In 1921, the University of British Columbia created the Department of Forestry within the Faculty of Applied Science. Herbert Read Christie became its first department head. In 1935, the focus of the Department shifted from logging engineering to scientific engineering. Forestry studies at UBC grew significantly post-war, and the Department became a Faculty in 1951. In 1957, the Sopron School of Forestry became a Division of UBC's Faculty of Forestry. It included all of its staff and students who had fled Hungary during the revolt against Russia in 1956. Three departments created within the Faculty in 1983 included Forest Resources Management, Forest Sciences and Harvesting and Wood Science. For the Deans of the Faculty of Forestry, consult the list of Deans.

The Faculty of Education at UBC began under Dean Neville Scarfe's direction in 1956 with the registration of 905 students. This new Faculty of Education consolidated the UBC School of Education and the publicly-funded Provincial Normal School, which had previously trained teachers in BC. In 1962, UBC opened the Education Building, now known as the Neville Scarfe Building. Over the years, the Faculty welcomed innovative new initiatives and additions, such as the inclusion of the School of Kinesiology, the creation of the "Native Indian Teacher Education Program" (now the Indigenous Teacher Education Program) in 1970, and the development of the Centre for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction in 1976.
The Faculty of Education has grown to become one of the leading faculties of education in the world. Indeed, since 1956, over 49,000 individuals have graduated from the Faculty of Education at UBC. Today, approximately half of elementary teachers and most secondary school teachers within British Columbia have received instruction from the Faculty.
The Office of the Dean at the Faculty of Education provides both leadership and administrative direction to the Faculty. The office includes the Dean, the Senior Leadership Team, and several committees such as the Dean's Advisory Committee and the Faculty Meetings.
The Dean's Office began with the appointment of Dean Neville Scarfe in 1956. In 1973, upon the retirement of Scarfe, Prof. J.M. Andrews was appointed Dean. Dean J.M. Andrews served as Dean until 1979 and subsequently as Professor until his retirement in 1985. Andrews, who, citing the Faculty's growth, suggested that the role of Dean should concentrate on policy and external relations and the Associate Dean on internal matters. In 1979, Andrews decided not to seek a second term, and Prof. Roy Bentley was appointed Acting Dean. The appointment was originally to be pro tempore but ended up lasting for two years. In 1981, Prof. Daniel R. Birch became the Dean of Education. In 1987, Dean Nancy M. Sheenan took on this role. In 2000 Prof. Robert Tierney was appointed Dean of Education. He remained in the position until 2010, when Dean Jon Shapiro was appointed (pro tempore). In 2011, Prof. Blye Frank became Dean of UBC's Faculty of Education.

The Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration is the Sauder School of Business predecessor. Earle MacPhee was appointed as Dean of the Faculty in 1956, and he held this position until his retirement in 1963.

The Faculty of Arts was one of the three original faculties of the University of British Columbia. Renamed the Faculty of Arts and Science in 1922, it administered all departments and programmes in the natural, physical and social sciences, humanities, and creative arts. By 1962 the Faculty had about half of the University's total enrolment and was responsible for three-quarters of academic instruction. The resulting administrative complexities led to its division in 1963 into the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Science. The reduced Faculty of Arts included the Departments of Anthropology and Sociology, Asian Studies, Classics, Economics and Political Science (split in 1964), English, Fine Arts, Geography, German (renamed Germanic Studies in 1976), History, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Romance Studies, and Slavonic Studies, plus the Schools of Home Economics (renamed Family and Nutritional Sciences in 1984), Librarianship (renamed Library, Archival and Information Studies in 1985), and Social Work.
Since 1963 the Faculty has added the Departments of Religious Studies (1965), Creative Writing (1965), Theatre (1965, renamed Theatre and Film in 1991), and Linguistics (1969). Romance Studies was split into the Departments of French and Hispanic and Italian Studies in 1967. The School of Music was formed in 1987. Since 1990, Slavonic Studies has been disbanded. Family and Nutritional Sciences has been transferred to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, and departmental mergers (forced in part by financial constraints) have created the Departments of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, and Theatre, Film and Creative Writing. The Faculty of Arts continues to provide instruction and facilitate research in the humanities, social sciences, and creative arts.

In 1914, L.S. Klinck, Professor of Cereal Husbandry at Macdonald College, McGill University, was appointed as the University of British Columbia's first Dean of Agriculture. During UBC's first two sessions, there was no teaching undertaken in the Faculty, although a general course in agriculture was given by Klinck, which was open to third and fourth-year Arts students. The first students in Agriculture were enrolled in 1917/18. In 1917, the Faculty consisted of Agronomy, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Poultry Husbandry. Later, the departments of Dairying (1919), Agricultural Economics (1940), and Agricultural Mechanics (1947) were added. In 1955 the Faculty was reorganized into Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Mechanics, Animal Science, Plant Science, Poultry Science and Soil Science. In 1969, the Faculty's name was changed from the Faculty of Agriculture to the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, and later, Food Science was added. In 1986, Animal Science and Poultry Science departments amalgamated to form a new Dept. of Animal Science. In 2005 the Faculty's name was changed again to Faculty of Land and Food Systems.

The U.B.C. Faculty Club was incorporated under the "Societies Act" in July 1959 to provide, operate, and maintain a centre for the accommodation, recreation and convenience of members of the Club and promote and serve their social, intellectual, cultural and recreational interests. The Faculty Club was initially established in 1947 - before incorporation, its management was shared by both the Faculty Association and the University Administration. In 1956, sole responsibility for the Club was temporarily entrusted to the Administration, who operated the Club through a management committee. With incorporation, by-laws were established, placing responsibility for the Faculty Club with a Board of Directors composed of seven directors elected from the membership and three others appointed by the University President. Responsibility for day to day operations and staffing was delegated to the Club Manager. A series of standing committees were established for the maintenance of the organization. These committees included:
• The Membership Committee.
• The House Committee (responsible for the care and maintenance of club premises).
• The Finance Committee (responsible for developing budgets and monitoring the Club's financial concerns).
Throughout the Club's thirty-five year history, a series of ad hoc committees were also established, including the Social Committee, the Building Committee, and the Committee on Dress, the Fine Arts Committee and the Parking Committee. The Faculty Club went into receivership in June 1994, ceasing operations on August 9, 1994. It was re-opened as the Leon and Thea Koerner University Centre in 1999.

Born in New Westminster, Ture Erickson became Head of Sedgewick Library in 1965. Erickson participated in the Day of Concern Committee in 1984. Reacting to the ongoing cutbacks in educational funding and the perceived negative impact on the quality of education, members of the Faculty Associations from B.C.'s three universities organized a "Day of Concern" for September 8, 1984. The committee coordinated the planning for the public event, which was intended to allow the university community members to explain the severe situation confronting the universities and education in general.

The Faculty Association of UBC was first constituted in 1921, with the object being "the consideration of matters that were of interest to the membership of this Association, especially of such matters as cannot be legally discussed by the Faculties of the University." Membership consisted of all teaching staff members holding the rank of instructor or above. Officers consisted of a President, a Vice-president and a Secretary-Treasurer. By 1930 the Association's objectives had evolved to promote, direct and control activities not already apportioned to other University bodies, including obtaining insurance and recreation, acquiring buildings and land and promoting good fellowship. Non-voting membership was open to teaching and laboratory assistants and long-term members of the Library and clerical staff. By 1931, the Executive was changed to include a Treasurer and three members of the Committee. In 1951 it was made compulsory for all teaching staff members, from instructor to the President. Also created were several standing committees to deal with pensions and group insurance, medical and hospital services, personnel services, salaries and promotions, and the Faculty Club. In 1975 the Faculty Club and the Association separated. In 1975, it created the office of Executive Director, providing it with continuity of administrative and political presence on campus. The Association has also continued to be concerned with salary negotiations and fringe benefits, defence of academic freedom, professional ethics, University government and the University environment. In 1975 members sought certification under the Labour Code. Although the Faculty Association did achieve this, a Framework Agreement for Collective Bargaining was voluntarily negotiated between the Faculty Association and the University. Since then, efforts have been expended on salary negotiations, putting pressure on the Administration and the government to restore adequate funding to higher education in British Columbia, providing support to the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia pressuring for gender equity.

President Wesbrook convened the first meeting of the University of British Columbia teaching staff in his office in September 1915. Wesbrook indicated that while a general meeting of the Faculty might be called on occasion, administrative efficiency demanded a smaller body. Accordingly, he proposed the Faculty's formation, consisting of the Deans and Department Heads (or acting heads). Management would be assumed by several committees whose work would be reported to and passed by the Faculty. The initial committees included Library, Graduate Work, Courses and Calendars, Students' Standing and Administration, Military Education, Student Affairs and Academic Costume. This body operated until 1921, when the unitary system inaugurated by Wesbrook was discontinued, and each Faculty assumed management of its affairs.

The Extension Lectures Committee coordinated lectures by university faculty throughout British Columbia.

In September 1993, the University of British Columbia created the Director of Student Services. Registrar Richard Spencer was appointed Director. Seven student service departments who had reported to the Vice President of Student Services began reporting to Spencer. In addition, the directors of the student services units and managers of the Registrar's Office units formed a Student Services Management Committee. Following Richard Spencer's term as Registrar and Director of Student Services on December 31, 2000, restructuring resulted in Enrolment Services effective January 2001.

The Engineering Undergraduate Society comprises all undergraduate students studying engineering at UBC. In its earliest days, engineering was under the Faculty of Applied Science. The Society's organization is managed by an executive that concerns engineering students' social, athletic, and community activities.

The administrative roots of Engineering Physics can be traced back to 1946 when three students W.E. Matheson, D.L. Pitman, and D.J. Rose, returned to UBC after World War II to complete their engineering degrees. They believed that technologies from WWII suggested that the field of physics would require more engineers. Accordingly, they proposed forming a new program combining engineering and physics to Dean John N. Finlayson (Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science from 1936-1950). Dean Finlayson agreed and asked the trio to consider a curriculum. Thus, their suggestions became the underpinnings of Engineering Physics. This new discipline was included within the Faculty of Applied Science but was run by the Department of Physics. These three students became the first graduating class of Engineering Physics in 1947.
Although often referred to informally as the Department of Engineering Physics, Engineering Physics is not technically considered a Department. It is more appropriately referred to in the UBC Calendar as the Engineering Physics Program. Coursework within Engineering Physics leads to a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Physics. Based on a solid foundation of physics, math and engineering principles, students graduating from Engineering Physics play a critical role in taking new ideas from concept to practical use at the cutting edge of new technologies.
In the years after its initial creation, Engineering Physics continued to grow, and in 1972 Professor Robert Parsons was appointed the Director of Engineering Physics. In 1978, Professor Boye Ahlborn was appointed as Director. Two years later, in 1980, Professor Edward Auld was appointed Director of Engineering Physics, a position he held for 18 years until 1998.
In 1998, Professor Jeff Young was appointed Director, a position he held until 2006 when Professor Andre Marziali became the Director.
Over the years, Engineering Physics students have been involved in many different successful endeavours. For example, in 1981, students Geof Auchinlech and Andre Godoroja produced a design report for APSC 459, which led to a contract to retrofit the Vancouver Planetarium entertainment system. In 1983, graduate student Richard McMahon developed sophisticated computer technology. He formed a successful company, Techware Systems Corporation, to commercialize his product. In 1988, Engineering Physics received a Fund for Excellence grant from the Provincial Government to form the Engineering Physics Project Lab. In 1997, the same year that Engineering Physics hosted a 50th Anniversary celebration attended by over 200 alumni, graduate Bjarni Tryggvason, Canadian Astronaut, orbited the space station and tested his motion isolation system, part of which had been developed in the Engineering Physics Project Lab. As of 2013, Engineering Physics is a fully accredited Engineering Program administered by the Department of Physics and Astronomy and is a part of the Faculty of Applied Science.

The Division of Plant Science was established in 1955 when the Faculty of Agriculture was re-organized. At that time, the division absorbed the plant science subjects of the Department of Agronomy and the Department of Horticulture. The Faculty of Agriculture was then comprised of four departments and two divisions: the Departments of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural Mechanics, Poultry Science and Soil Science, and the Divisions of Animal Science and Plant Science. In 1955, V.C. Brink became the chair of the division and retained this post until 1970. During Brink's leadership of the division, the faculty expanded. In 1955, there were three professors of horticulture and two professors of agronomy. A sixth full-time faculty member was hired in 1960, and a seventh in 1962. Several sessional lecturers were also hired. The division offered courses in agronomy, horticulture and plant science, and in 1964 plant protection courses were introduced. In 1963, a Master's Degree in Plant Science was offered, and in 1966, a Doctoral program was instituted. In response to increased enrolment and the availability of funds, a new building was constructed. The new complex, the present H.R. MacMillan Building, housed both the Faculty of Forestry and the Faculty of Agriculture. It was officially opened in July 1967. In 1969, a new curriculum was introduced that contained thirteen graduate-level courses. In addition, all courses offered by the division were now categorized under the heading of Plant Science. At that time, the division was renamed the Department of Plant Science.

As the University of British Columbia took over training Industrial Education teachers, the Faculty of Education established the Division of Industrial Education (INED) in 1958, funded by the Ministry of Education. Acting for the Faculty of Education, Ron Seal was Chairman (1958-1979), and Robert Leduc was Deputy Chairman. Teaching took place at Vancouver Vocational Institute from 1960 to 1967 and later moved to Burnaby Vocational School. In 1967, a new facility called the Industrial Education (IE) Teacher Training was built and opened by UBC adjacent to the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Burnaby.

The Division of Animal Science had formed by consolidating the Departments of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in 1955. The Division of Animal Science became the Department of Animal Science in 1969.

The University of British Columbia's Development Office was established in 1986/87 with funding from the university's General Purpose Operating Fund and cost recovery on donations to the campaign. The Development Office has been a part of External Affairs since 1999/2000. Its primary function is to advance the university's vision by increasing private sector funding for campus initiatives. In addition, the Office provides fundraising expertise and assistance. The Development Office has established a strong base of ongoing donor support for UBC. It develops effective campus-based fundraising programs and approaches. The Office also raises money annually on behalf of UBC faculties, programs, and projects.
The Development Office includes Faculty Fundraising, Campaign Operations, Gift and Estate Planning and Awards and the UBC Fund.

The Department of Zoology was separated from the Department of Biology and established its own department in 1920. Charles McLean Fraser (1872-1946) became head of the new department in the same year. In the earliest days, alongside Fraser, the department functioned with just two other staff members. R.C. Treherne lectured in economic entomology and insect morphology, and H.A. Dunlop was a loan assistant who assisted with zoology and botany classes.

The Department of Visual and Performing Arts in Education (VPAE) was established in 1980 as part of the Faculty of Education. The Department combined the previously separate programs of Art and Music education and was given responsibility for teacher education in arts and music at the elementary and secondary school levels. This was done in close cooperation with the Department of Fine Arts and the Department (later the School) of Music. VPAE also sponsored a series of lectures for faculty and students by visiting education professionals, called the "Quarterly quorum." Its studio and performance courses were transferred to the Faculty of Arts in 1988. The Department was discontinued in 1994 as part of another reorganization of the Faculty of Education, when four departments, including VPAE, were merged into two new departments. During its early years, the Department was led by Dr. J.A.S. MacDonald (1980-1983), and Dr. Ronald MacGregor (1983-1994).

Before establishing the Department of University Extension (1936), the University of British Columbia was engaged in three main extension activities. These included the provision of vocational courses for returning soldiers (1917-1921), the dissemination of agricultural information to the province's farmers through short courses, and the Extension Lectures Committee (1918-1935), which coordinated lectures by university faculty throughout the region. A Carnegie Corporation grant of $50,000 helped to establish the Deptartment of University Extension in 1936. Robert English became its first director. Between 1936 and 1970, the department, first under English, then Gordon Shrum and later John Friesen, expanded the scope of its activities. The department continued until 1970, when, after a re-evaluation period, the university changed its name to Continuing Education. This transition reflected changing public demands and a shift in emphasis toward professional and continuing academic education.

In 1943, Marjorie J. Smith became the first full-time instructor at the School of Social Work. In 1945, the School became the Department of Social Work with Smith as its first head. In 1950, the department's status changed, and its name reverted to the School of Social Work within the Faculty of Arts. In 1999, the School of Family and Nutritional Sciences was discontinued, and the Family Studies program was transferred to the School of Social Work. The School was then known as the School of Social Work and Family Studies. In 2007, the Family Studies program was moved to the School of Sociology.

The rise of the Soviet Union as a world power after the Second World War led to an increased demand for knowledge about the Slavonic world. In response, the Department of Slavonic Studies was established in 1946, with James O. St.Clair-Sobell as its first head. The Department eventually offered courses in Russian and other Slavic languages, literature, history, and politics. Other heads of Slavonic Studies were Michael H. Futrell (1967-72), Bogdan Czaykowski (1972-89), Christopher J.G. Turner (acting, 1989-90), Klaus Petersen (acting, 1990-91), and Robert V. Kubicek (acting, 1991-92). In the wake of internal disputes and after the suspension of its Graduate and Majors programs in 1990, the Department was reorganized and renamed Russian and Slavic Languages and Literature in 1992. However, its programmes were never reestablished, and the Department was disbanded in 1994.

The University first offered a psychology course in 1915 through the Department of Philosophy. Professor James Henderson was the sole member of the Department until 1920 when H.T.J. Coleman was appointed Head (as well as Dean of Arts). Only one course in psychology was taught until 1926, but by 1936 enough courses had been added to the curriculum for the Department's name to be changed to Philosophy and Psychology. Coleman was replaced as Head by J.A. Irving in 1940, followed by S.N.F. Chant in 1945. When Chant became Dean of Arts and Sciences in 1948, he remained Department Head, but Barnet Savery acted as chair in his absence; starting that year, separate staff meetings were held for faculty in the philosophy and psychology programs. Beginning in the 1940s, the Department expanded rapidly, and during this period moved from rooms scattered around campus to several Army-surplus huts. In 1951 the Department was authorized to grant a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, although the first degree was not awarded until 1968. The Department of Psychology was established as a separate unit in 1958, with Professor Chant as its Head, Edro Signori as chair and, after 1961, Acting Head. Dr. Douglas T. Kenny was appointed as Head in 1965. That same year the Department moved from its old huts to new facilities in the Angus Building, sharing the building with the Faculty of Commerce. Under Kenny's leadership, the Department continued to grow in faculty, students, and course offerings; its programs became less eclectic and more focused on experimental psychology and research. When he resigned in 1969, Signori served again as Acting Head until Peter Suedfeld was appointed in 1972; he, in turn, was replaced by Richard C. Tees in 1984. In 1984, the Department moved again to the new Kenny Building. Over the years, the Department of Psychology has grown to become one of the largest in the Faculty of Arts.

Established after World War I, the Department of Poultry Science was initially called the Poultry Husbandry Department. It was primarily a place where war veterans could gain practical knowledge of poultry farming. As the first department head, Professor A.G. Lunn was to oversee the progression of poultry farming from a supplementary form of income for the farmer to the great industry it was to become. The original farm comprised twenty-two acres, with thirty-two breeding pens. The initial chicks were brooded under briquette-fired stoves, but this soon changed to the more modern electric or gas brooders. At the time, breeding chickens operated under the R.O.P. (Records of Performance) program, directed from Ottawa. British Columbia became known as a source of good breeding stock. Due largely to work being done at The University of British Columbia, this was considered the golden era for B.C. poultry prominence. Two early instructors, professors E.A. Lloyd and V.S. Asmundson, developed unique breeds. In addition, Lloyd was instrumental in introducing chick sexing from Japan. Unfortunately, the depression of the 1930s essentially brought such promising research to an end, and funding was so reduced that Professor Lloyd was, for a time, the sole member of the department. World War II brought a boom to the industry and the department as well. A graduate of the department, Jacob Biely, became first a professor and then when Professor Lloyd retired in 1953, the head of the Department. It was at this time that the department changed its name to the Poultry Science Department. Professor Biely retired in 1968 and was replaced as head of the department by Professor Warren Kitts. Professor Kitts would become Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences in 1975. Yet, under his auspices, the Poultry Science Department would grow to be the second-largest of its kind in Canada. By the late 1970s, Dr. Darrell Bragg was department head, and in 1986 the department was discontinued. Their programs transferred to the new Department of Animal Science.

The Department of Physics was one of the original departments within the Faculty of Arts and Science when UBC was established in 1915 and has been in continuous existence since then. It was included in the Faculty of Science when it split from Arts in 1964. The Department was housed with the other science departments at Fairview Campus and in the Science (now Chemistry) Building at Point Grey until the Hennings Building was completed in 1947. The Department went through a period of significant expansion during the Second World War related to research activities carried out by its staff members for the government, and it remains one of the University's largest academic departments. Laboratory work has been an integral part of the curriculum of the Department of Physics since its beginning, and the Department has issued manuals for use by students since the 1940s.

The Department of Philosophy dates from the beginnings of UBC, being founded in 1915 as one of the original departments in the Faculty of Arts. Its aim over its history has been to use the study of philosophy to develop students’ critical-thinking abilities for essential questions about life, thought, knowledge, and social and intellectual traditions and help prepare them to be successful in academic and professional fields. Today, the Department offers significant, minor, and honours degrees in philosophy and combined majors in philosophy and economics, philosophy and political science, history and philosophy of science, and cognitive systems. Masters and Ph.D. programmes are also offered.
James Henderson was the sole member of the Department from its establishment until 1920 when H.T.J. Coleman was appointed head. Coleman was succeeded by J.A. Irving in 1940, followed by S.N.F. Chant in 1945. The Department was re-named Philosophy and Psychology in 1936 to reflect the expansion of psychology course offerings. Psychology became a separate department in 1958, and Barnett Savery was appointed Head of Philosophy that same year and remained in that position until 1969. Other Department heads over the years have been Peter Remnant (1970-76, 1986-87), Robert J. Rowan (1976-80), James C. Dybikowski (1980-84), Edwin Levy (1985-86), Howard Jackson (1988-94), Earl R. Winkler (1995-98), Mohan Matthen (1999-2004), Margaret Schabas (2005-09), Paul Bartha (2009-12, 2017-18), Alan Richardson (2013-16), and Matt Bedke (2019- ).

The Department of Pathology is under the Faculty of Medicine. It is one of the twelve departments initially set up under UBC Medicine when first established in 1949. The Department is now known as the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. The Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine offers electives to medical students to enhance the student's understanding of disease causation and the processes underlying the induction, progression, and regression of disease; and the knowledge of laboratory tests in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The Department also has research teams pursuing questions about the causes, consequences, and control of degenerative, inflammatory, and infectious diseases of heart and blood vessels, interstitial and airways diseases of lung, cancer and carcinogenesis in adults and children, diabetogenesis, coagulation and blood diseases, lipid disorders, environmental risks to water, food and air, inflammatory and degenerative brain diseases, developmental biology and fetal-maternal relationships, imaging technologies and data integration strategies, and clinical-pathological correlations that rely on genetic, pathological, environmental, clinical, and demographic information.

In 1985, the Department of Occupational Health and Safety was established. Over time, environmental issues also became the Department's responsibility to reflect this; its name was changed to Health, Safety, and Environment in 1993.

The School of Nursing was established at UBC in 1919. In 1924, the Departments of Nursing and Public Health were merged to form the Department of Nursing and Health in the Faculty of Applied Science.

The Department of Nursing was established at UBC in 1919. In 1924, the Departments of Nursing and Public Health were merged to form the Department of Nursing and Health in the Faculty of Applied Science.

In 1946, Harry Adaskin was appointed UBC's first music instructor and assumed the Music Chair. In the early 1950s, two committees, established to consider the future development of the music program, recommended that the Department be expanded and elevated to a School within the Faculty of Arts and Science.

The Department of Modern Languages at UBC was a department at UBC from the university's founding. The first head of the department was H. Ashton who worked alongside Henri Chodat and Isabel MacInnes. Three graduates joined the department in 1920, including Margaret Ross, Pauline Gintzburger and Marjorie Peck. In 1933, Ashton resigned his position and it was filled by D. O. Evans.

The UBC Department of Medicine provides teaching to undergraduate students, medical students, graduate students, and postdoctoral training for specialist physicians and Ph.D. scientists. Clinical services are delivered by physicians, counsellors, and support staff: primary physicians and other specialists to any of nearly 350 faculty members with specialist credentials. In particular, the Department provides research, teaching, and clinical services related to the nature, cause and prevention of adult diseases -- it is at the forefront of this field in Canada, representing 17 subspecialties and comprehensive training programs. The Department of Medicine was established in 1949 as one of the founding departments within the Faculty of Medicine and is now the Faculty's largest Department. As of 2007, the Department consists of 16 divisions: Allergy and Immunology, Cardiology, Community Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Medicine, Internal Medicine, Hematology, Infectious Diseases, Medical Oncology, Nephrology, Neurology, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Respiratory Medicine and Rheumatology.

The University of British Columbia's Department of Mechanical Engineering traces its origins back to 1908 and the applied science courses offered by the institution's predecessor, McGill University College of B.C. When the University of British Columbia opened its doors in 1915, it included a Department of Mechanical Engineering as part of the College of Applied Science. However, the department consisted of only Lawrence Killam and several shop demonstrators. However, it lacked any full professors or a department head. From these humble beginnings, the department has become a leading teaching and researching unit within the university. Its engineering graduates have made significant contributions to the development of British Columbia and beyond.

The Department of Mathematics existed as part of McGill University before UBC's founding in 1908. The mathematics professor George E. Robinson, acting principal and Dean of Arts for McGill University College of British Columbia, became head of mathematics at the new University of British Columbia. Housed initially at Point Grey in the Mathematics Building and Annex (built 1924-25), the Department of Mathematics was among UBC's first departments. Initially, the Department was part of the Faculty of Arts. However, in 1922/23, the Faculty of Arts has renamed the Arts and Science. In 1963 the Department joined the newly formed Faculty of Science.
UBC has long been known as home to one of the top mathematics programs in Canada. In 1972, in partnership with the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the College for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Department founded the Institute for Applied Mathematics (IAM). This partnership developed out of a need to provide applied mathematics students with the opportunity to embrace an interdisciplinary approach and study mathematics in other departments. In addition, the Department is an active participant in the broader mathematics community. Since 1979 it has run the Euclid Contest for British Columbia and several other outreach programs geared at broadening mathematics education across various communities.

The proposal to form the Department of Linguistics within the Faculty of Arts at UBC was approved in 1967. It was to be given high priority for funding in the 1968-69 budget. However, it was 1969 before the first head of the department, Professor John T. Waterman, previously head of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Southern California, was appointed, but he resigned from the position before arriving at UBC. It was 1971 when Professor Michael A.K. Hailiday, an expert in Chinese language and linguistics, was appointed. Professor Hailiday was head of General Linguistics at University College London. Before the establishment of the department, UBC offered a major in linguistics through the Department of Classics.

Created in its current form in 2009, UBC Infrastructure Development is a department within UBC Facilities responsible for the planning, development, renewal and renovation of campus facilities, providing stewardship for all institutional facilities projects. It reports to the Associate Vice President of Campus Facilities, inside the Finance and Operations portfolio alongside UBC Energy and Water and Building Operations departments. In addition, the department works with development partners across campus, including Campus and Community Planning, UBC Sustainability, Building Operations and UBC Properties Trust.
Before 2009, the responsibilities of the current units known as Infrastructure Development, Energy and Water, and Building Operations were all managed within the Department of Land and Building Services, in divisions called Campus Planning & Development, Utilities, Plant Operations, and others. Following the restructuring, Campus Planning and Development’s functions were dispersed: sustainability and community planning responsibilities were placed in the renamed Office of Campus and Community Planning, while other aspects related to institutional facilities, renovation, and infrastructure projects became UBC Infrastructure Development.
The current unit’s subdivisions include Project Services, Facilities Planning, Project and Planning Resources, and Capital Planning/Strategic Project Development.

Dorothy Lefebvre served as the first head of the Department of Home Economics. She resigned within a few years and was replaced by Charlotte Black, who served as director until the 1960s. In 1951, the program's status changed as it became the School of Home Economics, part of the Faculty of Arts and Science. It moved to a new building near the UBC Bookstore on East Mall in 1982 and was renamed the School of Family and Nutritional Sciences in 1984.

The Department of History traces its roots at UBC back to the appointment of S. Mack Eastman in 1915. For some years Eastman functioned as a "one-man department". He was joined in his pursuits by notable UBC pioneers Walter N. Sage (1918) and F.H. Soward (1922). From its beginnings the Department has undertaken to offer a broad range of scholarly studies. Today, students study Canadian, American, European, Latin American, African and Asian history. Within these broad categories, the Department offers areas of specialization in political, economic, intellectual and cultural studies.

The Department of Health, Safety, and Environment are responsible for creating and coordinating a healthy and safe working environment for University faculty, staff, and students. It provides programmes, services, training, and assistance on health, safety, and environmental matters. Municipal, provincial, and federal regulatory agencies require many of these activities, such as the Greater Vancouver Regional District, the Workers' Compensation Board, and the Atomic Energy Control Board. The Department also operates the University's Chemical Waste Processing Facility. Before 1985, workplace health and safety issues were the joint responsibility of Physical Plant / Plant Operations and Human Resources, along with departmental safety committees and several committees with representatives from across the University. In 1985, the Department of Occupational Health and Safety was established. Over time, environmental issues also became the Department's responsibility and to reflect this; it changed its name to Health, Safety, and Environment in 1993.