University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide was established on 6 November 1874 by the University of Adelaide Act 1874 and after concerted efforts of members of the University Association as well as a £20,000 donation by grazier and copper miner Walter Watson Hughes along with support and donations from Thomas Elder.

The first Chancellor was Sir Richard Hanson and the first vice-chancellor was Augustus Short. The first degree offered was the Bachelor of Arts and the university started teaching in March 1876.

The University started with four professorships - Classics and Comparative Philology and Literature (Henry Read); English Language and Literature, Mental and Moral Philosophy (John Davidson); Mathematics (Horace Lamb) and Natural Science (Ralph Tate).

The university has a long history of championing the rights of women in higher education. It was the second university in the English-speaking world (after the University of London, 1878) to admit women on equal terms with men (1881), though women studied alongside men from the commencement of classes in 1876, and were equally eligible for all academic prizes and honours. Its first female graduate was Edith Emily Dornwell, who was also the first person in Australia to receive the degree of Bachelor of Science (BSc., 1885). The university also graduated Australia's first female surgeon Laura Fowler (MB, 1891). Ruby Davy (B. Mus., 1907; D. Mus., 1918) was the first Australian woman to receive a doctorate in music. 

The university was also the first to elect a woman to a university council in Australia, Helen Mayo (MBBS, 1902), in 1914.

The University today has four campuses - North Terrace campus in the city, Roseworthy campus at Roseworthy, Waite campus at Urrbrae and one in Melbourne, Victoria.

The University of Adelaide is currently composed of five faculties, with each containing constituent schools. These include the Faculty of Engineering, Computer, and Mathematical Sciences (ECMS), the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of the Professions, and the Faculty of Sciences. It is a member of the Group of Eight and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

The University of Adelaide is the the third oldest university in Australia.

Taken from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Adelaide - Accessed 13 December 2020

Above illustration: Founders of the University of Adelaide - (from the top clockwise)  Thomas Elder, Augustus Short, Walter Watson Hughes and Richard Davies Hanson - from Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers, No. 220, p.4 (National Library of Australia) [public domain]

Layout of buildings in the area bounded by North Terrace, Frome Road, Victoria Drive and Kintore Avenue, Adelaide. Includes University, School of Mines, Museum, Art Gallery, 1926 (State Library of South Australia https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/C+121)