| 1874 | Bishop Williams establishes a small private school in Tsukiji, Tokyo, to teach English and Bible studies. A handful of students are enrolled, and the school is named Rikkyo School not long after it opens. |
| 1918 | The university is moved to Ikebukuro. The Main Building, Library, dormitories (currently known as Building No. 2 and Building No. 3), and dining facilities are constructed on the campus grounds. |
| 1922 | Rikkyo is accredited as a university under the University Order. The University establishes the College of Arts (Departments of English and American Literature, Philosophy, and Religious Studies), the College of Commerce, and the Preparatory Courses. |
| 1949 | Under the new postwar educational system, Rikkyo is accredited as a university. The College of Arts (Departments of Christian Studies, English and American Literature, History, Sociology, and Psychology and Education), the College of Economics (Departments of Economics and Business Administration), and the College of Science (Departments of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry) are newly established. Also, women are admitted for the first time in 1946. |
| 1958 | The College of Social Relations is established. (The Department of Social Relations in the College of Arts is dissolved.) |
| 1959 | The College of Law and Politics is established. Construction of Building No. 5 and Building No. 6 is completed. |
| 1960 | Construction of the Library (new building) is completed. |
| 1990 | The Niiza Campus is opened. |
| 1992 | Construction of Williams Hall is completed. |
| 1998 | The College of Tourism and the College of Community and Human Services are established on the Niiza Campus. |
| 2002 | The Graduate School of Business Administration, the Graduate School of Social Design Studies, and the Graduate School of Intercultural Communication are opened. |
| 2004 | The Law School is opened. |
| 2006 | The College and Graduate School of Business are established on the Ikebukuro Campus, and the College and Graduate School of Contemporary Psychology are established on the Niiza Campus. New Departments of Letters, Economic Policy Studies, Communication and Media Studies, Culture and Tourism Studies, and Social Work and Community Development are established in the Colleges of Arts, Economics, Sociology, Tourism, and Community and Human Services, respectively. |
| 2008 | The College of Intercultural Communication is established on the Ikebukuro Campus.The Department of Sport and Wellness is established in the College of Community and Human Services, and the Field of Study of Image and Body Expression is also established in the Graduate School of Contemporary Psychology on the Niiza Campus. "Rikkyo Second Stage College" is inaugurated. |
Bishop Williams was born in the United States, in Richmond, Virginia, on July 18, 1829. After graduating from Virginia Theological Seminary, he was sent to China as a missionary of the American Episcopal Church. He arrived in Shanghai in June 1856. He was then sent to Japan, arriving in Nagasaki in June 1859, where he carried out missionary activities in secret, as Christianity had been outlawed by the Tokugawa government.
In 1866, after a brief return to the United States, he was consecrated Bishop of China and Japan. During his stay in these countries, he established new bases for his missionary work in Wuchang, China, and Osaka, Japan. In February 1874, he opened a private school in Tsukiji, Tokyo, that was the predecessor of Rikkyo University.
He stepped down as Bishop in 1889 to make way for the younger generation of missionaries. He moved to Kyoto in 1895, carrying out the final years of his missionary work in the Kansai area. Due to failing health, he returned to the United States in 1908. He died in Richmond, his birthplace, on October 2, 1910, at the age of 81.
