University College, Dundee

University College Dundee was established on the last day of 1881. The Principal and the first four professors were appointed in 1882 and the College officially opened on 5 October 1883. The creation of the College was due to a growing insistence amongst Dundee's elite that the city both needed and was worthy of university level education. The College was financed by a Deed of Endowment with the bulk of the money, 120,000, coming from Mary Ann Baxter, a member of the prominent textile manufacturing family. John Boyd Baxter, a distant cousin, gave 5,000, and a little later they each gave additional sums. The Deed establishing the College stated that the College would provide teaching in science, literature and the arts to persons of both sexes and stipulated that no-one should be required to state his or her religious belief and that no religious teaching should be introduced.

The administrative structure provided by the Deed was a tripartite arrangement of the Governors, the Council and the Education Board, who were respectively the supreme governing body, the management, and the directors of education. This remained relatively unchanged throughout the life of the College. William Peterson, a 26 year old classics scholar, was appointed as the first Principal and proved adept at picking his professors, all dynamic men with an average age of just 28. The subjects offered were mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, engineering and drawing, classics and ancient history, English language and literature, and modern history. In addition, evening classes were available in most subjects. Student enrolment for the first session numbered 373, including 75 women.

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