As early as 1913, when James A. MacLean became the first President of the University of Manitoba, wives of faculty and staff were meeting socially in each other's homes "to foster a spirit of friendship among the women connected with the university." During World War One, they formed themselves into a Red Cross unit. After the war, a more formal organization was established known variously as The Faculty Wives' Club or The Faculty Women's Club, which met monthly in the original Law Courts Building on Kennedy Street on the old Broadway campus in downtown Winnipeg. As the faculty grew in numbers and various colleges and faculties merged together to form the modern university, the club experienced corresponding change and growth resulting in the creation of the Faculty Women's Association in 1924. A formal constitution was not presented until 1942. A separate organization from the University Women's Club, the Faculty Women's Association sponsored various social, educational, and philanthropic activities and has, in more recent years, sponsored a wide variety of special interest groups for those women (and spouses) interested in gourmet cooking, travel, literature, or other activities. Presently, the entire membership meets together twice a year.