Université de Namur

University of Namur
Université de Namur

Former seal of the University of Namur
Type Private Catholic
Established 1831 (1831)
Rector Yves Poullet
Students 6,623 (in 2015)
Location Namur, Belgium
Website unamur.be
Data as of 2015

The University of Namur or Université de Namur,[1] in Namur (Belgium), is a Jesuit, Catholic public university in the French Community of Belgium. Both teaching and research are carried out in six Faculties or university level schools in the fields of:


Geography and location

The University of Namur is located in Namur, Belgium. The main campus is located at the heart of the city of Namur, capital of Wallonia, although there are also other satellite campuses to be found in other cities such as Charleroi (known as Charleroi Antenna). The main university campus includes the university building, the six main faculties and the university libraries.

History

Foundation 1831-1846

In the spring of 1831, the Society of Jesus reopened a high school in what was earlier the Our-Lady of Peace benedictine abbey, in Namur. The school immediately developed into a college with the support of prominent Namurian families. They put some conditions in order to finance the new project, the most important is teaching other sciences such as philosophy with the liberty of education as proclaimed by the new Belgian Constitution.

First expansions (1846-1928)

Many expansions took place in this period, the number of students increased gradually, new sciences and study programmes were introduced.

Sensible progress (1929-1947)

A New Belgian law excluded the institution from getting financial support from the government. This pushed the ambitious university to rely on its own sources and funds. Despite this, in 1934, many projects were launched: new building specific to physical and chemical studies, the expansion of Bells-Lettres library, modernization of some laboratories, many new titles were added to the seminars library.

Resuming the expansion (1948-1970)

On February 18, 1948, the institution, formerly a college, changed its status to that of a university. This new status resulted in having some (limited and irregular) financial aid from the government.

Starting in 1960, after the introduction of new national financing laws, government aid increased and became regular. Many new projects and programmes came into being, improving the university's national and European visibility.

The big expansion (1971-1991)

The university launched many important projects:

Prospects

Arsenal de Namur, the restaurant of the university

On June 29, 2003, the University of Namur joined with three other French-speaking Catholic universities to form the Académie Louvain. These are the Université Catholique de Louvain, located in Louvain-La-Neuve; the Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles (USLB), located in Brussels; and the Facultés Universitaires Catholiques de Mons, (FUCAM) located in Mons and Charleroi.

Explorations developed in 2007 for combining all four institutions into a single university, and an agreement was reached to create a new university to be called Université Catholique de Louvain (Académie Louvain Project)|. Campuses might be identified as UCL/Brussels, UCL/Namur, UCL/Louvain-la-Neuve, UCL/Mons and UCL/Charleroi. However, in December 2010 negotiations for a full merger were aborted by an insufficient vote by the general assembly of Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP).

The "Academie Louvain" will cease to exist in 2014 due to the entry in force of the new law organising the universities.

Faculties and libraries

  • Faculty of Sciences
  • Faculty of Economics, Management & Social Sciences 
  • Faculty of Computer Science
  • Faculty of Law
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Philosophy and Literatures
  • Education and Technology Department
  • Living Languages School
  • Moretus Plantin Library
  • Law Faculty Library
  • Documentation Center & Religious Research library

Notable alumni

Notes and references

  1. ↑ New name since September 2012, formerly Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP): Le Vif.be - Les Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix deviennent l'Université de Namur

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Namur University.

Coordinates: 50°27′58.80″N 4°51′37.36″E / 50.4663333°N 4.8603778°E / 50.4663333; 4.8603778

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