Okayama University

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Okayama University
岡山大学
Established: Founded 1870
Chartered 1922
Type: Public (National)
President: Kyuzo Chiba
Faculty: 1,322 full-time[1]
Staff: 1,311[2]
Students: 14,205
Undergraduates: 10,749[3]
Postgraduates: 3,456[4]
Doctoral students: 1,406
Location: Okayama, Okayama, Japan
Campus: Urban
Website: www.okayama-u.ac.jp

Okayama University (岡山大学 Okayama Daigaku?) is a national university in Japan. The main campus is located in Tsushima-Naka, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture.

The school was founded in 1870 and it was established as a university in 1949.

In 1967 Professor Jun Kobayashi (analytic chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture) announced the cause of itai itai disease as cadmium poisoning. It is designated as the first public health illness.

Contents

[edit] History

The origin of the university is the Medical Training Place (医学館 Igakkan?) founded in 1870 by Okayama-Han. It underwent the abolition of the han system and was developed into Okayama Prefectural Medical School (岡山県医学校?) in 1880. In 1888 it was merged into a national school, the Third Higher Middle School (第三高等中学校 Daisan kōtō chūgakkō?)[5] to constitute the Medical Faculty. The Medical Faculty became an independent school in 1901 and was renamed Okayama Medical Speciality School (岡山医学専門学校 Okayama igaku semmon gakkō?)[6], a four-year medical school for men at ages 17-21 or above. In 1922 the school was chartered as Okayama Medical College (岡山医科大学 Okayama ika daigaku?), a four-year medical college for men at ages 19-23 or above.

In 1949, after World War II, the college was merged with other national and public colleges in Okayama Prefecture to establish Okayama University, under Japan's new educational system. The predecessors of the university were Okayama Medical College, the Sixth Higher School (第六高等学校 Dairoku kōtō gakkō?, established in 1900), Okayama Normal School (岡山師範学校 Okayama shihan gakkō?, founded in 1874), Okayama Youth's Normal School (岡山青年師範学校 Okayama seinen shihan gakkō?, founded in 1922) and Okayama (Prefectural) Agricultural College (岡山農業専門学校 Okayama nōgyō semmon gakkō?, established in 1946).

The new campus (Tsushima Campus) was the former camp of the Imperial Japanese Army (the 17th Division). After occupation army left the camp (in 1947), the students of the Sixth Higher School (whose buildings were burnt in the war) guarded the camp, residing in the former military barracks. They finally got the camp as their campus. The faculties of Okayama University, except the Medical School, were gradually removed to Tsushima Campus.

The university at first had five faculties: Law and Letters, Education, Science, Agriculture and Medicine. The latter history of the university is as follows:

  • 1951: Ohara Institute for Agricultural Research (大原農業研究所 Ōhara nōgyō kenkyūsho?, founded in 1914 by Magosaburo Ohara) joined the university.
    • Later reorganized into the Institute for Agricultural and Biological Sciences (in 1953) and then the Research Institute for Bioresources (in 1988).
  • 1960: the Faculty of Engineering was established.
  • 1976: the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences was established.
  • 1979: the Dental School was established (in Shikata Campus).
  • 1980: the Faculty of Law and Letters was divided into three faculties: Letters, Law and Economics.
  • 1994: the Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology was established.

[edit] Faculties (Undergraduate Schools)

  • Faculty of Letters
  • Faculty of Education
  • Faculty of Law
  • Faculty of Economics
  • Faculty of Science
  • Medical School (in Shikata Campus)
  • Dental School (in Shikata Campus)
  • Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Faculty of Engineering
  • Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology
  • Faculty of Agriculture

[edit] Graduate Schools

  • Graduate School of Education (Master's courses only)
  • Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Master's/Doctoral)
  • Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology (Master's/Doctoral)
  • Graduate School of Health Sciences (Master's/Doctoral)
  • Graduate School of Environmental Science (Master's/Doctoral)
  • Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences (Master's/Doctoral)
  • School of Law (Professional Degree Course)
  • Joint Graduate School in Science of School Education (Doctoral courses)

[edit] Institutes

  • University Hospital
  • Library
  • Research Institute for Bioresources
  • Institute for Study of the Earth's Interior

[edit] References

  1. ^ excluding the teachers at the attached schools. Number of Staff (pdf). Okayama University (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  2. ^ including the teachers at the attached schools. Number of Staff (pdf). Okayama University (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  3. ^ Number of Students (at the Faculties) (pdf). Okayama University (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  4. ^ Number of Students (at the Graduate Schools) (pdf). Okayama University (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-03-29.
  5. ^ The Third Higher Middle School was headquartered in Osaka (-1889) / Kyoto (1889-).
  6. ^ Historical Sketch (pdf). Okayama University. Retrieved on 2008-03-29.

[edit] External links

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