University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide was a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it was the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many sandstone buildings of historical and architectural significance, such as Bonython Hall. Its royal charter awarded by Queen Victoria in 1881 allowed it to become the second university in the English-speaking world to confer degrees to women. On 5 January 2026, it merged with the neighbouring University of South Australia to form Adelaide University. The closure of the existing institutions is planned for 31 March 2026, when both the University of Adelaide Act 1971 and University of South Australia Act 1990 are repealed.
The university was founded at the former Royal South Australian Society of Arts by the Union College and studies were initially conducted at its Institute Building. The society was also the original birthplace of the South Australian Institute of Technology as the School of Mines and Industries. The institute later became the University of South Australia during the Dawkins Revolution following a merger with an advanced college dating back to the School of Art, also founded at the society. The two universities, which then accounted for approximately three-quarters of the state's public university population, agreed to merge in mid-2023. The future combined institution will be rebranded as Adelaide University, previously a colloquial name for the university, with the merged state expected to become operational by 2026.
The university has four campuses, three in South Australia: its main North Terrace campus in central Adelaide, the Waite campus in Urrbrae, a regional campus in Roseworthy and a study centre in Melbourne, Victoria. Its academic activities are organised into three faculties, which are subdivided into numerous teaching schools. It also has several research subdivisions. In 2023, the university had a total revenue of, with from research grants and funding. It is a member of the Group of Eight, an association of research-intensive universities in Australia, and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities.
Notable alumni of the university include the first female prime minister of Australia, two presidents of Singapore, the first astronaut born in Australia and the first demonstrator of nuclear fusion. It is also associated with five Nobel laureates, constituting one-third of Australia's total Nobel laureates, 117 Rhodes scholars and 168 Fulbright scholars. It has had a significant impact on the public life of South Australia, having educated many of the state's earliest businesspeople, lawyers, medical professionals and politicians. It has also been associated with the development of penicillin, space exploration, sunscreen, the military tank, Wi-Fi, polymer banknotes and X-ray crystallography, and the study of viticulture and oenology.
History
Foundation
The history of the university dates back to the Union College established in 1872 to provide education to aspiring Protestant ministers who were previously required to travel to the United Kingdom. It provided education in the natural sciences, mathematics, English literature and theological studies of the Greek Testament. The college approached Scottish-born pastoralist Walter Watson Hughes with the proposal for a then-called Adelaide University with a request for endowment towards its creation. Following an agreement, the Adelaide University Association was established by the Union College on 23 September 1872 to manage the creation of the university.The University of Adelaide, which is named after its founding city namesake to Queen Adelaide, was formally established on 6 November 1874 following the passage of The Adelaide University Act of 1874 through the South Australian parliament. The parliament also provided a 2 hectare land grant for a campus. Its royal charter, which was granted by Queen Victoria in 1881, allowed the university to confer degrees to women. Its early benefactors, many of whom Scottish immigrants, made large donations to develop the university that are now worth tens of millions adjusted for inflation.
File:Heinrich von Angeli - Queen Victoria - RCIN 405021 - Royal Collection.jpg|alt=This is a portrait of Queen Victoria whose royal charter allowed women to study at the university.|thumb|The royal charter grant by Queen Victoria allowed women to study at the university
It was founded with the backing of its first benefactor Walter Hughes and Thomas Elder, also a Scottish-born pastoralist and another founder of the university, who each donated £20,000 towards the association. The university initially occupied the South Australian Institute Building prior to the construction of the University Building which housed the entire university at the time. Elder also bequeathed an additional £65,000 in his will following his death in 1897 of which £20,000 were allocated to set up the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Other donors include Scottish philosopher William Mitchell who also taught literature and psychology, established many teaching schools and served as vice-chancellor and chancellor of the institution. The University Building, now the chancellery, was later renamed to the Mitchell Building in his honour.
According to its founding Act, the university was intended as a secular institution to "promote sound learning in the Province of South Australia" to be "open to all classes and denominations of Her Majesty's subjects". It commenced its first class, a Latin lecture towards the Bachelor of Arts, in March 1876 following its inauguration at the Adelaide Town Hall. Its first chancellor was former premier Richard Hanson and its first vice-chancellor was Anglican bishop Augustus Short. Its first graduate was Thomas Ainslie Caterer, who graduated in 1879 with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1882, it was also the first university in Australia to provide degree programs in science and its faculty of arts was inaugurated in 1887. Its Adelaide Law School was established in 1883 as Australia's second law school, its medical school in 1885 and its Adelaide Business School in 1902 as the country's first business school. They have produced some of Australia's earliest businesspeople, lawyers, medical professionals and politicians.
Another early benefactor Robert Barr Smith, who had previously studied under financial hardship in Scotland and served on the University Council for 19 years, had long desired for education to be accessible to all students in Adelaide. In 1913, Robert wrote at the age of 89 that "tho' in its vigorous and lusty youth," the university was poorly endowed and constructed on little land. His donations included a combined £9000 towards books for the then-struggling university library and £500 towards radiation research by Lawrence and William Henry Bragg who later won the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics.
File:Nuclear Fuel Cycle Royal Commission Public Forum, Bonython Hall, University of Adelaide, 22 May 2015.jpg|thumb|The interior of Bonython Hall, used for graduations, during a forum on nuclear energy|alt=This is a photograph of the interior of Bonython Hall, a venue for graduations and other events, during a public forum on nuclear energy.
Bonython Hall, the great hall of the university, was built in 1936 following a donation of over £50,000 from the owner of The Advertiser newspaper, John Langdon Bonython, who was inspired following his visit to the Great Hall of the University of Sydney. The hall, which is used during graduation ceremonies among other events, was designed by architect Louis Laybourne-Smith based on medieval great halls in a Gothic Revival architecture style inspired by the ancient universities in Europe.
File:Bonython Hall, Adelaide by Paul Weston.jpg|alt=This is a photograph of Bonython Hall, which was inspired by the Great Hall of the University of Sydney and of the ancient universities in Europe.|thumb|Bonython Hall, inspired by the Great Hall of the University of Sydney and ancient universities
The institution was the third of its kind on the Australian continent after the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, which then educated solely men. The university, which allowed women to study alongside men since its commencement including eligibility for all academic prizes and honours, became the second university in the English-speaking world following the University of London in 1878 to formally admit women on equal terms as men in 1881. This was following a royal charter granted by Queen Victoria that year, which allowed for women to be conferred degrees. This has contributed to its long history of achieving notable milestones and firsts for women's rights in higher education.
In 1991, it formally opened two additional campuses in Greater Adelaide outside of the city centre. These included the Waite and Roseworthy campuses, though the university operated at the Waite site since at least 1924 as the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. The Roseworthy campus was the former Roseworthy Agricultural College which, although affiliated with the university since 1905, was an independent institution prior to their merger. Additionally, the university previously operated research facilities across in Thebarton approximately north of the campus until 2020 when it was sold for housing development. The flames for several summer Olympic Games, among other sporting events, were developed there with the now-called FCT Flames.
Neighbouring amalgamations
The SA School of Art was founded in 1856 by the former Royal South Australian Society of Arts, predating the university which was also established there. The independent art school, which went through many name changes, resided for most of its history at the Jubilee Exhibition Building which was later transferred to the university in 1929. It remained on the campus until 1962 when the building was demolished to make way for several university buildings.The Jubilee Exhibition Building was also the birthplace of the South Australian Institute of Technology which was established in 1889 as the SA School of Mines and Industries. It moved to the neighbouring Brookman Building in 1903, named after the Scottish-born businessman George Brookman who contributed £15,000 towards its construction. The institution acted de facto as part of the university while remaining legally distinct. The relationship was expanded in 1903 with the two institutions formally agreeing to combine teaching, laboratories and examinations across fields of engineering and sciences. Despite the university later establishing its own faculty of engineering in 1937, the reciprocal relationship remained intertwined to the University Council and studies completed at the institute were recognised as equivalent studies eligible for credit towards university courses. The institution expanded into the site of the former Adelaide Technical High School in 1963, to the regional city of Whyalla in 1962 and to the Adelaide suburb of Mawson Lakes as The Levels in 1972. In 1965, it was designated an advanced college which initiated an expansion in the variety of courses available.
The Adelaide Teachers College, which changed names and shifted locations multiple times throughout its existence, was established in 1876. Despite not being located at the university campus until 1900, students from the institution attended university lectures since at least 1878. In 1921, it renamed to the Adelaide Teachers College, in line with other interstate teachers colleges. Despite offers from the university to take control of the college, which was heavily integrated into the university, the Education Department retained administrative authority throughout its early history. The Hartley Building, named after former vice-chancellor John Anderson Hartley, was built as its permanent home in 1927.
It continued constructing new buildings such as the Scott Theatre, Madley and Schulz buildings and eventually renamed to the Adelaide College of the Arts and Education. It also established additional teachers colleges in other parts of the city including Magill. Following a series of mergers, the colleges expanded to become advanced colleges which all later amalgamated with the original mother college to become the South Australian College of Advanced Education in 1982. The combined institution continued its presence alongside the university as its City campus and maintained joint teaching, facilities and committees. The campus merged with the university in 1991.
Stronger demand for advanced college places throughout the country resulted from a broadening appeal of higher education beyond the traditionally elite education provided by the universities. Advanced colleges were originally designed to complement universities, forming a binary system modelled on that of the United Kingdom. It was originally created by the Menzies government following World War II on the advice of a committee led by physicist Leslie H. Martin, during a period of high population growth and corresponding demand for secondary and tertiary education. This sector ceased to exist when, between 1989 and 1992, the Hawke-Keating government implemented the sweeping reforms of Education Minister John Dawkins that dismantled the binary system. The states, eager for increased education funding, merged the colleges either with existing universities or with each other to form new universities. Following its expansion and increasing autonomy from the university, the South Australian Institute of Technology was given the option to merge with either TAFE South Australia or the South Australian College of Advanced Education. It chose to merge with the latter advanced college resulting in the establishment of the University of South Australia, which continues to remain neighbours with the university.