The University of Alberta (also known as U of A and UAlberta) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president. Its enabling legislation is the Post-secondary Learning Act. The university is considered a “Comprehensive academic and research university” (CARU), which means that it offers a range of academic and professional programs, which generally lead to undergraduate and graduate level credentials, and have a strong research focus.

The university comprises four campuses in Edmonton, the Augustana Campus in Camrose, and a staff centre in downtown Calgary. The original north campus consists of 150 buildings covering 50 city blocks on the south rim of the North Saskatchewan River valley, directly across from downtown Edmonton. 39,000 students from Canada and 150 other countries participate in 400 programs in 18 faculties.

The University of Alberta is a major economic driver in Alberta. The university’s impact on the Alberta economy is an estimated $12.3 billion annually, or five per cent of the province’s gross domestic product.

The University of Alberta is also a leading institution for the study of Ukraine and is home to the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies.

The University of Alberta has graduated more than 275,000 alumni, including Governor General Roland Michener; Prime Minister Joe Clark; Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin; Alberta premiers Peter Lougheed, Dave Hancock, Jim Prentice and Rachel Notley; Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and Nobel laureate Richard E. Taylor.

The university is a member of the Alberta Rural Development Network, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education and the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System.