University of Baghdad

Not to be confused with Baghdad College of Economic Sciences University.

University of Baghdad
جامعة بغداد
MottoArabic: وَقُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا, lit. 'And say "My Lord, improve me in knowledge"'
TypePublic
Established1959
PresidentBahaa Ibraheem
RectorBahaa Ibraheem Kazem
Students71,840[1]
Undergraduates70,000
Postgraduates10,000
Location
Baghdad
,
Iraq
CampusUrban
Websitewww.uobaghdad.edu.iq

The University of Baghdad (UOB) (Arabic: جامعة بغداد), is a public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. Established in 1957, it was the second largest university in the Arab world, after the University of Cairo. The university has four campuses across the city, located in Al-Jadriyah, Bab al-Muadhdham, Nahda Road and Wazeriya neighborhoods.[2]

The first constituent was opened in 1908, followed by further institutions. Baghdad University provides academic programs in variety of fields such as engineering, medical sciences, liberal arts and religious education. The university maintains four campuses across the city, located in Al-Jadriyah, Bab al-Muadhdham, Wazeriya and Nahda Road.

History

Origins

The College of Islamic Sciences claims that it originated in 1067 A.D. as Abu-Haneefa.[3] The College of Law, the earliest of the modern institutions that were to become the first constituent Colleges (i.e. Faculties) of the University of Baghdad, was founded in 1908.[4]

The College of Engineering was established in 1921; the Higher Teachers Training College and the Lower College of Education in 1923, the College of Medicine in 1927, and the College of Pharmacy in 1936. In 1942, the first higher institution for girls, Queen Alia College, was established. In 1943, proposals for further new Colleges appeared, leading to the foundation of the College of Arts and the College of Science in 1949, and Abu Ghraib College of Agriculture in 1950.

Foundation and expansion

In 1943, the first committee was formed to explore the possibilities of establishing an Iraqi university in Baghdad.[5] The first resolution enacted in September in 1956 to establish the university.[5] The building was commissioned by the royal government of Iraq in the late 1950s. and the University of Baghdad was formally established in 1957.[5] Its buildings were designed by Walter Gropius, Louis McMillen and Robert McMillah, of The Architects' Collaborative, and were made from 1959 to 1960.[5] The architects' master plan came for a new university campus, included the School of Engineering abd Liberal Arts, for a total 6,000 students [5]

Upon the establishment of the university, the first rector was appointed along with the formation of a constituent council of the university to study the realities of existing institutes at the time and taking necessary steps to relate them to the university. In 1958, another resolution was passed stating that the University of Baghdad would have a council to manage administrative and scientific affairs, comprising the Faculties of Law, Engineering, Education, Medicine, Pharmacy, Arts, Commerce, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. Postgraduate institutes were later attached to the university—the Institute of Management Sciences, Institute of Language, Institute of Surveying Engineering, Institute of Higher Industrial Engineering and the Institute of Physical Education.[5]

Due to increasing demands, the university expanded in terms of students and staffs, who can be involved in scientific works in other cities of Iraq, particularly in establishing the faculties of Medicine, Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Forestry, Pharmacy, Humanities, the Computer Institute in Mosul, as well as the formation of the faculties of Education, Law and Engineering in Basra, where early in April 1967, the aforementioned faculties became the foundation for the educational institutions of the Universities of Mosul and Basra.[5]

The campus was expanded in 1982 to accommodate 20,000 students. Architects Hisham N. Ashkouri and Robert Owen developed the academic spaces program for the entire campus. The College of Administration and Economics underwent significant changes.[6] The branches of public administration and business administration were merged into one branch, the administration branch, and the department included three branches instead of four: the management branch, the accounting branch and the commercial teacher preparation branch.[6]

21st century

The University of Baghdad suffered during the war and subsequent occupation, with more than 90% of its students dropping out of some classes. During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, it escaped almost unscathed from the bombing. The university endured looting and burning by mobsters. The faculty of education in Wazireya was raided daily for two weeks; the veterinary college in Abu Ghraib lost all its equipment; two buildings in the faculty of fine arts.

In the immediate aftermath of the takeover of Baghdad by the U.S Forces, the situation looked possible to improve.[7] A number of American university delegations toured Iraqi universities, to help revive a higher-education system depleted of resources and isolated.[7] However, the escalation of civil-war in Iraq, had lasting impact on the educational sector.[7] Estimates of the number of professors killed since the 2003 invasion range from 250 to 1,000.[7] At the University of Baghdad alone, 78 professors were killed, according to the London-based Council for Assisting Refugee Academics.[7] Mohammed A.F. Al-Rawi, the president of the university, was removed from his post after the invasion, as a par of de-Ba'athification process.[8] Al-Rawi was a member and high ranked profile in the regime of Saddam Hussein, though he maintained low profile.[8] On 27 July 2003, Al-Rawi was assassinated at his clinic by two gunmen.[8]

In September 2018, the university was listed in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, a yearly classification of the best 1,250 universities in the world, for the first time.[9] In 2024, it achieved Pioneering Position in Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings.[10] The Arab University Ranking for 2025 placed the university among the top Arab institutions, ranking it 14th with 588.3 points across the region.[11] In September 2025, the university established Colleges of Excellence and Artificial Intelligence at the campus.[12]

University rankings
Global – Overall
QS World[13]741-750 (2026)

Presidents

Below is a list of the current and former presidents of the University:[14]

  • Dr. Matti Akrawi — 5 October 1957 – 1 August 1958
  • Dr. Abdul Jabbar Abdullah — 19 March 1959 – 8 March 1963
  • Dr. Abed Al-Azeez Al-Duri — 10 February 1963 – 27 November 1965 and 10 September 1966 – 7 August 1968
  • Dr. Jassem Mohammad Al-Kallaf — 9 September 1968 – 8 August 1970
  • Dr. Abed Allatif Al-Badry — 8 August 1970 – 1 March 1971
  • Dr. Saad Abed Al-Bakki Al-Rawi — 15 June 1971 – 23 January 1974
  • Dr. Taha Ibrahim Al-Abdalla — 14 March 1974 – 15 October 1977
  • Dr. Sulttan Abed Al-Kader Al-Shawi — 18 October 1977 – 1 March 1978
  • Dr. Taha Tayh Diab Al-Ne'ami — 30 June 1980 – 27 December 1990
  • Dr. Adil Shakir Al-Tai — 10 July 1990 – 28 February 1991
  • Dr. Khidir Jasim Al-Duri — 1 March 1991 – 10 November 1993
  • Dr. Abed Al-Iillah Yossif Al-Kashab — 14 November 1993 – 7 June 2001
  • Dr. Mohammad Abed Allah Falah Al-Rawi — 12 June 2001 – 30 April 2003
  • Dr. Sammi Abed Al-Mahdi Al-Mudaffar — 24 May 2003 – 28 September 2003
  • Dr. Musa Juwad Aziz Al-Musawi — 28 September 2003 – 20 November 2012
  • Dr. Alaa Abdulrasool Alkashwan — 20 November 2012 – 13 May 2019
  • Dr. Qusi Alsuhil — May 2019 – December 2019
  • Dr. Emad Hussein Mirza — December 2019 – August 2020
  • Dr. Munir Hameed Al-Saadi — August 2020 – January 2024
  • Dr. Prof. Dr. Bahaa Ibraheem Ansaf — 3 January 2024 – present

Campuses

Al-Jadriya campus

  • College of Engineering
  • Al-Khwarizmi College of Engineering
  • College of Science
  • College of Political Science
  • College of Physical Education
  • College of Science for Women
  • College of Education for Women
  • Institute of Laser for Postgraduate Studies
  • Institute of Urban and Regional Planning
  • Institute of Genetic Engineering
  • Institute of Accounting & Financial Studies
  • College of Agricultural

Bab Al-Muadham campus

Al-Waziriya campus

  • College of Physical Education for Women
  • College of Law
  • College of Administration, Business and Economy
  • College of Education – Ibn Al-Haytham
  • College of Fine Arts
  • College of Veterinary

Nahda CrossRoad

Notable alumni

Politics and administration

Science and technology

Medicine

Media

Scholar and research

Literature and arts

  • Venus Faiq (born 1963), Iraqi-Kurd Dutch writer, journalist, and poet.[17]

Notable development consultants

  • Cyril Saunders, UNESCO Library Development consultant, 1952–1955
  • Harold Bonny, UNESCO Library Development consultant, 1957–1958
  • Donald Powell (University of Arizona), USAID/ICA Library Development consultant at Abu Ghraib College, 1957
  • William S. Dix (Librarian, University of Princeton), Ford Foundation Library Development consultant, 1958
  • Des Raj Kalia, UNESCO Library Development consultant, 1959–1960
  • Stephen Ford (University of Michigan) and Paul Kebabian (New York Public Library), Ford Foundation Library Development consultants, 1961–1962.
  • Rudolph Gjelsness (Professor and Head of the Department of Library Science, University of Michigan), Ford Foundation Library Development consultant, 1962–1963
  • David T. Wilder (University Librarian, University of Michigan – Oakland), Ford Foundation Library Development consultant, 1965–66
  • Anand P. Srivastava (Head of the Department of Library Science, University of Rajasthan), UNESCO consultant, Graduate School of Library Science, 1968–1973
  • Khalil M. H. Al-Shamma', Former Dean, College of Administration, Business and Economy, Reorganization of the University of Baghdad and The Higher Education sector, 1969, Donated his rich personal library with its complete furniture to the Central Library of the University of Baghdad /Al-Jadriya Campus 2012.

See also

References

  1. ^ "ABOUT University of Baghdad". Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  2. ^ "University of Baghdad". Top Universities. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. ^ "College of Islamic Sciences". University of Baghdad. Retrieved 14 July 2014. (Possibly a harmful site)
  4. ^ Ala, Hamoudi, Haider (2005). "Toward a Rule of Law Society in Iraq: Introducing Clinical Legal Education into Iraqi Law Schools". Berkeley Journal of International Law. 23 (1). doi:10.15779/z38q06r.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Establishment of the University of Baghdad". University of Baghdad. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  6. ^ a b "The Establishment of the College". College of Administration and Economics. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Iraq's Universities Near Collapse". IIE Scholar Rescue Fund. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  8. ^ a b c Castillo, Daniel del (30 July 2003). "Former President of U. of Baghdad Is Killed by Assassins". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
  9. ^ Coughlan, Sean (26 September 2018). "Baghdad University makes global ranking". BBC News. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  10. ^ muna (24 November 2024). "University of Baghdad Achieves Pioneering Position in 2025 Times Higher Education Interdisciplinary Science Rankings". University of Baghdad. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  11. ^ "University of Baghdad ranks 14th in Arab universities list for 2025". Shafaq News. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  12. ^ IraqiNews (19 August 2025). "University of Baghdad to open College of Artificial Intelligence in September". Iraqi News. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  13. ^ "QS World University Rankings".
  14. ^ "Former Rectors".
  15. ^ Keane, Lauren; Bourque, Audrey (29 September 2017). "Launching the College of Engineering, Technology, and Aeronautics". SNHU. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  16. ^ "Ghanim Al-Jumaily, Ambassador of Iraq to Japan". UN Institute for Training and Research. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  17. ^ "فينوس فائق لـ"الشبكة": الشعر هوية تختصر شخصيتنا الإنسانية – مجلة الشبكة العراقية, IMN Magazine". 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2022.

33°16′26″N 44°22′39″E / 33.27389°N 44.37750°E / 33.27389; 44.37750

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