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History
Founded in 1451, Glasgow is the fourth-oldest University in the English-speaking world.
Over the last five centuries and more, we’ve constantly worked to push the boundaries of what’s possible. We’ve fostered the talents of seven Nobel laureates, one Prime Minister and Scotland’s inaugural First Minister. We’ve welcomed Albert Einstein to give a lecture on the origins of the general theory of relativity. Scotland’s first female graduates completed their degrees here in 1894 and the world’s first ultrasound images of a foetus were published by Glasgow Professor Ian Donald in 1958. In 1840 we became the first University in the UK to take on a Professor of Engineering, and in 1957, the first in Scotland to have an electronic computer.
All of this means that if you choose to work or study here, you’ll be walking in the way of some of the world’s most renowned innovators, from scientist Lord Kelvin and economist Adam Smith, to the pioneer of television John Logie Baird.
Men and women of fame
In the histories of the arts and the sciences, the names of Glasgow scholars occur frequently and prominently.
- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, began his studies at the University of Glasgow in 1834 at the age of 10. He returned at the age of 22 and took up the chair of Natural Philosophy (Physics), a post he held for 53 years. Arguably the pre-eminent scientist of the nineteenth century, he enjoyed an international reputation for theoretical and practical research across virtually the entire range of the physical sciences. Such is his standing in the scientifict community, he was buried next to Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.
- Adam Smith Economist, philosopher and author of Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith was only 14 when he started as a student at Glasgow. In 1751 he returned as Professor of Logic, transferring to the Chair of Moral Philosophy shortly afterwards.
Nobel Laureates
The University has been associated with seven Nobel laureates:
- Graduate Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for his discovery of inert gases which established a new group in the periodic table.
- Frederick Soddy (1857-1956) lectured at the University in the early 1920s. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1921 for his work on the origin and nature of isotopes.
- Graduate John Boyd Orr (1880-1971) campaigned for an adequate diet for the people, starting during the First World War; his food plan produced a better nourished population than ever before. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949 for his work with the United Nations.
- Graduate Sir Alexander Robertus Todd (1907-1997) received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1957. His research led directly to the understanding of nucleic acids.
- Sir Derek Barton (1918-1998) Regius Professor of Chemistry in the 1950s, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1969 for his work on conformational analysis.
- Sir James Black (b 1924) who worked at the University's Veterinary School during the 1950s, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1988 for discoveries of important principles for drug treatments.
- Professor Robert Edwards (b 1925), researcher in the Department of Biochemistry at the University in the early 1960s, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2010. A pioneer in the field of fertilisation, he co-established the world’s first IVF clinic in 1980.
Science
Many University of Glasgow graduates and staff have advanced scientific thinking:
- Joseph Black (1728-1799) taught both chemistry and medicine in the eighteenth century and introduced a modern understanding of gases.
- John Logie Baird (1888-1946) one of television's pioneers, was attending the University when the First World War intervened.
- James Watt (1736-1819) conducted some of his early experiments with steam power while working at the University.
- William Macquorn Rankine (1820-1872) pioneer of modern thermodynamics, wrote the first authoritative textbooks on engineering.
- Ronald David Laing (1927-1989) noted for his work on mental illness and psychosis, studied and worked at the University.
- John Brown (b 1947) is Regius Professor of Astronomy and Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
- Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell (b 1943) astrophysicist who helped discover radio pulsars, studied at the University.
Politics
A strong political strain has run through Glasgow's graduate ranks:
Literature
Our graduates have made an extensive contribution to the world of literature:
- John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps.
- James Boswell, eighteenth century biographer of Dr Samuel Johnson.
- William Boyd, Whitbread Prize winner whose novels include A Good Man in Africa, Armadillo and Any Human Heart.
- Christopher Brookmyre, whose novels include Quite Ugly One Morning andBe My Enemy.
- Catherine Carswell, biographer of Robert Burns.
- A J Cronin, author of The Citadel and the series of short stories which were later adapted for television as Dr Finlay's Casebook.
- Janice Galloway, whose novels include Clara and Foreign Parts.
- John Grierson, described as the 'father' of the documentary, and remembered for films such as Drifters and Night Mail.
- James Herriot (Alf Wight), author of the series of novels which were adapted for television as All Creatures Great and Small.
- Francis Hutcheson, the early eighteenth century philosopher, foreshadowed the utilitarianism of J S Mill.
- Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury during the turmoil of the 1930s' abdication crisis.
- Dramatist Osborne Henry Mavor (James Bridie) and co-founder of the Citizens' Theatre in Glasgow.
- William McIlvanney, Whitbread Prize winner whose novels includeDocherty and the trilogy featuring Glasgow detective Jack Laidlaw.
- Helen MacInnes, known as 'the queen of spy writers'.
- Alistair MacLean, suspense writer, whose novels include Where Eagles Dare,The Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra.
- Social historian Florence Marian McNeill, author of The Silver Bough.
- Tobias Smollett, eighteenth century writer whose novels include Roderick Random and Humphry Clinker.
The Law
- James Dalrymple, Viscount Stair, who provided seventeenth century Scotland with the first authoritative treatise on its law.
- John Millar (1761-1801) appointed Regius Professor of Roman law in 1761 aged 26, and claimed by some to be the father of modern Sociology.
- Semyon Efimovich Desnitsky, Professor of Roman Law and Russian Jurisprudence, University of Moscow, Glasgow LLD, 1767. Author of A Legal Discourse on the Beginning and Origin of Matrimony among the Earliest Peoples and on the Perfection to which it would appear to have been brought by Subsequent Enlightened Peoples (1775).
- Sir John Anstruther, Chief Justice of Bengal, 1773.
- John Sinclair of Ulster (b 10 May 1754), admitted advocate, 1775; cashier of Excise for Scotland; compiler of the Statistical Account of Scotland. Glasgow LLB, 1788. Died 21 December 1835.
- John Wheatley, Lord Advocate and Lord Justice Clerk.
- Hazel Aronson, Lady Cosgrove, the first woman judge in the Court of Session and High Court.
- David Hume, second son of John Home of Ninewells, admitted advocate, 1779. Professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University (1786-1822). Sheriff of Berwick, 1783. Sheriff of Linlithgow (1793-1811). Baron of Exchequer (Scotland) (1822-34). Glasgow LLB, 1804. Pupil of John Millar at Glasgow.
- Thomas Muir of Huntershill (b 24 August 1765), admitted advocate, 1787. Glasgow MA, 1782. Expelled from the Faculty of Advocates, 1793. Convicted of sedition, 1793. Died, Chantilly, 27 September 1798.
- David Boyle, Lord President of the Court of Session, 1789. Admitted advocate 14 December 1793. Elevated as Lord of Session, 28 February 1811. Solicitor General, 1807.
- James Kerr, Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench at Quebec.
Our changing campus
Our institution owes its origins to King James II of Scotland, who persuaded Pope Nicholas V to issue a Papal Bull authorising its foundation in 1451. Since then, the University has changed its location in the city as it has steadily grown.
Our first base was in Glasgow Cathedral. The University operated from here until 1460, when it moved to the city’s High Street. Over the next 400 years it grew in scope and size, prompting a second and final move to Gilmorehill in the west end of Glasgow in 1870. Parts of the High Street campus – Pearce Lodge and the Lion and Unicorn Staircase – were moved stone by stone to the University’s new home and can still be seen among our 104 listed buildings.
Today, our Gilmorehill campus is centred around a neo-gothic main building designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. The building’s distinctive spire was added by his son John Oldrid Scott in the late 19th century.
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