Bilkent University was founded on October 20, 1984, by İhsan Doğramacı
(1915 - 2010) through the joint resolution of the İhsan Doğramacı
Education Foundation, the İhsan Doğramacı Science and Research Foundation, and the İhsan Doğramacı Health Foundation.
The aim was to create a center of excellence in higher education and research. . The name "Bilkent" exemplifies
the founder's aim, since it is an acronym of bilim kenti, Turkish for "city of science and knowledge."
The university is located in Ankara, Turkey's capital city.
The founder, an academic himself, had earlier contributed to the establishment of numerous public
institutions of higher learning and served as the rector of Ankara University, as the chairman of
the Board of Trustees of Middle East Technical University, and as the founder and first rector of
Hacettepe University. It had long been his objective to establish a private, non-profit university
distinguished by its high-quality education and research. During his time at Harvard and Washington
universities in the United States, he observed the advantages of independently endowed, non-profit
research universities that serve the public through higher education. With these in mind, he advocated
for decades for the Turkish legal system to allow such institutions. When this dream finally materialized,
he established Bilkent University along the same lines.
Preparations for Bilkent University had begun as early as 1967, with the purchase of a large tract
of land to the west of Ankara. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the foundations mentioned above began
construction of the buildings which now house administrative offices, the Faculty of Engineering, and
the library. Bilkent University Library is the most extensive academic library in the country. Construction
of residences for academic staff, cafeterias, student dormitories, the Student Union building,
and various academic buildings followed in rapid succession.
Bilkent University admitted its first students in 1986. That year, there were 386 undergraduate
and graduate students. Currently, there are over 12,000 students in ten faculties and three graduate
schools. Among them are international and exchange students from 55 countries, and approximately 66%
of the student body benefits from various scholarships.
From the outset, the university's governance structure provided for student union representatives to
participate in the administrative committees of various schools, as well as the University Senate.
The practice of student evaluation of courses and instructors, which was not a common practice in
Turkey at the time, was instituted.
In an effort to promote the enrichment of teaching and research programs, Bilkent University has
entered into collaborative projects and exchange programs with many universities; the complete list
is provided at: https://exchange.bilkent.edu.tr/exchange-partners/
To meet the university's expanding needs, construction has continued throughout the years since the
admission of the first students. Buildings and facilities today include the faculties and the departments,
research centers, modern classrooms, state-of-the-art science and engineering laboratories, art studios,
the Computer Center, the Health Center, gymnasiums and a semi-Olympic indoor swimming pool, outdoor sports
facilities, dormitories, faculty housing, cafeterias and restaurants, the Bilkent Concert Hall for Bilkent
Symphony Orchestra, the Odeon outdoor auditorium, which hosts 4,000 people, an elementary school, a
secondary school, a preschool and nursery.
The faculty comprises academic staff from over 38 different countries. Most of them were working
in prominent universities in North America and Europe when they received offers from Bilkent University.
According to the ISI Citation Indexes, Bilkent ranks high among universities in Turkey in terms
of the number of published papers per faculty member.
With world-renowned scholars among its faculty and top-notch facilities throughout its campus,
Bilkent continues to attract many of Turkey's brightest students and is proud of its over 60,000
alums, who are pursuing successful careers on six continents.
