University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow dates from the middle of the fifteenth century, a time of critical change in Europe. In 1451, the Scottish King James II persuaded Pope Nicholas V to grant a bull authorising Bishop Turnbull of Glasgow to set up a university.

Initially the young institution operated from Glasgow Cathedral. In 1460 the University moved to accommodation in the High Street, a location which remained its home for 400 years. Here, as the intellectual activity foreshadowing the Enlightenment took root, the University created one of the finest buildings in Scotland of the 17th century, known as the 'Old College', which was described by contemporaries as 'the chief ornament of the city'.

It was the encroaching overcrowding and squalor of factories and railways, fruits of the industrial expansion it had helped to shape, which forced the University to move to its present site in what was then suburban Gilmorehill, a location it has occupied since 1870. Here the University celebrated its 550th anniversary in 2001.

Today, the University of Glasgow is one of the UK's leading universities with an international reputation for its research and teaching and an important role in the cultural and commercial life of the country.

The University is a member of the Russell Group of major research-led universities and a founder member of Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting world-wide standards for higher education.

 

Click for more information on
the China Map