Government College University, Lahore

Government College, Lahore circa 1880

Originally, the establishment of a Central College in Lahore was sanctioned in 1856 by the British Raj, given that the teachers are from Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin or Durham. Government College was founded in 1861 when it was "briefly affiliated"[7] by Brahma University under the leadership of Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, professor of Arabic and Islamic Law at King's College London. It was not until 1 January 1864 that the college opened its doors in the Palace of Raja Dhyan Singh Haveli, inside Lahore's Walled City, where it was an affiliated college of Calcutta University.

In April 1871 the college moved to a large Bungalow near Anarkali. In 1873 its location was again changed to another house called Rahim Khan's Kothi, due to rapidly increasing student strength. At last in 1876, the college moved into its present building,

The first principal was Dr. G. W. Leitner, whose name is closely attached to the College. In 1882, Leitner was very instrumental in laying foundation of Punjab University. Thereafter, the college would remain affiliated with Punjab University for 115 years. In 1997, the Government of Punjab gave Government College autonomy in all affairs and granted degree awarding status.[2]

In 2002, it was promoted to university status by Government of the Punjab; the word college was retained in its title for preserving its historical roots.[8]

Main Building, GCU

Annual Dinner at GCU

The torch, as the crest of the university emblem, represents the light of knowledge. The motto "Courage to Know" represents the guiding principle of the student community.[13]

Dr. Abdus Salam who won the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics.

There exist nine departmental chairs at the university, each in honor of a professor apropos to the department and their accomplishments in the said discipline. The following chairs have been announced and will be put into effect in near future.

• Dr. Muhammad Ajmal Chair in Psychology
• Syed Ahmad Shah Patras Bokhari Chair in English
• Dr. Har Gobind Khorana Chair in Chemistry

The following six chairs have been established at the respective departments:

• Allama Iqbal Chair in Philosophy
• G.W. Leitner Chair in History
• Syed Ali Hajvery Chair in Persian
• Ashfaq Ahmed Chair in Urdu
• Sultan Ahmed Chair in Biological Sciences [19]

Dr. Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry Chair in Experimental Physics

The Rafi Muhammad Chaudhry Chair in Experimental Physics was named after R. M. Chaudhry, a renowned Pakistani nuclear physicist and a professor of particle physics at the university. He is widely regarded as having been the pioneer of experimental nuclear physics research in Pakistan.[25] During his tenure as professor at the university, he set up High Tension Laboratory there in 1952 (now amalgamated into Centre for Advanced Studies in Physics CASP) where research anent to gaseous discharges, ion and electron impact phenomena, nuclear physics, radioactivity and cosmic rays is carried out.

The university set up the chair in recognition of his services to Pakistan, and to Physics. Currently, post-graduate research work in Applied Physics is carried out here.[26]

Mahboob-ul-Haq, a Pakistani economist who devised the Human Development Index.[27]

The Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences (AS-SMS) is one of the largest mathematical research institutes in Pakistan.[33] The school was established in 2003 by the Government of Punjab under the aegis of Government College University.[34]

The aim of the school is to train professional scientists to pursue the study of scientific and technological problems by mathematical methods and to undertake research in branches of mathematical sciences. Before the existence of ASSMS, Pakistani mathematicians opted to study abroad for postdoctoral fellowships, however an increasing number of PhD holders from foreign institutions are choosing ASSMS to pursue their postdoctoral fellowships.[33]

At 2011, ASSMS was labeled as the first "Emerging Regional Centre of Excellence" by the European Mathematical Society.[35]

ASSMS has taken steps to provide encouragement to Pakistani students in schools and colleges. These include:

• The faculty at the Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences host training camps for students from schools and colleges. The participants of the camps are prepared for the national team of Pakistan to compete at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO). In 2005, the national team of Pakistan took part for the first time in IMO. In 2007 Pakistan won the first medal at IMO and the first silver medal in 2012.
• ASSMS organizes mathematics contests at the national level.

The university has four hostels - three for boys and one for girls. lqbal Hostel (built in 1891) and Quaid-e-Azam Hostel (built in 1993) accommodate about 150 and 200 Intermediate students, respectively. The New Hostel (built in 1937) houses about 400 Degree students. Girls Hostel (built in 1975) accommodates about 50 girl students. A Faculty Mess has been built for visiting family members, faculty, and officers of the other universities. Lodging and messing facilities are available here.[36]

Alumni of the institute are called Ravians which is derived word from the name of the student magazine "Ravi", published by the administration of the college; the magazine name is inspired by the Ravi River.[37]

• 
  Sir Muhammad Iqbal - national poet of Pakistan and important figure in Urdu literature
• 
  Har Gobind Khorana - won the 1968 Nobel Prize in Medicine
• 
  Abdus Salam - won the 1979 Nobel prize in Physics
• 
  Muhammad Zafarullah Khan - former president of both the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice
• 
  Faiz Ahmad Faiz - was one of Pakistan's leading Marxist's who won the Lenin Peace Prize
• 
  Ishfaq Ahmad - a Pakistani nuclear physicist who served at CERN and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

• Ashfaq Ahmed - an intellectual, playwright and broadcaster, awarded the President's Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz for his services in the field of literature.
• Syed Ahmed Shah - known by his pen-name Patras Bokhari; served as the first Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations.
• Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum - 20th-century poet, best known for his many poems written for children, and as the translator of many poetical works from Persian into Punjabi and Urdu.
• Prof. Dr. Saadat Saeed - a professor of Urdu language and literature at the university and contemporary critic and poet of Urdu language.
• Ishfaq Ahmad - an IEEE fellow, recognized for his contributions to scheduling techniques in parallel and distributed computing systems and video coding.
• Senior Justice Javed Iqbal - son of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal; had a prolific career in the Judiciary of Pakistan.
• Amjad Siddique - a Pakistani former first-class cricketer who played for WAPDA cricket team, including some time as captain.
• Rameez Raja - a Pakistani cricketer, who represented Pakistan in 1990s. He is a well-known commentator in international cricket matches.

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  Government College circa 1880, as seen from Oval Ground.
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  GCU, as seen from outside.
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  GCU's tower.
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  British style architecture of GCU.
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  GCU's overhead bridge, connecting Main Building with Bachelors' Block.
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  old building of languages
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  GCU courtyard.
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  GCU's amphitheater after rain.
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  Overview to Bokhari Auditorium, GCU's general auditorium, named after Potras Bokhari.
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  GCU's Tower Door, representing English church architecture.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government College University, Lahore.

• GCU official website
• GCU Prospectus