University of Toronto The University of Toronto ( U of T , UToronto , or Toronto ) is a public research university in Toronto , Ontario , Canada , situated on the grounds that surround Queen ' s Park . It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as " King ' s College " , the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada . Originally controlled by the Church of England , the university assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution . As a collegiate university , it comprises twelve colleges that differ in character and history , each retaining substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs . Academically , the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory , known collectively as the Toronto School . The university was the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research , and was the site of the first practical electron microscope , the development of multi - touch technology , the identification of Cygnus X - 1 as a black hole , and the theory of NP completeness . By a significant margin , it receives the most annual research funding of any Canadian university . It is one of two members of the Association of American Universities located outside the United States . The Varsity Blues are the athletic teams representing the university in intercollegiate league matches , with particularly long and storied ties to gridiron football and ice hockey . The university ' s Hart House is an early example of the North American student centre , simultaneously serving cultural , intellectual and recreational interests within its large Gothic - revival complex . The University of Toronto has educated two Governors General and four Prime Ministers of Canada , four foreign leaders , fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court , and has been affiliated with ten Nobel laureates . The university ranks 21st in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings , 27th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities and 19th in the QS World University Rankings . History . The founding of a colonial college had long been the desire of John Graves Simcoe , the first Lieutenant - Governor of Upper Canada . As an Oxford - educated military commander who had fought in the American Revolutionary War , Simcoe believed a college was needed to counter the spread of republicanism from the United States . The Upper Canada Executive Committee recommended in 1798 that a college be established in York , the colonial capital . On March 15 , 1827 , a royal charter was formally issued by King George IV , proclaiming " from this time one College , with the style and privileges of an University . . . for the education of youth in the principles of the Christian Religion , and for their instruction in the various branches of Science and Literature . . . to continue for ever , to be called King ' s College . " The granting of the charter was largely the result of intense lobbying by John Strachan , the influential Anglican Bishop of Toronto who took office as the first president of the college . The original three - storey Greek Revival school building was constructed on the present site of Queen ' s Park . Under Strachan ' s guidance , King ' s College was a religious institution that closely aligned with the Church of England and the British colonial elite , known as the Family Compact . Reformist politicians opposed the clergy ' s control over colonial institutions and fought to have the college secularized . In 1849 , after a lengthy and heated debate , the newly - elected responsible government of Upper Canada voted to rename King ' s College as the University of Toronto and severed the school ' s ties with the church . Having anticipated this decision , the enraged Strachan had resigned a year earlier to open Trinity College as a private Anglican seminary . University College was created as the nondenominational teaching branch of the University of Toronto . During the American Civil War , the threat of Union blockade on British North America prompted the creation of the University Rifle Corps , which saw battle in resisting the Fenian raids on the Niagara border in 1866 . Established in 1878 , the School of Practical Science was precursor to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering , which has been nicknamed " Skule " since its earliest days . While the Faculty of Medicine opened in 1843 , medical teaching was conducted by proprietary schools from 1853 until 1887 , when the faculty absorbed the Toronto School of Medicine . Meanwhile , the university continued to set examinations and confer medical degrees during that period . The university opened the Faculty of Law in 1887 , and it was followed by the Faculty of Dentistry in 1888 , when the Royal College of Dental Surgeons became an affiliate . Women were admitted to the university for the first time in 1884 . A devastating fire in 1890 gutted the interior of University College and destroyed thirty - three thousand volumes from the library , but the university restored the building and replenished its library within two years . Over the next two decades , a collegiate system gradually took shape as the university arranged federation with several ecclesiastical colleges , including Strachan ' s Trinity College in 1904 . The university operated the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1896 to 1991 and the Royal Ontario Museum from 1912 to 1968 ; both still retain close ties with the university as independent institutions . The University of Toronto Press was founded in 1901 as the first academic publishing house in Canada . The Faculty of Forestry was established in 1907 , with Bernhard Fernow as founding dean ; it was the first university faculty devoted to forest science in Canada . In 1910 , the Faculty of Education opened its laboratory school , the University of Toronto Schools . The First and Second World Wars curtailed some university activities as undergraduate and graduate men eagerly enlisted . Intercollegiate athletic competitions and the Hart House Debates were suspended , although exhibition and interfaculty games were still held . The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill opened in 1935 , followed by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies in 1949 . The university opened satellite campus es in Scarborough in 1964 and in Mississauga in 1967 . The university ' s former affiliated schools at the Ontario Agricultural College and Glendon Hall became fully independent as University of Guelph in 1964 and York University in 1965 , respectively . Beginning in the 1980s , reductions in government funding prompted more rigorous fundraising efforts . The University of Toronto was the first Canadian university to amass a financial endowment greater than C $ 1 billion . Grounds . The university grounds lie about north of the Financial District in Downtown Toronto , and immediately south of the neighbourhoods of Yorkville and The Annex . The site encompasses bounded mostly by Bay Street , Bloor Street , Spadina Avenue and College Street . An enclave surrounded by university grounds , Queen ' s Park contains the Ontario Legislative Building and several historic monuments . With its green spaces and many interlocking courtyards , the university forms a distinct region of urban park land in the city ' s downtown core . The namesake University Avenue is a ceremonial boulevard and arterial thoroughfare that runs through downtown between Queen ' s Park and Front Street . The Spadina , St . George , Museum , Bay , and Queen ' s Park stations of the Toronto subway system are located in the vicinity . The architecture is defined by a combination of Romanesque and Gothic Revival buildings spread across the eastern and central portions of campus , most of them dating between 1858 and 1929 . The traditional heart of the university , known as Front Campus , is located near the centre of the campus in an oval lawn enclosed by King ' s College Circle . The centrepiece is the main building of University College , built in 1857 with an eclectic blend of Richardsonian Romanesque and Norman architectural elements . The dramatic effect of this blended design by architect Frederick William Cumberland drew praise from European visitors of the time : " Until I reached Toronto , " remarked Lord Dufferin during his visit in 1872 , " I confess I was not aware that so magnificent a specimen of architecture existed upon the American continent . " The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968 . Built in 1907 , Convocation Hall is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic - pillared rotunda . Although its foremost function is hosting the annual convocation ceremonies , the building serves as a venue for academic and social events throughout the year . The sandstone buildings of Knox College epitomizes the North American collegiate Gothic design , with its characteristic cloisters surrounding a secluded courtyard . A lawn at the northeast is anchored by Hart House , a Gothic - revival student centre complex . Among its many common rooms , the building ' s Great Hall is noted for large stained - glass windows and a long quotation from John Milton ' s " Areopagitica " that is inscribed around the walls . The adjacent Soldiers ' Tower stands tall as the most prominent structure in the vicinity , its stone arches etched with the names of university members lost to the battlefields of the two World Wars . The tower houses a 51 - bell carillon that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day and convocation . The oldest surviving building on campus is the former Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory building , built in 1855 . North of University College , the main building of Trinity College displays Jacobethan Tudor architecture , while its chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style of Giles Gilbert Scott . The chapel features exterior walls of sandstone and interiors of Indiana Limestone , and was constructed by Italian stonemasons using ancient building methods . Philosopher ' s Walk is a scenic footpath that follows a meandering , wooded ravine linking with Trinity College , Varsity Arena and the Faculty of Law . Victoria College is on the eastern side of Queen ' s Park , centred on a Romanesque main building made of contrasting red sandstone and grey limestone . Developed after the Second World War , the western section of the campus consists mainly of modernist and internationalist structures that contain laboratories and faculty offices . The most significant example of Brutalist architecture is the massive Robarts Library complex , built in 1972 and opened a year later in 1973 . It features raised podia , extensive use of triangular geometric designs and a towering fourteen - storey concrete structure that cantilevers above a field of open space and mature trees . The library is undergoing renovations to increase indoor space . The Leslie L . Dan Pharmacy Building , completed in 2006 , exhibits a modern style of glass and steel by British architect Norman Foster . Governance and colleges . The University of Toronto has traditionally been a decentralized institution , with governing authority shared among its central administration , academic faculties and colleges . The Governing Council is the unicameral legislative organ of the central administration , overseeing general academic , business and institutional affairs . Before 1971 , the university was governed under a bicameral system composed of the board of governors and the university senate . The chancellor , usually a former governor general , lieutenant governor , premier or diplomat , is the ceremonial head of the university . The president is appointed by the council as the chief executive . Unlike most North American institutions , the University of Toronto is a collegiate university with a model that resembles those of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in Britain . The colleges hold substantial autonomy over admissions , scholarships , programs and other academic and financial affairs , in addition to the housing and social duties of typical residential college s . The system emerged in the 19th century , as ecclesiastical colleges considered various forms of union with the University of Toronto to ensure their viability . The desire to preserve religious traditions in a secular institution resulted in the federative collegiate model that came to characterize the university . University College was the founding nondenominational college , created in 1853 after the university was secularized . Knox College , a Presbyterian institution , and Wycliffe College , a low church seminary , both encouraged their students to study for non - divinity degrees at University College . In 1885 , they entered a formal affiliation with the University of Toronto , and became federated school s in 1890 . The idea of federation initially met strong opposition at Victoria University , a Methodist school in Cobourg , but a financial incentive in 1890 convinced the school to join . Decades after the death of John Strachan , the Anglican seminary Trinity College entered federation in 1904 , followed in 1910 by St . Michael ' s College , a Roman Catholic college founded by the Basilian Fathers . Among the institutions that had considered federation but ultimately remained independent were McMaster University , a Baptist school that later moved to Hamilton , and Queen ' s College , a Presbyterian school in Kingston that later became Queen ' s University . The post - war era saw the creation of New College in 1962 , Innis College in 1964 and Woodsworth College in 1974 , all of them nondenominational . Along with University College , they comprise the university ' s constituent colleges , which are established and funded by the central administration and are therefore financially dependent . Massey College was established in 1963 by the Massey Foundation as a college exclusively for graduate students . Regis College , a Jesuit seminary , entered federation with the university in 1979 . In contrast with the constituent colleges , the colleges of Knox , Massey , Regis , St . Michael ' s , Trinity , Victoria and Wycliffe continue to exist as legally distinct entities , each possessing a separate financial endowment . While St . Michael ' s , Trinity and Victoria continue to recognize their religious affiliations and heritage , they have since adopted secular policies of enrolment and teaching in non - divinity subjects . Some colleges have , or once had , collegiate structures of their own : Emmanuel College is a college of Victoria and St . Hilda ' s College is part of Trinity ; St . Joseph ’ s College had existed as a college within St . Michael ' s until it was dissolved in 2006 . Ewart College existed as an affiliated college until 1991 , when it was merged into Knox College . Postgraduate theology degrees are conferred by the colleges of Knox , Regis and Wycliffe , along with the divinity faculties within Emmanuel , St . Michael ' s and Trinity , including joint degrees with the university through the Toronto School of Theology . Academics . The Faculty of Arts and Science is the university ' s main undergraduate faculty , and administers most of the courses in the college system . While the colleges are not entirely responsible for teaching duties , most of them house specialized academic programs and lecture series . Among other subjects , Trinity College is associated with programs in international relations , as are University College with Canadian studies , Victoria College with Renaissance studies , Innis College with film studies , New College with gender studies , Woodsworth College with industrial relations and St . Michael ' s College with Medievalism . The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering is the other major faculty that allows direct - entry into bachelor ' s degree programs from secondary schools ; undergraduate programs in other faculties generally admit by second entry . In 2011 , the average entry grades from Ontario secondary schools were 85 . 8 % for the arts , 88 . 4 % for sciences , 90 . 0 % for business and 90 . 1 % for engineering . Postgraduate programs in arts and science are administered by the School of Graduate Studies . The University of Toronto is the birthplace of an influential school of thought on communication theory and literary criticism , known as the Toronto School . Described as " the theory of the primacy of communication in the structuring of human cultures and the structuring of the human mind " , the school is rooted in the works of Eric A . Havelock and Harold Innis and the subsequent contributions of Edmund Snow Carpenter , Northrop Frye and Marshall McLuhan . Since 1963 , the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology of the Faculty of Information has carried the mandate for teaching and advancing the Toronto School . Several notable works in arts and humanities are based at the university , including the " Dictionary of Canadian Biography " since 1959 and the " Collected Works of Erasmus " since 1969 . The " Records of Early English Drama " collects and edits the surviving documentary evidence of dramatic arts in pre - Puritan England , while the " Dictionary of Old English " compiles the early vocabulary of the English language from the Anglo - Saxon period . The Munk School of Global Affairs encompasses the university ' s various programs and curricula in international affairs and foreign policy . As the Cold War heightened , Toronto ' s Slavic studies program evolved into an important institution on Soviet politics and economics , financed by the Rockefeller , Ford and Mellon foundations . The Munk School is also home to the G20 Research Group , which conducts independent monitoring and analysis on the Group of Twenty , and the Citizen Lab , which conducts research on Internet censorship as a joint founder of the OpenNet Initiative . The university operates international offices in Berlin , Hong Kong and Siena . The Faculty of Medicine is affiliated with a network of ten teaching hospital s , providing medical treatment , research and advisory services to patients and clients from Canada and abroad . A core member of the network is University Health Network , itself a specialized federation of Toronto General Hospital , Princess Margaret Cancer Centre , Toronto Western Hospital , and Toronto Rehabilitation Institute . Physicians in the medical institutes have cross - appointments to faculty and supervisory positions in university departments . The Rotman School of Management developed the discipline and methodology of integrative thinking , upon which the school bases its curriculum . Founded in 1887 , the Faculty of Law ' s emphasis on formal teachings of liberal arts and legal theory was then considered unconventional , but gradually helped shift the country ' s legal education system away from the apprenticeship model that prevailed until the mid - 20th century . The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education is the teachers college of the university , affiliated with its two laboratory school s , the Institute of Child Study and the University of Toronto Schools . Autonomous institutes at the university include the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics , the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Fields Institute . Library and collections . The University of Toronto Libraries is the fourth - largest academic library system in North America , following those of Harvard , Yale and Illinois , measured by number of volumes held . The collections include more than 10 million bound volumes , 5 . 4 million microfilm s , 70 , 000 serial titles and 1 million maps , films , graphics and sound recordings . The largest of the libraries , Robarts Library , holds about five million bound volumes that form the main collection for humanities and social science s . The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library constitutes one of the largest repositories of publicly accessible rare book s and manuscript s . Its collections range from ancient Egyptian papyri to incunabula and libretti ; the subjects of focus include British , European and Canadian literature , Aristotle , Darwin , the Spanish Civil War , the history of science and medicine , Canadiana and the history of books . Most of the remaining holdings are dispersed at departmental and faculty libraries , in addition to about 1 . 3 million bound volumes that are held by the colleges . The university has collaborated with the Internet Archive since 2005 to digitize some of its library holdings . Housed within University College , the University of Toronto Art Centre contains three major art collections . The Malcove Collection is primarily represented by Early Christian and Byzantine sculptures , bronzeware , furniture , icons and liturgical items . It also includes glassware and stone reliefs from the Greco - Roman period , and the painting " Adam and Eve " by Lucas Cranach the Elder , dated from 1538 . The University of Toronto Collection features Canadian contemporary art , while the University College Art Collection holds significant works by the Group of Seven and 19th century landscape art ists . Reputation . The " Times Higher Education World University Rankings " of 2012 ranks the University of Toronto at 21st place globally , and 16th place globally based on reputation , while the " QS World University Rankings " of 2012 place the university at 19th in the world . In the " Academic Ranking of World Universities " of 2012 , the University of Toronto is placed at 27th in the world . It ranked 25th worldwide in the 2012 report compiled by " Human Resources & Labor Review " on graduate performance , 9th worldwide in the 2010 Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities , 14th in the High Impact Universities ranking , 49th in a " New York Times " employment survey in 2011 , and 2nd globally in the University Ranking by Academic Performance of 2012 . In 2011 , the university received a grade of A - for environmental sustainability from the Sustainable Endowments Institute . The university has placed first among Canada ' s research universities in the annual ranking by Research Infosource since 2001 . The University of Toronto ranked as the nation ' s top medical - doctoral university in " Maclean ' s " magazine for eleven consecutive years between 1994 and 2004 . Since 2009 , it has joined 22 other national institutions in withholding data from the magazine , citing continued concerns regarding methodology . In 2010 , the Faculty of Law was named the top law school in Canada by " Maclean ' s " for the fourth consecutive year . Research . Since 1926 , the University of Toronto has been a member of the Association of American Universities , a consortium of the leading North American research universities . The university manages by far the largest annual research budget of any university in Canada , with sponsored direct - cost expenditures of $ 878 . 725 million in 2010 . The federal government was the largest source of funding , with grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research , the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council amounting to about one - third of the research budget . About 8 percent of research funding came from corporations , mostly in the health care industry . The first practical electron microscope was built by the physics department in 1938 . During World War II , the university developed the G - suit , a life - saving garment worn by Allied fighter plane pilots , later adopted for use by astronauts . Development of the infrared chemiluminescence technique improved analyses of energy behaviours in chemical reactions . In 1963 , the asteroid 2104 Toronto is discovered in the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill and is named after the university . In 1972 , studies on Cygnus X - 1 led to the publication of the first observational evidence proving the existence of black hole s . Toronto astronomers have also discovered the Uranus moons of Caliban and Sycorax , the dwarf galaxies of Andromeda I , II and III , and the supernova SN 1987A . A pioneer in computing technology , the university designed and built UTEC , one of the world ' s first operational computers , and later purchased " Ferut " , the second commercial computer after UNIVAC I . Multi - touch technology was developed at Toronto , with applications ranging from handheld devices to collaboration wall s . The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921 is considered among the most significant events in the history of medicine . The stem cell was discovered at the university in 1963 , forming the basis for bone marrow transplantation and all subsequent research on adult and embryonic stem cell s . This was the first of many findings at Toronto relating to stem cells , including the identification of pancreatic and retina l stem cells . The cancer stem cell was first identified in 1997 by Toronto researchers , who have since found stem cell associations in leukemia , brain tumor s and colorectal cancer . Medical inventions developed at Toronto include the glycaemic index , the infant cereal Pablum , the use of protective hypothermia in open heart surgery and the first artificial cardiac pacemaker . The first successful single - lung transplant was performed at Toronto in 1981 , followed by the first nerve transplant in 1988 , and the first double - lung transplant in 1989 . Researchers identified the maturation promoting factor that regulates cell division , and discovered the T - cell receptor which trigger responses of the immune system . The university is credited with isolating the genes that cause Fanconi anemia , cystic fibrosis and early - onset Alzheimer ' s disease , among numerous other diseases . Between 1914 and 1972 , the university operated the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories , now part of the pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi - Aventis . Among the research conducted at the laboratory was the development of gel electrophoresis . The University of Toronto is the primary research presence that supports one of the world ' s largest concentrations of biotechnology firms . More than 5 , 000 principal investigator s reside within 2 kilometres from the university grounds in Toronto ' s Discovery District , conducting $ 1 billion of medical research annually . MaRS Discovery District is a research park that serves commercial enterprises and the university ' s technology transfer ventures . In 2008 , the university disclosed 159 inventions and had 114 active start - up companies . Its SciNet Consortium operates the most powerful supercomputer in Canada . Athletics . The 44 sports teams of the Varsity Blues represent the university in intercollegiate competitions . The two main leagues in which the Blues participate are Canadian Interuniversity Sport for national competitions , and the auxiliary Ontario University Athletics conference at the provincial level . The athletic nickname of Varsity Blues was not consistently used until the 1930s ; previously , references such as " Varsity " , " The Big Blue " , " The Blue and White " and " The Varsity Blue " also appeared interchangeably . " The Blue and White " is commonly played and sung in athletic games as a fight song . North American football traces its very origin to the University of Toronto , with the first documented football game played at University College on November 9 , 1861 . The Blues played their first intercollegiate football match in 1877 against the University of Michigan , in a game that ended with a scoreless draw . Since intercollegiate seasons began in 1898 , the Blues have won four Grey Cup , two Vanier Cup and 25 Yates Cup championships , including the inaugural championships for all three trophies . However , the football team has hit a rough patch following its last championship in 1993 . From 2001 until 2008 , the Blues suffered the longest losing streak in Canadian collegiate history , recording 49 consecutive winless games . This was preceded by a single victory in 2001 that ended a run of 18 straight losses . The site of Varsity Stadium has served as the primary playing grounds of the Varsity Blues football and soccer programs since 1898 . Formed in 1891 , the storied Varsity Blues men ' s ice hockey team has left many legacies on the national , professional and international hockey scenes . Conn Smythe played for the Blues as a centre during his undergraduate years , and was a Blues coach from 1923 to 1926 . When Smythe took over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927 , the familiar blue - and - white sweater design of the Varsity Blues was adopted by his new team . Blues hockey competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics and captured the gold medal for Canada . At the 1980 Winter Olympics , Blues coach Tom Watt served as co - coach of the Canadian hockey team in which six players were Varsity grads . In all , the Blues have won the CIS University Cup national hockey title ten times , last in 1984 . Varsity Arena has been the permanent home of the Blues ice hockey programs since it opened in 1926 . In men ' s basketball , the Varsity Blues have won 14 conference titles , including the inaugural championship in 1909 , but have not won a national title . In swimming , the men ' s team has claimed the national crown 16 times since 1964 , while the women ' s team has claimed the crown 14 times since 1970 . Established in 1897 , the University of Toronto Rowing Club is the oldest collegiate rowing club in Canada . It earned a silver medal for the country in the 1924 Summer Olympics , finishing second to Yale ' s crew . Culture and student life . In the heart of social , cultural and recreational life at the University of Toronto lies Hart House , the sprawling neo - Gothic student activity centre that was conceived by alumnus - benefactor Vincent Massey and named for his grandfather Hart . Opened in 1919 , the complex established a communitarian spirit in the university and its students , who at the time kept largely within their own colleges under the decentralized collegiate system . At Hart House , a student can read in the library , dine casually or formally , have a haircut , visit the art gallery , watch a play in the theatre , listen to a concert , observe or join in debates , play billiards , or go for a swim and find a place to study , all under the same roof and within the span of a day . The confluence of assorted functions is the result of a deliberate effort to create a holistic educational experience , a goal summarized in the Founders ' Prayer . The Hart House model was influential in the planning of student centres at other universities , notably Cornell University ' s Willard Straight Hall . Hart House resembles some traditional aspects of student representation through its financial support of student clubs , and its standing committees and board of stewards that are composed mostly of undergraduate students . However , the main students ' union s on administrative and policy issues are the University of Toronto Students ' Union , Association of Part - time Undergraduate Students and the Graduate Students ' Union . Student representative bodies also exist at the various colleges , academic faculties and departments . The Hart House Debating Club employs a debating style that combines the American emphasis on analysis and the British use of wit . Smaller debating societies at Trinity , University and Victoria College have served as initial training grounds for debaters who later progress to Hart House . The club won the World Universities Debating Championship in 1981 and 2006 . University of Toronto Model United Nations ( UTMUN ) hosts an annual Model United Nations conference in Toronto , while the United Nations Society participates in various North American and international conferences . The Toronto chess team has captured the top title six times at the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship . The Formula SAE Racing Team won the Formula Student European Championships in 2003 , 2005 and 2006 . Greek life . The University of Toronto is home to the first collegiate fraternity in Canada , Zeta Psi , whose Toronto chapter has been active since 1879 . Because few other Canadian universities in the 19th century were deemed comparable to their American counterparts in repute , age and secularity , most early American fraternities chose to open their first international chapter at the University of Toronto , including Sigma Chi , Delta Upsilon , Phi Delta Theta , Phi Kappa Sigma , Phi Gamma Delta , Delta Kappa Epsilon , Psi Upsilon , Alpha Delta Phi , Beta Theta Pi , Pi Kappa Phi , Lambda Phi Epsilon , Sigma Nu , Theta Delta Chi , Alpha Omicron Pi , Delta Delta Delta , Alpha Kappa Delta Phi and Lambda Chi Alpha . Other Greek - letter societies include Alpha Gamma Delta , Alpha Phi , Gamma Phi Beta , Kappa Alpha Society , Kappa Kappa Gamma , Pi Beta Phi , Sigma Pi , and Alpha Epsilon Pi . A secret society known as " Episkopon " has operated from Trinity College since 1858 . Theatre and music . Hart House Theatre is the university ' s student amateur theatre , generally producing four major plays every season . As old as Hart House itself , the theatre is considered a pioneer in Canadian theatre for introducing the Little Theatre Movement from Europe . It has cultivated numerous performing - arts talents , including Donald Sutherland , Lorne Michaels , Wayne and Shuster and William Hutt . Three members of the Group of Seven artists ( Harris , Lismer and MacDonald ) have been set designers at the theatre , and composer Healey Willan was director of music for fourteen productions . The theatre also hosts annual variety shows run by several student theatrical companies at the colleges and academic faculties , the most prominent of which are " U . C . Follies " of University College , " Skule Nite " of the Faculty of Engineering , and " Daffydil " of the Faculty of Medicine , the latter in its hundredth year of production in 2010 – 2011 . The main musical ensembles at Hart House are the orchestra , the chamber strings , the chorus , the jazz choir , the jazz ensemble and the symphonic band . The " Jazz at Oscar ' s " concert series performs big band and vocal jazz on Friday nights at the period lounge and bar of the Hart House Arbor Room . " Open Stage " is the monthly open mic event featuring singers , comics , poets and storytellers . The Sunday Concert is the oldest musical series at Hart House ; since 1922 the series has performed more than 600 classical music concerts in the Great Hall , freely attended by the university community and general audiences . The public may also screen midday events held at noon , when concerts are recited prior to formal debut . Student media . " The Varsity " is one of Canada ' s oldest student - run newspapers , in publication since 1880 . The paper was originally a daily broadsheet , but has since adopted a compact format and is now weekly with three summer issues . " Hart House Review " , a literary magazine by students of the Literary and Library Committee of Hart House , features prose , poetry , art and photography from emerging writers and artists . " The Newspaper " is an independent student - run community newspaper , published weekly since 1978 . CIUT - FM is the university ' s campus radio station , while the University of Toronto Television broadcasts student - produced content . Students at each college and academic faculty also produce their own set of journals and news publications . University College ' s The Gargoyle was an early training ground for such notables as journalist Naomi Klein , and musician / comedian Paul Shaffer . Members of the student press have contributed to activist causes on several notable occasions . At the height of debate on coeducation in 1880 , " The Varsity " published an article in its inaugural issue voicing in favour of admitting women . In 1895 , the university suspended the editor of " The Varsity " for breach of collegiality , after he published a letter that harshly criticized the provincial government ' s dismissal of a professor and involvement in academic affairs . University College students then approved a motion by " Varsity " staff member William Lyon Mackenzie King and boycotted lectures for a week . After Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau decriminalized homosexuality in 1969 , a medical research assistant placed an advertisement in " The Varsity " seeking volunteers to establish the first university homophile association in Canada . Residences . Each college at the University of Toronto operates its own set of residence hall s and dining halls clustered in a different area of the campus . Innis , New , St . Michael ' s , Trinity , University , Victoria , and Woodsworth colleges reserve most of their dormitories for their undergraduate students within the Faculty of Arts and Science , while setting a portion available to students from the professional and postgraduate faculties . Massey College is exclusively for graduate students , while Knox and Wycliffe Colleges mainly house graduate theology students . Annesley Hall of Victoria College , a National Historic Site , was the first university residence for women in Canada . After St . Hilda ' s College became coeducational in 2005 , Annesley Hall and Loretto College of St . Michael ' s College are the last remaining women ' s halls at the university . As campus residences accommodate just 6 , 400 students in all , the university guarantees housing only for undergraduates in their first year of study , while most upper - year and graduate students reside off - campus . Traditionally , the adjacent neighbourhoods of The Annex and Harbord Village are popular settling grounds for University of Toronto students , forming a distinct student quarter enclave . In 2004 , the university purchased and converted a nearby hotel into the Chestnut Residence , which houses students from all colleges and faculties . There are also numerous fraternity houses and student housing cooperative s , where boarders pay reduced rent for assuming housekeeping duties . Noted people . In addition to Havelock , Innis , Frye , Carpenter and McLuhan , former professors of the past century include Frederick Banting , Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter , Robertson Davies , John Charles Fields , Leopold Infeld and C . B . Macpherson . Ten Nobel laureates studied or taught at the University of Toronto . As of 2006 , University of Toronto academics accounted for 15 of 23 Canadian members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ( 65 % ) and 20 of 72 Canadian fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science ( 28 % ) . Among honorees from Canada between 1980 and 2006 , University of Toronto faculty made up 11 of 21 Gairdner Foundation International Award recipients ( 52 % ) , 44 of 101 Guggenheim Fellows ( 44 % ) , 16 of 38 Royal Society fellows ( 42 % ) , 10 of 28 members in the United States National Academies ( 36 % ) and 23 of 77 Sloan Research Fellow s ( 30 % ) . Alumni of the University of Toronto ' s colleges , faculties and professional schools have assumed notable roles in a wide range of fields and specialties . In government , Governors General Vincent Massey and Adrienne Clarkson , Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King , Arthur Meighen , Lester B . Pearson and Paul Martin , and 14 Justices of the Supreme Court have all graduated from the university , while world leaders include President of Latvia Vaira Vike - Freiberga , Premier of the Republic of China Liu Chao - shiuan and President of Trinidad and Tobago Noor Hassanali . Economist John Kenneth Galbraith , political scientist David Easton , historian Margaret MacMillan , philosophers David Gauthier and Ted Honderich , anthropologist Davidson Black , social activist Ellen Pence , sociologist Erving Goffman , psychologists Endel Tulving , Daniel Schacter , and Lisa Feldman Barrett , physicians Norman Bethune and Charles Best , geologists Joseph Tyrrell and John Tuzo Wilson , mathematicians Irving Kaplansky and William Kahan , physicists Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Bertram Brockhouse , architect James W . Strutt , engineer Gerald Bull , computer scientists Alfred Aho and Brian Kernighan , astronauts Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette are also some of the most well - known academic figures from the university . In business , University of Toronto alumni include Rogers Communications ' Ted Rogers , Toronto - Dominion Bank ' s W . Edmund Clark , Bank of Montreal ' s Bill Downe , Scotiabank ' s Peter Godsoe , Barrick Gold ' s Peter Munk , BlackBerry ' s Jim Balsillie , eBay ' s Jeffrey Skoll and Fiat S . p . A . ' s Sergio Marchionne . In literature and media , the university has produced writers Stephen Leacock , John McCrae , Rohinton Mistry , Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje , film directors Arthur Hiller , Norman Jewison , David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan , actor Donald Sutherland , screenwriter David Shore , television producer and writer Hart Hanson , musician Paul Shaffer , journalists Malcolm Gladwell , Naomi Klein and Barbara Amiel .