University of Malaya

The University of Malaya (UM; Malay: Universiti Malaya) is a public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest university in Malaysia and is the highest ranking Malaysian institution of higher education according to several international ranking agencies. The university has graduated two Prime Ministers of Malaysia and other political, business, and cultural figures of national prominence. The predecessor of the university, King Edward VII College of Medicine, was established on 28 September 1905 in Singapore, then a territory of the British Raj. In October 1949, the merger of the King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College created the university. Rapid growth during its first decade caused the university to organize as two autonomous divisions on 15 January 1959, one located in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. In 1960, the government of Malaysia indicated that these two divisions should become autonomous and separate national universities. One branch was located in Singapore, later becoming the National University of Singapore after the independence of Singapore from Malaysia, and the other branch was located in Kuala Lumpur, retaining the name University of Malaya. Legislation was passed in 1961 and the University of Malaya was established on 1 January 1962. In 2012, UM was granted autonomy by the Ministry of Higher Education. Today, UM has more than 2,500 faculty members and is divided into 12 faculties, two academies and three academic centres.In 2018, the QS World University Rankings ranked UM at the 87th in the world, 19th in Asia, 3rd in Southeast Asia and the highest ranked learning institution in Malaysia.