University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (Bengali: ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়, also known as Dhaka University or simply DU), is the oldest university in modern Bangladesh. Established by British Imperial Government in 1921, it was modeled on Oxbridge education. Dhaka University gained a reputation as the Oxford of the East during its early years, and contributed tremendously to modern South Asian history.After the partition of India, it became the focal point of progressive and democratic movements in Pakistan. Its students and teachers played a central role in the rise of Bengali nationalism and the independence of Bangladesh. The universitys distinguished alumni include Satyendra Nath Bose (pioneer of Bose-Einstein statistics), Fazlur Rahman Khan (pioneer of modern structural engineering), Muhammad Yunus (winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize), Vijayaraghavan (co-discoverer of the PV number), Buddhadeb Bose (20th century Bengali poet), Rehman Sobhan (social democratic economist), Abdus Suttar Khan (American chemist and jet fuels inventor), Shamsur Rahman (poet laureate of Bangladesh), Humayun Ahmed (one of the most influential writers of Bengali language and film director), Muhammed Zafar Iqbal (author of science fiction and childrens literature) and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founding father of Bangladesh). It also enjoyed associations with Kazi Nazrul Islam, Rabindranath Tagore and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Today, it is the largest public university in Bangladesh, with a student body of 33,000 and a faculty of 1,800. It was identified by AsiaWeek as one of the top 100 Universities in Asia. However since the 1990s, the university has suffered from intensely politicized, partisan and violent campus politics promoted by Bangladeshs feuding political parties. The establishment of the university was a compensation of the annulment of the 1905 Partition of Bengal. The partition had established East Bengal and Assam as a separate province, with Dhaka as its capital. However, the partition was abolished in 1911. In 1913, public opinion was invited before the university scheme was given its final shape. The secretary of state approved it in December 1913. The first vice-chancellor of the university, Dr. Philip Joseph Hartog, formerly academic registrar of the University of London for 17 years. Established in 1921 under the Dacca University Act 1920 of the Indian Legislative Council, it is modelled after British universities. Academic activities started on July 1, 1921 with 3 Faculties: Arts, Science and Law; 12 Departments: Sanskrit and Bengali, English, Education, History, Arabic and Islamic Studies, Persian and Urdu, Philosophy, Economics and Politics, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Law; 3 Dormitories for students: Salimullah Muslim Hall, Dacca Hall and Jagannath Hall. In 2011-2012, the University of Dhaka made it into the list of Top World Universities in the ranking carried out by the ranking agency Times Higher Education and Quacquarelli Symonds (THE–QS), UK . Out of over 30,000 universities around the world, DU was placed as 551.In Engineering & IT the university positioned 100 th where in Life Sciences & Biomedicine the university ranked 284th. However, the university ranked better in 2007 (within top 500) and 2006 (365th). The ranking in 2007 was: 336th in Arts & Humanities, 256th in Natural Sciences, 256th in Engineering & IT, 297th in Social Sciences and 251st in Life Sciences & Biomedicine. In the best Asian (and Australian) universities ranking, AsiaWeek ranked the University of Dhaka 37th in 1999 and 64th (overall and multi-disciplinary category) out of 77 ranked universities in 2000. In 2000, the university got a comparatively higher rank in student selectivity (23rd) while got lower ranking in academic reputation (74th), faculty resources (59th), research (65th) and financial resources (74) categories. The University contains about 220 trusts and foundations offering scholarships and medals to meritorious students of the University. Besides, a large number of scholarships are also offered by the University, Dhaka University Alumni Association and the Government.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 20:54:34 +0000
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