About

The University of Western Ontario (UWO; also known as Western University and commonly abbreviated as Western) is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus sits on 455 hectares (1,120 acres) of land, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and bisected by the Thames River in the east. There are twelve academic faculties and schools at the university. It is a member of the U15, a Canadian group of research-intensive universities.

Bishop Isaac Hellmuth of the Anglican Diocese of Huron established the Western University of London, Ontario on March 7, 1878.

Huron College, founded in 1863, was incorporated. The first four faculties were Arts, Divinity, Law, and Medicine. In 1908, the university became nondenominational. Since 1919, the university has been affiliated with several denominational colleges. The university expanded significantly after WWII, with the addition of several faculties and schools.

Western is a coeducational university with over 24,000 students and over 306,000 living alumni worldwide. Among the notable alumni are government officials, academics, business leaders, Nobel Laureates, Rhodes Scholars, and distinguished fellows. Western's varsity teams, known as the Western Mustangs, compete in the Ontario University Athletics U Sports conference.