The University of Hong Kong (or HKU, as it is familiarly known to students, staff and alumni) is the oldest tertiary education institution in Hong Kong.

On March 16, 1910, Sir Frederick Lugard, the then Governor of Hong Kong, laid the foundation stone for the University.

The University was first incorporated in Hong Kong as a self-governing body of scholars by the University Ordinance on March 30, 1911.

On March 11, 1912, the University was officially opened, and Arts, Engineering and Medicine would become its first Faculties. The Faculty of Medicine evolved from the Hong Kong College of Medicine, founded in 1887. Of the College's early alumni, the most renowned was Dr Sun Yat-sen, often regarded as the founder of modern China.

In December 1916, the University held its first congregation, with just 23 graduates.

It was ten years after the founding of HKU that women students were admitted for the first time.

In 1937, Queen Mary Hospital opened and has served as the University's teaching hospital since then. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, which would bring academic activities to a halt, there were four Faculties - Arts, Engineering, Medicine, and Science.

After 1945, the University underwent structural developments as post-war reconstruction efforts began in earnest.