Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and medical teaching facilities in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offers more than 4,000 courses, and 180 degree programs in twelve undergraduate, order a Dalhousie University diploma, graduate, and professional faculties. The university is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.
Dalhousie was established as a nonsectarian college in 1818 by the eponymous Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie. The college did not hold its first class until 1838, until then operating sporadically due to financial difficulties. It reopened for a third time in 1863 following a reorganization that brought a change of name to “The Governors of Dalhousie College and University”. The university formally changed its name to “Dalhousie University” in 1997 through the same provincial legislation that merged the institution with the Technical University of Nova Scotia.
There are currently two student unions that represent student interests at the university: the Dalhousie Student Union and the Dalhousie Association for Graduate Students. Dalhousie’s varsity teams, the Tigers, compete in the Atlantic University Sport conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. Dalhousie’s Faculty of Agriculture varsity teams are called the Dalhousie Rams, and compete in the ACAA and CCAA. Dalhousie is a coeducational university with more than 18,000 students and 130,000 alumni around the world. The university’s notable alumni include a Nobel Prize winner, 91 Rhodes Scholars, and a range of other top government officials, academics, and business leaders.
Dalhousie was founded as the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie desired a non-denominational college in Halifax. Financing largely came from customs duties collected by a previous Lieutenant Governor, John Coape Sherbrooke, during the War of 1812 occupation of Castine, Maine; Sherbrooke invested GBP￡7,000 as an initial endowment and reserved ￡3,000 for the physical construction of the college. The college was established in 1818, though it faltered shortly after as Ramsay left Halifax to serve as the Governor General of British North America. The school was structured upon the principles of the University of Edinburgh, where lectures were open to all, regardless of religion or nationality. The University of Edinburgh was located near Ramsay’s home in Scotland.
