Shiraz University

Coordinates: 29°38′23.07″N 52°31′36.3″E / 29.6397417°N 52.526750°E / 29.6397417; 52.526750

Shiraz University

دانشگاه شيراز Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz
Type	Public
Established	1946
Endowment	US$ 73.18 million (December 10, 2014)[1]
Chancellor	Hamid Nadegaran[2]
Academic staff	700[3]
Students	around 21,000[4]
Undergraduates	11,839
Postgraduates	7,189
Doctoral students	1,683
Location	Shiraz, Fars, Iran
Campus	Urban
Athletics	12 teams
Colors	Dark blue and Yellow
Affiliations	FUIW IAU ASEA-UNINET
Website	shirazu.ac.ir

Shiraz University (Persian: دانشگاه شیراز‎ Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz), formerly known as Pahlavi University (دانشگاه پهلوی Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi), is a public university located in Shiraz, Iran. In the latest ranking of Iranian universities based on scientific output, Shiraz University is listed among the top three research-oriented schools in the nation.^[5] In the first report of state universities ranking and among almost 70 universities and higher education institutes, Shiraz University is ranked as level 1.^[6]

The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) assisted the Iranian government in establishing American-style higher education at the university. Penn thus became highly influential in shaping many of Pahlavi University's departments and institutions. Shiraz University has the second-biggest campus in Iran. It was initially designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki,^[7] who also designed the World Trade Center.

Shiraz University has pioneered the establishment of doctoral programs in Iran. Presently the university has over 20,000 students, with 200 bachelor's degree programs (B.A., B.Sc.), 300 master's degree programs (M.A., M.Sc.), one professional degree program (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine or DVM), and 150 Ph.D. programs.

History

school of engineering, shiraz university

School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, shiraz university

Eram Botanical Garden of Shiraz University

Shiraz University traces its roots to 1946, with the establishment of a technical college aimed at training specialists in the medical sciences with a four-year program.

Initially called the High Institute of Health, it developed into a medical school in 1950. In 1953, the Namazi School of Nursing and the Colleges of Agriculture and Arts and Sciences were established.

With the addition of the College of Engineering and College of Veterinary Medicine in 1954, the school was elevated to university-status and named after the reigning Pahlavi dynasty. Other units that were subsequently added were the Dental School in 1969, the Graduate School and College of Electronics in 1969, Dentistry in 1970 and the Colleges of Law and Education in 1977.

Shiraz University Administration Building

In 1960, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, King of Iran invited University of Pennsylvania president Gaylord Harnwell to come to Iran and examine Iran's higher education institutions. Harnwell prepared a report at the Shah's request, entitled A Pattern for a New University in Iran, and the Shah subsequently decided that Penn would assist the Iranian government in transforming Pahlavi University^[8] into the only institution in Iran based on American-style higher education.^[9] The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) thus became highly influential in shaping many of Pahlavi University's departments and institutions.^[10] Many faculty members from Penn were hence sent to Shiraz to teach and carry out research at the university, and a widespread exchange program was established. The president of the University of Pennsylvania was even awarded an honorary degree in Shiraz in recognition of the help of Penn to Pahlavi University.^[11]

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty, drastic changes were implemented at all universities. The name of Pahlavi University was immediately changed to Shiraz University. All universities were closed for three years in a so-called Iran's Cultural Revolution of 1980-1987 to islamize all the universities.

Taq-e Bostan Tree of Life Relief and The Basic Motif for current Seal

Ranking

According to a report by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (Iran) published in 2010 and 2011, Shiraz University ranked 6th respectively between 64 and 68 non-medical universities and institutions in Iran. It was also one of top three non-technical and non-medical universities along with the University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modares University in a 2012 ranking.^[14] The university is known to be strict and usually the grade point average(GPA) of students in various departments is generally lower than their peers in other universities of Iran.^[15] Shiraz University is well known as a tough university with low GPA (Grade Point Average) specially in Civil, Electrical and Mechanical engineering . Even universities like Sharif University of Technology and University of Tehran are not tough to the extent of Shiraz University. That’s why many students of Shiraz University believe their grades do not reflect their academic performance.^[16]

According to the 2017 rankings of the best universities given by the Times Higher Education, Shiraz University has been ranked in the top 3 universities in Iran. In 2016 only eight universities from Iran were included in this ranking, whereas in 2017, fourteen universities from Iran were among the top universities rankings. Based on these rankings, Shiraz University became the best comprehensive university in Iran.^[17]

Athletics

The first university horse manege was opened at Shiraz University in 2011.^[18]

Notable people

• Asadollah Alam, former chancellor, close advisor of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
• Iraj Bashiri, professor of history, University of Minnesota
• Hossein Baharvand, stem cell and developmental biologist and director of Royan Institute
• Nezameddin Faghih, Professor of Management
• Ehsan Goudarzi, Iranian actor, screenwriter and lyricist
• Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, Iranian politician and former chairman of the Iranian parliament
• Mansoor Hekmat, Iranian Marxist theorist and leader of the worker-communist movement
• Ahmad Jalali, Iranian scholar and philosopher
• Mohsen Kadivar, philosopher
• Maryam Keshavarz, filmmaker
• Ebadollah S. Mahmoodian, Professor of Mathematics, Sharif University of Technology
• Hassan Makaremi, Iranian artist, painter and calligrapher, psychoanalyst and Human Rights Activist
• Reza Malekzadeh, Iranian medical scientist and gastroenterologist and former Minister of Health^[19]
• Mostafa Moeen, Iranian politician and Iran's former Minister of Culture and Higher Education and Minister of Science, Research and Technology
• Ata'ollah Mohajerani, former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance during Khatami's first presidency
• Ebrahim Nabavi, satirist, writer, diarist, and researcher
• Sadollah Nasiri Gheydari, Professor of Physics, University of Zanjan
• Richard Nelson Frye, Director of the famous "Asia Institute" in Shiraz, and faculty member of Pahlavi University.
• Majid Pishyar, Iranian-Canadian businessman
• Mohammad Rasoulof, filmmaker
• Nematollah Riazi, cosmologist
• Sohrab Rohani, The winners of the 2008 Ontario Professional Engineers Awards (OSPE), Chair of Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at University of Western Ontario^[20]
• Mehdi Samadi, CTO and Co-Founder at Solvvy, among 2015 Forbes 30 under 30 list
• Sirous Shamisa, writer and Persian literature scholar
• Davood Shahidi, architect and cartoonist
• Alireza Shapour Shahbazi, Persian archaeologist, Iranologist and a world expert on Achaemenid archeology
• Yousef Sobouti, Faculty, Iranian physicist and former head of Physics Department at Shiraz University.
• Mohammad Soleimani, former Minister of Communications
• Alireza Tahmasbi, former Minister of Mines and Industry

See also

• Education in Iran
• Higher Education in Iran
• Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
• Shiraz University of Technology
• List of Iranian scientists
• Modern Iranian scientists and engineers

References

External links

• Official website

• Shiraz University Central Library
• Shiraz University Museum of Natural History
• Shiraz University Newspaper
• Shiraz University Center for Radiation Protection
• Shiraz University Center of Excellence for Computational Methods in Mechanical Engineering (CECMME)
• Shiraz University Engine Research Center