Cairo University () is Egypt's premier

public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

. Its main campus is in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

, immediately across the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of Engineering. http://www.eng.cu.edu.eg/CUFE/History/CairoUniversityShortNote/tabid/81/language/en-US/Default.aspx after being housed in various parts of Cairo, its faculties, beginning with the Faculty of Arts, were established on its current main campus in Giza in October 1929. The university was known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952. The university is the second oldest institution of higher education in Egypt after

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

, notwithstanding the pre-existing higher professional schools that later became constituent colleges of the university. The university was founded and funded as the Egyptian University by a committee of private citizens with royal patronage in 1908 and became a state institution under King

Fuad I Fuad I ( ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sultan in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hus ...

in 1925. In 1940, four years following his death, the university was renamed King Fuad I University in his honor. It was renamed a second time after the

1952 Egyptian revolution The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 1952 coup d'état () and the 23 July Revolution (), was a period of profound political, economic, and societal change in Egypt. On 23 July 1952, the revolution began with the toppling of King ...

. The university currently enrolls approximately 155,000 students in 20 faculties and 3 institutions. It counts three Nobel Laureates among its graduates and is one of the 50 largest institutions of higher education in the world by enrollment.

History

Before he retired in 1907, the British representative in Egypt, Lord Cromer, remained opposed to establishing of higher education in the country for fear that it would foment unrest. The university opened as a small private institution in 1908. Its early founding and location made it a model for later universities throughout the Arab world. It was taken over as a state university in 1925 and became Cairo University in 1954. The university was founded on 21 December 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for higher education. Several constituent colleges preceded the establishment of the university including the College of Engineering () in 1816, which was shut down by the

Khedive Khedive ( ; ; ) was an honorific title of Classical Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the Khedive of Egypt, viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"Khedive" ''Encyclopaedi ...

of Egypt and

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

, Sa'id Pasha, in 1854. Cairo University was founded as a European-inspired civil university, in contrast to the religious university of Al Azhar, and became the prime indigenous model for other state universities. In 1928, the first group of female students enrolled at the university. On 27 January 2020, Egypt's High Administrative Court approved Cairo University's decision to ban its professors from wearing the niqab or face veil which was introduced in 2015.

Foundation

At the turn of the century, Egyptian intellectuals and public figures began making calls to establish an Egyptian institute of higher education to provide a modern, professional education to Egyptians. Armenian bureaucrat Yaqub Artin made the first known published reference to establishing an Egyptian university in 1894. In a report, he suggested "the existing higher professional schools could well provide the basis for a university." These higher schools included the School of Management and Languages, established in 1868 (which became the School of Law in 1886), the School of Irrigation and Construction (known as the School of Engineering) in 1866,

Dar al-Ulum Dar al-Uloom () is an educational institution designed to produce students with both an Islamic and modern secondary education. It was founded in 1871 and since 1946 it has been incorporated as a faculty of Cairo University, being now commonly ca ...

in 1872, the School of Agriculture in 1867 and the School of Antiquities 1869. Syrian journalist

Jurji Zaydan Jurji Zaydan (, ; December 14, 1861 – July 21, 1914) was a prolific Lebanese novelist, journalist, editor and teacher, most noted for his creation of the magazine '' Al-Hilal'', which he used to serialize his twenty three historical novels. H ...

called for an "Egyptian college school" (madrasa ) in 1900 in his monthly magazine Al-Hilal. He provided two models for this institute of higher education: the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

, India, which delivered a Western-style education in the English language, or the Syrian Protestant College (now the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

) in Beirut, run by American missionaries. The new school would provide an alternative to the student missions to Europe begun under

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

. Controversy surrounding Zaydan's publications would later prevent him from taking a teaching post at the university. A number of other prominent Egyptians played a role in the university's foundation. A collection of large landowners, bureaucrats, members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

, and journalists, lawyers, and school teachers including

Mustafa Kamil Mustafa Kamil Pasha (, ) (August 14, 1874 ⁠– February 10, 1908) was an Egyptian lawyer, journalist, and nationalist activist. Early life and education Kamil was born in Cairo in 1874. His father was an engineer who first worked for the Egy ...

, disciples of

Muhammad Abduh Muḥammad ʿAbduh (also spelled Mohammed Abduh; ; 1849 – 11 July 1905) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar, judge, and Grand Mufti of Egypt. He was a central figure of the Arab Nahḍa and Islamic Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...

such as Qasim Amin and Saad Zaghlul, and eventually Khedive Abbas II and Prince Ahmad Fu’ad I became involved. As Donald M. Reid writes, "Royalist partisans stressed Fu'ad's founding role, Watanists (supporters of the National Party) pointed out Mustafa Kamil's call for a university, and Wafdists emphasized the contributions of Saad Zaghlul, Muhammad Abduh, and Qasim Amin." Wealthy Egyptians began to independently pledge funds to the establishment of a university as early as 1905
Significant contributions
were made b
Princess Fatma Ismail
In the early 1900s, she donated land to the university as a part of her fundraising campaign for the establishment of Egypt's first formal university. Following the

Denshawai incident The Denshawai incident is the name given to a dispute which occurred in 1906 between British Army officers and Egyptian villagers in Denshawai, Egypt, which would later become of great significance in the nationalist and anti-colonial consciou ...

, Mustafa Kamil al-Ghamrawi, a wealthy notable from

Beni Suef Beni Suef ( the capital city of the Beni Suef Governorate in Egypt. The city is the location of Beni Suef University. An important agricultural trade centre on the west bank of the Nile River, the city is located 110 km (70 miles) south of ...

, pledged 500 Egyptian pounds towards a university in September 1906. Mustafa Kamil published a call for supplementary funds, while Saad Zaghlul and Qasim Amin arranged a meeting attended by Muhammad Farid and 23 other prominent Egyptians. The members of the meeting founded a committee with Zaghlul as vice-president and Amin as secretary, and all but three pledged at least 100 Egyptian pounds towards the university. However, splinters quickly emerged between the Watanists, the disciples of Abduh and the Royalists, leaving the project in the hands of the Palace. By the time of its establishment in 1908, Prince Fuad I was the rector, and only one of the men who had met in 1906 remained in the committee. Concerning the faculty of engineering In 2006, the college began implementing the credit hour system by launching the following programs: construction engineering, computer and telecommunications engineering. In 2007 programs that were developed: mechanical design engineering, architecture engineering and construction technology and petrochemical engineering. In 2008, it introduced a program: Construction Engineering. In 2009, it introduced the Water and Environmental Engineering Program.

Challenges to foundation

The British colonial government, particularly Lord Cromer, had long opposed the establishment of such a university. Only a year after his departure from Egypt, under Sir Eldon Gorst, was the Egyptian University finally established. The Egyptian educational system remained neglected by the colonial government under the direction of Lord Cromer. Two decades after the establishment of British rule, education received less than 1 percent of the state budget. Cromer publicly stated that free public education was not an appropriate policy for a nation such as Egypt, although the funds were found to refurbish the law school in Cairo so Egyptians did not have to go abroad to obtain legal degrees during Sir John Scott's time as Judicial Advisor to the Khedive. Donald M. Reid speculates that this was due to fear that European-style education would foment political unrest or nationalistic sentiments. Cromer also opposed providing financial aid to the university after the private committee began to pursue the matter independently of the colonial government. In its early years, the university did not have a campus but rather advertised lectures in the press. Lectures would be held in various palaces and conference halls. After a grand opening ceremony in 1908, it remained on financial insecure footing for a number of years, nearly collapsing during World War I. Upon its founding in 1908, the Egyptian University had a women's section but this was closed in 1912. Women were first readmitted to the arts faculty in 1928. Problems during this period also included a lack of professional faculty to fulfill the founders' educational vision. There were simply no Egyptians with doctoral degrees, the ability to teach in Arabic and a familiarity with Western literature in their fields with whom to fill professorial posts. Thus European Orientalists who lectured in classical Arabic filled many posts until the 1930s. The university also sent its own students on educational missions to obtain the necessary training. First, the university hired Italians Carlo Nallino, David Santillana and Ignazio Guidi, due to King Fuad I's connections with Italy. Following the departure of the Italians after the invasion of Libya, French orientalists Gaston Wiet and

Louis Massignon Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...

took up posts on the faculty. The Germans and British were less represented. In 1925, the university was re-founded and expanded as a state institution under Fuad I. The liberal arts college (kulliyat al-adab) of 1908 was joined with the schools of law and medicine, and a new faculty of science was added. Ahmed Lutfi al-Sayyid became the first president.

Ranking

Cairo University is usually ranked among the best universities in Egypt, and one of the top universities in Africa. In QS ranking 2021, Cairo University was ranked the 2nd in Egypt and the 6th across Africa, and it was rated 561-570 worldwide. In the ARWU 2020 ranking, the university was ranked 1st in Egypt. It was rated 401-500 worldwide. According to the Center for World University Ranking
(CWUR)
2020–21, the university was ranked 1st in Egypt, and the 558th worldwide.

Structure

Cairo University includes a School of Law and a School of Medicine. The Medical School, also known as '' Kasr Alaini'' (, Qasr-el-'Ayni), was one of the first medical schools in Africa and the Middle East. Its first building was donated by Alaini Pasha. It has since undergone extensive expansion. The first president of Cairo University, then known as the Egyptian University, was Professor

Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed or Aḥmad Luṭfī Sayyid Pasha () (15 January 1872 – 5 March 1963) was a prominent Egyptian nationalist, intellectual, anti-colonial activist and the first president of Cairo University. He was an influential person i ...

, who served from 1925 to 1941. After the Egyptian University's establishment in 1908, all Institutions of higher education that were in Egypt at the time became a part of the university (except Al-Azhar), like Kasr Alainy (Medical School), Muhandess Khana (School of Engineering), Dar Al-Uloom (House of Science) and others that were established by Muhammad Ali Pasha. They became Faculties of the university after joining (e.g. the ''Faculty of Medicine'' or ''Faculty of Engineering''). Other Faculties were later founded by the university after the eight schools joined.

Notable alumni

* Abdel Khalek Sarwat Pasha (1873–1928), twice

Prime Minister of Egypt A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

. *

Husayn Fawzi Alnajjar Husayn Fawzi Al-Najjar (; November 16, 1918 – December 10, 2003) was an Egyptian historian, political scientist, strategist, and Islamic scholar. During his career, he published over 55 books on Middle Eastern history and politics. Career Hus ...

, historian, political scientist, and strategist * Said Ashour, professor of history *

Mohamed Atalla Mohamed M. Atalla (; August 4, 1924 – December 30, 2009) was an Egyptian-American engineer, physicist, cryptographer, inventor and entrepreneur. He was a semiconductor pioneer who made important contributions to modern electronics. He is best ...

, engineer, inventor of

MOSFET upright=1.3, Two power MOSFETs in amperes">A in the ''on'' state, dissipating up to about 100 watt">W and controlling a load of over 2000 W. A matchstick is pictured for scale. In electronics, the metal–oxide–semiconductor field- ...

(MOS

field-effect transistor The field-effect transistor (FET) is a type of transistor that uses an electric field to control the current through a semiconductor. It comes in two types: junction FET (JFET) and metal-oxide-semiconductor FET (MOSFET). FETs have three termi ...

), pioneer in silicon

semiconductors A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping levels ...

and

security systems A security alarm is a system designed to detect intrusions, such as unauthorized entry, into a building or other areas, such as a home or school. Security alarms protect against burglary ( theft) or property damage, as well as against intruders ...

, founder of

Atalla Corporation Utimaco Atalla, founded as Atalla Technovation and formerly known as Atalla Corporation or HP Atalla, is a security vendor, active in the market segments of data security and cryptography. Atalla provides government-grade end-to-end products in ...

Mohamed Atta Mohamed Atta (1 September 196811 September 2001) was an Egyptian terrorist hijacker for al-Qaeda. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist, he was the ringleader of the September 11 attacks and served as the Aircraft hijacking, hijacker-pi ...

, 9/11 ringleader and hijacker * Naima Ilyas al-Ayyubi, first female lawyer in Egypt * Gamal Aziz, also known as Gamal Mohammed Abdelaziz, Egyptian former president and chief operating officer of

Wynn Resorts Wynn Resorts, Limited is an American publicly traded corporation based in Paradise, Nevada, that is a developer and operator of high-end hotels and casinos. It was founded in 2002 by former Mirage Resorts Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn and is now r ...

, and former CEO of

MGM Resorts International MGM Resorts International is an American Multinational corporation, multinational hospitality, sports and entertainment company. It operates resorts in Las Vegas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Macau, Shanghai, ...

, indicted as part of the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal *

Mona Zulficar Mona Salah El-Din Zulficar is an Egyptian lawyer and human rights activist. She was included in the ''Forbes'' 2023 list of the "100 most powerful businesswomen in the Arab region". She participates in drafting new laws and developing existing l ...

, Egyptian

attorney at law Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Unit ...

and human rights activist * Hisham Barakat, assassinated Prosecutor General of Egypt *

Boutros Boutros-Ghali Boutros Boutros-Ghali (14 November 1922 – 16 February 2016) was an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as the sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1992 to 1996. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Boutros-Gha ...

, sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) 1992–1996 * Eli Cohen, Israeli

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

spy that infiltrated the highest echelons of Syrian Government and instrumental in Israeli success in the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

and other successes * Taher Elgamal, designer of the ElGamal encryption system and considered "Father of SSL" * Basma Hassan (born 1976), actress *

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

(1937–2006), former president of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

* Mahmoud Zulfikar (1914–1970), Egyptian

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

Yuriko Koike Yuriko Koike (小池百合子, Koike Yuriko; born 15 July 1952) is a Japanese politician who has served as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. Previously, she was also served as a member of the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1993, a member o ...

(born 1952), former Japanese Minister of Defense and first female governor of Tokyo * Heba Kotb (born 1967), Egyptian sex therapist and TV host * Adly Mansour, Interim

President of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...

, and Chief Justice of the

Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt The Supreme Constitutional Court (, ''Al Mahkama Al Dustūrīya El ‘Ulyā'') is an independent judicial body in Egypt, located in the Cairo suburb of Maadi. The Supreme Constitutional Court is the highest judicial authority in the Arab Republi ...

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 President of Egypt The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...

Amr Moussa Amr Moussa (, , Amr Muhammad Moussa; born 3 October 1936) is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who was the Secretary General of the Arab League, Secretary-General of the Arab League, a 22-member forum representing Arab World, Arab states, from ...

, Secretary-General of the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

2001–2011, and president of the Egyptian constitution amendment committee in 2013 * Shawqi Daif, Arabic literary critic and historian *

Omar Sharif Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...

(1932–2015), actor, nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and has won three

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual Awards ceremony, award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally ...

* Magdi Yacoub (born 1935), professor of cardiothoracic surgery at

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

* Dina Zulfikar (born 1962), Egyptian

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

* Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy *

Ayman al-Zawahiri Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri (; 19 June 195131 July 2022) was an Egyptian-born pan-Islamism, pan-Islamist militant and physician who served as the second general emir of al-Qaeda from June 2011 until Killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his dea ...

(1951–2022), a terrorist, former practicing surgeon in the

Egyptian Army The Egyptian Army (), officially the Egyptian Ground Forces (), is the land warfare branch (and largest service branch) of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Until the declaration of the Republic and the abolishment of the monarchy on 18 June 1953, it w ...

, leader of the terrorist organisation

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at the time of his death. * Walid Muallem, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of Syria * Hamida Zakariya, first woman judge in South Yemen, Yemen, and the Arab World * Mona Mostafa Mohamed, head of the university's Cancer Biology Research Laboratory

Nobel laureates

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described him as a writer "who, through wo ...

Nobel Prize for Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...

in 1988 *

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

in 1994 *

Mohamed ElBaradei Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei (, ; born 17 June 1942) is an Egyptian law scholar and diplomat who served as the vice president of Egypt on an interim basis from 14 July 2013 until his resignation on 14 August 2013. He was the Director General of ...

in 2005

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cairo University Alumni 1908 establishments in Egypt Universities and colleges established in 1908 Buildings and structures in Giza