Our history

ANU is Australia's national university and has a unique history among Australian universities. Learn about our history, and how it continues to influence the work we do here today on the page below. Visit Heritage management to learn more about our well preserved heritage and principles.

ANU celebrated its 75th anniversary on 1st August, 2021. Journey back in time with our photo gallery that celebrates some of the people, moments and memories that have shaped our history at the ANU.

2020

The Hon Julie Bishop

The Hon Julie Bishop became ANU Chancellor

The Hon Julie Bishop became Chancellor of ANU on 1 January 2020.

2016

Professor Brian P. Schmidt became Vice-Chancellor

Professor Brian P. Schmidt AC FAA FRS became Vice-Chancellor on 1 January 2016.

2006

Forming seven ANU Colleges

The formation of seven ANU Colleges, grouping together Research Schools, Faculties and Centres.

2004

Medical School opens to students

The ANU Medical School is accredited by the Australian Medical Council for the first intake of students.

2004

The National Institute of the Arts join with the ANU

The National Institute of the Arts (NITA) amalgamates with the Faculty of Arts.

2003

Bushfires at Stromlo (Actew)

Bushfires severly impact Canberra and the ANU

On 18 January, Mt Stromlo Observatory is devastated by bushfire. Telescopes, workshops, the original Observatory Building, the Director's Residence and many of the original houses are destroyed, and the Weston research facilities are severely.

2001

Restructuring the University

In June the ANU Council announces a major restructure of University governance including the creation of Deputy Vice-Chancellors for Research and Education and the establishment of twelve virtual National Institutes

1998

The University welcomes new additions

The University Archives is established. The Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories become the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA). The Asia Pacific School of Economics and Management (later Government) is established.

1996

University's 50th anniversary

ANU celebrates its 50th anniversary with a program of academic and social events.

1994

New centres are established

In the Institute of Advanced Studies, the Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering (RSISE) is established. The Centre for Middle Eastern and Central Asia Sudies (from 1999, the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies) is established in the Faculty of Arts.

1993

Opening the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology

In the Faculties, a new Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology is established.

1992

The Canberra Institute of the Arts joins with the ANU

The Canberra Institute of the Arts, comprising the Canberra School of Music and the Canberra School of Art, amalgamates with ANU.

1991

Changes for the Research School of Physical Sciences

The Research School of Physical Sciences becomes the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering (RSPSE).

1989

Establishing the ANU Graduate School

The ANU Graduate School is established, intended to coordinate graduate teaching and resources across the University and to provide greater cohesion between the Institute of Advanced Studies and the Faculties.

1987

Establishment of the ANU Supercomputer Facility

The University purchases a 'Fujitsu FACOM VP50 vector processor' and establishes the ANU Supercomputer Facility to house it.

1979

Renaming the School of General Studies

The School of General Studies formally renamed The Faculties.

1976

Opening the Women's Studies Program

After extended debate, a separate Women's Studies Program in the Faculty of Arts came into being.

1974

The Humanities Research Centre is established

The Humanities Research Centre (HRC) is established as another important 'centre' in the University.

1972

Establishing the Centre for Resource & Environmental Studies

The Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES) is established, part of a trend to establish what was sometimes referred to as a 'third dimension', namely units and centres within the University

1971

Separating departments

A decision is made to create a separate Research School of Earth Sciences (RSES) from departments in the Research School of Physical Sciences.

1968

Opening the Computer Centre

The Computer Centre was established, intended to serve users campus wide.

1967

Opening new research schools

The Research School of Chemistry (RSC) and the Research School of Biological Sciences (RSBS) are established bringing the number of research schools to six.

1965

The Australian Forestry School accepts its first students

The Australian Forestry School, which had been established in Canberra since 1927, accepted its first students as a department in the ANU Faculty of Science.

1964

Flooding in Lake Burley Griffin

Lake Burley Griffin is flooded, skirting the southern edge of the ANU campus

1964

Appointing the first female professor

Hanna Neumann is appointed the University's first female professor, as Professor of Mathematics in the School of General Studies.

1963

New libraries are opened

The two University Library Buildings are opened, the R G Menzies Building and the J B Chifley Building.

1961

Residents occupy Bruce Hall

Bruce Hall, the first residential hall for undergraduate students on campus, is occupied.

1961

Establishing the Faculty of Oriental Studies

The School of General Studies establishes a new faculty, the Faculty of Oriental Studies. In 1970, it became the Faculty of Asian Studies.

1961

Reaching New Guinea

The New Guinea Research Unit, part of the Research School of Pacific Studies, begins operations with a small group of support staff and academics located in Canberra and New Guinea. The Unit fostered interdisciplinary work on New Guinea among ANU academics.

1960

Canberra University College becomes ANU

ANU amalgamates with Canberra University College. CUC becomes the School of General Studies at ANU and undergraduates become part of ANU life for the first time. In 1960 ANU still had its four central research schools, the John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR), the Research School of Physical Sciences (RSPhysS), the Research School of Social Sciences (RSSS) and the Research School of Pacific Studies (RSPaS), while the School of General Studies had Faculties of Arts, Economics, Law and Science.

1957

Mt. Stromlo Observatory joins the ANU

The Australian National University through association with the Department of Astronomy in the Research School of Physical Sciences assumes control of the Mount Stromlo Observatory from the Department of the Interior, and the name is formally changed to Mount Stromlo Observatory. Bart Bok is appointed Director of the Observatory, and Head of the ANU Department of Astronomy.

1955

Celebrating twenty-five years

Canberra University College celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary.

1954

University House opens

In February 1954, University House is officially opened.

1953

Forming the Archives of Business and Labour

Noel Butlin, an economic historian in the Research School of Social Sciences, begins collecting Australian business records, which come to form the basis of the University's Archives of Business and Labour (now the Noel Butlin Archives Centre).

1952

The laboratories for the Research School of Physcial Sciences are opened

The laboratories for the Research School of Physical Sciences, the University's first permanent buildings, are opened.

1952

The first Chancellor

The University's first Chancellor, Lord Bruce, is installed.

1951

First meeting of the ANU Council

12th of July 1951- First meeting of the ANU Council, which succeeded the Interim Council appointed in 1946.

1951

Marking 50 years of Federation

From July to September of 1975, a series of seminars on science, Commonwealth-State relations and federalism held to mark 50 years of Federation.

1951

Conferring the first degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws

On the 7th of December 1951, the ANU confers its first degree of an Honorary Doctor of Laws on Sir Robert Garran, one of the authors of the Australian Constitution and a long-time advocate of university education in Canberra.

1950

The arrival of academic staff members

The first academic staff members arrive to take up their appointments at ANU. At this time, there were few buildings to house them.

1949

Laying the foundations of the John Curtin School of Medical Research

24 October 1949 - Foundation stones for the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the Research School of Physical Sciences and University House laid by Ben Chifley, Prime Minister and John Dedman, Minister for Post-War Reconstruction.

1948

The first Vice-Chancellor

In March of 1948, Sir Douglas Copland was appointed as the first Vice-Chancellor of the University.

1948

Shaping the University

In Easter of 1948, significant meetings occur between the Interim Council and the Academic Advisory Committee, consisting of Florey, Hancock, Oliphant and the anthropologist Raymond Firth on the shape the national university was to take. The meetings took place in the Institute of Anatomy Building, which now houses ScreenSound Australia, the National Screen and Sound Archive.

1948

The first librarian

The University's first librarian, A L G McDonald, was appointed to begin gathering together the University Library's collections.

1947

Designing the University

In late 1947, Brian Lewis, Professor of Architecture at the University of Melbourne was appointed Consulting Architect to design the University's major buildings.

1946

Involving prominent academics

In April of 1946, H C Coombs meets with prominent academics in England, some of them Australian expatriates, including the medical scientist Sir Howard Florey, the historian W K Hancock and the physicist Mark Oliphant, to discuss the proposed Australian National University.

1946

Passing the Bill by Federal Parliament

On the 1 August 1946, the Bill establishing The Australian National University is passed by Federal Parliament.

1946

The Interim Council of the University's first meeting

In September of 1946, the first meeting of the Interim Council of the University took place in the Senate Committee Room in Parliament House.

1944

Establishing a National University

From late 1944 to 1945, discussions between intellectuals and administrators, including H C 'Nugget' Coombs, Alfred Conlon, and Roy Douglas 'Pansy' Wright set the scene for the establishment of a National University.

1930

Canberra University College enrolls its first students

Canberra University College, which later amalgamated with The Australian National University, enrolled its first students. Canberra University College was established with a loose association with the University of Melbourne.

1911

The National Capital

Following the resumption of the land by the Commonwealth in 1911/12 - the Acton Campus site was earmarked as the early administrative hub of the newly proclaimed Federal Capital Territory - encompassing offices and residences of the fledgling Commonwealth Public Service, the residence of the Administrator and the Canberra Community Hospital (1914). However the site was always envisioned as an educational precinct. In the original design competition for Canberra (1911) - Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin's winning competition entry designated the site for tertiary learning, even going as far as plotting the locations of individual disciplines.

1820

Pastoral settlement

Following European settlement in Australia, the area of the Acton Campus was largely transformed by heavy pastoralisation from the 1820s, with two properties - Springbank and Acton, occupying the site. Livestock and cropping markedly changed the open grassland character of the site, and the first modern buildings appeared in the area in the form of homesteads and pastoral outbuildings.

Past Chancellors

  • Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC FASSA FAIIA (2010–2019)
  • K C Beazley AC (2009)
  • A D Hawke AC (2006–2008)
  • Peter Erne Baume AC HonDUniv (1994–2006)
  • Sir Geoffrey Yeend (1990–1994)
  • Sir Gordon Jackson (1987–1990)
  • Sir Richard Blackburn (1984–1987)
  • Sir John Crawford (1976–1984)
  • H C Coombs (1968–1976)
  • Lord Howard Florey OM FRS FRCP (1965–1968)
  • Sir John Douglas Cockcroft HonDSc (1961–1965)
  • Lord Bruce (1951–1961)
  • RC Mills (Chair of the Interim Council 1946–1951)

Past Vice-Chancellors

  • Professor Ian Young AO (2011–2015)
  • Ian William Chubb AC HonDUniv (2001–2011)
  • R D Terrell AO (1994–2000)
  • L W Nichol (1988–1993)
  • P H Karmel AC CBE (1982–1987)
  • D A Low (1975–1982)
  • R M Williams (1973–1975)
  • Sir John Crawford (1968–1973)
  • Sir Leonard Huxley (1960–1967)
  • Sir Leslie Melville (1953–1960)
  • Sir Douglas Copland (1948–1953)