About the Department

Our history

Before the foundation of UCL in 1826, the benefits of a university education in England were available only to men and only to those who were members of the Church of England. UCL, the first university established in England after Oxford and Cambridge, was founded to provide academic opportunities to non-Anglicans and placed no restrictions on race, class or religion of its students.

In 1878, it also became the first British university to admit women on equal terms to men. Its academic programme was also innovative in its recognition of new disciplines, including many of the social sciences. The Chair of Political Economy at UCL was created in 1828 with the help of funds raised in memory of David Ricardo, establishing one of the first departments of economics in England.

In a letter from Jean-Baptiste Say to Jeremy Bentham regarding the establishment of the Department of Economics, Say wrote:

Subsequently, the appointment of John Ramsey McCulloch to the chair of Political Economy at UCL in 1828, supported by funds raised in memory of David Ricardo, established the first Department of Economics in England.

For his part, Jeremy Bentham was a major intellectual influence on the founders of UCL and Joseph Hume was a member of its original council. Two years later, Say himself was appointed to the first Chair of Political Economy in France at the College de France in Paris - making the creation of the UCL Department of Economics important not just for the young university, but the wider academy.

That story has continued to develop, and today, UCL Economics is still an important actor in the field of economic study and thought.