Boğaziçi University

In 1863, Robert College was founded in Bebek by Christopher Robert, a wealthy American philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a Congregational missionary devoted to education.^[3][4] Six years after its foundation, the first campus (the current-day Boğaziçi South Campus) was built on the ridge near Rumelian Castle (Turkish: Rumeli Hisarı) with the permission of Sultan Abdülaziz.^[3]

According to a college catalogue compiled for the 1878–1879 academic year, "the object of the College is to give to its students, without distinction of race or religion, a thorough education equal in all respects to that obtained at a first-class American college and based upon the same general principles."^[5]

After Cyrus Hamlin, the college was administered by George Washburn (1877–1903) and Caleb Gates (1903–1932).^[3] Established as an institution of higher learning independent of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), though with a significant number of missionaries among its faculty in its earlier years, the college adopted an entirely secular and non-denominational educational model in 1923 in compliance with the new republican principles of Turkey.^[6]

Before 1971, Robert College, had junior high school, high school, and university sections under the names Robert Academy, Robert College, and Robert College Yüksek Kısım. In 1971, the Bebek campus and academic staff of Robert College were decided to be turned over to the Republic of Turkey to be transformed into a public university named Boğaziçi University, the renamed continuation of Robert College's university section (i.e. Robert College Yüksek Kısım).^[7] The rest of Robert College moved into the Arnavutköy campus of the American College for Girls; despite continuing to call itself a college, it became merely a high school.^[8]

On 10 September 1971, as part of this transformation, Robert College bequeathed its Bebek campus—today's Boğaziçi South Campus—comprising 118 acres, along with its buildings, library, laboratories, facilities, personnel, and students, to the Turkish government. Boğaziçi University was subsequently established as a Turkish public university. Since then, the university has gradually evolved from a small liberal arts college into a major research university.^[9]

The South Campus is the historic heart of the university and the most symbolically important part of the institution. It houses various historic buildings of Robert College, including Hamlin Hall,, Theodorus Hall, Dodge Hall, Albert Long Hall and as well as the Kennedy Lodge^[31] South Campus also accommodates major academic and administrative functions. The academic departments in South Campus are housed in Washburn Hall (Faculty of Economic and Administrative Science), Anderson Hall (Faculty of Science), Perkins Hall (Faculty of Engineering), Sloane Hall (Psychology and Sociology Departments), Institute for Data Science & Artifical Intelligence and Natuk Birkan Building (Economics Department and Turkish Language and Literature Department).

The North Campus functions as one of the university's main academic and service hubs, especially for science, engineering, and large-scale student facilities. The campus houses The Faculty of Education Building, the Educational Technologies Building, the Computer Engineering Building, and the Sciences and Engineering Building. The North Campus was home to Aptullah Kuran Library, which contains more than 740,000 printed books, 800,000 e-books, 55,000 e-journals as well as an extensive collection of Braille books, and a collection of rare books and manuscripts.^[32][33]

The Uçaksavar Campus includes a sports complex with a stadium and a fully equipped gym. Life Long Learning Center (BUYEM) and Garanti Cultural Center are also located on this campus.^[34]

The Hisar Campus houses the Institute of Environmental Sciences, more than 20 classrooms, 3 amphitheaters and a cafeteria. The campus also includes an indoor swimming pool and a gymnasium.^[35]

The Kilyos Sarıtepe campus, located on the Black Sea coast, is home to student dorms and a private beach. It is the first energy self-sufficient university campus in the world, meeting all of its electricity demands from its own wind power plant.^[36]

The Anadolu Hisarı Campus is primarily associated with preparatory language education. Boğaziçi University School of Foreign Languages Preparatory Unit is located in Anadolu Hisarı Campus. In addition, there are a student cafeteria, dining hall, sports facilities, dormitory which are serving on campus.^[37]

The Kandilli Campus hosts Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute and also the Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

• List of American universities and colleges outside the United States
• Robert College
• List of universities in Turkey
• List of universities in Istanbul