History of University College London tribute. Bentham's body is on public display at UCL in a wooden cabinet, at the end of the South Cloisters of the UCL Main Building; he had directed in his will that he wanted his body to be preserved as a lasting memorial to the university. This 'Auto-Icon' has become famous. Unfortunately, when it came to his head, the preservation process went disastrously wrong and left it badly disfigured. A wax head was made to replace it; the actual head is now kept in the college vaults. In 1827, a year after the founding of UCL, construction of the Main
History of University College London University for London was publicly launched by UCL, King's, and the London medical schools. However, Convocation was persuaded that a teaching university would lead to a reduction in degree standards and voted against a teaching University in 1885. It was felt that with the creation of the Victoria University, Owens College had, despite being smaller and younger than UCL, achieved what UCL had been unable to do – gain degree-awarding powers. considering applying to become a college of the Victoria University, UCL joined forces with King's and the medical schools to propose the formation of a separate federal university in