Kadir Has University


Kadir Has University is a university in Fatih, Istanbul.
It was founded in 1997. A private, non-profit university, it has seven faculties, Engineering, Sciences and Humanities, Economics and Administrative Sciences, Communication, Law and Fine Arts, as well as its several vocational schools, and is dedicated to becoming a leader in educational and cultural fields in Turkey, as well as establishing itself as an international center for research and scientific development. Prof. Dr. M. Sondan Durukanoğlu Feyiz is the rector of the university.

History

The university was founded by the Kadir Has Foundation, established by the late industrialist and philanthropist Kadir Has.
The university's central campus is located by the Golden Horn in Cibali, Fatih, the capital district of İstanbul, on the European side of the city. The building was originally a tobacco factory, erected in 1884 by the Istanbul-based Ottoman Armenian architect Hovsep Aznavur. The factory was used for nearly seventy years by TEKEL the state tobacco producers. It then fell in disrepair due to the lack of maintenance and eventually was abandoned. It wasn't until the late 1990s when the Kadir Has Foundation came up with the idea to turn this desolated factory building into a university, taking a twenty-nine year lease from Tekel in 1997. After four years of restoration, the university was officially opened on 30 December 2002. The building has over 35.000m2 of indoor space plus grounds.

Awards

In 2003 Kadir Has University won the Europa Nostra Award for the beautiful restoration of an historical place. After this huge success, again with the same aim, Kadir Has Charity Foundation bought the C block of the building from TEKEL also and started the restoration of this block which is planned to finish in November 2006.
Kadir Has University itself is the sponsor of a number of awards including: