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University of Tehran
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The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is the oldest and largest university of Iran. Its library is the largest in country. It is referred to (nicknamed) as "The mother university of Iran" .
Important seminars are frequently held in this university.
Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in Iran and the Middle East, and among the first options of applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian universities.
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Encyclopedia
The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is the oldest and largest university of Iran. Its library is the largest in country. It is referred to (nicknamed) as "The mother university of Iran" .
Important seminars are frequently held in this university.
Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in Iran and the Middle East, and among the first options of applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian universities. The school also admits students from all over the world and is known for its wide-ranging fields of research. UT offers 116 bachelor degrees, 160 masters degrees, and 120 Ph.D. degrees. The student population includes a significant number of foreign students.
The adjacent Tehran University of Medical Sciences, although administratively separate, shares the same main campus, and publishes all its scientific research under the name "University of Tehran".
History
Most Faculties of the University of Tehran were created by integrating already existing higher education institutions such as Dar al-Funun.
In 1928 however, professor Mahmoud Hessaby proposed the establishment of a comprehensive institute which could cover most of the sciences to Ali Asghar Hekmat, the then Minister of Culture in the cabinet administration of Reza Shah.
Ali Asghar Hekmat in collaboration and consultation with Andre Godard and a team of European architects selected and designed the master plan of the university's main campus.
The University of Tehran officially inaugurated in 1934. The Amir-abad (North Karegar) campus was added in 1945 after American troops left the property as WWII was coming to an end. Other colleges and faculties were later either founded by or directly assisted and expanded by academic institutions of the United States.
The university admitted women as students for the first time in 1934. Significantly, due to affirmative action laws implemented after the Islamic Revolution along with a policy supporting universal education, the number of female students rapidly increased and in 2008 a strong majority of the University of Tehran student population is female.
In 1986, by legislation of the National Parliament, the university's oversized College of Medicine separated into the independent Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), coming under the new Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The university (TUMS) is currently Iran's most prestigious medical school with 13,000 students. However, close collaboration between the university and Faculties of its sister University of Tehran continue in many areas of research.
Colleges
At present, UT comprises 40 faculties, institutes, and centers of research and education. The university consists of six campus:
- The central Pardis campus, on Enghelab Ave, is the oldest and the best known of the campuses.
- North Kargar Campus, where the dormitories are mostly located
- Varamin College
- KishCollege
- Qom College
- Choka Campus
Former Campuses
- Karaj Campus, Formerly known as University of Tehran, School of Finance and Commerce until 1981 when it was rebranded as Allameh Tabatabaii University.
Emblems
The emblem of the University of Tehran, which was designed by Dr. Mohsen Moghadam, a late faculty member of the Faculty of Fine Arts, is based on an image, which can be found in the stucco relief and seals of the Sasanid period. In this case, it is a copy from a stucco relief discovered in the city of Ctesiphon.
The seal symbolized ownership. In the Sassanid period, these seals were used in stucco reliefs, coins, and silver utensils as a family symbol. Since the alphabet of Sasanid Pahlavi’s script was used in these badges, they have the nature of a monogram as well.
The motif is placed between two eagle wings. One can also find these motifs in other images of this period, such as in royal crowns, particularly at the end of the Sasanid period. Crowns with these seals have been called “two-feather crowns” in The Shahnameh. The motif between the wings was made by combining Pahlavi scripts. Some scholars have tried to read these images. The script is in the form of “Afzoot” (Amrood), which means plentiful and increasing.
Faculties
Initially University of Tehran included six faculties:
Later more faculties were founded:
In 1992, the faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacology seceded to become the Tehran University of Medical Sciences but is still located at the main campus (The central Pardis).
See Encyclopedia Iranica's article on the "Faculties of the University of Tehran" .
Institutes
University of Tehran also co-ordinates several major institutes:
Awards and achievements
Many professors and students of University of Tehran have won prestigious national and international awards. The University of Tehran appears at number 484 in world rankings on the THES rankings for year 2008. It is the only university in Iran along with Tehran University of Medical Sciences, its sister university, placed in a rank below 500. It is ranked # 1 in Iran and # 2 in the Middle East in the same rank standings.
In 2006, University of Tehran won the title for the "Advanced Simulation League" in the Robocup competitions in Germany in 2006. The university's engineering and architecture graduates are among the finest in the country.
In 2005 and 2006, affiliated Tehran University of Medical Sciences was ranked the top university of Iran in medical research. In terms of the number of papers published, the 2005 ranking of non-medical universities of Iran ranked TU as number one in Iran, followed by TUMS at number five.
Furthermore, the University of Tehran has also been designated as a Center of Excellence (??? ????) by Iran's Ministry of Science and Technology in the fields of "urban planning", "applied electromagnetics", "control and intelligent processing (CIPCE)", "petroleum", and "nano-electronics" (see ).
Political role
University of Tehran's central place in Iranian elite circles has made it the setting for many political events and cultural works.
Perhaps, to historians, the University of Tehran is most notably remembered for its key roles in the political events of recent history. It was in front of the same gates of this school that The Shah's army opened fire on dissident students, killing many and further triggering the 1979 revolution of Iran.
It was there and 20 years later in July 1999 that, albeit, a much smaller number of dissident students confronted the police. (see Iran student protests, July 1999) Although, none of the students lost their lives, this allegedly pro-liberal democracy demonstration was described by Time Magazine reporter as "Tiananmen of Iran".
University of Tehran (UT) has always been a bastion of political movement and ideology. At UT the leaders of the country deliver some of their most potent speeches often on Friday during prayers. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the main campus of the university and its surrounding streets have been the site for Tehran's Friday prayers.
The political and social role of University of Tehran in the Iranian domestic arena has continued to be so pronounced that in November 2005 (to February 2008) a senior Islamic scholar became chancellor of the university, replacing Dr. Faraji-dana (professor of electrical engineering faculty). Ayatollah Abbasali Amid Zanjani (??????? ???? ??????) is a professor in Law, is known for his strong ties to Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1979 revolution, and had spent time in the Shah's prisons before the Islamic Revolution. In February 2008, an Iranian economist, Dr. Farhad Rahbar, a former vice president of Iran and head of Management and Planning Organization of Iran, became the new (31st) chancellor of the university.
Notable People
See also: List of University of Tehran people
Picture Gallery
See also
External links
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