Ponna University

Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The university houses 46 academic departments. It has about 307 recognized research institutes and 612 affiliated colleges offering graduate and under-graduate courses. Savitribai Phule Pune University Ranked 12th NIRF Ranking in 2022

History

The University of Pune was established on 10 February 1949 under the Pune University Act passed by the Bombay legislature in 1948. M. R. Jayakar became its first vice-chancellor. Its first office was started from the Nizam Guest House, which is part of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute on Law College Road. The university was operated at Nizam Guest House until 1 June 1949. Its current building was originally called the Governor House. As its name suggests, it was the seasonal retreat of the governor of Bombay. B. G. Kher, Chief Minister and Education Minister of the government of Bombay, helped ensure the university received a large allocation of land for their campus. The university was allocated over 411 acres (1.66 km²).

The institution's name was changed from the University of Pune to Savitribai Phule Pune University on 9 August 2014 in honor of Savitribai Phule, the 19th century Indian social reformer who played an important role in improving the lives of women and the Dalit communities in Maharashtra during British colonial rule. She and her husband Mahatma Jyotiba Phule founded India's first native-run school for girls in 1848.

Organisation and administration

Governance

Jurisdiction

Initially the university had a jurisdiction extending over 12 districts of western Maharashtra. With the establishment of Shivaji University in Kolhapur in 1962, the jurisdiction was restricted to five districts: Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Dhule, and Jalgaon. Out of these, two districts—Dhule and Jalgaon—are attached to the North Maharashtra University in Jalgaon established in August 1990.

Vice-Chancellors

Past and present vice-chancellors of the university are:

Departments

The university has various departments and centres, offering courses in science, social science, management, law, etc.
* Unipune introduces a bachelor's degree course in Environment Science. The course started from the academic year of 2018–2019.
* The Department of Foreign Languages was started in Ranade institute building in 1949. It offers courses for German, French, Russian, Japanese and Spanish languages from elementary level to post graduation courses. Batches are conducted in morning as well as in evening. Over 1500 students are enrolled every year.
* Competition Exam Center (CEC): is for coaching programs for various government competition exams.
* Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre.

Rankings

In 2018, the University of Pune was ranked 7th among universities in India by the Times Higher Education. In 2022, the University of Pune ranked between 591 and 600 in the QS World University Ranking. Savitribai Phule Pune University was ranked 601–800 in the world by the '' Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' of 2020, as well as 135 in Asia and 128 among Emerging Economies University Rankings in 2020. The QS World University Rankings of 2020 ranked it 191 in Asia in 2020 and 100 among universities in BRICS nations in 2019.

It was ranked 19 in India overall by the '' National Institutional Ranking Framework'' in 2020 and 9th among universities.

Management Council

The Management Council is the principal executive authority of the university and is chaired by the vice-chancellor. It typically consists of around 20 member, of which, three are elected by the Academic Council and nine are elected or nominated by the senate. The Management Council formulates statutes, makes ordinances to be approved by the Senate, and administers the affairs of the university.

Over 1,800 Indian students were granted admission in various professional courses from 2002 to 2007 for the seats reserved for Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) by then director of International Students Centre (ISC) of University of Pune. This was revealed by Sunanda Pawar enquiry committee formed by the then UoP vice chancellor Narendra Jadhav. Pawar was a member of the management council of UoP.

Achievements

In the Khelo India University Games in Odisha, Savitribai Phule Pune University was on top with 29 medals including fifteen gold, eight silver, and six bronze medals on the fifth day on 26 February 2020.

Savitribai Phule Pune University's Joyita Sarkar was one of the 21 people and the only one from an educational institute in the state to be awarded by President Ramnath Kovind for her role in science communication and popularisation on the National Science Day in New Delhi.

Four students from the Savitribai Phule Pune University's (SPPU) competitive exam centres have stood first in the state in their respective categories for Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) civil services exams for sales tax inspector.

Student life

The colleges of the university provide residences for students. The International Centre provides residences for international students, including visiting students.

Alumni and faculty

Alumni of Savitribai Phule Pune University include major politicians of India including Vishwanath Pratap Singh, 7th Prime Minister of India;
Pratibha Patil, 12th President of India;
Vilasrao Deshmukh, 17th and 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra; and Sharad Pawar, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. P. V. Narasimha Rao, 9th Prime Minister of India, graduated from Fergusson College, when the college was under the University of Pune.

Khaled Bahah, 2nd Vice President of Yemen and Prime Minister of Yemen, received his BCom and MCom from the university.

In science and engineering, notable alumni of the university include Padmanabhan Balaram, chemist and director of the Indian Institute of Science; Kantilal Mardia, statistician and Guy Medallists; Thomas Kailath, electrical engineer and recipient of the 2014 National Medal of Science; Vistasp Karbhari, civil engineer and the eighth president of the University of Texas at Arlington; Suhas Patankar, professor at the University of Minnesota, and pioneer in the field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite volume method; C. Kumar N. Patel, inventor of the carbon dioxide laser, recipient of the 1996 National Medal of Science and vice-Chancellor for Research at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Vinod Scaria, bioinformatician, who is known for sequencing the first Indian genome. V. S. Huzurbazar served as the first head of the statistics department. S.N. Sadasivan who was Civil Services trainer, Author and historian. Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist and Sulochana Gadgil, meteorologist.

Politician includes Agatha Sangma, K. T. Rama Rao, Prakash Javadekar, and Nabeel Rajab.

Academician Jyoti Gogte, graduated her BCom, MCom, and Ph.D. from the university, and was a Ph.D. guide for the university from 2006 to 2013.

Art collector and historian Dinkar G. Kelkar graduated his D. Litt. degree from the university in 1978.

See also

* University of Pune faculty
* List of universities in India
* Universities and colleges in India

References

External links

*
Pune university Information Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Pune

Universities in Maharashtra
Educational institutions established in 1949
1949 establishments in India
Tourist attractions in Pune district