Durham University is a public, research university established by an act of Parliament in 1832. It received its royal charter five years later, in 1837.
Durham was the first university to be founded in England proper (as opposed to Scotland) in modern times (since Oxford and Cambridge during the Middle Ages). Its original remit was to prepare young men for ordination into the Church of England.
The oldest part of the university is University College, which after 1837 was housed in historic Durham Castle. For this reason, University College is colloquially known as “the Castle.” At first, students living in the Castle were expected to bring along their personal servants to cook for them. In 1846, a second college, Bishop Hatfield’s Hall, was added, which pioneered full room-and-board for residential students of more modest means.
Many more colleges were added gradually over the years, including a medical school, which opened in nearby Newcastle upon Tyne in 1852.
In 1909, the official tie to the Church of England was severed, and Durham University began to be administered by the British government, instead.
Over time, the number of Durham University colleges situated in Newcastle proliferated to such an extent that they came to outnumber the Durham colleges in size and importance. Eventually, the imbalance became so serious that during the 1950s a proposal was floated to rename the school as “the University of Durham and Newcastle.” (It was defeated.)
In 1963, the most important of the Newcastle colleges, King’s College, attained administrative independence under the name of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. This left the Castle once again as Durham’s flagship college. Much later, in 1991, a new satellite campus was opened in another nearby city—this time, in the much smaller town of Stockton-on-Tees.
Today, Durham University comprises 17 separate colleges in the cities of Durham and Stockton, with a total student body in excess of 19,000.
Among numerous prominent individuals associated with Durham University, we may note the following:
According to Wikipedia, Durham University is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to open in England for more than 600 years, after Oxford and Cambridge, and is thus one of the institutions to be described as the third-oldest university in England. As a collegiate university its main functions are divided between the academic departments of the university and its 17 colleges. In general, the departments perform research and provide teaching to students, while the colleges are responsible for their domestic arrangements and welfare.
Durham University is known for it's academic work in the following disciplines:
Durham University's most influential alumni faculty include professors and professionals in the fields of Social Work, Earth Sciences, and Education. Here are some of Durham University's most famous alumni: