Bilkent University was founded on October 20, 1984 by Ihsan Dogramaci (1915 - 2010) through the joint resolution of the Ihsan Dogramaci Education Foundation, the Ihsan Dogramaci Science and Research Foundation, and the Ihsan Dogramaci 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 Turkey's capital city of Ankara.

The founder, himself an academic, had earlier contributed to the establishment of numerous public institutions of higher learning and served as rector of Ankara University, as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Middle East Technical University and as 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 the time he spent at Harvard and Washington universities in the United States he had 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, and 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 above-mentioned foundations began construction of the buildings which now house administrative offices, the Faculty of Engineering, and the library. Construction of residences for academic staff, cafeterias, student dormitories, the Student Union building, and various academic buildings followed in rapid succession.

Bilkent University was officially founded in 1984 and in October 1986 admitted its first students. That year there were 386 undergraduate and graduate students. Currently there are over 12,000 students in nine faculties, two four-year applied schools, three two-year vocational schools, including the School of English Language, and five graduate schools. Among them are international students from 46 countries. With funds from the endowments provided by the founder, each year the university awards full scholarships to about 3,000 students and support and merit scholarships to about 800 students of high academic achievement.

From the outset, the design of the university structure provided for student union representatives to be voting members of the administrative committees of various schools, as well as of the University Senate. Beginning in the second year of instruction, the practice of student evaluation of courses and instructors, at the time not a common practice in Turkey, was instituted.

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 being provided at: http://exchange.bilkent.edu.tr/exchange_partners.html

Bilkent also has a communications office in the Empire State Building in New York City, which is equipped with interactive video conferencing capabilities. A number of courses and conferences are delivered to Bilkent students through this office via satellite connection.

To meet the expanding needs of the university, construction has continued throughout the years since the admission of the first students. New buildings and facilities include two gymnasiums; the faculties of Humanities and Letters; Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences; Art, Design and Architecture; Science; and Music and Performing Arts; the Computer Center, the department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, a concert hall for the Bilkent Academic Symphony Orchestra; the Odeon outdoor auditorium, which hosts 4,000 people; a secondary school, a preschool and nursery; new dining facilities; a new building housing lecture halls, two health centers, dormitories, and faculty housing.

Each year, more than 1.5 million high school graduates take a national examination to enter the 104 state and 62 private universities in Turkey. Bilkent is preferred by many of the very best of these students.

The faculty is comprised of academic staff from 40 different countries. Most of them were working in prominent universities in North America and Europe when they received offers from Bilkent University. According to ISI Citation Indexes, Bilkent continually ranks first among universities in Turkey in the number of published papers per faculty member and ranks high internationally by the same measure.

In 2010, Bilkent University was listed by Times Higher Education as one of the top 200 universities in the world and the best university in Turkey. Bilkent ranked 112th worldwide and 32nd in Europe.