University of Manchester

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University of Manchester

university, Manchester, England, United Kingdom

Also known as: Victoria University of Manchester

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 13, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Date:: 1880 - present

Areas Of Involvement:: public education

Notable Alumni:: Sir Frederic Williams; J.J. Thomson; James Lovelock; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies; Norman Foster

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University of Manchester, Public university in Manchester, England. It has its origins in a nonsectarian college for men founded in 1851. It became a university in 1880, having established colleges in Leeds and Liverpool which later (1903) became universities in their own right. Ernest Rutherford conducted important research on atomic physics at Manchester, and one of the first modern computers was built there in the late 1940s. The university grants undergraduate and advanced academic and professional degrees in a broad range of subjects.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeannette L. Nolen.