[20][21][22][23] The university's buildings and surrounding land initially covered approximately 212 hectares and encompassed what was previously a pine plantation known as the Burleigh Forest.

DEC was managed by Brian Orr who, in 1976, put forward a proposal to the Albert Shire Council for a university at Gaven Forest.

Orr discussed the matter with Bond and Peter Beckwith and recruited Jo Anne Cracknell to research the feasibility of venture.

[30][31] By 1993, EIE was in receivership and the Bond University Council commenced negotiations to acquire the campus from the mortgagee, the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan.

[32] The university retained the name 'Bond' even though, within a decade of its founding, Alan Bond was sentenced to separate jail terms for investment and corporate fraud (1995 and 1996).

[38] The same year, the university severed ties with the United Kingdom's Prince Andrew and his former organization Pitch@Palace Global.

[59] The current and eighth chancellor of the university since 2016 is Annabelle Bennett, AC SC, a retired judge of the Federal Court of Australia and an academic.

[74] The Australian Government's QILT[a] conducts national surveys documenting the student life cycle from enrolment through to employment.

[75] These surveys place more emphasis on criteria such as student experience, graduate outcomes and employer satisfaction[75] than perceived reputation, research output and citation counts.