Riau University (UNRI) was founded on October 1, 1962 Based on the Decree of the UNRI Foundation Number 02/KPTS/JUR/62, then on September 25, 1962 UNRI was founded accompanied by the Decree of the Minister of Higher Education and Science No.123 dated September 20, 1963. Initially UNRI only consisted of the Faculty of State Administration and Commerce (FKK) and the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education (FKIP). Then in 1963 two other faculties were opened, namely the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences. In 1964 another faculty was founded, namely the Faculty of Fisheries so that UNRI at that time had five faculties.

In 1964, the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education at UNRI separated and became the Pekanbaru Branch of the Jakarta Teachers' Training College (IKIP Jakarta). However, in 1968, it merged again with UNRI to form two faculties: the Faculty of Teacher Training and the Faculty of Education. In 1979, another exact sciences faculty, the Non-Degree Faculty of Technology, was established.

Thus, until 1982, UNRI had seven faculties. 3 In 1983, the Faculty of Teacher Training and the Faculty of Education were merged again into one, namely the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, so that in 1983-1984, UNRI, in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Indonesia No. 39 of 1983, UNRI consisted of 6 (six) faculties, namely: 1) Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, 2) Faculty of Economics, 3) Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, 4) Faculty of Fisheries, 5) Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, and 6) Non-Degree Faculty of Technology.

Based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 0312/0/1991 dated July 6, 1991 concerning the closure and integration of Non-Degree Faculties within the University and Institute environment, the Diploma Three level FNGT Agricultural Extension and Agricultural Production Study Program was integrated into the Faculty of Agriculture that was to be opened. The Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering Study Programs in the 1994-1995 academic year accepted students from the existing S1 and D3 programs. These two programs became the forerunners of the current Faculty of Engineering.

Other faculties were successively opened at UNRI since the establishment of FNGT. Based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia No. 0374/0/1993 dated October 21, 1993, the Faculty of Agriculture was opened. In 2001, the Decree of the Minister of National Education No. 236/0/2000 regarding the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering at UNRI was officially issued on December 21, 2000, thus the Faculty of Engineering was officially established at UNRI. In 2001, the Medical Education Study Program (PSPD) was also opened, which would become the Faculty of Medicine at UNRI. This was then followed by the Law Study Program which began operating in 2002.

In 2005, the University of Riau established the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Law. In 2017, the Faculty of Nursing was established. That same year, the Faculty of Economics was renamed the Faculty of Economics and Business, and the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences became the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences. In addition to these ten faculties, UNRI also has a postgraduate program consisting of three doctoral programs and 3 master's programs.

This university has experienced many changes in terms of its management structure and top management personnel. In accordance with the development and development over 58 years (2020), within the UNRI environment there are several structural institutions and functional institutions, namely: the Rector with four Vice Rectors, the General and Financial Bureau (BUK), the Student Academic Bureau (BAK), and the Planning and Public Relations Bureau (BPHM). Since its founding (1962 to 1978), UNRI has used the Presidium system, with the following figures having served as 4 presidium chairmen: Brigadier General H. Kaharuddin Nasution (1962-1967); Brigadier General H. Arifin Achmad (1967-1978) and Prof. Drs. HM Farid Kasmy (1978-1980).

In this period, UNRI can be said to be a transitional period from the Presidium system to the Rector system. For this reason, Prof. Drs. HM Farid Kasmy was appointed as the acting Rector. UNRI has a definitive Rector based on the Decree of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Number 148/M/1980. Recorded as Rector of UNRI, namely: 1) Prof. Dr. Muchtar Lutfi (1980-1984, 1985-1989), 2) Prof. Drs. M. Bosman Saleh, MBA (1989-1993), 3) Prof. Dr. Mohammad Diah (1993-1997), 4) Prof. Dr. Muchtar Ahmad (1997-2001, 2001-2005), 5) Prof. Dr. Ashaluddin Jalil, MS (2005-2014), 6) Prof. Dr. Ir. Aras Mulyadi, DEA (2014-2018, 2018-2022, Prof. Dr. Sri Indarti, SE., M.Si (2022-2026).

UNRI has several campuses to support the implementation of academic and non-academic activities. The main campus is called Bina Widya Campus, covering an area of ​​345,617 hectares, has been functioning since 1983 and is located approximately 12,5 km from the center of Pekanbaru City. On this campus there is the Rectorate Building, most of the Faculties (FISIP, FEB, FMIPA, FPK, FKIP, FAPERTA, and FT), Library, Institutions, UPT ICT, Teaching Hospital, Mosque, and others. The second campus, namely Purnama Campus is located in Dumai City with an area of ​​​​32,045 hectares to support academic activities of the Marine Science Program.

Meanwhile, the Pattimura Campus on Jalan Pattimura Gobah Pekanbaru covers 5,795 hectares and Jalan Thamrin covers 4 hectares. The Pattimura Campus houses the Faculty of Law, the Postgraduate Program, the Diploma 3 Program in Economics, the Career and Entrepreneurship Development Center (P2K2), and other facilities. The Faculty of Medicine has its own campus adjacent to the General Hospital on Jalan Diponegoro. In addition, there is also the former SGO campus for organizing study programs related to sports.