Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

state 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 ...

located in the city of

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The university houses 46 academic departments. It has about 307 recognised research institutes and 612 affiliated colleges offering graduate and under-graduate courses. Savitribai Phule Pune University Ranked 12th NIRF Ranking in 2022.

History

The University of Pune was established on 10 February 1949 under the Pune University Act passed by the

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

legislature in 1948. M. R. Jayakar became its first

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

. Its first office was started from the Nizam Guest House, which is part of

Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) is a research institute involved in the conservation, preservation, and research of old manuscripts and rare books related to Orientalism, particularly Indology. It is located in Pune, Maharash ...

on Law College Road. The university was operated at Nizam Guest House until 1 June 1949. Its current building was originally called the Governor House. As its name suggests, it was the seasonal retreat of the governor of Bombay. B. G. Kher,

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

and Education Minister of the government of Bombay, helped ensure the university received a large allocation of land for their campus. The university was allocated over 411 acres (1.66 km²). The institution's name was changed from the University of Pune to Savitribai Phule Pune University on 9 August 2014 in honor of Savitribai Phule, the 19th century Indian social reformer who played an important role in improving the lives of women and the

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

communities in Maharashtra during British colonial rule. She and her husband Mahatma Jyotiba Phule founded India's first native-run school for girls in 1848.

Organisation and administration

Governance

Jurisdiction

Initially the university had a jurisdiction extending over 12 districts of western

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. With the establishment of Shivaji University in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

in 1962, the jurisdiction was restricted to five districts:

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar, officially Ahilyanagar, is a city in, and the headquarters of, the Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. Ahmednagar has several dozen buildings and sites from the Nizam Shahi period. Ahmednagar Fort, once considered almost impre ...

, Nashik, Dhule, and

Jalgaon Jalgaon () is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra in the subregion of Khandesh, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. In the subregion of ...

. Out of these, two districts—Dhule and Jalgaon—are attached to the North Maharashtra University in

established in August 1990.

Vice-Chancellors

Past and present vice-chancellors of the university are:

Departments

The university has various departments and centres, offering courses in science, social science, management, law, etc. * The Engineering department offers courses in various fields, including Computer Science Engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics and Automation, Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering, and many more. * Unipune introduces a bachelor's degree course in Environment Science. The course started from the academic year of 2018–2019. * The Department of Foreign Languages was started in Ranade institute building in 1949. It offers courses for German, French, Russian, Japanese and Spanish languages from elementary level to post graduation courses. Batches are conducted in morning as well as in evening. Over 1500 students are enrolled every year. * Competition Exam Center (CEC): is for coaching programs for various government competition exams. * Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre.

Rankings

Savitribai Phule Pune University was ranked in the 601–800 band in the world by the ''

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

'' of 2023, as well as in the 201-250 band in Asia and in the 201-250 band among Emerging Economies University Rankings in 2022. It was ranked 37th in India overall by the ''

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

'' (NIRF) and 23rd among universities in 2024.

Student life

The colleges of the university provide residences for students. The International Centre provides residences for international students, including visiting students.

Alumni and faculty

Alumni of Savitribai Phule Pune University include major politicians of India including Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 7th

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...

; Pratibha Patil, 12th

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

; Vilasrao Deshmukh, 17th and 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra; and

Sharad Pawar Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar (, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra for four terms and in the Union Council of Ministers ...

, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. P. V. Narasimha Rao, 9th Prime Minister of India, graduated from Fergusson College, when the college was under the

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

. Khaled Bahah, 2nd Vice President of Yemen and Prime Minister of Yemen, received his

BCom A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bach ...

and MCom from the university. In science and engineering, notable alumni of the university include Padmanabhan Balaram, chemist and director of the Indian Institute of Science;

Kantilal Mardia Kantilal Vardichand "Kanti" Mardia (born 1935) is an Indian-British statistician specialising in directional statistics, multivariate analysis, geostatistics, statistical bioinformatics and statistical shape analysis. He was born in Sirohi, ...

, statistician and Guy Medallists; Thomas Kailath, electrical engineer and recipient of the 2014 National Medal of Science; Vistasp Karbhari, civil engineer and the eighth president of the University of Texas at Arlington; Suhas Patankar, professor at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, and pioneer in the field of

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid dynamics, fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required ...

(CFD) and finite volume method; C. Kumar N. Patel, inventor of the

carbon dioxide laser The carbon-dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed. It was invented by C. Kumar N. Patel, Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964 and is still one of the most useful types of laser. Carbon dioxide, Carbon-dioxide lase ...

, recipient of the 1996 National Medal of Science and vice-Chancellor for Research at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

; and Vinod Scaria, bioinformatician, who is known for sequencing the first Indian

genome A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...

. V. S. Huzurbazar served as the first head of the statistics department. S.N. Sadasivan who was Civil Services trainer, Author and historian. Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist and Sulochana Gadgil, meteorologist. Politician includes

Agatha Sangma Agatha Kongkal Sangma (born 24 July 1980) is an Indian politician. A former Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha representing the Tura Lok Sabha constituency, Tura constituency of Meghalaya. At the age of 29, she is the youngest member of parliament ...

, K. T. Rama Rao, Prakash Javadekar, and Nabeel Rajab. Academician Jyoti Gogte, graduated her BCom, MCom, and Ph.D. from the university, and was a Ph.D. guide for the university from 2006 to 2013. Art collector and historian Dinkar G. Kelkar graduated his D. Litt. degree from the university in 1978. Journalist Shereen Bhan received her master's in

Communication Studies Communication studies (or communication science) is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differ ...

, with film and television as her areas of specialisation from the university.

References

External links

*
Pune university Information Centre
{{Authority control Universities in Maharashtra Universities and colleges established in 1949 1949 establishments in India Tourist attractions in Pune district