[2][3] The Ionian Academy was the first Greek University of modern times, established in 1824 by Frederick North, 5th Earl of Guilford.

[5]: 4  The Prime Ministership thus kept an election promise to the people of Corfu, satisfying their long held demand that a successor university to the Ionian Academy be built.

[6] On 21 May 1985, the founding of the Ionian University was announced in a speech at City-Hall square in Corfu city.

It also aspires at the continuous development and expansion of educational and research objectives, as well as of the broader social role of the Ionian University The collection of the Ionian University Library comprises more than 114,000 books, 1,300 magazine titles, more than 3,500 audio-visual records such as CDs, cassettes, vinyl records, videotapes, microfilms, a remarkable collection of maps, archives, as well as thousands of digital documents.

Their activity is based on the fundamental concept of the research-education interrelation and their main goal is to support the graduate and postgraduate studies at the Ionian University.

[11] An external evaluation of all academic departments in Greek universities was conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQAA) in the following years.