The establishment of Universitas Airlangga in 1954, hereinafter abbreviated as Unair, cannot be separated from the long journey of higher education in Indonesia. The forerunner of higher education in Indonesia was the “Dokter Djawa School” (Javanese Medical School), founded in Batavia in 1851.

In the course of history, the institution was reorganized into School Tot Opleiding van Indische Artsen (STOVIA) in 1902. Eleven years later, based on the Government Decree “Besluit van de Gouverneur van Netherlandsch Indie” Number 4211 dated 8 May 1913, a medical school was established in Surabaya, called the Netherlandsch Indische Artsen School (NIAS). Located at Jl. Kedungdoro 38 Surabaya, NIAS was inaugurated on 1 July 1913, while the education began on 15 July 1913. In 1928 the School Tot Opleiding van Indische Tandartsen (STOVIT) was established as a school for dentistry. 

During the Japanese colonial period, both STOVIA in Jakarta and NIAS in Surabaya were closed in 1942, then merged into “Ika Dai Gaku“. After the end of Japanese rule in 1945, the Indonesian government took over and changed its name to the Indonesian Medical College. However, during the Dutch aggression, the college was closed, and in 1948 it was replaced with the Surabaya Branch of the Faculteit der Geneeskunde as a branch of the Faculty of Medicine, Universiteit Indonesia. 

It was only then that based on Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 57 of 1954 concerning the Establishment of Universitas Airlangga, as of 1 November 1954, the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Dentistry in Surabaya were separated from their “parent” Universiteit Indonesia. On 10 November 1954, the President of the Republic of Indonesia Dr. Ir. Soekarno inaugurated the establishment of Universitas Airlangga as the third State University (PTN) in Indonesia after Universitas Indonesia and Gadjah Mada University. 

At the time of its establishment, Universitas Airlangga as a pioneer state university in Eastern Indonesia consisted of five faculties, namely the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Dentistry, the Faculty of Law domiciled in Surabaya (as an UGM Branch), the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education located in Malang, and the Faculty of Letters. which was domiciled in Denpasar-Bali. Of the five founding faculties of Unair, two had existed before World War II, namely the Faculty of Medicine from NIAS in 1913, and the Faculty of Dentistry from STOVIT in 1928. 

The name Airlangga was chosen because Airlangga, which means “The Preserver”, was a very famous king in the 11th Century. A knowledgeable and wise king, he was capable of uniting the regions in Eastern Indonesia. 

In the course of time, the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in Malang transformed into the embryo of the establishment of the Teacher Training Institute for Education (IKIP) Malang, now the State University of Malang (UM). Meanwhile, the Faculty of Letters in Denpasar was then separated from Universitas Airlangga and became part of the history of the founding of Udayana University. 

Universitas Airlangga continued to grow by adding new faculties, namely the Faculty of Economics (1961), originally the Surabaya College of Economics. Currently it is changed into the Faculty of Economics and Business. Faculty of Pharmacy (1964), Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (1972), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (1977), Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1982), which is currently the Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Postgraduate Studies (1982), later changed its name to Postgraduate Program and is currently the Graduate School. The Faculty of Non-Degree Health was founded in 1984, but was later abolished and integrated into the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Dentistry, and the Faculty of Public Health which was established in 1993. 

Faculty of Psychology was founded in 1993, while Faculty of Letters in 1998 which since 2008 has been changed to Faculty of Humanities. Next, the Faculty of Nursing (2008) was established, developed from the Nursing Science Study Program at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga. In 2008 the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences was established, developed from the Aquaculture Study Program at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The Faculty of Vocational Studies was established in 2014. Previously, various vocational study programs (diploma) were administered under the coordination of other faculties.

The Faculty of Advanced Technology and Multidiscipline (FTMM), which was originally called the Advanced Technology and Multidisciplinary School, was established in November 2019 with five undergraduate study programs, namely: Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Data Science Technology, Nanotechnology Engineering, Industrial Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. The FTMM is to add the existing three main pillars of Universitas Airlangga (social sciences, life sciences, and health sciences) with a new pillar: engineering.

Universitas Airlangga obtained the status of State University (PTN) of State-Owned Legal Entity (BHMN) based on Government Regulation (PP) Number 30 of 2006 concerning the Designation of Universitas Airlangga as a State-Owned Legal Entity (BHMN). Then, based on Law No. 12 of 2012 concerning Higher Education, Universitas Airlangga is among the seven PTN-BHMN that has the right to hold a status as a Legal Entity State University (PTN-BH). Furthermore, the statute of Universitas Airlangga was issued based on Government Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 30 of 2014 concerning the Statute of Universitas Airlangga.