University College London UCL as alumni, faculty or researchers. UCL was founded on 11 February 1826 under the name London University, as an alternative to the Anglican universities of Oxford and Cambridge. London University's first Warden was Leonard Horner, who was the first scientist to head a British university. Despite the commonly held belief that the philosopher Jeremy Bentham was the founder of UCL, his direct involvement was limited to the purchase of share No. 633, at a cost of £100 paid in nine instalments between December 1826 and January 1830. In 1828 he did nominate a friend to sit on the council,
History of University College London Wellcome Foundation, on 1 January 2005. In 2007, Grant separated teaching from research in the Faculty of Life Sciences. In the process UCL's eminent departments of Pharmacology and Physiology vanished (see Department of Pharmacology at University College London, 1905 – 2007. UCL applied to the Privy Council for the power to award degrees in its own right. This was granted in September 2005, and the first degrees were awarded in 2008. History of University College London University College London (UCL) was founded on 11 February 1826, under the name "London University", as a secular alternative to the strictly religious universities