klein is a Canadian author and social activist known for her political analyses and criticism of corporate globalization.-Family:...
and Barbara Amiel
Barbara Amiel
Barbara Joan Estelle Amiel, Baroness Black of Crossharbour is a British-Canadian journalist, writer, and socialite. She is also the wife of former media baron and convicted felon Conrad Black.-Early life:...
.
Further reading
- Bissell, Claude T.Claude BissellClaude Thomas Bissell, was a Canadian author and educator.-Biography:He was the eighth president of the University of Toronto from 1958 to 1971. He played a major part in the expansion of the University of Toronto, tripling the size of the university during his tenure.He was born in Meaford,...
(1974). Halfway up Parnassus: A Personal Account of the University of Toronto. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802021727. - Ford, Ann Rochon. (1985). A Path Not Strewn with Roses. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802039995.
- Friedland, Martin L.Martin FriedlandMartin Lawrence Friedland, is a Canadian lawyer, academic and author.He received a B.Comm. , LL.B. , and honorary LL.D. from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. and LL.D from Cambridge University. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1960...
(2002). The University of Toronto: A History. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802044298. - Levi, Charles Morden. (2003). Comings and Goings. McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0773524428.
- McKillop, A. BrianA. B. McKillopA.B. McKillop is currently Chancellor's Professor and former Chair of the history department of Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada....
. (1994). Matters of Mind. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 080207216X. - Slater, John G. (2005). Minerva's Aviary: Philosophy at Toronto. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802038700.
- Wallace, W. Stewart. A History of the University of Toronto, 1827-1927. University of Toronto Press, 1927.
External links
- University of Toronto – Official website
- University of Toronto at the Open Directory ProjectOpen Directory ProjectThe Open Directory Project , also known as Dmoz , is a multilingual open content directory of World Wide Web links. It is owned by Netscape but it is constructed and maintained by a community of volunteer editors.ODP uses a hierarchical ontology scheme for organizing site listings...