McGill University (French: University McGill) is a public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1821 by royal charter, granted by King George IV. The university bears the name of James McGill, a Montreal merchant originally from Scotland whose bequest in 1813 formed the university’s precursor, McGill College.

McGill’s main campus is at Mount Royal in downtown Montreal, with the second campus situated in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, also on the Montreal Island, 30 kilometers (18 miles) west of the main campus. The university is one of two universities outside the United States who are members of the Association of American Universities and it is the only Canadian member of the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) within the World Economic Forum.

McGill offers degrees and diplomas in over 300 fields of study, with the highest average admission requirements of any Canadian university. Most students are enrolled in the five largest faculties, namely Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Management.

McGill counts among its alumni 12 Nobel laureates and 145 Rhodes Scholars, both the most of any university in Canada, as well as five astronauts the incumbent prime minister and two former prime ministers of Canada, the incumbent Governor General of Canada, 14 justices of the Canadian Supreme Court,at least eight foreign leaders 28 foreign ambassadors, over eight dozen members of the Canadian Parliament, United States Congress, British Parliament, and other national legislatures, several billionaires, nine Academy Award (Oscars) winners, 11 Grammy Award winners, four Pulitzer Prize winners, two Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, at least 16 Emmy Award winners,and 28 Olympic medalists, all of varying nationalities. McGill alumni were instrumental in inventing or initially organizing football, basketball, and ice hockey. McGill University or its alumni also founded several major universities and colleges, including the Universities of British Columbia, Victoria, and Alberta, the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Dawson College. McGill is particularly noted for its contributions to medicine and the health sciences.