Our history

_{Redmond Barry, the University’s founding Chancellor.
George Folingsby, The Hon. Sir Redmond Barry KCMG, c.1874, The University of Melbourne Art Collection, Melbourne.} 

1853

The University of Melbourne is established by an act of Victorian Parliament.

1855

Teaching commences in the Bachelor of Arts, with subjects in classics, science, mathematics, history and modern languages.

1856

Australia’s first law school is established.

1862

Medicine is established, the first in Australia.

1863

An engineering school is founded.

_{Bella Guerin with her son, Henry.}

_{Halloran, Bella, nee Guerin, with her son Henry, UMA-ITE-2003000300364, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1881

The University admits women students.

1883

Julia ‘Bella’ Guerin is awarded a Bachelor of Arts, becoming Australia’s first woman graduate.

1883

Wilson Hall opens.

1884

Melbourne University Union established.

1886

Bachelor of Science degree established.

1888

Princess Ida Club formed for women students, staff and alumni.

1891

Australia’s first women medical students graduate – Grace Clara Stone and Margaret Whyte.

1894

The Conservatorium of Music is established.

_{Students and soldiers. 1725 students served during the war, of whom 251 died.}

_{McKellar, Doris, Friends of Doris McKellar at the University of Melbourne, c. 1917, UMA-ITE-1975004800051, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1900

The University has conferred 3000 degrees. 16 per cent of graduates are women.

1901

The fraud of the University accountant is discovered, prompting a Royal Commission.

1903

Diploma of Education is pioneered by the University of Melbourne.

1905

Agricultural Science course established.

1906

Students’ Representative Council established.

1908

Veterinary Science established.

_{The Old Arts building.}

_{Old Arts Building, UMA-ITE-2003000302497, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1919

Architectural Atelier opens.

1922

Melbourne University Press is established, Australia’s oldest university publisher.

1925

Farrago is established as a student newspaper.

1925

Commerce is established with support from Melbourne’s business community.

1926

Sidney Myer donates £100,000 to the University.

1933

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is reestablished and affiliated with the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

1934

Raymond Priestley is appointed as the first full-time Vice-Chancellor.

1936

Georgina Sweet elected by graduates to the University Council, the first woman councillor.

_{Optical Munitions: Melbourne service to Second World War.}

_{Sach, Colin, Optical Munitions, University of Melbourne, c.1940-1942, UMA-ITE-2017007100487, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1942

Diane Lemaire is Australia’s first woman engineering graduate.

1948

Australia’s first PhD graduate is Erica Wolff for her thesis on the French-Australian author Paul Wenz, the University having established the degree in 1946.

1947–49

The University establishes a campus in Mildura to accommodate the large numbers of students after the war.

_{International House.}

_{Wodetzki, Norman, International House, UMA-ITE-2003000302781, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1953

The Union Theatre Repertory Company is established, premiering The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll by its director Ray Lawler. The Rep would become the Melbourne Theatre Company.

1956

Wilson Hall is reconstructed after being destroyed by fire in 1952.

1957

International House opens to support growing numbers of International students.

1959

Bundjalung woman Margaret Williams-Weir becomes the first Indigenous person to graduate from an Australian university.

1959

Baillieu Library opens.

_{Students leaving Wilson Hall.}

_{Wilson Hall, 1966, UMA-ITE-2003000302663, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1969

The completion of the tri-radial medical building, with wings for pathology, anatomy and physiology, combined with the erection of the Microbiology building (1962) and Howard Florey laboratories (1963) creates a medical precinct adjacent to the Royal Melbourne and Royal Children’s hospitals.

1972

South Lawn Carpark opens with its distinctive parabolic columns, creating a flat lawn on its roof.

1973

The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research defines the Henderson Poverty Line, revealing a greater extent of community hardship than previously acknowledged.

1975

Priscilla Kincaid Smith appointed professor, the first woman to hold this position at the University.

_{Academic procession into Wilson Hall during the Installation of Professor R. D. Wright as the University Chancellor.}

_{Installation of the Chancellor, University of Melbourne, 1980, UMA-ITE-1981002600001, University of Melbourne Archives.}

1983

The Cochlear Ear is developed by a team led by Graeme Clarke.

1989–1991

The Melbourne CAE, Victoria College of the Arts, Burnley College of Agriculture and Horticulture and Hawthorn Institute of Education amalgamate with the University.

1990

Australia’s connection to the internet is routed through the University of Melbourne.

_{The prize-winning building The Spot opened in 2010, heralding a new commitment to sustainable design principles.}

2008

The Melbourne Model is introduced, providing general undergraduate degrees followed by specialised post-graduate courses.

2010

The University launches the first of three Reconciliation Action Plans, aiming to “use the expertise and resources of its teaching and learning, research and knowledge transfer activities to make a sustained contribution to lifting the health, education and living standards of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.

2016

The Atlantic Philanthropies grants the University $50 million to establish the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity Indigenous leadership program.

2021

The Student Precinct opens.

2023

Narrm Scholarships established to support Indigenous and disadvantaged students to attend the University.

2024

Dhoombak Goobgoowana: A History of Indigenous Australia and the University of Melbourne, vol. 1: Truth is published to address the University’s long and difficult relationship with Indigenous peoples of Australia.

2025

Emma Johnston is appointed Vice-Chancellor, the first woman to hold this position.