[9] The college was established in 1818 though it faltered shortly after, as Ramsay left Halifax to serve as the Governor General of British North America.

[10] The school was structured upon the principles of the University of Edinburgh, located near Ramsay's home in Scotland,[11] where lectures were open to male students, regardless of Christian religion or nationality.

A Presbyterian minister and naturalist, he was the founder of Nova Scotia's second degree-granting institution (after King's College, now University of King's College), Pictou Academy in Pictou, Nova Scotia, which attracted students from PEI, Cape Breton, as well as the Caribbean[14] due to McCulloch's views and the school's ecumenical stance.

With a reputation as an anti-papal pamphleteer[15] and firmly against the Church of England's hold on higher education in Nova Scotia (through King's College), McCulloch carried with him from Pictou his education theory and pedagogy, “If Dalhousie College acquires usefulness and eminence, it will be not by an imitation of Oxford, but as an institution of science, and practical intelligence.”[14] His approach to education was radical: he firmly believed that all schools "ought first to be ascertained, how far it is calculated to improve the community; and, if its general utility appear, it is, in proportion to its value and to the extent of the public funds, unquestionably entitled to the protection of Government, whether it belong to churchmen or [Presbyterian] dissenters, protestants or catholics, ought to be entirely disregarded!

"[16] He was responsible for creating a chair of natural history at Dalhousie to teach "geology, mineralogy, botany, and zoology.

In 1879, amid talks of closure due to the university's dire financial situation, George Munro, a wealthy New York publisher with Nova Scotian roots, began to donate to the university; Munro was brother-in-law to Dalhousie's Board of Governors member John Forrest.

In honour of his contributions, Dalhousie observes a university holiday called George Munro Day on the first Friday of each February.

[21] The first female graduate was Margaret Florence Newcombe from Grafton, Nova Scotia, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1885.

Through a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, King's College relocated to Halifax and entered into a partnership with Dalhousie that continues to this day.

[24] Dalhousie expanded on 1 April 1997 when provincial legislation mandated an amalgamation with the nearby Technical University of Nova Scotia.

Robie Street divides it from the adjacent Carleton Campus, which houses the faculties of dentistry, medicine, and other health profession departments.

[31] The university presently operates the largest academic library system in Atlantic Canada, and hosts the headquarters for the Ocean Tracking Network.

[44] Some of the outdoor sculptures around the campus are part of this collection, such as the distinctive Marine Venus which has sat in the median of University Avenue since 1969.

[48] In 1999, the university signed the Talloires Declaration, which committed Dalhousie and other higher education institutions to developing, creating, supporting, and maintaining sustainability.

[52] The president acts as the chief executive officer and is responsible to the Board of Governors and to the Senate for the supervision of administrative and academic works.

[24] The University of King's College was formerly an independent institution located in Windsor, Nova Scotia, until 1920, when a fire ravaged its campus.

[24] Under the agreement, King's agreed to pay the salaries of a number of Dalhousie professors, who in turn were to help in the management and academic life of the college.

Financial aid may also be provided in the form of loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships, fellowships, debt reduction, interest relief, and work programs.

[82] Notably, Dalhousie is the headquarters of the Ocean Tracking Network, a research effort using implanted acoustic transmitters to study fish migration patterns.

[85] In 2011, the university, along with WWF-Canada, created the Conservation Legacy For Oceans, which aimed at providing scholarships, funding, curriculum development, and work placements for students and academics dedicated to marine research, law, management, and policy making.

[102] Student societies partake in a range of activities from simple gatherings, study groups, bake sales, intramural sports teams, to organizing larger scale fundraising events.

It houses a large fieldhouse, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor running track, weight rooms, courts and other facilities.

The school is working to build a new arena jointly with nearby Saint Mary's University, whose facility is also aging.

It was from Virgil's epic poem Aeneid, Book 1, line 203, Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit, which translates as "Perhaps the time may come when these [difficulties] will be sweet to remember."

[117] Dalhousie graduates have found success in a variety of fields, serving as heads of a diverse array of public and private institutions.

Throughout Dalhousie's history, faculty, alumni, and former students have played prominent roles in many fields, and include 91 Rhodes Scholars.

Astrophysicist and Dalhousie alumni Arthur B. McDonald (BSc 1964, MSc 1965) received the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics for identifying neutrino change identities and mass.

Other notable graduates of Dalhousie includes Donald O. Hebb, who helped advance the field of neuropsychology,[120] Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space[121] and Jeff Dahn, one of the world's foremost researchers in lithium battery chemistry and aging.

[122] Notable politicians who have attended Dalhousie include three Prime Ministers of Canada, R. B. Bennett, Joe Clark, and Brian Mulroney.

[132] Thirteen graduates have served as provincial premiers: Allan Blakeney,[133] John Buchanan,[134] Alex Campbell,[135] Amor De Cosmos,[136] Darrell Dexter,[137] David Eby,[138] Joe Ghiz,[139] John Hamm,[140] Angus Lewis Macdonald,[141] Russell MacLellan,[142] Gerald Regan,[143][144] Robert Stanfield,[144][145] Clyde Wells,[146] and Danny Williams.