Curtin University Dubai

Curtin University was founded in 1966 as the Western Australian Institute of Technology.[18] The four people who drove its establishment were Lesley Phillips, who was Superintendent of Technical Education from 1943 to 1948; George Hayman,who held the same position from 1948 to 1962;T. L. Robertson, Director of Education; and Haydn Williams, Director of Technical Education.

Its nucleus comprised the tertiary programs of the Perth Technical College, which opened in 1900. The university's Bentley campus was selected in 1962 and officially opened in 1966. The first students enrolled in 1967.[citation needed] Haydn Williams was the first director of WAIT.

In 1969, three more institutions were merged with WAIT: the Kalgoorlie School of Mines (opened in 1902), the Muresk Agricultural College (opened in 1926), and the Schools of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy (in operation since the 1950s at Shenton Park). Between 1966 and 1976 WAIT experienced an expansion from 2,000 to 10,000 students.