The college is named after Dr. Henry Norman Bethune, a Canadian-born physician, prominent in science and politics of the early 20th century. Dr. Bethune made great strides in the treatment of tuberculosis and succession of blood-transfusions. Bethune had been a great advocate of medicare before its time in Canada. Bethune even played large parts as a battlefield medic during the 1930’s in aiding the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, and the Spanish Civil War. Norman Bethune’s lifetime had been successful in attaining international interest, and had put Canada in the spotlight during a time preceding its autonomy. As students of this college, we look to be Dr. Bethune's embodiment and use his name as a spark for our own endeavours.
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Bethune College is one of the great colleges of York University. Founded in 1971, as College G,  started out in the basement of the Steacie Science building. Bethune College had existed in the infancy of York University, as it was originally directed towards African and Third-World Studies. By 1988, the college had transitioned to the disciplines of science and engineering, to the college we know as today.