U of T History

Animal Instincts

The evolution of zoology. From an ex-minister who denounced Darwin to today's research juggernaut, zoology at U of T has come a long way in 150 years. And just look where it's going now Read More

Fighting Words

Hart House debating has prepared generations of U of T students for the rigours of academe, politics, and the law. More important, it reassures anxious frosh that it's cool to be smart Read More

UC @ 150

University College celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2003. Here's how U of T's founding college got started and is still growing Read More

Curing Injustice

Brilliant and determined, three U of T trailblazers challenged the prejudices of their day and changed the profession of medicine Read More

The Troubled Healer

In his tireless quest to conquer contagious diseases, John Gerald FitzGerald, architect of Canada's modern public health system, sacrificed his own health – indeed, his life Read More

Good Chemistry

Henry Holmes Croft established the university's first chemistry laboratory. It remains a place for another kind of alchemy - the mixing of ideas Read More

The Age of Dissent

Socialists, peaceniks, feminists, rabble-rousers: They came in search of an education. They left having taught the old school a thing or two Read More

Three of the women who graduated from University College in 1885, members of the first graduating class that included women: from left to right, Margaret Langley, May Bell Bald, and Ella Gardiner. Two daughters of the Globe publisher George Brown, Margaret and Catherine, also graduated in 1885, but their pictures were not included in the composite.
Three of the women who graduated from University College in 1885, members of the first graduating class that included women: from left to right, Margaret Langley, May Bell Bald, and Ella Gardiner. Two daughters of the Globe publisher George Brown, Margaret and Catherine, also graduated in 1885, but their pictures were not included in the composite.

Fairly Determined

Members of the so-called gentler sex were banned from attending classes until 1884. But once women set foot in the classroom, there was no stopping them Read More

Decade of the Dynamo

Inspired, energetic, driven – nothing ever stopped Robert Prichard in his tracks during 10 years as president, not even a near tragedy Read More

Sod-turning ceremony in 1904 for Convocation Hall marked one of the first and finest achievements of the UTAA.
Sod-turning ceremony in 1904 for Convocation Hall marked one of the first and finest achievements of the UTAA.

A Commanding Force

Alumni wanted an organization to keep them in touch with their alma mater, and the wife of the president recognized that there is strength in numbers. The time was right to establish the University of Toronto Alumni Association Read More