Established on 8 October 1949 as a result of the merger of the King Edward VII College of Medicine (1905) and Raffles College (1928), the University of Malaya has, since its inception, played a pivotal role in the human capital development of Malaya and Singapore, and later Malaysia. The dynamic growth of the University in its first decade led to the establishment of two autonomous branches in 1956, one in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur.
In 1960, the governments of Malaya and Singapore expressed a desire to change the status of the two branch campuses to that of national universities. Through an Act of Parliament in 1961 the University of Malaya, as we know it now in Kuala Lumpur, was established on 1 January 1962 as the first university in this country.
Since its establishment, the University of Malaya has grown rapidly. It has produced over 115,000 graduates at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. True to our tagline, “Producing Leaders Since 1905,” the University of Malaya alumni include Malaysian prime ministers, members of cabinet, top civil servants and diplomats, and leaders of industry, the sciences, the arts and culture. At present the University has two academies, twelve faculties, three institutes, three centres, as well as a teaching hospital in the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) and thirteen residential colleges. The total student population in 2007 passed the 30,000 mark; undergraduate and postgraduate students numbered 28,312 with an additional 2,314 enrolled in distance-learning programmes offered by the University of Malaya Centre for Continuing Education.
The University of Malaya has been designated as one of four research universities in Malaysia, and continues to actively spearhead a vigorous research agenda. In 2007, the University of Malaya received more than 40 million Malaysian Ringgit (RM) from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to support 216 research and development projects. In addition, the University has also received over RM 20 million from foundations, private corporations, agencies and foreign universities to fund research. The University’s Institute of Research Management and Consultancy coordinates all research activities and consultancies and promotes research and commercialisation of research output. The University of Malaya academics and researchers continue to excel in various fields.
In 2002, the University of Malaya received the MS ISO 9001:2000, the first Malaysian public higher education institution to receive the certification. The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) 2008 ranking of the World’s Top Universities has listed the University of Malaya among the world’s top 230 universities. In addition, the University of Malaya has also received the Reader’s Digest Trusted Brand Award for excellence in the university category for the years 2007 and 2008. The University of Malaya is the only public university to receive the coveted five-star (excellent) rating in the research university category of the Rating System for Malaysian Higher Education Institutions 2007 (SETARA 2007).
The achievements of the University of Malaya thus far lay the foundation and provide the inspiration for the University to strive towards its Vision of becoming “an internationally renowned institution of higher learning in research, innovation, publication and teaching.”
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