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,
Heythrop College, University of London British educational system and moved to London in 1970, officially becoming a specialist college of the University of London in 1971, and began to award University of London degrees. Upon moving to London, the College retained the name of its previous home, and has continued to be called 'Heythrop College'. The College moved to its current Kensington Square site in 1993. In January 2014, the College received decrees from the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See, therefore officially reactivating its ecclesiastical faculties under the patronage of Robert Bellarmine. The ecclesiastical faculties are today grouped together as the Bellarmine