The University of Windsor (U of W, UWindsor, or UWin) is a public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 12,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and 4,000 graduate students. The university was incorporated by the provincial government in 1962 and has more than 135,000 alumni.
The University of Windsor has nine faculties, including the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Faculty of Education, the Faculty of Engineering, Odette School of Business, the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Human Kinetics, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Nursing, and the Faculty of Science. Through its faculties and independent schools, the university has demonstrated its primary research focuses of automotive, environmental, social justice, and international trade research. In recent years, it has increasingly begun focusing on health, natural science, and entrepreneurship research.
History
The university dates to the founding of the Roman Catholic Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario, in 1857. Assumption College, a primarily theological institution, was founded by the Society of Jesuits in 1857. The Basilian Fathers assumed control of the college in 1870. The college grew steadily, expanding its curriculum and affiliating with several other colleges over the years.
In 1919, Assumption College in Windsor affiliated with the University of Western Ontario. Originally, Assumption was one of the largest colleges associated with the University of Western Ontario. Escalating costs forced Assumption University, a denominational university, to become a public institution to qualify for public support. It was granted university status in 1953.
In 1950, Assumption College welcomed its first women students. In 1953, through an Act of the Ontario Legislature, Assumption College received its own university powers, and ended its affiliation with the University of Western Ontario. In 1956, the institution's name was changed to Assumption University of Windsor, by an Act of the Ontario Legislature, with Reverend Eugene Carlisle LeBel, C.S.B. named as its first President. The recently created non-denominational Essex College, led by Frank A. DeMarco, became an affiliate, with responsibility for the Pure Sciences, Applied Sciences, as well as the Schools of Business Administration and Nursing. (Essex College's Arms and Badge were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on March 15, 2007.)
In the early 1960s, the City of Windsor's growth and demands for higher education led to further restructuring. A petition was made to the province of Ontario for the creation of a non-denominational University of Windsor by the board of governors and regents of Assumption University and the board of directors of Essex College. The University of Windsor came into existence through its incorporation under an Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on December 19, 1962. The transition from an historic Roman Catholic university to a non-denominational provincial university was an unprecedented development.
On July 1, 1963, the entire campus with all of its facilities and faculty became known as the University of Windsor. As a 'federated member', Assumption University remained as an integrated institution, granting degrees only in its Faculty of Theology. Father Eugene Carlisle LeBel from Assumption became the inaugural president of the University of Windsor, and Frank A. DeMarco, who had been holding both positions of Principal, as well as Dean of Applied Science at Essex College, became the inaugural Vice President. The university's coats of arms were designed by heraldic expert Alan Beddoe.
Six months later, Assumption University of Windsor made affiliation agreements with Holy Redeemer College (now Académie Sainte-Cécile), Canterbury College and the new Iona College (affiliated with the United Church of Canada). Canterbury College became the first Anglican college in the world to affiliate with a Roman Catholic University.
In 1964, when E.C. LeBel retired, Dr. John Francis Leddy was appointed president of the University of Windsor, and presided over a period of significant growth. From 1967 to 1977, Windsor grew from approximately 1,500 to 8,000 full-time students. In the 1980s and early 1990s, this growth continued. Among the new buildings erected were the Odette Business Building and the CAW Student Centre.