University of Wollongong

The University of Wollongong (UOW) was brought into existence by the Parliament of New South Wales in 1975 but the origins of the institute can be traced back to 1951. Back then, a branch of the New South Wales University of Technology was set up in Wollongong. Ten years later, it became the Wollongong College of the University of New South Wales. Then in 1975, the university was given independent institution status. It started by providing technical education for metallurgists and engineers but has now grown to offer a variety of courses.

The UOW has five faculties, namely Engineering and Information Sciences, Law, Business, Science, Medicine and Health, Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. It has campuses in Batemans Bay, Bega, Southern Sydney, the Southern Highlands and the centrally-located Sydney Business School. In 1993 and 2000, the university established a division in Dubai and UOW Shoalhaven in New South Wales South Coast, respectively. It has 180 international partners. Further, these faculties have several schools, namely School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, School of Physics and School of Liberal Arts, among others.

The main campus of the university has research and teaching facilities along with conference facilities, student residences, a library, gymnasium, retail outlets, indoor sports centres and several others for a complete experience. The campus welcomes more than 25,000 students and more than 2,000 staff members. There is a campus clinic, a dentist on the site, physiotherapy services and sports medicine. It gives scholarships to both international undergraduate and postgraduate students, and domestic students.

Over the years, the university is responsible for producing more than a hundred thousand alumni that are spread across 143 countries. Some of the popular alumni from the University of Wollongong are Nashville actor Clare Bowen, rugby league player Ben Creagh, NSW State Member for Campbelltown - Bryan Doyle MP and Big 4 auditor George McHugh. In the field of politics, member of Australian Parliament - Stephen Jones, Former Australian Chief of Defence Force - David Hurley and Mayor of Campbelltown City Council - Clinton Mead. In the field of arts, Glenn Barkley - director of Museum of Contemporary Art, poet - Michael Byrne, playwright - Bill Neskovski and performance artist - Nat Randall are well-known alumni of this university.