University College London

Founded 1826. First English university open to all religions and to admit women on equal terms.

Overview

UCL was founded as a secular alternative when Oxford and Cambridge required Anglican conformity, earning the nickname Godless College on Gower Street. It admitted women on equal terms with men in 1878, an English first. Jeremy Bentham's preserved body, the auto-icon, still attends council meetings in a box. UCL counts 30-plus Nobel laureates, including all but one of the UK's Chemistry Nobel lineage in one era of Foster Court. Bloomsbury courtyards and the Cruciform Building anchor a 40,000-strong student body in central London.