London School of Economics

The London School of Economics and Political Science was founded in 1885. The decision to start the University was born from a breakfast meeting between George Bernhard Shaw, George Wallas and Sydney and Beatrice Webb. Funding was provided by the Fabian society. The institution was conceived to combat a perceived decline in English business resources. The LSE expanded rapidly and within the first ten years of its establishment had become the premier research institution in its field. The British Library of Political and Economic Science was built on the site soon after. The LSE became the first University to award degrees in the social sciences. The rapid expansion of the LSE meant that it changed locations several times during its early years. The LSE is currently situated on Houghton Street in Central London and can be easily accessed via Temple and Covent Garden underground stations. Though not open to the public, the LSE holds several open days in early summer each year. Now among the most important and successful of London's Victorian Universities, many see the LSE as a monument to the success of British business over the last century.