1887

McMaster University was founded on April 23, 1887, in Toronto. The university was named in honour of Senator William McMaster, who bequeathed a gift of $900,000 to establish the school. McMaster’s first class began their studies in 1890 in the Faculties of Arts and Theology. The Alumni Society was founded after the first class graduated in 1894.

1930

McMaster University moved from Toronto to Hamilton. The lands and new buildings were secured through gifts from alumni, members of the churches of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, and Hamilton residents. Hamilton Hall was named in honour of the citizens of Hamilton who raised $500,000 to establish the McMaster campus in the city’s west end.

1951

Alumni Memorial Hall opens, honouring the students and alumni who died during WWI and WWII. The building, which was made possible through a fundraising campaign from the McMaster Alumni Association, served as the University’s first student centre and alumni office.

1957

Originally founded as a Baptist university, McMaster became a publicly funded, non-denominational institution in 1957. This was also the year that McMaster established the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

1959

This year marked the beginning of operations for the McMaster Nuclear Reactor. It was the first university-based research reactor in the British Commonwealth and today, it’s one of the world’s largest suppliers of the medical radioisotope iodine-125, which is used in the treatment of prostate cancer.

1960s

This decade saw an incredible amount of growth on campus, with a student body of 1,698 at the beginning of the decade and 7,931 by the end.

The decade also saw the opening of ten new buildings, including four residences and the Ivor Wynne Athletic Centre. In 1968, McMaster Students Union opened the first student-run pub – the Rathskellar – and in 1969, McKay Hall became McMaster’s first co-ed residence.

1965

The School of Medicine was established in 1965. Four years later, the medical school welcomed its first class of students, who would go on to graduate in 1972 – the same year that the campus hospital was completed. The medical school pioneered “problem-based learning,” known around the world as the McMaster Model.

1968

McMaster scooped the global community by purchasing the archives of Nobel laureate and peace activist Bertrand Russell.

This same year saw some structural changes at the university – while McMaster Divinity College continued under its existing arrangement, the rest of McMaster University was organized into the Divisions of Arts, Science and Health Sciences, each headed by a vice-president (academic).

1970s

At the beginning of the decade, traffic was banned from the campus core, establishing McMaster as a pedestrian campus.

Seven more buildings opened during the 1970s, including Wentworth House, the new student centre and the Thode Library.

1973

Canada’s first co-op MBA program was established at McMaster.

1974

The Faculties of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Science and Social Sciences are established, each under the leadership of a dean.

1979

McMaster received a $25 million bequest from Harry Lyman Hooker, which would help establish the Harry Lyman Hooker Sr. Fellowship, among other advancements at the university.

1992

The DeGroote School of Business becomes the first named business school in Canada.

1994

Bertram Brockhouse, Professor Emeritus, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics

1997

McMaster alumnus Myron Scholes was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics.

2000

McMaster begins a a new millennium with 14,029 full time students This year also marked the opening of the Institute of Applied Health Sciences, a unique partnership between McMaster University and Mohawk College.

2001

McMaster expanded to downtown Hamilton, opening the McMaster Downtown Centre in the former Hamilton-Wentworth Court House building.

2002

The McMaster University Student Centre opened its doors to the campus community, funded by generous gifts from McMaster students and private donors in addition to investments from the University and government.

2003

Michael G. DeGroote donated $105 million, the largest gift in Canadian history at the time, to the School of Medicine. In recognition, the school was renamed after DeGroote.

2005

Ron Joyce donated $10 million for the construction of a new stadium, which would be completed in 2008. At the time, it was the largest ever gift to an athletic program in Canada.

2010

The Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington opens in September 2010 following another $10 million donation to McMaster from Ron Joyce in 2007. The facility is a four-story, 90,000-square-foot building that houses McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business’ MBA and executive education programs.

2014

During the medical school convocation ceremony, Michael G. DeGroote announces a new $50 million dollar gift to the school. That surprise donation increased the university’s focus on health leadership and biomedical research.

2018

McMaster graduate Donna Strickland is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. 

2022

McMaster returns to Toronto with the opening of its Bloor Street West location directly across the street from its original building, which now houses the Royal Conservatory of Music.