| Motto: Deo favente haud pluribus impar (Latin: "With the grace of God, to whom only it compares" | |
| Founded | 1663 |
| School type | Public |
| Rector | Michel Pigeon |
| Location | Quebec, Quebec |
| Enrollment | 28,902 undergrad, 8,689 grad (2003) |
| Campus surroundings | Suburban, park |
| Campus size | 1.2 sq km |
| Sports teams | Rouge et or |
| Mascot | Victor |
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Laval University (Université Laval) is one of Quebec and Canada's leading universities. It is located in Quebec City, Quebec (and not in the city of Laval, a suburb of Montreal, as some mistakenly assume).
Profile
It was founded in 1663 as the Séminaire de Québec by Monseigneur François de Laval, the first bishop of New France. The Séminaire de Québec was granted a Royal Charter in 1852 by Queen Victoria, creating Laval University. In 1878, the University opened a second campus in Montreal in an attempt to offer higher education there; this Montreal branch became the University of Montreal (Université de Montréal) in 1920. Apart from being Quebec's and Canada's first university, Laval University was also the very first institution in North America to offer higher education in French.
As of 2002, Laval University has over 350 programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and 36,000 students, 20% of whom are at the graduate level. The University also attracts more than 2,500 foreign students yearly, and has close to 1,000 students from English Canada and Acadia.
Laval's campus is considered to be one of the most striking in Quebec. It covers 1.2 sq. km and has over 30 buildings, all linked by 10 km of underground walkways, which are frequently used particularly in the winter, when temperatures drop below freezing. 56% of the campus are wooded areas, grasslands, and sportsfields; the campus is home to a plethora of different flora and fauna, including some 67 species of deciduous and coniferous trees, 60 different species of birds, and 15 varying animal species.
Notable faculty, alumni and honorary degree recipients
Faculty
- Hendrik Bouman - Dutch-Quebecois musician and composer
- Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau - 1st Premier of Quebec
Alumni
- Lucien Bouchard - 32nd Premier of Quebec
- Jean Chrétien - 20th Prime Minister of Canada
- Louis-Honoré Fréchette - Quebec poet, playwright and writer
- Jean Lesage - 23rd Premier of Quebec
- René Lévesque - 27th Premier of Quebec (did not graduate)
- Louis St. Laurent - 12th Prime Minister of Canada
- Brian Mulroney - 18th Prime Minister of Canada
- Adolphe-Basile Routhier - Quebec writer and judge
Honorary degree recipients
- Julie Payette - 1st Quebec female astronaut in space