Ghent University

Ghent University
Universiteit Gent (Dutch)
Latin: Academia Gandavensis
Motto	Audere Sapiens
Motto in English	Dare to Think
Established	1817
Type	Public
Religious affiliation	Pluralistic
Rector	Paul Van Cauwenberge
Admin. staff	7,900
Students	38,000
Location	Ghent, Flanders, Belgium 51°2′46″N 3°43′39″E
Former names	State University of Ghent (RUG)
Colours	Blue and Yellow
Affiliations	Ghent University Association Santander Network Erasmus Student Network European University Association CESAER
Website	http://www.ugent.be

Ghent University (Dutch: Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 38,000 students and 7,900 staff members. The current rector is Paul Van Cauwenberge.

It was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands. After the Belgian revolution of 1830, it was administered by the newly formed Belgian state. French became the academic language until 1930, when Ghent University became the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. In 1991, the university was granted major autonomy and changed its name from State University of Ghent (Dutch: Rijksuniversiteit Gent, abbreviated as RUG) to its current name.

History

The university in Ghent was opened on 9 October 1817, with JC van Rotterdam serving as the first rector. In the first year, it had 190 students and 16 professors. The original four faculties consisted of Humanities (Letters), Law, Medicine and Science, and the language of instruction was Latin. The university was founded by King William I as part of a policy to stem the intellectual and academic lag in the southern part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, later to become Belgium. The university in Liège was founded as part of the same movement.

After peaking at a student population of 414, the number of students declined quickly following the Belgian Revolution. At this time, the faculties of Humanities and Science were broken off of the university, but they were restored five years later, in 1835. In laying the foundation of modern organic chemistry Ghent University played a big role. The structure of benzene was unraveled by Friedrich August Kekule (7 September 1829–13 July 1896) at Ghent. While the student of August Kekulé namely, Adolf von Baeyer (Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer) made seminal contributions to organic chemistry.

In 1882, Sidonie Verhelst became the first female student at the university.

French became the language of instruction, taking the place of Latin, after the 1830 Revolution. In 1903, the Flemish politician Lodewijk De Raet led a successful campaign to begin instruction in Dutch, and the first courses were begun in 1906. A Flemish Institute (Vlaemsche Hoogeschool) was founded in 1916 but was disestablished due to the ongoing First World War. Cabinet Minister Pierre Nolf put forward a motion in 1923 to fully establish the university as a Dutch-speaking university, and this was realized in 1930. August Vermeylen served as the first rector of the first exclusively Dutch-language university in Belgium.

In the Second World War, the German administration of the university attempted to create a German orientation, removing faculty members and installing loyal activists. However, the university became the focal point for many resistance members as the war progressed.

After the war, the university became a much larger institution, following government policy of democratizing higher education in Flanders during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1953, there were more than 3000 students, and by 1969 more than 11,500. The number of faculties increased to eleven, starting with Applied Sciences in 1957. It was followed by Economics and Veterinary Medicine in 1968, Psychology and Pedagogy, as well as Bioengineering, in 1969, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The faculty of Politics and Social Sciences is the most recent addition, in 1992.

In the 1960s to 1980s, there were several student demonstrations at Ghent University, notably around the Blandijn site, which houses the Faculty of Arts & Philosophy. The severest demonstrations took place in 1969 in the wake of May 1968.

The university officially changed its name from Rijksuniversiteit Gent (RUG) to Universiteit Gent (UGent) in 1991 following an increased grant of autonomy by the government of the Flemish Community.

On 22 March 2005, Paul Van Cauwenberge succeeded Andreas De Leenheer as rector.

List of rectors

#	Name	Birth and death	Office started	Office ended	Vice rector
	André Devreker	8 November 1922 Leisele (West Flanders) – 15 April 2012 Sint-Martens-Leerne (East Flanders)	1973	1977
	Julien Hoste	30 May 1921 Ghent (East Flanders) – 1 December 2011	1977	1981
	André Cottenie	15 September 1919 Evergem (East Flanders) – op 21 February 1997 Mariakerke (East Flanders)	1981	1985	Julien Hoste
	Leon De Meyer		1985	1993
	Jacques Willems	Bruges (West Flanders)	1993	2001	Etienne Vermeersch (1993–'97)
					Andreas De Leenheer (1997–'01)
	Andreas De Leenheer	16 May 1941 Zele (East Flanders)	2001	2005	Marc De Clercq
	Paul Van Cauwenberge	2 April 1949 Zottegem (East Flanders)	1 October 2005	30 September 2013	Luc Moens
	Anne De Paepe (first female rector)	4 October 1955 Ghent (East Flanders)	1 October 2013		Freddy Mortier

Faculties

Ghent University consists of eleven faculties, composed of more than 130 departments:

• Faculty of Arts and Philosophy
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
• Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
• Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
• Faculty of Bio-science Engineering
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Faculty of Political and Social Sciences

Characteristics

In contrast to the Catholic University of Leuven, or the Freethinking University of Brussels, Ghent University considers itself a pluralist university in a special sense (i.e. not connected to any particular religion or ideology, hence its motto Inter Utrumque or 'In Between Both Extremes').^{citation needed}

Rankings

University rankings
Global
ARWU	89
Times	93
QS	148

Ghent University is consistently ranked among the best universities in Belgium (top 3) and worldwide (top 200). In the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings (From 2010 two separate rankings will be produced by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings)list of the top 200 universities in the world, Ghent University was ranked in 136th place. In the Times Top 50 Life Sciences Universities 2011-2012, Ghent ranked 36th. In the 2010 QS World University Rankings it was ranked 192nd, whereas the 2011 rankings placed it at 165th. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2010, it was ranked 124nd. An overview of the last years:

Year	Rank (Change)
2005	218
2006	141 ( 77)
2007	124 ( 20)
2008	136 ( 12)
2009	136 ()
2010	192 ( 56)
2011	165 ( 27)
2012	106( 59)
2013	90( 16)

Ghent University was ranked 89th among world universities by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2012. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University.The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and then updated annually. An overview of the last years:

Year	Rank (Change)
2003	99
2004	101–152 ()
2005	101–152 ()
2006	102–150 ()
2007	102–150 ()
2008	101–152 ()
2009	101–152 ()
2010	90 ()
2011	89 ()
2012	89 ()

Ghent was also placed among top 95 universities in the world according to the Russian based Global University Ranking.

Notable alumni

The Boekentoren, designed by Henry van de Velde, is one of the most famous university buildings

The Blandijn houses the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy

• Leo Apostel (1925–1995), philosopher
• Leo Baekeland (1863–1944), chemist
• Wim Blockmans (1945–), historian
• Thierry Bogaert, founder of DevGen
• Luc Bossyns, civil engineer
• Marc Bossuyt (1944–), judge, professor
• Jo Bury, pharmacology, General Director of the VIB
• Dries Buytaert (1978–), computer scientist, founder of the Drupal CMS
• Robert Cailliau (1947–), co-inventor of the World Wide Web
• Luc Coene, economy, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB).
• Marc Coucke (1965–), co-founder of Omega Pharma
• Martin De Prycker (1955–), engineer.
• Franz Cumont (1868–1947), historian
• Jean Daskalidès (1922–1992), gynecologist, best known as chocolate maker of the brands Leonidas and Daskalidès.
• Els De Bens, philologist, media specialist
• Bert De Graeve, law, businessman
• Rudy Dekeyser, molecular biologist, Assistant Director of the VIB
• Jozef De Ley, the founder of the Laboratory of Microbiology at the Faculty of Sciences
• Wim De Waele, economy and computer science, Director of the IBBT
• Martin Dobelle, veteran orthopedic sergeon
• Yaakov Dori, first Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces
• Paul Fredericq, historian
• Walter Fiers (1931–), molecular biologist
• Leopold Flam (1912–1995), historian, philosopher
• Dirk Frimout (1941–), physicist, astronaut
• Derrick Gosselin (1956–), engineer, economist, business manager
• Joseph Guislain (1797–1860), physiologist and psychiatrist
• Jacques-Joseph Haus (1796–1881), jurist
• Lucienne Herman-Michielsens (1926–1995), law, politician
• Philippe Herreweghe (1947–), doctor, psychiatrist, orchestra conductor
• Corneille Heymans (1892–1968), physiologist (Nobel prize winner)
• Mark Janse (1959– ), classicist & linguist
• Friedrich August Kekulé von Stradonitz (1829–1896), chemist
• Jaap Kruithof, philosopher
• Tom Lanoye (1958–), philologist, writer
• François Laurent (1810–1887), jurist
• Marguerite Legot (1913–1977), jurist, first Belgian woman to serve as a government minister
• Yves Leterme (1960–), Prime Minister of Belgium
• Herman Liebaers (1919–), writer, former Marschal of the Royal Household.
• Suzanne Lilar (born Suzanne Verbist) (1901–1992), philosopher, jurist, essayist, novelist

Faculty of Science

• Julius Mac Leod (1857–1919), botanist
• Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949), jurist, writer (Nobel prize winner)
• Paul Mansion, mathematician
• Rudi Mariën, pharmacy, Chairman of Innogenetics
• Gerard Mortier (1943–), artistic director
• Jean-Pierre Nuel (1847–1920), physiologist
• Peter Piot (1949–), doctor, assistant secretary-general of the United Nations
• Henri Pirenne (1862–1935), historian
• Karel Poma (1920–), chemist and politician
• Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874), statistician
• Godfried-Willem Raes (1952–), composer, performer and instrument maker
• Jacques Rogge (1942–), doctor, president of the International Olympic Committee
• Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns (1835–1902), jurist, diplomat and cofounder of the Institut de droit international
• Jozef Schell (1935–2003), molecular biologist
• Ferdinand Augustijn Snellaert (1809–1872), physician and writer
• Luc Van den Bossche (1947–), law, politician
• Guido van Gheluwe (1926–), jurist and founder of the Orde van den Prince
• Herman Vanderpoorten (1922–1984), politician
• Hugo Van Heuverswyn (1948–) chemist, biotech pioneer and businessman
• Ann Van Gysel, zoology
• Karel van de Woestijne (1878–1929), writer
• Prudens van Duyse (1804–1859), writer
• Henry van de Velde (1863–1957), architect
• Marc Van Montagu (1933–), biotech pioneer
• Désiré van Monckhoven (1934–1882), physicist
• Jules Van Praet (1806–1887), statesman
• Piet Vanthemsche, veterinary surgeon
• Guy Verhofstadt (1953–), former Prime Minister of Belgium
• Dirk Verhofstadt (1955–), publisher
• Etienne Vermeersch (1934–), philosopher
• Kristiaan Versluys, literary scholar
• André Vlerick (1919–1990), economy
• Emile Waxweiler (1867–1916), engineer and sociologist
• Marc Zabeau (1949–), zoology
• Arnoud De Meyer (presently) Director of Judge Business School University of Cambridge.
• Alexander Van Dijck M.D.Pioneer in rare diseases
• Michel de Kemmeter, author and researcher in human sustainable development field

Notable faculty

Johan Rudolf Thorbecke

• S.N. Balagangadhara (b. 1952- till date), comparative science of cultures
• Jozef De Ley, the founder of the Laboratory of Microbiology at the Faculty of Sciences
• Jan De Maeseneer (b. 1952), medicine, family medicine
• Georges De Moor (b. 1953), medicine, medical informatics
• Walter Fiers (b. 1931), molecular biologist
• Corneille Heymans (b. 1892-1968), physiologist (Nobel prize winner)
• Joseph Plateau (b. 1801-1883), physicist
• Xavier Saelens (b. 1965), biotechnology
• Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (b.1798-1872), statesman
• Marc Van Montagu (b. 1933), biotech pioneer
• Jeff Schell (b. 1935-2003), biotech pioneer
• August Vermeylen (b. 1872-1945), author, art historian, statesman
• George de Hevesy (b. 1885-1966), Nobel Prize winner, Chemistry
• Alexander Van Dijk, pioneer in rare diseases
• Adolf von Baeyer (b. 1835–1917), chemist (Nobel prize winner), visiting scholar
• Erwin Schrödinger (b. 1887–1961), physicist (Nobel Prize winner), visiting scholar

See also

• Science and technology in Flanders
• List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
• List of universities in Belgium
• Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology (VIB)
• Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM)
• Ghent Bio-Energy Valley
• Greenbridge science park
• Zwijnaarde science park
• University Foundation
• Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC)

External links

• Official website of Ghent University
• More information about higher education in Flanders/Belgium (in English)
• Find an officially recognised programme of this institution in the Higher Education Register
• THE Rankings – Ghent University(2008)