McMaster University was established in Toronto in 1887 through a uniting of Woodstock College and Toronto Baptist College. The university was named after Senator William McMaster. The university was moved to Hamilton in 1930. Today, the university is recognized as a medical-doctoral, research-intensive institution dedicated to teaching, research and service.

McMaster University has many remarkable alumni including Roberta Bondar (astronaut), Tommy Douglas (politician), James Orbinski (Doctors without Borders), Bertram Brockhouse (Nobel Laureate) and Karen Maidment (CFO of BMO).

McMaster University is famous for its student-focused, interdisciplinary problem-based approach to learning. Other universities around the world have adopted and applied it to their many programs. The university is regularly ranked in the top 100 universities in the world and has been designated Canada’s most research-intensive university for the past two years.

Celebrated university research from 2021-2022 includes ground-breaking work on inhaled COVID-19 vaccines (Smaill), exploring structural engineering standards to cope with earthquakes (Wiebe and Yang), a new centre for artificial intelligence and smart mobility (Emadi), intimate partner violence during the pandemic (Turkstra) and reimagining workplaces for people who have disabilities (Tompa and Gewurtz).

The University is situated on 300 acres of land at the western-most edge of Lake Ontario. Bounded by Cootes Paradise and the Niagara Escarpment, McMaster University has elevated vistas and myriad waterfalls to offer a picturesque setting.

We acknowledge the traditional territories upon which we gather; McMaster University is located on the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations. The territory was the subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. For many thousands of years, the first people sought to walk gently on this land, offering their assistance to the first European travelers and sharing their knowledge for survival in what was at times a harsh climate. We seek a new relationship with the original peoples of this land, one based in honour and deep respect. May we be guided by love and right action as we transform of our personal and institutional relationships with our indigenous friends and neighbours.