Western Sydney University

Western Sydney University

Emblem of Western Sydney University
Type	Public
Established	1989 (1989)
Endowment	A$650 million (2013)
Chancellor	Peter Shergold AC
Vice-Chancellor	Barney Glover
Academic staff	1,543
Administrative staff	1,813
Students	44,918
Undergraduates	37,033
Postgraduates	5,625
Location	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Campus	Urban, total 1713.5 ha
Colours	Crimson
Affiliations	AACSB International ACU AHURI AMC CAPA IAU Television Sydney Universities Australia
Website	www.westernsydney.edu.au

Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney. It is a provider of undergraduate, postgraduate and higher research degrees with campuses in Bankstown, Blacktown, Campbelltown, Hawkesbury, Parramatta, and Penrith. It is currently ranked in the top 400 in the world in the 2014 QS World University Rankings and 19th in Australia in 2015.

The university in its current form was founded in 1989 under the terms of the University of Western Sydney Act, 1988, which created a federated network university with an amalgamation between two trade schools – Nepean College of Advanced Education and Hawkesbury Agricultural College. The Macarthur Institute of Higher Education was incorporated into the university in 1989, and in 2001 the University of Western Sydney was restructured as a single multi-campus university rather than as a federation. In 2015, the university underwent a rebranding which resulted in a change in name from the University of Western Sydney to Western Sydney University.

The University consists of an amalgamation of campuses, each with their own unique and individual history. In 1891, the Hawkesbury campus was established as an agricultural college by the NSW Agricultural Society. At Parramatta, Western Sydney University owns and has renovated the Female Orphan School building, the foundation stone of which was laid by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1813.

In 1987 the New South Wales Labor government planned to name the university Chifley University, after the former Labor Prime Minister, Ben Chifley. However, in 1989, a new Liberal government reversed this decision and controversially named it the University of Western Sydney.