Boğaziçi Üniversitesi | |
Former names
|
Robert College (1863-1970) |
---|---|
Type | Public |
Established | 1863 |
President | Mehmed Özkan |
Administrative staff
|
1,007 |
Students | 16,517 |
Undergraduates | 11,754 |
Postgraduates | 4,763 |
847 | |
Location | Istanbul, Turkey |
Campus | 6 Campuses: total 1.699 square kilometres (420 acres) |
Language | English |
Colors | Light blue and dark blue |
Affiliations |
IAU UNIMED Utrecht Network |
Website | boun.edu.tr Boğaziçi University |
Boğaziçi University (also known as Bosphorus University, Turkish: Boğaziçi Üniversitesi, "Boğaziçi" literally meaning Bosphorus in Turkish) is a major research university located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey. It has four faculties and two schools offering undergraduate degrees, and six institutes offering graduate degrees. The language of instruction is English.
Founded in 1863, as Robert College, it is the first American higher education institution founded outside the United States. Though under entirely Turkish administration today, the university still maintains strong ties to the American educational system.
Boğaziçi University consistently ranks highest in Turkey, having the most number of applicants via the YGS-LYS Turkish university entrance examinations. This allows Boğaziçi University to attract many of the highest scoring students; as well as having the most preferred applied science, education, engineering, and social science programs in Turkey. Boğaziçi University is the only Turkish university among first 100 universities worldwide according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2013-2014. Boğaziçi University also provides a liberal educational atmosphere and a program of extracurricular activities and sports.
In 1863, Robert College was founded in Bebek by Christopher Robert, a wealthy American and a philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a missionary devoted to education. Six years after its foundation, with the permission (Ottoman Turkish: irade) of the Ottoman Sultan, the first campus (at present, it is the South Campus of Boğaziçi University) was built in Bebek at the ridge of Rumelia Fortress, very close to a Bektashi tekke, whose leaders maintained an excellent relationship with the Congregational and Presbyterian founders of Robert College, according to Dr Friedrich Schrader, a German lecturer at Robert College during the 1890s. The first building of the school was named "Hamlin Hall" in memory of Cyrus Hamlin. Few years after the foundation of Robert College, in 1878, Christopher Robert died. According to the article, A Millionaire's Will, published in New York Times (November 27, 1878), Robert left a great portion of his wealth to the College.