The story
Over 60 years, the university has grown from a provincial feeder college with 300 students to an international university with over 33,000 students spread across nine domestic campuses and four international centres.
Establishment
The University of Wollongong traces its origins to 1951. The foundation of the university was in 1951 when a division of The New South Wales University of Technology (currently known as the University of New South Wales, UNSW) was established in Wollongong. In 1962, the division became the Wollongong College of the University of New South Wales.
On 1 January 1975, the New South Wales Parliament incorporated the University of Wollongong as an independent institution of higher learning consisting of five faculties (including engineering, humanities, mathematics, sciences and social sciences) with Michael Birt as its inaugural vice chancellor. In 1976, Justice Robert Marsden Hope was installed as chancellor of the university. As of 1982, the university amalgamated the Wollongong Institute of Higher Education which had begun life in 1962 as the Wollongong Teachers' College; thus the merger formed the basis for a period of rapid growth in the 1980s.
Further development
In 1951, a foundation of the University of Wollongong was founded as a division of the New South Wales University of Technology in Wollongong. A decade later, the division became the Wollongong College of the University of New South Wales.
In 1972, the library was three storeys high and could fit 280 students. In 1975, the University of Wollongong gained its autonomy as an independent institution of higher learning by the Parliament of New South Wales. In 1976, the library expanded and could fit 530 students.
In 1977, the Faculty of Computer Science (currently known as the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences) developed a version of Unix for the Interdata 7/32 called UNSW 01, this was the first non-PDP Unix. In the late 70s, Tim Berners-Lee sourced TCP/IP software, an integral element of the World Wide Web, from the University of Wollongong.
In 1981, Ken McKinnon was appointed Vice-Chancellor, overseeing the amalgamation of the university with the Wollongong Institute of Education (also known as WIE) in 1982. The Wollongong Institute of Education had originated in 1971 as the Teachers College (renamed the Wollongong Institute of Education in 1973). This merger formed the basis of the contemporary university. In 1983, the Faculty of Commerce was established along with the School of Creative Arts, followed by the creation of the Faculty of Education in 1984. Also in 1984 the commencement of the new Wollongong University building program began, which led to the construction and opening of the Illawarra Technology Centre (1985), Kooloobong (1985, 1986, 1990), Weerona College (1986), Administration, Union Mall (now known as UniCentre), URAC (1987), multi-storey carpark (1990) and heated swimming pool (1990).
In 1993, the University of Wollongong Dubai Campus in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates was established.
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In 2000, the Shoalhaven campus was opened at Nowra on the South Coast. The Bega campus was also opened. In 2001, the Southern Highlands campus opened at Moss Vale.
In 2008, the university opened the first building at Wollongong Innovation Campus (abbreviated as iC) on a 20-hectare site at Brandon Park in Wollongong. In August, the Faculty of Science Dean, Rob Whelan, took up a new role as president of the University of Wollongong in Dubai.
In October 2009 Chancellor Mike Codd retired as chancellor after three four-year terms. He was succeeded by Jillian Broadbent.
In July 2010, the New South Wales Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, opened the $30 million Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute. In August, a $20 million building housing the Sydney Business School and the UOW/TAFE Digital Media Centre opened at the Innovation Campus. The centre was named the Mike Codd Building in honour of a former chancellor. In 2014, work began on the $20 million iAccelerate building at the Innovation Campus (iC), which offers space for up to 200 budding entrepreneurs to develop their ideas.
In 2017, the University of Wollongong South Western Sydney campus opened on Moore Street in Liverpool.
In October 2020 Christine McLoughlin succeeded Jillian Broadbent as chancellor. Michael Still took over the role in 2024.
In June 2026, Still stood aside from his position as chancellor following the decision of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate the University of Wollongong. Greg West became acting chancellor.
Overseas expansion
In 1993 the University of Wollongong in Australia opened what was to become the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) in the United Arab Emirates. Initially called the Institute of Australian Studies (IAS), this centre made UOW the first foreign university to open a campus in the UAE, and the first Australian tertiary institution represented in the Persian Gulf region, as well as one of the earliest tertiary institutions founded in the UAE. IAS initially offered English language programs, before becoming a "feeder college" by 1995, where students completed part of a degree in business or IT in Dubai before coming to Australia to complete their studies. In 1999, it was the first foreign-owned institution in the world to be issued a licence from the federal government of the United Arab Emirates, and was formally opened as University of Wollongong, Dubai Campus in October 2000. It was officially incorporated as University of Wollongong in Dubai in 2004 and at present it has over 4,000 students from almost one hundred countries.
From Wikipedia’s article on University of Wollongong, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5