A Brief History of the London School of Economics and Political Science

The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was founded in 1895 with a bold vision: to advance the study and understanding of society for the betterment of humanity. At the time, Britain’s political and business elite were seen as lacking adequate training in the social sciences, especially compared to their European counterparts. LSE’s founders—members of the Fabian Society Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, Graham Wallas, and playwright George Bernard Shaw—set out to change that. Drawing inspiration from the curriculum of the Paris institution Sciences Po, they designed a comprehensive programme that would cover economics, politics, sociology, and public administration. Notably, from its inception, LSE welcomed both men and women, making it one of the early British institutions to promote gender equality in higher education.

LSE quickly established itself as a pioneering center of learning. In 1900, it joined the University of London and was recognized as its Faculty of Economics. The following year, the BSc (Econ) and DSc (Econ) degrees were introduced—the first university qualifications in the world devoted exclusively to the social sciences. This marked a turning point in academic history, positioning LSE as a leader in shaping modern economics, politics, and sociology.

The two World Wars deeply affected the School. During World War I, many male students and faculty joined the military, leading to a temporary closure and, for the first time, a female-majority student body. In World War II, LSE was evacuated to Peterhouse College, Cambridge, to escape the Blitz, and 88 former students lost their lives in the conflict.

Postwar expansion brought new academic strengths. The Department of Social Policy was established in the 1950s, followed by the Department of Social Psychology in 1964. By the 1980s, LSE had become globally recognized for the excellence of its research, which was officially rated “outstanding” in 1986.

Over the decades, LSE’s campus expanded from its original Adelphi Terrace site to its current base around Clare Market and Houghton Street. In 2008, it began awarding degrees in its own name, and in 2022, LSE achieved full university status within the University of London—cementing its position as one of the world’s foremost institutions for the study of social sciences.
A Brief History of the London School of Economics and Political Science

Imperial College of Science and Technology

Imperial College has roots in three nineteenth-century institutions, the Royal College of Chemistry, the Royal School of Mines, and the City and Guilds Central Technical College, which opened respectively in 1845, 1851 and 1885.

In 1904, the Board of Education appointed a departmental committee, under the chairmanship of Lord Haldane, to study possible co-operation between institutions.

The conclusion of the report led to the establishment by Royal Charter of the Imperial College of Science and technology in 1907 and joined the University of London.  The main campus of the college was constructed in 1907 following the newly established Board of Education.

Imperial College

The college received its mandate in Article II of the Charter namely ‘to give the highest specialized instruction and to provide the fullest equipment for the most advanced training and research in a various branches of science especially in it application to industry’.

In 1988 St Mary’s Hospital Medical School was merged with the college. Imperial became fully independent of the University of London in July 2007

Imperial College is recognized today as being one of the top colleges in the word as a science based institution attracting over 16,000 students of international quality, specializing in science, medicine, engineering, and business studies.
Imperial College of Science and Technology

University of Cambridge: The origin

In 1209, two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities, apparently with the assent of King John. It happened when the mayor and townsmen, unable to apprehend the scholar in question, seized two of house housemates and with the consent of King John, hanged them outside the walls of Oxford.

In protest at the hanging the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension and the great majority of scholars migrated to Paris, to reading and to Cambridge.

Cambridge was a thriving community in 1201 and 1207. It was the market for immediate are, as well as being an emporium for commerce throughout the Fenlands.

The band of scholars trudging into Cambridge, some were from important Cambridge families included among their number, quite possible as their leader, John Grim. John Grim, doctor of theology, was master of the schools of Oxford in 1201.

The University of Cambridge began ex-nihilo with a handful of masters from Oxford who arrived down the Huntingdon Road, cross the bridge and started in rented lodgings in the neighborhood of Great St. Mary’s Church.

By 1225 at the latest they had achieved sufficient status as a corporation to have a chancellor with powers delegated by the bishop of Ely.

In 1290 a letter form Pope Nicholas IV addressed to the canons of the Order of Sempringham, some of whom were studying in Cambridge, described the school as a studium generale.

The rights and judicial identity of Cambridge were further strengthened by a bull of Pope Gregory IX in 1233, given at the request of the university.

Addressed to the ‘Chancellor and University of Cambridge’, it acknowledge their university status and gave them the ius non trahi extra, which prohibited any court outside of the diocese from summoning a member of the university, provided he appeared before the chancellor or his bishop.

The first college, Porterhouse, modeled on Walter de Merton’s Oxford foundation, was established in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, bishop of Ely, under royal license.
University of Cambridge: The origin

Notes:
ex-nihilo = out of nothing
Studium generale = the old customary name for a Medieval university
ius non trahi extra = a right to discipline its own members