View source for McMaster University

{{Short description|Public university in Hamilton, Canada}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = McMaster University
 | image                  = McMasterCoA.png
 | image_size             = 150
 | caption                = [[#Coat of arms|Coat of arms]]
 | motto                  = {{native name|el|Τὰ πάντα ἐν Χριστῷ συνέστηκεν}}
 | mottoeng               = {{nowrap|In Christ all things consist<ref name=RegisterofArms/>}}
 | established            = {{Start date and age|1887|04|23|df=yes|p=yes|br=yes}}{{notetag|McMaster University was formed in 1887 as a result of a merger between the Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College's faculty of theology. Toronto Baptist College was established in 1881, while Woodstock College was established in 1857. From 1888, Woodstock College continued to operate as a male preparatory school not formally affiliated with McMaster.<ref name=herttru1>{{cite web|website=www.heritagetrust.on.ca|url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/plaques/moulton-college|title=Moulton College|publisher=Ontario Heritage Trust|access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref><ref name=heritagetrust>{{cite web|website=www.heritagetrust.on.ca|url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/plaques/woodstock-college-1857-1926|title=Woodstock College 57-1926|publisher=Ontario Heritage Trust|access-date=9 August 2022}}</ref>}}<ref name=AtuTBCaWC>{{cite book|title=Statutes of the Province of Ontario|publisher=Queen's Printer|year=1887|page=370}}</ref>
 | affiliation            = {{hlist | [[Association of Commonwealth Universities|ACU]] | [[Canadian Association of Research Libraries|CARL]] | [[Council of Ontario Universities|COU]] | [[Fields Institute]] | [[International Association of Universities|IAU]] | [[Universities Canada]] | [[U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities|U15]] | [[Universitas 21|U21]]}}
 | type                   = [[Public university]]
 | president              = [[Susan Tighe]]
 | provost                = Maureen J. MacDonald
 | chancellor             = [[Santee Smith]]
 | coor                   = {{Coord|43|15|48|N|79|55|8|W|type:edu_region:CA-ON|display=inline,title}}
 | city                   = [[Hamilton, Ontario]]
 | country                = Canada
 | students               = 37,592 (2023-2024)<ref name="facts2025">{{cite web|title=Fact Book 2024 Final|url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2025/03/Fact-Book-2024-Final.pdf|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=3 July 2025}}</ref>
 | undergrad              = 32,105<ref name=facts2025 />
 | postgrad               = 5,487<ref name=facts2025 />
 | faculty                = 992<ref name=quickfacts />
 | administrative_staff   = 12,786<ref name="quickfacts">{{cite web|title=Quick Facts 2021-2022|url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2022/04/McMaster-Quick-Facts-2021-22-1.pdf|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref>
 | campus                 = Urban, {{convert|152.4|ha|acre}}
 | mascot                 = Mac the Marauder
 | sporting_affiliations  = [[U Sports]] – [[Ontario University Athletics|OUA]], [[Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association|CUFLA]]
 | sports_nickname        = [[McMaster Marauders|Marauders]]
 | colours                = {{color box|#990033}}&nbsp;{{color box|#666666}} {{hlist | [[Maroon (color)|Maroon]] | [[gray (color)|grey]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/mcmaster_brand/visual_identity/colour.html|title=McMaster University Colour and Typography|publisher=McMaster University|year=2012|access-date=12 February 2012}}</ref>}}
 | endowment              = [[Canadian dollar|CA$]]908.7 million<ref>{{Cite web| title=Advancing human and societal health and well-being | url=https://giving.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/11/Endowment-Brochure-2022-2023-1.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209180037/https://giving.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2023/11/Endowment-Brochure-2022-2023-1.pdf | archive-date=2023-12-09}}</ref>
 | website                = {{URL|https://www.mcmaster.ca/| mcmaster.ca}}
 | logo                   = McMaster University logo.svg
 | logo_size              = 200
}}

'''McMaster University''' ('''McMaster''' or '''Mac''') is a public [[research university]] in [[Hamilton, Ontario]], Canada. The main McMaster campus is on {{convert|152.4|ha|acre}} of land near the residential neighbourhoods of [[Ainslie Wood, Ontario|Ainslie Wood]] and [[Westdale, Ontario|Westdale]], adjacent to the [[Royal Botanical Gardens, Ontario|Royal Botanical Gardens]].<ref name="MACFF">{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/fast_facts/main/about.html|title=Fast Facts About McMaster|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> It operates six [[Faculty (division)|academic faculties]]: the [[DeGroote School of Business]], [[McMaster Faculty of Engineering|Engineering]], [[McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences|Health Sciences]], Humanities, [[McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences|Social Science]], and [[McMaster Faculty of Science|Science]]. It is a member of the [[U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities|U15]], a group of research-intensive universities in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rd-review.ca/eic/site/033.nsf/vwapj/sub198.pdf/$file/sub198.pdf|title=U15 Submission to the Expert Review Panel on Research and Development|publisher=Review of Federal Support to R&D|date=18 February 2011|access-date=22 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313024055/http://rd-review.ca/eic/site/033.nsf/vwapj/sub198.pdf/$file/sub198.pdf|archive-date=13 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=THE World Rankings Clinical|url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2012-13/subject-ranking/subject/clinical-pre-clinical-health|website=timeshighereducation.co.uk|publisher=THE|access-date=3 February 2015}}</ref>

The university bears the name of [[William McMaster]], a prominent Canadian [[Senate of Canada|senator]] and banker who bequeathed [[Canadian dollar|C$]]900,000 to its founding.{{sfn|Graham|1985|p=3}} It was incorporated under the terms of an act of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] in 1887, merging the Toronto Baptist College with Woodstock College. It opened in [[Toronto]] in 1890. Inadequate facilities and the gift of land in Hamilton prompted its relocation in 1930.<ref name=MAC20>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1920s.html|title=McMaster in the 1920s|work=History of McMaster|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=13 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608165446/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1920s.html|archive-date=8 June 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec]] controlled the university until it became a privately chartered, publicly funded non-denominational institution in 1957.

As of 2024, McMaster University has 32,105 [[Undergraduate education|undergraduate]] and 5,487 [[Postgraduate education|post-graduate]] students.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title="Fact Book 2024 Final" (PDF). McMaster University |url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2025/03/Fact-Book-2024-Final.pdf}}</ref> With over 244,915 alumni and former students residing across Canada and in 143 countries,<ref name="fbook">{{cite web|title=McMaster University Fact Book 2024|url=https://discover.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2024/07/McMaster-Fast-Facts-July-2024.pdf|year=2024|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=31 December 2022}}</ref> its athletic teams are known as the [[McMaster Marauders|Marauders]], and are members of [[U Sports]]. Notable alumni include government officials, academics, business leaders, [[Rhodes Scholarship|Rhodes Scholars]], [[Gates Cambridge Scholarship|Gates Cambridge Scholars]], and [[Nobel Prize|Nobel laureates]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/mcmaster-arts-and-science-student-named-rhodes-scholar/|title=McMaster Arts and Science student named Rhodes Scholar {{!}} McMaster Daily News|website=dailynews.mcmaster.ca|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="GatesS">{{cite web|url=http://alumni.mcmaster.ca/s/1439/17/interior.aspx?sid=1439&gid=1&pgid=628|title=Robert Perrons '95|publisher=McMaster University|work=McMaster Alumni Community|year=2017|access-date=15 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="Nobel">{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/oia/intappl.htm|title=International Applicants|publisher=McMaster University|date=October 2010|access-date=7 December 2010}}</ref>

==History==
McMaster University resulted from the outgrowth of educational initiatives undertaken by [[Baptists]] as early as the 1830s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.workingatmcmaster.ca/careers/about/index.php|title=About McMaster & Hamilton|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706213547/http://www.workingatmcmaster.ca/careers/about/index.php|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The predecessor institution of McMaster was established in 1881 as Toronto Baptist College.<ref>Aaron W. Hughes, ''From Seminary to University: An Institutional History of the Study of Religion in Canada'', University of Toronto Press, Canada, 2020, p. 33</ref> Canadian [[Senate of Canada|Senator]] [[William McMaster]], the first president of the [[Canadian Bank of Commerce]], bequeathed funds to endow a university, which was incorporated through a merger of Toronto Baptist College and the faculty of theology in Woodstock College, [[Woodstock, Ontario]].<ref name=AtuTBCaWC/><ref name=heritagetrust/> The merger was formalized in 1887 when the ''Act to unite Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College'' was granted royal assent, with the newly incorporated institution being named McMaster University.<ref name=AtuTBCaWC/>

In 1887, the widow of William McMaster, [[Susan Moulton McMaster]], conveyed a former family residence to the university for the purpose of establishing a [[College-preparatory school|preparatory school]] for girls. The Ladies' Department of Woodstock College transferred control of its Ladies' Department to the university, and the building was reopened as [[Moulton College (Toronto)|Moulton Ladies' College]] in 1888.<ref>{{Citation|editor-last=Burpee|editor-first=Lawrence J.|editor2-last=Doughty|editor2-first=Arthur G.|title=The Makers of Canada: Index and Dictionary of Canadian History|page=245|volume=21|publisher=Morang & Co., Ltd.|date=1912|location=Toronto}}</ref> The preparatory school operated until 1958, when it was closed by the university.<ref name=herttru1/>

[[File:RCMPostcard.JPG|thumb|left|McMaster Hall, located in Toronto, was the original location of the university. The building is currently used as the headquarters for [[The Royal Conservatory of Music]].|alt=Portrait of McMaster Hall, located in Toronto, Ontario]]
The new university, housed in McMaster Hall in [[Toronto]], was sponsored by the [[Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec|Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec]] as an undergraduate institution for its clergy and adherents. The first courses—initially limited to arts and theology leading to a BA degree—were taught in 1890, and the first degrees were conferred in 1894.<ref name="CE">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mcmaster-university/|title=McMaster University|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|last=Green|first=J. Paul |publisher=The Historica Foundation of Canada|date=18 February 2009|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref>

As the university grew, McMaster Hall started to become overcrowded. The suggestion to move the university to Hamilton was first brought up by a student and Hamilton native in 1909, although the proposal was not seriously considered by the university until two years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1900s.html|title=McMaster in the 1900s|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=13 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630163406/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1900s.html|archive-date=30 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 1920s, after previous proposals between various university staff, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign to bring McMaster University to Hamilton.<ref name=MAC20 /> As the issue of space at McMaster Hall became more acute, the university administration [[debate]]d the future of the [[university]]. The university nearly became federated with the [[University of Toronto]], as had been the case with [[Trinity College (U of T)|Trinity College]] and [[Victoria College (U of T)|Victoria College]].
[[File:Hamilton Hall at McMaster University.jpg|right|thumb|Hamilton Hall was constructed in 1926 in preparation for the university's move to Hamilton.|alt=Hamilton Hall at McMaster University]]
Instead, in 1927, the university administration decided to move the university to Hamilton.<ref name=MAC20 /> The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec secured $1.5 million, while the citizens of Hamilton raised an additional $500,000 to help finance the move.<ref name=MAC30>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1930s.html|title=McMaster in the 1930s|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=13 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630163532/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/about_history_1930s.html|archive-date=30 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> The lands for the university and new buildings were secured through gifts from graduates.<ref name="CE" /> Lands were transferred from [[Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario)|Royal Botanical Gardens]] to establish the campus area. The first academic session on the new Hamilton campus began in 1930.<ref name=MAC30/> McMaster's property in Toronto was sold to the [[University of Toronto]] when McMaster moved to Hamilton in 1930. McMaster Hall is now home to the [[Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)|Royal Conservatory of Music]].<ref name="CE" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Schabas |first=Ezra |title=There's Music in These Walls: A History of the Royal Conservatory of Music |publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-55002-540-8 |location=Toronto |page=162}}</ref>

Professional programs during the interwar period were limited to just theology and nursing.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=94}} By the 1940s the McMaster administration was under pressure to modernize and expand the university's programs. During the [[Second World War]] and post-war periods the demand for technological expertise, particularly in the sciences, increased.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=94}} This problem placed a strain on the finances of what was still a denominational Baptist institution. In particular, the institution could no longer secure sufficient funds from denominational sources alone to sustain science research.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=94}} Since denominational institutions could not receive public funds, the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec decided to reorganize the university, creating two federated colleges. The arts and divinity programs were reconstituted as University College and science was reorganized under the newly incorporated Hamilton College as a separate division capable of receiving provincial grants.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=94}} Hamilton College was incorporated in 1948 by letters patent under ''The Companies Act'', although it remained only affiliated with the university.<ref name="BILLPr7">{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/bylaws/McMasterAct_760607.pdf|title=An Act Respecting McMaster University (The McMaster University Act, 1976)|publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario|date=7 June 1976|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> The university traditionally focused on undergraduate studies, and did not offer a PhD program until 1949.{{sfn|Jenkins|2004|p=6}}

Through the 1950s increased funding advanced the place of sciences within the institution.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=95}} In 1950, the university had completed the construction of three academic buildings for the sciences, all designed by local architect William Russell Souter.<ref>{{cite book|title=Engineering and contract record|volume=68|publisher=Hugh C. MacLean|year=1955|page=97}}</ref> Public funding was eventually necessary to ensure the humanities and social sciences were given an equal place.{{sfn|Gidney|2004|p=95}} Thus, in 1957 the university reorganized once again under ''The McMaster University Act, 1957'', dissolving the two colleges. Its property was vested to McMaster and the university became a nondenominational institution eligible for public funding.<ref name="BILLPr7" /> The historic Baptist connection was continued through [[McMaster Divinity College]], a separately chartered affiliated college of the university.<ref name="CE" /><ref name=DivHis2>{{cite web|url=https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/welcome/history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619094702/http://www.mcmasterdivinity.ca/welcome/history|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 June 2013|title=History|publisher=McMaster Divinity College|date=22 January 2018}}</ref> Also in 1957, PhD programs were consolidated in a new Faculty of Graduate Studies.{{sfn|Jenkins|2004|p=6}} Construction of the [[McMaster Nuclear Reactor]] also began in 1957, and was the first university-based [[research reactor]] in the [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] when it began operating in 1959.<ref>{{cite book|last=Atomic Energy of Canada Limited|title=Canada enters the nuclear age: a technical history of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited|location=Montreal|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|year=1997|page=91|isbn=978-0-7735-1601-4}}</ref>

In 1965, with the support of the Ontario government, the university established a medical school and teaching hospital, graduating its first class of physicians in 1972.<ref>{{cite book|last1=REA Publishing|last2=Research & Education Association|last3=Staff of Research Education Association|title=Rea's Authoritative Guide to Medical & Dental Schools |location=Piscataway, N.J.|publisher=University Press of America|year=1997|page=300|isbn=978-0-87891-479-1}}</ref> In 1968 the university was reorganized under an amended act of the McMaster Act into the Divisions of Arts, Science, and Health Sciences, each with its own vice-president, while the Divinity College continued under its existing arrangement.<ref name="BILLPr7" /><ref name=Hist2>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/history.cfm |title=History of McMaster University|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=21 January 2011}}</ref> In 1974 the divisional structure of the university was dissolved and reorganized again under ''The McMaster University Act, 1976'' and the vice-presidents were replaced by a single vice-president (academic).<ref name="BILLPr7" /> The Faculties of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Science, and Social Sciences were retained, each under the leadership of a dean.

==Campus==
[[File:Conhall.jpg|thumb|upright|McMaster's oldest buildings are examples of [[Collegiate Gothic]] architecture, with architectural elements such as carved ornamentation, [[relief|bas-reliefs]], recessed arched entryways, and [[ashlar]] found throughout these buildings.]]
McMaster University is in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, in the [[Golden Horseshoe]] along the western end of [[Lake Ontario]]. The main campus is bordered to the north by [[Cootes Paradise]], an extensive natural [[marshland]]; to the east and west by residential neighbourhoods; and to its south by [[Main Street (Hamilton, Ontario)|Main Street West]], a major transportation artery. Its northern boundaries are a popular destination for walkers who use the many trails that connect the campus to [[Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario)|Royal Botanical Gardens]]. While the main campus is {{convert|152.4|ha|acre}}, most of the teaching facilities are within the core {{convert|12.1|ha|acre}}.<ref name=fbook /><ref name=MACFF /> In addition to its main campus in Hamilton, McMaster owns several other properties around Hamilton as well as in [[Burlington, Ontario|Burlington]], [[Kitchener, Ontario|Kitchener]], and [[St. Catharines, Ontario]].<ref name="MACFF" />

In 2017, the university owned and managed 58 buildings, including both on and off campus housing.<ref name=fbook /> The buildings at McMaster vary in age—from Hamilton Hall which opened in 1926, to the university's new Bertrand Russell Archives and Research Centre, which opened 25 June 2018.<ref name=fbook /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/new-bertrand-russell-archives-and-research-centre-to-be-a-hub-of-intellectual-activity/|title=New Bertrand Russell Archives and Research Centre to be a "hub of intellectual activity"|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|last=Balch|first=Erica|date=25 June 2018|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref> Recent developments include the 10 Bay graduate residence (opened 2023, 640 beds), the McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery (occupancy Fall 2025), and a new greenhouse in front of the Life Sciences Building (2025). McMaster's main campus is divided into three main areas: the Core Campus, North Campus and West Campus. The Core Campus has most of the university's academic, research and residential buildings, while the North Campus is made up of the university's athletic precinct and a small amount of surface parking. The West Campus is the least developed area of the main campus, containing only a few buildings, surface parking, and undeveloped land.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brandtools.mcmaster.ca/misc/campusplan_pdf/fullplan.pdf|title=Area-Specific Policies for the Campus|work=McMaster University Campus Master Plan 2002|publisher=McMaster University|page=79|date=November 2008|access-date=23 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326012002/http://brandtools.mcmaster.ca/misc/campusplan_pdf/fullplan.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 2024 master plan emphasizes more green, pedestrian-friendly spaces and improved accessibility. Security at the university is provided by [[special constable]]s employed by [[McMaster University Security Service]], a department of the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8040879-what-are-the-powers-of-mcmaster-campus-security-/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108054618/https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8040879-what-are-the-powers-of-mcmaster-campus-security-/|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 January 2018|title=What are the powers of McMaster campus security|date=7 January 2018|access-date=25 August 2019|work=Hamilton Spectator|last=O'Reilly|first=Nicole}}</ref>
{{wide image|McMaster University, seen from above and from the southwest (from Scenic Drive).jpg|700px|Panoramic view of McMaster University's main campus from the southwest, taken in June 2008. This campus has the majority of the university's facilities.|alt=Panoramic Image of McMaster University}}

===Academic facilities===
[[File:McMaster University - University Hall tower and archway.jpg|left|thumb|University Hall is one of the oldest facilities still used by the university.|alt=University Hall at McMaster University]]
The university's campus has gone through continuous development since 1928. The main campus's six original buildings are of [[Collegiate Gothic]] architecture, designed by [[William Lyon Somerville]], who also laid out the initial campus plan. They are now flanked by over fifty structures built predominantly from the 1940s to 1960s.<ref name=fbook /> The largest facility is the [[McMaster University Medical Centre]], a multi-use research hospital that is home to the largest neonatal intensive care unit and the third-largest child and youth mental health unit in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/workfiles/PR/MCH%20Globe%20Supplement.pdf|title=McMaster Children's Hospital Twenty years of caring and innovation|publisher=McMaster Children's Hospital|access-date=31 August 2012|page=1|archive-date=27 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527174735/http://hamiltonhealthsciences.ca/workfiles/PR/MCH%20Globe%20Supplement.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is connected to the Life Sciences building and the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery, which houses many well-funded research groups in areas of [[genetics]], [[infectious diseases]], and several specific conditions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ppims.mcmaster.ca/construction/mdcl.htm|title=Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=2 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185217/http://ppims.mcmaster.ca/construction/mdcl.htm|archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref>

The McMaster Nuclear Reactor (MNR) has been the largest university reactor in the Commonwealth since it began operation and is the second largest research reactor in North America.<ref name=MacNU>{{cite book|last1=Tammemagi|first1=Hans|last2=Jackson|first2=David|title=Half-Lives: A Guide to Nuclear Technology in Canada|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/halflivesguideto0000tamm/page/232 232]|isbn=978-0-19-543152-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/halflivesguideto0000tamm/page/232}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Nuclear Industry in Canada and around the World|work=Alberta Nuclear Consultation|publisher=Alberta Public Affairs Bureau|page=[https://archive.org/details/albertanuclearco00albe_0/page/11 11]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7785-6337-2|url=https://archive.org/details/albertanuclearco00albe_0/page/11}}</ref> It is a "pool-type" reactor with a core of [[enriched uranium]] fuel moderated and cooled by [[distilled water]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/nuctek/fissionreactor.html|title=Fission Reactors|publisher=University of Waterloo|access-date=3 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620124020/http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cchieh/cact/nuctek/fissionreactor.html|archive-date=20 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> While the MNR's primary purpose is research and the production of [[medical isotopes]], the MNR serves students in nuclear engineering, medical and health physics, and other applied radiation sciences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6063|title=McMaster's nuclear reactor turns 50|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=3 April 2009|access-date=21 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185957/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6063|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The university provides a wide range of irradiation, laboratory, and holding facilities, which include a [[cyclotron]], an accelerator, a small-angle neutron-scattering detector, and wide-angle neutron scattering facilities.<ref name="mnr">{{cite web|url=http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/|title=Welcome to the McMaster Nuclear Reactor|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-date=7 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101207191223/http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The cyclotron is used for the production of [[fluorine-18]], and is used for research purposes, particularly the development of novel molecular imaging agents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/researcheducation/additional-facilities/cyclotron.html|title=Cyclotron|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=21 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722144120/http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/researcheducation/additional-facilities/cyclotron.html|archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref>

===Library and museum===
{{Main|McMaster Museum of Art|McMaster University Library}}
[[File:McMaster Museum of Art 2017.jpg|thumb|right|The [[McMaster Museum of Art]] holds the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada.]]
The university's library system is a member of 31 organizations, including the [[Association of Research Libraries]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arl.org/arl/membership/members.shtml#M|title=Member Libraries|publisher=Association of Research Libraries|date=6 April 2012|access-date=21 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419012722/http://www.arl.org/arl/membership/members.shtml#M|archive-date=19 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Around 2.8 million articles were downloaded from the library system's electronic journal collection during the 2016 academic year.<ref name=fbook /> The university library employs 138 professional, and support staff.<ref name=fbook /> The library's resource expenditure for the 2016–2017 academic year was approximately $11.5 million, with 81 per cent of the budget allocated to serial and e-resource subscriptions, 9 per cent on hard copy acquisitions, and 10 per cent to membership and collections support.<ref name=fbook /> The library system include four libraries housing 1,274,265 paper books and 3,689,973 total resources, including videos, maps, sound recordings, and microfilm.<ref name=fbook /> Mills Library houses the humanities and social sciences collections, with a wide range of print and digital resources. Innis Library houses content which supports the academic and research interests of the DeGroote School of Business. Thode Library houses academic material of various disciplines of science and engineering, while the Health Science Library houses books pertaining to medical sciences. The [[William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections]] at McMaster University consist of papers of Canadian publishers; British personalities and of Canadian literary figures such as [[Farley Mowat]], [[Pierre Berton]], [[Matt Cohen (writer)|Matt Cohen]], and [[Marian Engel]]. It includes the archives of [[Bertrand Russell]], and of labour unions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/GetMuseumProfile.do?lang=en&chinCode=guacoh|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130628051351/http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/GetMuseumProfile.do?lang=en&chinCode=guacoh|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2013|title=William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections|date=5 June 2013|publisher=Canadian Information Exchange Network's Professional Exchange}}</ref>

The McMaster Museum of Art's (MMA) principal role is to support the academic mission of McMaster University and to contribute to the discourse on art in Canada. The museum has the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada, with 30,000 visitors in 2016.<ref name=fbook /> Established in 1967, the museum houses and exhibits the university's art collection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/GetMuseumProfile.do?lang=en&chinCode=gumma1 |title=McMaster Museum of Art |access-date=3 June 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120903202852/http://www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/GetMuseumProfile.do?lang=en&chinCode=gumma1 |archive-date=3 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of 2015, that collection of 5,971 pieces holds a value of $98.7 million.<ref name=fbook /> The collection includes works by [[Gustave Courbet]], [[Claude Monet]], [[Camille Pissarro]], [[Walter Sickert]] and [[Vincent van Gogh]]. The museum also boasts the most comprehensive collection of [[German Expressionism|German expressionist]] and Weimar period prints in Canada.<ref name=fbook />

===Housing and student facilities===
As of August 2022, McMaster has thirteen smoke-free student residences: Bates Residence, Brandon Hall, Edwards Hall, Hedden Hall, Les Prince Hall, Mary E. Keyes Residence, Matthews Hall, McKay Hall, Moulton Hall, Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, Wallingford Hall, Whidden Hall, and Woodstock Hall. McMaster's student residences can accommodate 4,186 students.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://future.mcmaster.ca/student/residence/|title=Residence & Housing|publisher=McMaster University|year=2019|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref> The latest residence to be built was Peter George Centre for Living and Learning (PGCLL), which was completed in Fall 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PETER GEORGE CENTRE FOR LIVING AND LEARNING |url=https://discover.mcmaster.ca/residences/pgcll/ |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=DISCOVER McMASTER |language=en-US}}</ref> PGCLL can house 500 students and also contains lecture halls, tutorial rooms, and eateries. Les Prince Hall, the second-latest residence to be completed and a large co-ed building, opened in 2006. It was named for a long-time hall master in the residence system who lived with his family on campus until after his retirement in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=4075|title=New student residence named in honour of Les Prince|last=MacLean|first=Christine|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=22 June 2006|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185917/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=4075|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> In September 2010, 50.19 per cent of first-year students lived on campus, with 15.54 per cent of the overall undergraduate population living on campus.<ref name=CUDO/>
[[File:Edwards Hall McMaster 2013.jpg|right|thumb|Edwards Hall is one of twelve student residences on the main campus|alt=Edwards Hall with Chester New Hall in the background.]]
Residences provide traditional room and board style, furnished apartment style, and suite-style accommodation. Brandon Hall houses the university's substance-free lifestyle living spaces.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence_Admissions/Lifestyle_themes.html |title=Themes |publisher=McMaster University |access-date=27 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420082910/http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence_Admissions/Lifestyle_themes.html |archive-date=20 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The residence system is supervised by Residence Life staff, who provide guidance and help the transition to university life for many first-year students.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence_life/residence_Life_staff.html|title=Residence Life Staff|work=Residence Life|publisher=McMaster University|year=2007|access-date=6 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185447/http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence_life/residence_Life_staff.html|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) is the centre of student life and programming. It has a café, study space, common areas, and several administrative departments, including the CIBC Conference Hall. The MUSC contains the offices of a number of student organizations, including the [[McMaster Students Union]] and ''[[The Silhouette (newspaper)|The Silhouette]]'' weekly newspaper as well as other services such as the Campus Health Centre and the campus dentist.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://musc.msumcmaster.ca/facultyInfo/tenants.htm|title=Facility Information – Tenants|publisher=McMaster University Student Centre|year=2010|access-date=2 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185640/https://musc.msumcmaster.ca/facultyInfo/tenants.htm|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The university has over twenty dining outlets throughout the campus, including two major residence dining facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hospitality.mcmaster.ca/locations/locations.html|title=Locations|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185156/http://hospitality.mcmaster.ca/locations/locations.html|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The university has several vegetarian establishments, such as a completely vegetarian cafe known as Bridges Café and a farmers market stand. The university was voted as the country's most vegan-friendly university through [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] (PETA) for a number of years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://features.peta2.com/vegancolleges2010/|title=Most Vegan-Friendly College Contest 2010|publisher=People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> Several other dining outlets at McMaster have garnered awards throughout the years for food services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hospitality.mcmaster.ca/about/award.html|title=Awards|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014014935/http://hospitality.mcmaster.ca/about/award.html|archive-date=14 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Off-campus facilities===
[[File:BMOPavilion.jpg|thumb|The former [[Bank of Montreal Pavilion]] in downtown Hamilton is home to the Centre for Continuing Education.|alt=Exterior of the McMaster Centre of Continuing Education building.]]

As of 2010 McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business operates a {{convert|1.82|ha|acre|adj=on}} site in the neighbouring city of Burlington. Consideration for the new building began in 2004, when McMaster University had announced its initial intent to construct a new arts- and technology-intensive campus in partnership with the city of Burlington. In 2009, the City of Burlington, Halton Region, and McMaster University signed an official agreement laying out the timelines and next steps for the university's expansion into Burlington.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6058|title=City, Halton Region and McMaster sign agreement confirming campus in Burlington|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=2 April 2009|access-date=15 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203233145/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6058|archive-date=3 December 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Construction began on 17 June 2009,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6238|title=Celebrating expansion into Burlington|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=17 June 2009|access-date=6 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185549/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6238|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the official opening was on 7 October 2010. The four-story, {{convert|8400|m2|sqft|adj=on}} building is called the Ron Joyce Centre. The Ron Joyce Centre is home to DeGroote's MBA program and its business management program (both degree and non-degree programs).<ref name=MCRJC>{{cite web|url=http://www.degroote.mcmaster.ca/emails/RJCOpening.html|title=Grand Opening|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=22 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185544/http://www.degroote.mcmaster.ca/emails/RJCOpening.html|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://rjc.degroote.mcmaster.ca/|title=Ron Joyce Centre|publisher=McMaster University|year=2012|access-date=31 August 2012}}</ref>

McMaster has several administrative offices at its Downtown Centre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/welcome/downtown.cfm|title=Downtown Centre|publisher=McMaster University|year=2009|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> The McMaster Centre for Continuing Education, which offers certificate and diploma programs as well as personal and professional development programs, is within the former [[Bank of Montreal Pavilion]] at [[Lloyd D. Jackson Square]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/conted/|title=McMaster University's Centre for Continuing Education|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thespec.com/news-story/4354025-mac-moving-into-jackson-square-pavilion/|title=Mac moving into Jackson Square pavilion|newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator|year=2014}}</ref> McMaster had also announced construction of the McMaster Downtown Health Campus in downtown Hamilton had begun in December 2012. The Health Campus is expected to provide teaching spaces, exam rooms and clinical spaces for local residents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/downtown-health-campus-rising-in-citys-core|title=Downtown Health Campus rising in city's core|date=13 August 2013|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=20 October 2013}}</ref>
[[File:McMaster University Medical School Downtown Building.jpg|left|thumbnail|The David Braley Health Sciences Centre at the McMaster Health Campus in downtown Hamilton|alt=Exterior front entrance of the McMaster Health Campus in Downtown Hamilton]]
The [[McMaster University Medical School|Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine]] is on the main campus as well as in two regional campuses at St. Catharines and Kitchener. The Waterloo Regional Campus is in downtown Kitchener, where it shares facilities with the Health Sciences Campus of the [[University of Waterloo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/waterloo_regional_campus.html|title=Waterloo Regional Campus|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=21 January 2011|archive-date=29 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829102329/http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/waterloo_regional_campus.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The campus in St. Catharines is at [[Brock University]]'s Niagara Health and Bioscience Research Complex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6404|title=Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine celebrates Niagara partnerships|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=30 September 2009|access-date=21 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706190001/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6404|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Approximately 30 medical students in each year of the program attend each campus.<ref name=MedScho>{{cite web|url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/regional_campuses.html|title=Niagara and Waterloo Regional Campuses|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=15 May 2011|archive-date=8 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508021458/http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/mdprog/regional_campuses.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Those who apply to McMaster's School of Medicine are asked to rank their site choice (Hamilton, Niagara Region, Waterloo Region) from first to third, or no preference. Offers of admission to the medical school are made from a rank list irrespective of geographical preference. Subsequent to an applicant's acceptance, registrants to the class are placed based on their preference and geographical background. The offers given out by McMaster are bound to the assigned site.<ref name=MedScho />

McMaster purchased a large industrial park three kilometres east of its main Hamilton campus in 2005 with the intention of creating an array of research facilities for the development of advanced manufacturing and materials, biotechnology, automotive, and nanotechnology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmasterinnovationpark.ca/|title=Co-locate. Connect. Commercialize.|publisher=McMaster Innovation Park|year=2011|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> In July 2005 the federal government announced it would relocate CANMET, a federal government materials research laboratory, from its [[Ottawa]] centre to Hamilton. This decision helped spearhead the development of the [[McMaster Innovation Park]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms-smm/mate-mate/mtl-ltm-eng.htm|title=New state-of-the-art CANMET-MTL Lab|publisher=Natural Resources Canada|date=28 August 2009|access-date=25 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927171643/http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/mms-smm/mate-mate/mtl-ltm-eng.htm|archive-date=27 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[United Nations University]]-International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is headquartered within the park. UNU-INWEH is the only United Nations agency headquartered in Ontario and the only North American host site for a United Nations University, after moving to McMaster Innovation Park on 23 April 2008.<ref name=MACFF /><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://update.unu.edu/issue49_12.htm|title=UNU-INWEH moves to new home at McMaster University|publisher=United Nations University|issue=49|date=May 2008|access-date=31 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080825214811/http://update.unu.edu/issue49_12.htm|archive-date=25 August 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Sustainability===
The Office of Sustainability, created as the All-modes Commuting & Transportation Office in 2002, is charged with promoting sustainable operations and growth at the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/alternative_transportation.html|title=Get in on the Act!|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/about_mission.html|title=Mission|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> The Office of Sustainability, headed by the Manager of University Sustainability, works with various members of the university population, external community groups, and the government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/alternative_transportation.html|title=About Us|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> Along with the other members of the [[Council of Ontario Universities]], McMaster signed a pledge in 2009 known as ''Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World'', with the objective of transforming its campus into a model of environmental responsibility.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cou.on.ca/news/commentary---events/events/events-pdfs/committed-to-a-greener-world---a-pledge-from-execu|title=Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World|publisher=Council of Ontario Universities|date=November 2009|access-date=2 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209211632/http://cou.on.ca/news/commentary---events/events/events-pdfs/committed-to-a-greener-world---a-pledge-from-execu|archive-date=9 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6495|title=Committing to a sustainable campus|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=26 November 2009|access-date=2 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308064504/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6495|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 21 October 2010, the university signed two accords addressing the issue of climate change: the [[Talloires Declaration]] and the ''University and College Presidents' Climate Change Statement of Action for Canada''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires_signatories.html#Canada|title=Talloires declaration institutional signatory list|publisher=University Leaders for a Sustainable Future|date=22 October 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130123071822/http://www.ulsf.org/programs_talloires_signatories.html#Canada|archive-date=23 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.climatechangeaction.ca/signatories|title=Signatories|publisher=The Research Universities' Council of BC|access-date=25 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706173049/http://www.climatechangeaction.ca/signatories|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The university campus received a B grade from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on its College Sustainability Report Card for 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/mcmaster-university |title=McMaster University – Green Report Card 2011|publisher=Sustainable Endowments Institute|year=2011|access-date=2 March 2012}}</ref>

==Administration==
The governance of the university is conducted through the board of governors and the senate, both of which were established in the Act to unite Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College in 1887.<ref name=AtuTBCaWC /> The board is responsible for the university's conduct, management, and control of the university and of its property, revenues, business, and affairs.<ref name=MUA76>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/bylaws/McMasterAct_760607.pdf|title=The McMaster University Act, 1976|publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario|date=7 June 1976|access-date=7 December 2010}}</ref> Ex officio governors of the Board include the university's chancellor, president, and the chairman of the board-senate committee on long-range planning. The Board also consists of 34 other governors, either appointed or elected by the various members of the university's community, including elected representatives from the student body.<ref name=MUA76 /> While The McMaster University Act, 1976 outlines that the board be only composed of 37 members, the Board also includes 12 honorary members, bringing the total number of governors to 51.<ref name=UniBog>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/bog/members.cfm|title=2010–2011 Officers of the Board of Governors|publisher=McMaster University|date=7 December 2010}}</ref>

The senate is responsible for the university's academics, including standards for admission into the university and qualifications for degrees, diplomas, and certificates.<ref name=MUA76 /> The senate consists of 15 ex officio positions granted to the chancellor, the president, the vice-presidents of the university, the senior dean of each faculty, the dean of graduate studies, the dean of adult education, the principal of McMaster Divinity College, and the chairman of the Undergraduate Council. The senate also consists of 51 other members, appointed or elected by the various communities of the university, including elected representatives of the student body.<ref name=UniSe>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/senate/SenateMembers.pdf|title=McMaster University Members of Senate, 2010–11|publisher=McMaster University|date=8 November 2011|access-date=9 December 2011}}</ref> Meetings of the board of governors and the senate are open to the public.<ref name=MUA76 />

The president acts as the chief executive officer of the university under the authority of the board and the senate, and supervises and directs the academic and administrative work of the university and of its teaching and non-teaching staff.<ref name=MUA76 /> The office was created in 1949, with [[George Gilmour]] serving as the university's first president. The office of the vice-chancellor, created at the same time as the office of president, has always been held by the incumbent president of the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/univsec/reports_lists/presidents.cfm|title=Chancellors and Presidents|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=9 December 2010}}</ref> The current president, Susan Tighe, was appointed on July 1, 2025, becoming McMaster's 9th president and vice-chancellor and the first engineer to serve as president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Meet President Tighe |url=https://president.mcmaster.ca/about/biography/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Office of the President |language=en-US}}</ref>

The appointment of Dr. Tighe was unanimously approved by the Committee for Recommending a President which was then followed by approval of the university's Senate and Board of Governors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/mcmaster-names-next-president/ |title=McMaster names next president }}</ref>

===Affiliated institution===
McMaster University is [[affiliated school|affiliated]] with one post-secondary institution, [[McMaster Divinity College]]. The [[seminary]] is within the campus of the university. As an affiliated institution, two members of the Divinity College sit on the university's senate, as well as appoint one representative to sit in the university's board of governors.<ref name=UniSe/><ref name=UniBog/> However, the Divinity College operates with its own senate and board of trustees.<ref name=DivHis2/> Although Divinity College has the authority to confer their own degrees, students taking the college's Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies are awarded degrees by McMaster University.<ref name=DivHis2/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://mcmasterdivinity.ca/welcome/accreditation-and-affiliations|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204113703/http://www.mcmasterdivinity.ca/welcome/accreditation-and-affiliations|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 February 2013|title=Accreditation and Affiliations|publisher=McMaster Divinity College|date=22 January 2018}}</ref> Students of Divinity College have access to the catalogue of McMaster University Library, while students of the university similarly have access to the Canadian Baptist Archives, managed by the university's library system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://library.mcmaster.ca/find/library-catalogues|title=Find Other Library Catalogues/Search Other Libraries|publisher=McMaster University|year=2018|access-date=22 January 2018|archive-date=23 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123072318/https://library.mcmaster.ca/find/library-catalogues|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The university and the divinity college were incorporated as the same institution in 1887, a result of a merger between two Baptist institutions, the Canadian Literary Institute in [[Woodstock, Ontario|Woodstock]], Ontario, and Toronto Baptist College.<ref name=DivHis2/> McMaster University continued to operate as a Baptist-run institution until 1957, when provincial legislation allowed for the governance of the university to pass from the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, to a privately chartered, publicly funded arrangement. McMaster's Faculty of Theology was spun-off into McMaster Divinity College, a separately-chartered [[affiliated school|affiliated college]] of the university.<ref name=DivHis2/>

From 1911 to 1938, Brandon College (reincorporated as [[Brandon University]] in 1967) was an affiliated institution of McMaster. Located in [[Brandon, Manitoba]], the affiliated institution was funded by the [[Canadian Baptists of Western Canada|Baptist Union of Western Canada]]. The college ended its affiliation with McMaster in 1938, after Brandon College became a non-denominational institution.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brandonu.ca/senate-office/the-history-of-brandon-university/|title=History of Brandon University|publisher=Brandon University|year=2019|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref>

===Finances===
McMaster's fiscal year ends on April 30. The net assets owned by the university as of 6 June 2024 stands at [[Canadian dollar|C]]$2,058.7 million.<ref name=MacFin>{{cite book|title=McMaster University Annual Financial Report 2024/25|url=https://financial-affairs.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2024/01/2024-25-Consolidated-Budget-FINAL-APPROVED.pdf|date=2024–2025|publisher=McMaster University|location=Hamilton|access-date=29 November 2018}}</ref> The university had completed the 2024–2025 year with revenues of C$1,400.3 million, expenses of $1,367.7 million, for an excess in revenue of $32.6 million.<ref name=MacFin /> McMaster's revenue comes from endowment income, gifts, fees, and annual grants from the City of Hamilton, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada.<ref name=Hist2 /> In the 2024-25 academic year, the largest source of revenue for the university was tuition fees, followed by operating grants provided by the government. As of 30 April 2023, McMaster's external financial endowment was valued at C$589.4 million.<ref name=MacFin /> The financing of McMaster's scholarships and bursaries takes up 40 per cent of the endowments received.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/impact/impact.html|title=Where does your gift go?|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=6 May 2011}}</ref> Financial Services comprises the following areas: Student Accounts & Cashiers, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Budgeting Services.<ref>{{cite web|last=McMaster University Financial Services|title=Financial Services|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/bms/BMS_Financial_Services.htm|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=17 June 2012}}</ref>

The university has been registered as an educational charitable organization in Canada since 1 January 1967. As of 2011, the university is registered primarily as a post-secondary institution, with 70 per cent of the charity dedicated to the management and maintenance of the university. The remaining 30 per cent has been dedicated under research.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency.html?utm_campaign=not-applicable&utm_medium=redirect&utm_source=cra-arc.gc.ca_redirect|title=2011 Registered Charity Information Return for McMaster University|publisher=Canada Revenue Agency|date=25 January 2012|access-date=19 April 2012}}</ref>

==Academics==
{| class="wikitable"  style="font-size:90%; border:0; text-align:center; line-height:120%; float:right;"
|+'''Current faculties of McMaster University'''
|-
!'''Faculties'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/vpacademic/faculties.html|title=McMaser Faculties|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010}}</ref>||'''Established'''
|-
|[[DeGroote School of Business]]||1952<ref>{{cite web|url=http://synergy.degroote.mcmaster.ca/news.html|title=Synergy in the Past|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=25 January 2011}}</ref>
|-
||[[McMaster Faculty of Engineering|Faculty of Engineering]]||1958<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/about/history.html|title=A Proud History|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=25 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425041040/http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/about/history.html|archive-date=25 April 2011}}</ref>
|-
|[[McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences|Faculty of Health Sciences]]||1974<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/facts.html|title=Fast Facts|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=25 January 2011|archive-date=15 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315012130/http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/facts.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|-
|Faculty of Humanities||1887
|-
|[[McMaster Faculty of Science|Faculty of Science]]||1887
|-
|[[McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences|Faculty of Social Sciences]]||1887
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[[File:John Hodgins Building at McMaster University.jpg|thumb|The John Hodgins Building houses several facilities for the university's [[McMaster Faculty of Engineering|Faculty of Engineering]].]]

McMaster is a publicly funded research university, and a member of the [[Universities Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/our-universities/mcmaster-university|title=McMaster University|publisher=Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada|year=2011|access-date=31 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028001559/http://www.aucc.ca/canadian-universities/our-universities/mcmaster-university|archive-date=28 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/postsecondary/schoolsprograms/university/|title=Universities|publisher=Queen's Printer for Ontario|year=2011|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-date=5 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110105121251/http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/postsecondary/schoolsprograms/university/|url-status=dead}}</ref> McMaster functions on a semester system, operating year-round on academic semesters, fall/winter and spring/summer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/registered/|title=Important Dates & Deadlines|publisher=McMaster University|year=2007|access-date=15 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185843/http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/registered/|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 2023–2024 academic year, the university had an enrolment of 37,592 students; 32,105 undergraduate students, 5,487 graduate students.<ref name=":1" /> Programs, departments, and schools at McMaster are divided among six faculties, the [[DeGroote School of Business]], the [[McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences|Faculty of Health Sciences]], the Faculty of Humanities, the [[McMaster Faculty of Engineering|Faculty of Engineering]], the [[McMaster Faculty of Science|Faculty of Science]], and the [[McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences|Faculty of Social Sciences]].

By undergraduate enrolment in 2023-2024, McMaster's largest faculty was the Faculty of Science, with 8,319 full-time equivalent students. The Faculty of Humanities was the smallest, with 2,026.<ref name=":0" /> The Faculty of Health Sciences holds the highest graduate enrolment, with 1,144 graduate students.<ref name=fbook /> A number of university students are enrolled in interdisciplinary programs, administered by two or more faculties, including 549 graduate students.<ref name=fbook /> At the undergraduate level, the [[McMaster Arts and Science|Arts and Science program]] is taught jointly by the six faculties at McMaster.{{sfn|Jenkins|2004|p=32}} Created in 1981, the program aims to provide a broad-based, liberal education, providing substantial work in both the arts and sciences.{{sfn|Jenkins|2004|p=3}} In 2023-2024, 292 undergraduate students were enrolled in the Arts and Science program.<ref name=":0" />

The university also jointly administers several undergraduate collaborative programs with [[Mohawk College]],  in which approximately 3,019 students were enrolled in 2023-2024.<ref name=":1" /> The university also awards degrees to graduate students of McMaster Divinity College. The Divinity College was originally the university's Faculty of Theology, before it was reorganized into a separately chartered, affiliated college of the university in 1957.<ref name=DivHis2/>

Students may apply for financial aid such as the [[Ontario Student Assistance Program]] and [[Student loans in Canada|Canada Student Loans and Grants]] through the federal and provincial governments. The financial aid provided may come in the form of loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships, fellowships, debt reduction, interest relief, and work programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sfas.mcmaster.ca/osap.html|title=Government Student Aid|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=26 October 2011}}</ref> In 2022–2023, McMaster students received approximately C$145.8 million in [[Ontario Student Assistance Program]] aid (loans C$88.2 million, grants C$57.6 million). In 2023–2024, students received C$13.7 million in bursaries.<ref name=":1" />

The university international [[student exchange]] agreements with over 100 universities outside Canada, enabling its students to earn credits while studying abroad.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://iss.mcmaster.ca/learningabroad/exchange-program/|title=Exchange Program|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=9 June 2020|year=2020|website=iss.mcmaster.ca}}</ref>

===McMaster Model===
The McMaster Model is the university's policy for a student-centred, problem-based, interdisciplinary approach to learning.<ref name=MACFF /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/specialsections/schoolsguide/article/1257838--university-profiles-mcmaster-university|title=University Profiles: McMaster University|work=Toronto Star|date=17 September 2012|access-date=1 October 2012}}</ref> During the 1960s the [[McMaster University Medical School]] pioneered [[problem-based learning]] (PBL) tutorials that have since been adopted by other fields in the Faculty of Health Science, as well as other faculties and programs in the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/perd/|title=Programme for Educational Research and Development|access-date=21 December 2010|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|archive-date=29 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429134019/http://www.fhs.mcmaster.ca/perd/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Spencer|first1=John A.|last2=Jordan|first2=Reg K.|title=Learner centred approaches in medical education|journal=British Medical Journal|volume=318|issue=7193|date=8 May 1999|pages=1280–1283|doi=10.1136/bmj.318.7193.1280|pmid=10231266|pmc=1115656}}</ref> The PBL tutorial model has since been adopted into the curriculums of other medical schools in Canada, and more than 80 per cent of medical schools in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/55419.php|title=Problem-Based Learning Curriculum A Success For Medical School|work=Medical News Today|publisher=MediLexicon International Ltd|date=31 October 2006|access-date=2 November 2010|archive-date=29 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629170425/http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/55419.php|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Norman|first1=Geoffrey R.|last2=Schmidt|first2=Henk G.|title=The Psychological Basis of Problem-Based Learning: A Review of the Evidence.|journal=Academic Medicine|volume=67|issue=9|pages=557–65|date=September 1992|url=http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ451745&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ451745|doi=10.1097/00001888-199209000-00002|pmid=1520409|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 1991, McMaster's [[Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine|School of Medicine]] adopted [[progress testing]], developing the personal progress index (PPI), a system based on progress testing invented concurrently by the [[University of Missouri-Kansas City]]'s medical school and the [[Maastricht University]]. The PPI is used as an objective method for assessing acquisition and retention of knowledge for students in the medical program.<ref name="ACAMED">{{cite journal|last1=Blake|first1=Jennifer M.|last2=Norman|first2=Geoffrey R.|last3=Keane|first3=David R.|last4=Mueller|first4=Barber|last5=Cunnington|first5=J.|last6=Didyk|first6=N.|title=Introducing progress testing in McMaster University's problem-based medical curriculum: psychometric properties and effect on learning|journal=Academic Medicine|volume=71|issue=9|date=September 1996|pages=1002–1007|doi=10.1097/00001888-199609000-00016|pmid=9125989|doi-access=free}}</ref> The PPI is administered at regular intervals to all students in the program, regardless of their level of training, and plots students' scores as they move through the program. Students typically score 20 per cent on their first examination, and increase by five to seven per cent with each successive examination.<ref name="ACAMED" /> Students can monitor the changes in their scores and receive formative feedback based on a standardized score relative to the class mean.<ref name="ACAMED" /> Due to the overwhelming success and research supporting the use of the PPI as an evaluation tool, it is now used in Canada, US, Europe, and Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ipptx.org/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131150838/http://ipptx.org/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=31 January 2009|title=International Partnership for Progress Testing|publisher=The Program for Educational Research and Development|year=2010|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref>

===Rankings and reputation===
{{Canadian university rankings
| UniName = McMaster University
| ARWU_W = 101–150
| ARWU_CAN = 4–5
| QS_W = =173
| QS_N = 8
| THES_W = =116
| THES_N = =4
| USNWR_GU = =127
| USNWR_N = 4
| MAC_med = 4
}}

McMaster University has placed in post-secondary school rankings. In the 2024 ''[[Academic Ranking of World Universities]]'' rankings, the university ranked 101-150th in the world and 4-5th in Canada. The 2025 ''[[QS World University Rankings]]'' ranked the university 173th in the world and 8th in Canada.<ref name="QS" /> The 2025 ''[[Times Higher Education World University Rankings]]'' placed McMaster 116th in the world, and 4th in Canada.<ref name="USUnivRankings_THES_W" /> In ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' 2025-26 [[U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking|global university rankings]], the university placed 146th, and 4th in Canada.<ref name="USNWR Best Global Universities"/> In 2011, ''[[Newsweek]]'' had also ranked McMaster as the 15th top university outside of the United States, and the fourth best university in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/best-international-schools.all.html|title=Best International Schools|publisher=The Newsweek/Daily Beast Company LLC|date=14 September 2011|access-date=26 May 2013}}</ref> In ''[[Maclean's]]'' 2025 rankings, McMaster placed fourth in their Medical-Doctoral university category, and fifth in their reputation survey for Canadian universities.<ref name="Macdoc"/><ref name=Rep>{{cite web|url=https://education.macleans.ca/education/canadas-best-universities-by-reputation-rankings-2023/|publisher=Rogers Media|work=Maclean's|date=7 October 2022|access-date=17 October 2022|title=Canada's best universities by reputation: Rankings 2023}}</ref> McMaster was ranked in spite of having opted out from participation in Maclean's graduate survey since 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/11-universities-bail-out-of-maclean-s-survey-1.570771|title=11 universities bail out of Maclean's survey|access-date=17 August 2017|work=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=14 April 2006}}</ref>

McMaster also placed in a number of rankings that evaluated the employment prospects of graduates. In ''QS''{{'}}s 2022 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 81st in the world, and fourth in Canada.<ref name="QS_GEUR"/> In the ''Times Higher Education''{{'}}s 2022 global employability ranking, McMaster placed 81st in the world, and fifth in Canada.<ref name="UnivRankings_THES_GEUR"/> In an employability survey published by the [[New York Times]] in October 2011, when CEOs and chairmen were asked to select the top universities which they recruited from, McMaster placed 61st in the world, and fourth in Canada.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/10/20/education/20iht-SReducEmploy20-graphic.html?ref=education|title=What business leaders say|work=The New York Times|date=20 October 2011|access-date=8 March 2012}}</ref>

As of 2024, several of McMaster's health science areas rank in the Top 5 in Canada and Top 100 globally, including Clinical Medicine (2nd in Canada and 17th globally) and Endocrinology and Metabolism (2nd in Canada and 36th globally).<ref>{{Cite web |title=McMaster University - McMaster ranks fourth in Canada in 'U.S. News & World rankings' |url=https://educationnewscanada.com/article/education/level/university/1/1094797/mcmaster-ranks-fourth-in-canada-in-u-s-news-world-rankings-.html |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Education News Canada |language=en}}</ref>

===Research===
[[File:MDCL Building at McMaster University.jpg|thumb|Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery is a multipurpose building that houses several research facilities of the [[McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences|Faculty of Health Sciences]].|alt=Exterior front entrance of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery]]
[[File:Phoebe - McMaster University April 20 2017.jpg|thumb|A [[Amorphophallus titanum|titan arum]] [[List of publicised titan arum blooms in cultivation|blooming]] inside the McMaster Biology Greenhouse, one of many facilities used for research at the university]]

In 2018, Research Infosource named McMaster as the most research intensive university in the country with an average sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of C$434,700 per faculty member in 2017, the highest average in the country, and nearly double the average for universities in the "Medical-Doctoral" category.<ref name="ReseInfo">{{cite web|url=https://researchinfosource.com/top-50-research-universities/2018/top-research-universities-by-tier|title=Canada's Top 50 Research Universities 2018 Top Research Universities by Tier – Winners Circle|year=2018|publisher=RE$EARCH Infosource Inc|access-date=10 March 2019}}</ref> In the same year, graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $82,800, the highest out of any full-service university.<ref name=ReseInfo/> With a sponsored research income of $379.959 million in 2017, McMaster has the seventh largest sponsored research income amongst Canadian universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://researchinfosource.com/top-50-research-universities/2018/list|title=Canada's Top 50 Research Universities 2018|publisher=Re$earch Infosource|year=2018|access-date=10 March 2019}}</ref> In the 2015–2016 academic year, the federal government was the largest source of McMaster's sponsored research income (excluding affiliated hospitals), providing 61.4 per cent of McMaster's research budget, primarily through grants. Corporate research income account for 7.3 per cent of the overall research budget.<ref name=fbook />

McMaster has been ranked on several [[bibliometrics|bibliometric]] university rankings, which uses [[citation analysis]] to evaluate the [[impact factor|impact]] a university has on academic publications. In 2019, the [[Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities]] ranked McMaster 119th in the world, and sixth in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/ranking/ByCountry/2019/CA|title=World University Rankings By 2019|publisher=NTU Rankings|year=2019|access-date=8 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708041729/http://nturanking.lis.ntu.edu.tw/ranking/ByCountry/2019/CA|archive-date=8 July 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[University Ranking by Academic Performance]] 2018–19 rankings placed the university 126th in the world, and sixth in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.urapcenter.org/2018/country.php?ccode=CA|title=2018-2019 RANKING BY COUNTRY|publisher=Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University|year=2018|access-date=3 November 2018|archive-date=4 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104050258/http://www.urapcenter.org/2018/country.php?ccode=CA|url-status=dead}}</ref>

McMaster has received accolades for its research strengths, particularly in the field of health sciences. The Faculty of Health Science oversees $130 million a year in research, much of it conducted by scientists and physicians who teach in the medical school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/facts.html|title=Fast Facts|publisher=McMaster University|year=2012|access-date=19 April 2012|archive-date=15 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315012130/http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/facts.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The university also operates a brain bank, whose collection includes a portion of [[Albert Einstein's brain]], preserved and held for medical research.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of stem cell research|volume=2|page=325|last1=Svendsen|first1=Clive|last2=Ebert|first2=Allison D.|publisher=SAGE|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4129-5908-7}}</ref> Researchers there have identified differences in his brain that may relate to his genius for spatial and mathematical thinking.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/371698.stm|title=Why size mattered for Einstein |work=BBC News|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation|date=18 June 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991347,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014115043/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,991347,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 October 2007|title=Was Einstein's Brain Built for Brilliance?|last=Lemonick|first=Michael D.|magazine=Time|date=28 June 1999|access-date=4 July 2011}}</ref> In addition to traditional forms of research, members of Faculty of Health Sciences have also been credited with developments within the medical practice. A McMaster research group led by [[David Sackett]] and later [[Gordon Guyatt]] had been credited for establishing the methodologies used in [[evidence-based medicine]].<ref name=EEM1>{{cite journal|url=http://www.bmj.com/content/310/6987/1122.full|title=Evidence based medicine: an approach to clinical problem-solving|journal=British Medical Journal|date=29 April 1995|pmid=7742682 |last1=Rosenberg |first1=W. |last2=Donald |first2=A. |volume=310 |issue=6987 |pages=1122–1126 |doi=10.1136/bmj.310.6987.1122 |pmc=2549505 }}</ref><ref name=EEM2>{{cite book|title=Evidence-based rehabilitation: a guide to practice|last1=Law|first1=Mary C.|last2=MacDermid|first2=Joy|publisher=SLACK Incorporated|year=2008|page=[https://archive.org/details/evidencebasedreh0000unse_l1v5/page/4 4]|isbn=978-1-55642-768-8|url=https://archive.org/details/evidencebasedreh0000unse_l1v5/page/4}}</ref> Research institutes operated by the Faculty of Health Science include the [[Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health]], and the [[Population Health Research Institute]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/research_institutes_and_centres.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513121926/http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/research_institutes_and_centres.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 May 2013|title=Research Institutes and Centres|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=29 October 2017|year=2017}}</ref> The faculty also operates a [[Biosafety Level 3]] laboratory.<ref name="mbsl3">{{cite news |title=Biosafety Lab Level 3 |url=https://fhs.mcmaster.ca/biosafety-lab-level-3/ |access-date=4 February 2021 |publisher=McMaster University}}</ref>

Other research institutes operated by the university include the [[Origins Institute]], the [[McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute]], and the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research (BIMR).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/origins-of-life-lab-1.4852248|title=Canadian researchers use new 'planet simulator' to probe origins of life|last=Chung|first=Emily|date=5 October 2018|work=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=25 August 2019}}</ref> BIMR was created in 1960 by [[Howard Petch]], the institute was named after McMaster alumnus [[Bertram Brockhouse]]. The BIMR is an interdisciplinary research organization with the mandate to develop, support, and co-ordinate all materials research related activities at McMaster.<ref name=BIMR>{{cite web|url=http://www.brockhouse.mcmaster.ca/about.html|title=About Brockhouse Institute|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=25 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007185544/http://www.brockhouse.mcmaster.ca/about.html|archive-date=7 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its membership of 123 faculty members is drawn from 13 departments in the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as several Canadian and international universities.<ref name=BIMR /> Facilities of the BIMR include the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, Centre for Crystal Growth, McMaster Analytical Xray Facility, Electronic and Magnetic Characterization Facility, and the Photonics Research Laboratories.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brockhouse.mcmaster.ca/facilities.html|title=Facilities|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=25 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101007185549/http://www.brockhouse.mcmaster.ca/facilities.html|archive-date=7 October 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy is home to the world's most powerful [[electron microscope]]; the Titan 80–300 cubed microscope has a magnification of 14 million and is used for material, medical, and [[nanotechnology]] research.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081020120050.htm|title=World's Most Advanced Microscope Unveiled|work=Science Daily|publisher=ScienceDaily LLC|date=23 October 2008|access-date=25 January 2011}}</ref>

The Biology Greenhouse holds 217 plants in a {{convert|780|m2|sqft|adj=on}} facility, and is used as a teaching and research facility by the Department of Biology. In addition to maintaining its permanent collection, the Biology Greenhouse also grows plants for both short-term research studies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macbiogreenhouse.ca|title=Welcome to the Greenhouse|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=29 October 2017}}</ref> In 2024, a new 1,060-square-metre (11,400 sq ft) greenhouse, housing over 200 plant species, was opened to replace the Biology Greenhouse.<ref>{{Cite web |title=New campus greenhouse to nurture research, learning and outreach |url=https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/mcmaster-greenhouse-biology-science/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Nuclear Reactor McMaster 2013.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[McMaster Nuclear Reactor]] is the largest research reactor in the [[Commonwealth of Nations]].]]
In addition, the university also operates the [[McMaster Nuclear Reactor]], used for nuclear science and engineering research since 1959.<ref name="mnr" /> The university regularly acquires an operating license for the reactor from the [[Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission]], with the latest 20-year license issued on June 12, 2024, valid until June 30, 2044.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Verma |first=Sonia |date=2024-06-19 |title=McMaster Nuclear Reactor secures 20-year licence renewal for continued innovation |url=https://news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-nuclear-reactor-20-year-licence-renewal/ |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=McMaster News |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[swimming pool reactor]] is used for research, educational, and commercial applications such as neutron radiography, and medical radioisotope production; including 60 per cent of the world's supply of [[iodine-125]], an isotope used in [[nuclear medicine]] to treat prostate cancer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/FINA/Brief/BR10007576/br-external/McMasterUniversity-e.pdf|title=Written Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2019 Budget|year=2019|access-date=11 June 2019|author=McMaster University|publisher=House of Commons of Canada|page=5}}</ref> The production of [[molybdenum-99]] has occasionally been moved to the university's reactor, when production at the [[National Research Universal reactor]] was temporarily halted.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/the-mcmaster-solution/article1254968/ |title=The McMaster Solution |access-date=7 December 2010 |work=The Globe and Mail | publisher=CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. |date= 17 August 2009}}</ref>

The strength of nuclear science at McMaster was augmented in 1968 under the presidency of Dr. [[Harry Thode|H.G. Thode]] by the construction of a 10MV Model FN Tandem [[particle accelerator]]. The 3MV Model KN single-ended accelerator was added the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/overview/introduction.html |title=Introduction |access-date=5 December 2010 |publisher=McMaster University |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518020838/http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/overview/introduction.html |archive-date=18 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The academic direction of the laboratory fell to the Physics Department in the early days, as it was primarily a nuclear structure laboratory. During the next 28 years, the nuclear research effort was extensive, with hundreds of graduate students trained and many publications generated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/overview/history-of-the-reactor.html |title=A History of Nuclear Science at McMaster University |access-date=5 December 2010 |publisher=McMaster University |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518020803/http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/index.php/overview/history-of-the-reactor.html |archive-date=18 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Admissions===
The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, other provinces in Canada, and international students due to the lack of uniformity in marking schemes. The acceptance rate at McMaster for full-time, first-year undergraduate applications in 2024 was approximately 59 percent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2022/11/Fact-Book-2022-Final.pdf|title=McMaster University Ratings Affirmed At 'AA'; Outlook Is Stable|access-date=14 March 2019|publisher=Standard & Poors Financial Services LLC|date=11 May 2018|page=7}}</ref> The university received 47,544 applicants in 2023.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=March 2025 |title=McMaster University Quick Facts 2023-2024 |url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2025/03/McMaster-Quick-Facts-2023-24.pdf |access-date=3 July 2025}}</ref>

However, students entering McMaster's more selective undergraduate programs, including the Honours Health Sciences Program, Integrated Sciences, and Arts and Science programs, tend to have higher averages.<ref name=CUDO>{{cite web |url=https://ira.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CUDO-2014-2015.pdf|title=McMaster University Common University Data Ontario 2014/2015|access-date=7 January 2018|publisher=McMaster University |year=2015}}</ref> In 2016, [[Yahoo! Finance]] named the university's Health Sciences program the toughest Canadian undergraduate program to gain admission to, with an acceptance rate of 4.5 per cent out of an average of 3,500 applicants each year.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lorde |first1=Nisean |title=The 5 toughest Canadian undergrad programs in Canada to enter |url=https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/blogs/insight/the-5-toughest-undergrad-programs-in-canada-to-get-210150421.html |website=Yahoo! Finance |date=9 February 2016 |access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref>

The Michael DeGroote School of Medicine has notably developed admission tests adopted by other schools. In 2001, they developed the [[Multiple Mini Interview|multiple-mini interview]] to address long-standing concerns over standard panel interviews; viewed as poor reflectors for medical school performance.<ref name=macmmi>{{cite journal|last1=Reiter|first1=Harold I.|last2=Eva|first2=Kevin W.|last3=Rosenfeld|first3=Jack|last4=Norman|first4=Geoffrey R.|title=Multiple mini-interviews predict clerkship and licensing examination performance|journal=Medical Education|volume=41|issue=4|pages=378–384|date=5 July 2007|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2929.2007.02709.x|pmid=17430283|citeseerx=10.1.1.544.6911|s2cid=27166394}}</ref> This format uses short, independent assessments in a timed circuit to obtain aggregate scores in interpersonal skills, professionalism, ethical/moral judgment, and critical thinking to assess candidates. The multiple-mini interview has consistently shown to have a higher predictive validity for future performance than traditional interviews.<ref name=macmmi /> The multiple-mini interview process has since been adopted by the majority of Canadian medical schools, as well as a number of medical schools in the United States.<ref>{{cite web | last = Harris | first = Gardiner | title = New for Aspiring Doctors, the People Skills Test| work = The New York Times| date = 10 July 2011| url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/health/policy/11docs.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110711111719/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/11/health/policy/11docs.html | archive-date = 11 July 2011 |access-date = 14 January 2016}} [https://www.princeton.edu/hpa/PeopleSkillsTest.pdf Alt URL]</ref> In 2010, the medical school developed the Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, to better assess the applicant's personal characteristics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/brains-alone-wont-get-you-into-mcmaster-medical-school/article1319478/|title=Brains alone won't get you into McMaster medical school|work=The Globe and Mail|publisher=The Globe and Mail Inc.|date=12 December 2010|access-date=14 January 2016|first=James|last=Bradshaw}}</ref> Several other medical schools have adopted the CASPer test, including [[New York Medical College]], [[Robert Wood Johnson Medical School]], and the [[University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thespec.com/news-story/5825654-a-test-for-success/|title=A test for success|newspaper=Hamilton Spectator|date=9 September 2015|access-date=14 January 2016|publisher=Metroland Media Group Ltd.}}</ref>

==Student life==
{| style="text-align:center; float:right; font-size:85%; margin-left:2em; margin:10px" class="wikitable"
|+ Demographics of student body (2023–24)<ref name=":0" />
! !! Undergraduate{{notetag|The following includes students enrolled in [[first professional degree]] programs.}} !! Graduate
|-
! [[Male]]
| 43% || 43%
|-
! [[Female]]
| 55% || 55%
|-
!Other
|2%
|2%
|-
! Domestic student
| 85% || 69%
|-
! [[International student]]
| 15% || 31%
|}
In the 2023–2024 academic year, the university had an enrolment of 37,592 students: 32,105 undergraduate students and 5,487 graduate students.<ref name=":0" /> The student body is largely made up of Canadians, making up 85% of the undergraduate student population, and 69% of the graduate student population.<ref name=":0" /> Full-time students make up 96% of the undergraduate student body and 84% of the graduate student body. Among full-time students, the university has a first-time student retention rate of 92%.<ref name=":0" />

===Student groups===
[[File:McMaster University campus.jpg|thumb|right|The student centre plaza, with the McMaster University Student Centre and Mills Memorial Library in the background, April 2017]]
The main student unions on administrative and policy issues are the [[McMaster Students Union]] for full-time undergraduates, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students for part-time undergraduates, and the McMaster Graduate Students Association for postgraduates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.msumcmaster.ca/info/membership|title=Membership|publisher=McMaster Students Union Inc.|access-date=31 August 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/maps/|title=Welcome to MAPS, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gsa.mcmaster.ca/mandate|title=Mandate|publisher=McMaster University|year=2011|access-date=31 October 2011}}</ref> In addition, each faculty has its own student representative body. There are more than 300 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.msumcmaster.ca/clubs-directory|title=Club directory|access-date=31 August 2012| publisher=McMaster Students Union Inc.}}</ref> Many of them are centred at McMaster's [[student activity center|student activity centre]]. ''The Silhouette'', the student-run newspaper, is the oldest student service at McMaster University, in publication since 1929.<ref name=MAC20 /> Since 1968, the McMaster Engineering Society has published ''The Plumbline'', the main satire magazine of McMaster University.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mes.mcmaster.ca/publications.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420140206/http://mes.mcmaster.ca/publications.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 April 2008|title=Publications Overview|publisher=McMaster Engineering Society|year=2010|access-date=15 May 2011}}</ref> The [[campus radio]] station [[CFMU-FM]] (93.3 [[FM radio|FM]]) is Canada's second-oldest campus radio station, and has been broadcasting since 1978.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/media/main/NewsReleases/CFMU.htm|title=Raise Your Voice fundraiser tunes Hamilton in to community radio|publisher=McMaster University|date=25 February 2009}}</ref> MacInsiders, a once-popular online student-run forum and information network, had been operating from 2007 to 2019<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thespec.com/print/article/211015|title=Getting newcomers up to speed|publisher=Metroland Media Group Ltd.|last=Hemsworth|first=Wade|work=The Hamilton Spectator|date=13 August 2007}}</ref> and had over 18,000 registered members. The university is also home to the McMaster Improv Team, a drop-in club dedicated to practicing and performing [[Improvisational theatre|improvisational comedy.]]<ref>{{cite web|title=McMaster Improv Team|url=https://msumcmaster.ca/initiative/mcmaster-improv-team/|access-date=23 March 2021|website=MSU|language=en-US}}</ref> The McMaster Artificial Intelligence Society, or Mac AI, was founded in December 2017 and grew to be the largest student-run AI club in the world – as of 2020, the club had over 1,000 general members, or around 2-3% of the McMaster student population.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mcmasterai.com/sponsorship/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120205618/http://mcmasterai.com/sponsorship/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=20 January 2018|title=McMaster Artificial Intelligence Society|publisher=McMaster AI Society|year=2018|access-date=22 March 2020}}</ref>
[[File:McMaster Students' Union 2008 president candidates forum (2234867524).jpg|thumb|Forum for [[McMaster Students Union]] presidential candidates in 2008.]]
The university hosts a number of honour societies, including the McMaster Honour Society and a chapter of the [[Golden Key International Honour Society]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/goldenkey/ |title=Golden Key International Honours Society McMaster University Chapter |access-date=2 December 2010| publisher=Golden Key McMaster Chapter |year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Honour M Award|url=http://msumcmaster.ca/newmsu/msu/membership/Awards/HonourM.htm|publisher=McMaster Students Union|access-date=31 August 2012}}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The university is home to two semi-professional acting companies, [[McMaster Musical Theatre]] and the McMaster Thespian Company.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macthespians.com/ |title=Mac Thespians |access-date=1 December 2010|publisher=McMaster Thespians |year=2006}}</ref> The McMaster Engineering Musical is an annual musical production written, directed, and cast by engineers. The production often features unique interpretations of popular songs or musicals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6032|title=Engineering students perform musical for eleventh year|work=McMaster Daily News|last=Minelli|first=Simon|publisher=McMaster University|date=19 March 2009|access-date=18 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185509/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=6032|archive-date=6 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> The university and the student unions do not recognize any [[Fraternities and sororities|fraternity or sororities]]; with existing fraternities and sororities chapters based at McMaster operating as non-accredited off-campus organizations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/Fraternities-Sororities%20and%20Honour%20Societies.pdf|title=Policy|work=Policies, Procedures and Guidelines|publisher=McMaster University|date=11 October 2000|access-date=21 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317101757/http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/Fraternities-Sororities%20and%20Honour%20Societies.pdf|archive-date=17 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Athletics===
{{main|McMaster Marauders}}

[[file:Mcmaster marauders textlogo.png|thumb|left|200px|McMaster athletics wordmark]]
Athletics at McMaster is managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics and recreation department. The university's varsity teams compete in the [[Ontario University Athletics]] conference of [[U Sports]] (formerly called Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The university's team sports programs include [[baseball]], [[basketball]], [[Canadian football|football]], [[lacrosse]], [[rugby football|rugby]], [[soccer]], [[swimming (sport)|swimming]], [[volleyball]], [[ringette]], and [[water polo]]. The first major sport game played at McMaster was in 1889, when a group of alumni from Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College played an exhibition game against one another, sparking an early intercity rivalry between McMaster students. In 1897 the university placed all physical activity and sports under the jurisdiction of a central executive committee.<ref name=hist>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/documents/2011/5/4/2010-McMaster-Football-Media-Guide.pdf|title=A History of Football at McMaster|access-date=15 May 2011|work=McMaster Marauder Football 2010 Media Guide & Record Book|publisher=McMaster University|year=2010|page=6}}</ref>

The varsity teams have been known as the McMaster Marauders since 1948, through a contest run by the student newspaper, The Silhouette, to name the university's men's basketball team.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/sports/2011/3/28/whatsmarauder.aspx?tab=whatsamarauder?!&path=history|title=What's a Marauder?|access-date=15 May 2011|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> In 2016–2017 academic year, McMaster had over 1,100 student-athletes in either varsity or club teams.<ref name=fbook/> [[Ivor Wynne]] was the director of physical education from 1948 to 1965, and led efforts to establish the School of Physical Education and construct the university's athletic complex posthumously named for him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marauders.ca/honors/mcmaster-athletics-hall-of-fame/ivor-wynne/210|title=Ivor Wynne|date=1984|website=[[McMaster Marauders]]|access-date=October 5, 2025}}</ref> In 1952, he convinced the [[U Sports|Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union]] (CIAU) to admit [[McMaster Marauders football]] into senior football competition along with [[McGill Redbirds football|McGill]], [[Queen's Gaels football|Queen's]], [[Toronto Varsity Blues football|Toronto]], and [[Western Mustangs football|Western]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ivor the Driver a force around town|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-ivor-wynne/182581070/|work=[[The Hamilton Spectator]]|date=October 27, 2012|page=BA2|access-date=October 8, 2025}}</ref>

[[File:McMaster University - Welcome Week football game.jpg|thumb|left|The [[McMaster Marauders football|McMaster Marauders football team]] at [[Ron Joyce Stadium]]|alt=Welcome Week Football Game, McMaster University. September 2009.]]

The Marauders have won 11 national championships and 139 provincial champions since 1961. The men's water polo team has won the Ontario University Athletics championship 25 times, making it the Marauders' most successful team at the provincial level. The men's wrestling team has been the Marauders' most successful team at the national level, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship four times.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/sports/2011/3/16/championships.aspx?tab=championships|title=Past Championships|access-date=15 May 2011|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> McMaster University has graduated 34 [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] athletes, eight Olympic coaches, two Olympic administrators and two Olympic officials.<ref name=MOylm>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/sports/2011/3/28/Olympians.aspx?tab=olympians&path=history|title=McMaster Olympians|access-date=15 May 2011|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> As is mandatory for all members of U Sports, McMaster University does not provide full-ride athletic scholarships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2010/06/04/full-ride-athletic-scholarships-still-on-hold/|title=Full-ride athletic scholarships still on hold|access-date=11 July 2011|work=Macleans| publisher=Rogers Publishing Limited|date=4 June 2010}}</ref>

The university's sports facilities are in the northeast corner of the main campus. The university has a number of sports facilities, including the [[David Braley Athletic Centre]] and the [[Ron Joyce Stadium]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/sports/2011/4/10/facilitiesandvenues.aspx?tab=facilitiesvenues&path=services|title=Facilities & Venues|access-date=15 May 2011| publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> Ron Joyce Stadium includes a full-sized Canadian football field and [[FIFA]]-sized soccer pitch. The stadium features permanent seating for 6,000 and temporary seating for an additional 6,000 on the other side of the field when needed. Ron Joyce Stadium is not only used by the university's football and soccer varsity teams it is also used as the training camp for the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] of the [[Canadian Football League]] and as the home stadium for the [[Hamilton Nationals]] of [[Major League Lacrosse]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marauders.ca/sports/2011/4/11/facilitiesronjoycestadium.aspx?tab=ronjoycestadium&path=facilities|title=Ron Joyce Stadium|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=15 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006233553/http://marauders.ca/sports/2011/4/11/facilitiesronjoycestadium.aspx?tab=ronjoycestadium&path=facilities|archive-date=6 October 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ticats.ca/article/up-front-offensive-line-development-camp|title=Up Front Offensive Line Development Camp|access-date=1 December 2010|publisher=Hamilton Tiger-Cats Football Club|year=2010}}</ref>

Intramural sport leagues and tournaments have a high level of participation at McMaster. Opportunities are offered at multiple skill levels and across a variety of sports to service a range of interest and ability. Sports offered include traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket, as well as less traditional events like [[dodgeball]], inner tube water polo, and extreme potato sack racing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marauders.ca/index.aspx?path=intramurals&tab=intramurals|title=Intramural Sports|access-date=15 May 2011|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref>

==Insignias and other representations==
McMaster uses a number of symbols to represent the institution, with the university's Office of Public Relations managing the university's visual identity. The university's present visual identity, and logo was approved by the university senate in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/mcmaster_brand/main/visual_identity_guidelines.html|title=Visual Identity Guidelines|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=12 January 2016}}</ref> Other symbols utilized by the university includes a flag, unveiled on 29 September 2015, as well as a [[ceremonial mace#Universities|ceremonial mace]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/mcmaster-to-raise-first-university-flag/|title=McMaster to raise first University flag|publisher=McMaster University|access-date=29 September 2015}}</ref> The university mace was bequeathed in 1950 from the graduating class of 1900. Used in ceremonies such as convocation, the mace symbolizes the authority of the university senate to confer degrees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Fall-2015-Program-AM-FINAL.pdf|title=The Rituals of Convocation|work=Five hundred and Forty-eighth Convocation for the conferring of degrees|access-date=12 January 2016|date=20 November 2015}}</ref> The university also uses several tag lines as a part of its overall branding effort. As of 2007, the branding tag line used by the university is "Learning Without Borders," although the previous tag line, "Inspire, Innovation, and Discovery," is still used to a limited extent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/mcmaster_brand/visual_identity/McMaster_brand_manual.pdf|title=McMaster University Brands Standards Manual|date=October 2010|access-date=12 January 2016|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> 
[[File:McMaster Fireball.jpg|thumb|The Faculty of Engineering's fireball symbol adorned on the floor at John Hodgins Engineering Building.]] 
In addition to the visual representations of the institution, the university's individual departments, faculties, and schools also employ symbols to visually represent them. One such example is the Faculty of Engineering's fireball emblem, adopted by the faculty in 1960. The fireball was adopted from the coat of arms of the defunct Hamilton College.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://macengsociety.ca/cultured/|title=Culture and Traditions|publisher=The McMaster Engineering Society|access-date=12 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207031634/http://macengsociety.ca/cultured/|archive-date=7 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Motto and songs===
The university's motto, chosen from [[Epistle to the Colossians|Colossians]] 1:17, is {{lang|el|ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ}}.<ref name=RegisterofArms>{{cite web |url=http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1082 |title= Registration of Arms |access-date=21 January 2010 |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority}}</ref> The motto, adopted in 1888, is Greek for "In Christ all things consist".<ref name=RegisterofArms/> The McMaster motto is unusual in that it employs Greek instead of Latin or English. The use of Latin reflects the origin of universities in mediaeval institutions in which Latin was more prominent than Greek.{{sfn|Graham|1985|p=3}}<ref name=MACMOT>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/coat/motto.htm |title=The Motto|access-date=4 November 2010|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> McMaster's founders desired to go back beyond the Middle Ages to the earliest days of the Christian faith, and therefore used the Greek form.<ref name=MACMOT />

Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as [[Graduation|commencement]] and [[convocation]], and athletic games are "The Alma Mater Song" (1935), with words by Mrs. A.A. Burridge and music by Hugh Brearly; "Shout for McMaster! (The McMaster March)", with words by Claire Senior Burke et al., and music by Arthur Burridge; and "My Mac" (1982), with words and music by Fred Moyes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000759SUBReadings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822034612/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000759SUBReadings |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 August 2007 |title=College Songs and Songbooks |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |last=Green |first=Rebecca |publisher=The Historica Foundation of Canada |year=2011 |access-date=27 January 2011 }}</ref> Specifically, "Shout for McMaster!" is recognized as the university's [[fight song]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://marauders.ca/sports/2011/4/12/historyMcMasterFightSong.aspx|title=McMaster Fight Song|website=McMaster University Athletics|language=en|access-date=26 February 2020}}</ref><ref>McMaster Libraries, Proposed McMaster song, music by A.A. Burridge (M 1970.B87 P7 1930Z)</ref>

===Coat of arms===
[[File:McMaster University Health Sciences entrance.jpg|thumb|Signage at the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery featuring the university's arms.]]
After the university moved to Hamilton in 1930, the university petitioned [[Lord Lyon King of Arms]] in [[Edinburgh]] for a [[coat of arms]].<ref name=MACCOA/> The request was granted on behalf of [[The Crown]] on 20 October 1930.{{sfn|Graham|1985|p=3}}<ref name=MACCOA>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/mcmaster_brand/visual_identity/coatofarms.html|title=The Coat of Arms|access-date=4 November 2010|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> In 1997, the board of governors introduced a simplified shield design, which recognized the tradition of McMaster's heraldry while improving the quality of print and electronic reproduction.<ref name=MACCOA /> The university's arms and badge was registered with the [[Canadian Heraldic Authority]] on 15 October 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1082|title=The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada|publisher=The Canadian Heraldic Authority|date=28 July 2005|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref>

The coat of arms consists of a shield, a crest, and a motto, together with a [[Helmet (heraldry)|helmet]]. The shield contains an eagle, symbolic of the heavenly vision, with a cross on its breast to indicate Christianity as the inspiration for the university's vision.<ref name=shield/> The [[Chief (heraldry)|chief]] of the shield bears an open book, a common symbol of learning. A golden maple leaf is situated on each side of the book, signifying the university's charter was granted by the Province of Ontario.<ref name=shield>{{cite web |url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/coat/shield.htm|title=The Shield|access-date=4 November 2010|publisher=McMaster University}}</ref> The helmet, above the shield, has the open visor and forward-facing style typically used by universities.<ref name=shield/> The [[mantling]] surrounding the shield and helmet represents the cloak worn over a knight's armour as protection from the sun. The crest, above the helmet, is a stag and oak tree, which serves as a tribute to the Canadian senator, William McMaster, who also used a stag and oak on his insignias.<ref name=MACCOA /> The motto is above the crest, as is common in [[Scottish heraldry]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Scots Heraldry|last=Innes|first=Thomas|publisher=Genealogical Publishing Com|year=1956|page=38|isbn=978-0-8063-0478-6}}</ref>
{{clear}}
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = McMaster University Escutcheon.png
|notes = Granted 15 October 2006
|escutcheon = Argent an eagle displayed Gules beaked membered and charged on the breast with a Latin cross flory Or on a chief Azure an open book Proper bound Gules clasped Or between two maple leaves Or.
|crest = On a mount Vert before an oak tree a stag courant Proper.
|motto = ΤΑ ΠΑΝΤΑ ΕΝ ΧΡΙΣΤΩΙ ΣΥΝΕΣΤΗΚΕΝ (In Christ All Things Consist)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://reg.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1082&ShowAll=1 |title=McMaster University |date=12 November 2020 |publisher=Canadian Heraldic Authority |access-date=27 August 2021}}</ref>}}

==Notable alumni and faculty==
{{main|List of McMaster University people}}

{{see also|List of McMaster University Olympic athletes, coaches and officials}}
<gallery class="center">
File:TihomirOreskovic.jpg|[[Tihomir Orešković]], 11th [[Prime Minister of Croatia]]
File:Tommy Douglas crop.jpg|[[Tommy Douglas]], [[List of premiers of Saskatchewan|7th]] [[Premier of Saskatchewan]] and first leader of the [[New Democratic Party|NDP]]
File:Bertram Brockhouse.jpg|[[Bertram Brockhouse]], [[Nobel Prize|Nobel laureate]] in [[Nobel Prize in Physics|physics]], for his work with [[neutron scattering]]
File:Donna Strickland - 2017 (cropped).jpg|[[Donna Strickland]], Nobel laureate in physics for her work with [[laser science|laser physics]]
File:Myron Scholes 2008 in Lindau.png|[[Myron Scholes]], Nobel laureate in [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|economics]] for his work with the [[Black–Scholes model]]
File:Harold Innis public-domain library archives-canada.jpg|[[Harold Innis]], contributed to the [[staples thesis]] and [[Toronto School of communication theory]]
File:Stephen Elop faceshot.png|[[Stephen Elop]], president and chief executive officer of the [[Nokia|Nokia Corporation]]
File:Cyrus-Stephen-Eaton-picture.gif|[[Cyrus S. Eaton]], founder of [[Republic Steel]] and chairman of [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway|C&O Railway]]
</gallery>

As of 2024, McMaster University has over 253,000 alumni residing in 145 countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Get to Know McMaster |url=https://discover.mcmaster.ca/our-story/mcmaster-fast-facts/get-to-know-mcmaster/ |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Discover McMaster |language=en-US}}</ref> Throughout McMaster's history, faculty, alumni, and former students have played prominent roles in many fields, accumulating a number of awards including [[Nobel Prizes|Nobel prizes]], [[Rhodes Scholarships|Rhodes scholarships]], the [[Gates Cambridge Scholarship]], and the [[Lasker Award]].<ref name=GatesS/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/635592--mac-student-on-the-rhodes-to-oxford|title=Mac student on the Rhodes to Oxford|work=The Hamilton Spectator|first=Daniel|last=Nolan|publisher=Metroland Media Group Ltd.|date=7 December 2011|access-date=7 December 2011|archive-date=9 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120109141659/http://www.thespec.com/news/local/article/635592--mac-student-on-the-rhodes-to-oxford|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jax.org/news/archives/2010/lasker.html|title=Coleman receives Lasker Award|publisher=The Jackson Laboratory|date=21 September 2010|access-date=30 January 2012|archive-date=17 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217090552/http://www.jax.org/news/archives/2010/lasker.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nobel Prize winners include alumnus [[Myron Scholes]], awarded the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 1997 for his work with the [[Black–Scholes model]]. Two individuals from McMaster were also award the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]], faculty member [[Bertram Brockhouse]] in 1994 for his work in [[neutron scattering]]; and alumna [[Donna Strickland]] in 2018 for her work on [[Laser science|laser physics]].<ref name=Nobel /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/nobel-prize-physics-canadian-donna-strickland-1.4846644|title=Canadian among trio awarded Nobel Prize in Physics|work=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|access-date=2 October 2018|date=2 October 2018}}</ref> Alumnus [[James Orbinski]] accepted the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1999 on behalf of [[Médecins Sans Frontières|Doctors Without Borders]] as the organization's president.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Médecins Sans Frontières  – Facts - NobelPrize.org |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1999/msf/facts/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250729082414/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1999/msf/facts/ |archive-date=2025-07-29 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:McMaster Uni's President's Residence (162096607).jpg|thumb|The university's Office of Alumni Advancement and the McMaster Alumni Association are housed at Alumni House.]]

Prominent alumni in the field of science include [[Douglas L. Coleman]], who discovered [[leptin]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jax.org/news/archives/2010/lasker.html|title=Coleman receives Lasker Award|publisher=The Jackson Laboratory|access-date=3 October 2011|archive-date=17 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217090552/http://www.jax.org/news/archives/2010/lasker.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Richard Bader]], noted for his work on the [[atoms in molecules]] theory;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheminst.ca/node/244|publisher=The Chemical Institute of Canada|year=2013|title=Richard Bader, FCIC|access-date=18 May 2017}}</ref> [[Harold E. Johns]], who pioneered the use of [[cobalt-60]] in the treatment of cancer;<ref>{{cite book|title=Partnership for Excellence: Medicine at the University of Toronto and Academic Hospitals|last=Shorter|first=Edward|year=2013|publisher=University of Toronto Press|page=326|isbn=978-1-4426-4595-0}}</ref> [[Karl Clark (chemist)|Karl Clark]], who pioneered the separation method to extract [[bitumen]] from the [[oil sands]];<ref>{{cite book|title=Oil Sands Scientist: The Letters of Karl A. Clark, 1920-1949|first=Mary Clark|last=Sheppard|year=1989|publisher=University of Alberta|page=7|isbn=978-0-8886-4228-8}}</ref> and [[Peter R. Jennings]], computer programmer and developer of [[Microchess]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://6502.org/source/games/uchess/uchess.htm|title=6502.org: Source: MicroChess}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerhistory.org/chess/thm-42f15cab2be73/|title=Computer History Museum – Chess For Everyone – Early Microcomputer Chess}}</ref> Notable faculty members include chemist [[Ronald Gillespie]], who helped shape [[VSEPR theory]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chemistry.mcmaster.ca/extracts/extracts99/ronald_gillespie/|title=Ronald Gillespie: A Lifetime in Chemistry|publisher=McMaster|date=December 1999|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831213156/http://www.chemistry.mcmaster.ca/extracts/extracts99/ronald_gillespie/|archive-date=31 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as [[David Sackett]] and [[Gordon Guyatt]], whose research team was credited for establishing the methodologies used in [[evidence-based medicine]].<ref name=EEM1 /><ref name=EEM2 /> Notable alumni and faculty members in the field of social sciences include [[Harold Innis]], who helped shape [[communication theory]] and the [[staples thesis]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Watson|first=A.|title=Marginal man: the dark vision of Harold Innis|publisher=University of Toronto Press|place=Toronto, Ontario|year=2006|page=71|isbn=978-0-8020-3916-3}}</ref> and sociologist [[Henry Giroux]], one of the founding theorists of [[critical pedagogy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/opr/html/opr/media/main/NewsReleases/2004/NR_giroux.html|title=McMaster attracts widely acclaimed U.S. scholar Henry Giroux|publisher=McMaster University|date=27 May 2004|access-date=27 November 2010}}</ref> Two medical researchers, and members of McMaster had travelled in space; faculty member [[Dafydd Williams]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=5362|title=Canadian astronaut lands at McMaster|work=McMaster Daily News|publisher=McMaster University|date=28 July 2005|access-date=27 January 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521213029/http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/story.cfm?id=5362|archive-date=21 May 2011}}</ref> and alumna [[Roberta Bondar]], the first Canadian woman in space.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/PS/bondar.html|title=Biographical Data|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|date=July 1997|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref>

Many former students have gained prominence for serving in government. [[Croatia]]n [[Prime Minister of Croatia|Prime Minister]], [[Tihomir Orešković (politician)|Tihomir Orešković]] was an alumnus of the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/new-croatian-pm-tihomir-oreskovic-is-a-mcmaster-graduate-1.3378662|title=New Croatian PM Tihomir Oreskovic is a McMaster graduate|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=24 December 2015|access-date=19 February 2016|work=CBCNews}}</ref> [[Lincoln Alexander]], the former [[Lieutenant Governor of Ontario]], as well as the first visible-minority Lieutenant Governor in Canada was another alumnus of the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oba.org/En/News/Main/NewsDetails.aspx?no=NEWS03092010-4956-1E|title=The Lincoln M. Alexander Award|publisher=Ontario Bar Association|date=3 September 2010|access-date=13 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203012314/http://www.oba.org/En/News/Main/NewsDetails.aspx?no=NEWS03092010-4956-1E|archive-date=3 February 2011}}</ref> Canadian premiers that have graduated from the university include the former [[premier of Ontario]], [[Dalton McGuinty]], and the former [[premier of Saskatchewan]], [[Tommy Douglas]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/mcguinty/|title=InDepth: Dalton McGuinty|work = CBCNews|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=24 October 2003|access-date=13 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Tommy Douglas|publisher=Formac Publishing Company|year=1983|page=[https://archive.org/details/tommydouglas0000shac_z8y2/page/50 50]|isbn=978-0-88780-121-1|url=https://archive.org/details/tommydouglas0000shac_z8y2/page/50}}</ref> Many graduates have also served in the [[House of Commons of Canada]], including, [[Tony Valeri]], the [[Leader of the Government in the House of Commons|Government House Leader]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canadianclub.org/Events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2954|title=Hon. Tony Valeri|publisher=Canadian Club of Toronto|year=2011|access-date=18 February 2011}}</ref> and [[Lawrence Pennell]], the [[Solicitor General of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_pennell_l_t.html|title=Pennell, Lawrence T.|work=McMaster Alumni Association|author=McMaster University|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=19 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909100957/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_pennell_l_t.html|archive-date=9 September 2012}}</ref> [[Roy Kellock]], a [[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada|Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] was a graduate from the university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/court-cour/ju/kellock/index-eng.asp|title=The Honourable Mr. Justice Roy Lindsay Kellock|publisher=Supreme Court of Canada|date=7 April 2012|access-date=17 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515213851/http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/court-cour/ju/kellock/index-eng.asp|archive-date=15 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Charles Aubrey Eaton]], a member of the [[United States House of Representatives]], and signor of the [[United Nations Charter]] on behalf of the United States, was an alumnus of the university.<ref name=Dictionary_Eaton>{{cite book|chapter=Charles Aubrey Eaton |title=Dictionary of American Biography |location=New York |publisher=[[Charles Scribner's Sons]] |year=1977 |access-date=25 March 2015 |chapter-url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/bic1/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=BIC2&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CBT2310014222&mode=view&userGroupName=fairfax_main&jsid=a02ea7f650c1c9a251ae71bb0968be41 |id=GALE<nowiki>|</nowiki>BT2310014222 |chapter-format=fee, via [[Fairfax County Public Library]]|title-link=Dictionary of American Biography }} [[Gale (publisher)|Gale]] Biography in Context.</ref>

A number of prominent business leaders have also studied at McMaster. Examples include [[David Braley]], owner of the [[Toronto Argonauts]] and [[BC Lions]] of the [[Canadian Football League]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/Senate/SenatorsBiography/isenator_det.asp?Language=E&M=M&senator_id=2868&sortord=N|title=David Braley|publisher=Parliament of Canada|access-date=20 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023182049/http://www.parl.gc.ca/SenatorsMembers/Senate/SenatorsBiography/isenator_det.asp?Language=E&M=M&senator_id=2868&sortord=N|archive-date=23 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Stephen Elop]], former president and CEO of [[Nokia]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=133681&ticker=MSFT:US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524033256/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=133681&ticker=MSFT:US |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 May 2010 |title=Microsoft Corp|work = Bloomberg Businessweek|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|date=27 January 2011|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> [[Cyrus S. Eaton]], founder of [[Republic Steel]] and chairman of [[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]];<ref>{{cite book|title=The World of Cyrus Eaton|last=Gleisser|first=Marcus|page=30|year=2005|publisher=Kent State University Press|isbn=978-0-8733-8839-9}}</ref> [[Paul D. House]], current executive chairman of [[Tim Hortons]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timhortons.com/ca/en/about/bio_paulhouse.html|title=Paul D. House|publisher=Tim Hortons|year=2010|access-date=27 January 2011}}</ref> [[Lynton Wilson]], chairman of [[Bell Canada]], [[CAE Inc.]], and [[Nortel]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_wilson_l_r_r_o_c.html|title=Wilson, Lynton Ronald "Red" O.C.|work=McMaster Alumni Association|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=13 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217142437/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_wilson_l_r_r_o_c.html|archive-date=17 December 2009}}</ref> [[Michael Lee-Chin]], current chairman, CEO of AIC Limited;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_lee_chin_m.html|title=Lee-Chin, Michael|work=McMaster Alumni Association|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=13 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185504/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_lee_chin_m.html|archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> [[Kathy Bardswick]], president and CEO of [[The Co-operators]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cooperators.ca/en/about-us/corporate-overview/executive-bios/kathy-bardswick.aspx|title=Kathy Bardswick|publisher=The Co-operators|year=2016|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918004333/http://www.cooperators.ca/en/about-us/corporate-overview/executive-bios/kathy-bardswick.aspx|archive-date=18 September 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Joy Ford Austin]], former executive director of [[Humanities DC]], and [[Rob Burgess]], former chairman and CEO of [[Macromedia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-burgess-1/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010215403/http://www.forbes.com/profile/robert-burgess-1/|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 October 2012|title=Rob Burgess|work=Forbes|year=2012|access-date=31 August 2012}}</ref>

A number of McMaster alumni have also had successful sports careers, including [[Syl Apps]] of the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]];<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Hockey|year=2003|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|last1=Fischler|first1=Stan|last2=Fischler|first2=Shirley|page=9|isbn=978-0-7407-1904-2}}</ref> and [[National Hockey League|NHL]] coach [[Roger Neilson]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=b200201&page=bio&list=|title=Neilson, Roger|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum|year=2012|access-date=21 October 2013}}</ref> The university has had 34 of its graduates compete in the Olympic games, including Olympic medalists [[Larry Cain]], [[Adam van Koeverden]], and [[Mark Heese]]. McMaster faculty member [[Norman Lane]] was also an Olympic medalist.<ref name=MOylm /> Several alumni of the university have also become prominent in the entertainment industry, including comedians, actors and directors. Such alumni include [[Eugene Levy]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_gallery_10Levy.html|title=Dr. Eugene Levy|work=McMaster Alumni Association|author=McMaster University|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=19 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185508/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_gallery_10Levy.html|archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> [[Martin Short]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Disney Voice Actors: A Biographical Dictionary|year=2011|publisher=McFarlan|last=Thomas S.|first=Hischak|page=194|isbn=978-0-7864-6271-1}}</ref> [[Jonathan Frid]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oliver Stone Encyclopedia|year=2012|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|last1=Donald M.|first1=Whaley|last2=James Michael|first2=Welsh|page=155|isbn=978-0-8108-8352-9}}</ref> [[Ivan Reitman]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_reitman_i.html|title=Reitman, Ivan|work=McMaster Alumni Association|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=19 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120913074751/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_reitman_i.html|archive-date=13 September 2012}}</ref> [[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_thomas_d.html|title=Thomas, David|work=McMaster Alumni Association|author=McMaster University|publisher=McMaster University|year=2008|access-date=19 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185819/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_thomas_d.html|archive-date=6 July 2011}}</ref> and Max Kerman of Canadian rock band [[Arkells]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/arkells-proud-to-be-a-hamilton-band/|title=Arkells 'proud to be a Hamilton band'|publisher=McMaster University|date=10 May 2010|access-date=1 November 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20211101071635/https://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/arkells-proud-to-be-a-hamilton-band/|archive-date=1 November 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Iron Ring Clock]]
*[[Text Analysis Portal for Research]]
*[[Whidden Lectures]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notefoot}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Gidney|first=Catherine Anne|title=A Long Eclipse: The Liberal Protestant Establishment And The Canadian University, 1920–1970|publisher=McGill-Queen's Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7735-2805-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Graham|first=R. P.|title=The Insignia of McMaster University|publisher=McMaster University Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0-920603-00-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Johnston|first=Charles M.|title=McMaster University: The Toronto Years – Volume 1|url=https://archive.org/details/mcmasteruniversi0002john|url-access=registration|year=1976|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=9780802033321}}
*{{cite book |last=Johnston|first=Charles M.|title=McMaster University: The Early Years in Hamilton – Volume 2|year=1981|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-0-7837-4291-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Greenlee|first=James G.|title=McMaster University: 1957–1987: A Chance for Greatness – Volume 3|year=2015|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press}} http://volume3.mcmaster.ca {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510150313/http://volume3.mcmaster.ca/ |date=10 May 2017 }} 
*{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Herb|title=Combining Two Cultures: McMaster University's Arts And Science Programme|year=2004|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-2929-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/combiningtwocult0000unse}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://marauders.ca/ Athletics website]

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