University House was opened on 16 February, 1954, by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh,
as the first building on the campus of the newly-formed Australian National University.
It was home to all of the research students and professors of the University at the time. Very much
styled on the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge it was, for a time, referred to as “Oxbridge in the Bush”.
You can hear a recording of the 2021 Alumni Week webinar about the significance of University House here.
The complete history of the first 50 years of University House is documented in Jill Waterhouse’s engaging book, University House, As They Experienced It: A History 1954-2004.