Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix

Infobox University
name = University of Namur
native_name = Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix


caption = Seal of the University of Namur
established = 1831
type = Private Catholic
rector = Michel Scheuer
city = Namur
country = Belgium
students = 4,287
affiliations = Académie Louvain
website = [http://www.fundp.ac.be/] www.fundp.ac.be
footnotes = Data as of 2006The University of Namur or "Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix" (FUNDP) , in Namur (Belgium), is a Jesuit Catholic private university in the French Community of Belgium.

Geography and Location

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 FUNDP buildings to be found in other cities such as the Charleroi Satellite Campus (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 developped 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)

The 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 18th 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:
*1971: Institute of Computer Science (now called Faculty of Computer Science): the first of its kind in Belgium and one of the leading institutions in Europe.
*1972: Faculty of Law.
*1974: Faculty of Sciences, Faculty of Medicine.
*1979: New university library Moretus Plantin (more than 800,000 title at the time).
*1990: Construction of Pedro Arrupe new amphitheater.

Prospects

According to a 2007 agreement, the University of Namur with other three french-speaking catholic universities and colleges: Université Catholique de Louvain the biggest university in Belgium and located in Louvain-La-Neuve, the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis (FUSL) located in Brussels and the Facultés universitaires catholiques de Mons (FUCAM) located in Mons and Charleroi are going to form a new united university.

Negotiations started in September 2007 and they should lead to the creation of a new university which should be called Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) (campuses might be identified as UCL/Brussels, UCL/Namur, UCL/Louvain-la-Neuve, UCL/Mons and UCL/Charleroi). The four universities are already part of a common group, the "Academie Louvain". Within this group, member universities have coordinated their masters programmes in the fields of economics, management, political sciences and sciences.

Faculties and Libraries

* Faculty of Sciences
* Faculty of Economics, Management and 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 Platin Library
* Documentation Center and Religious Research library

Notable alumni

* Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou, literature, private secretary of the King of Belgium

See also

* Science and technology in Wallonia
* CeReFiM (Center for Research in Finance and Management)
* PReCISE (Research Center in Information Systems Engineering)
* Namur
* Académie Louvain
* List of universities in Belgium
* Science Parks of Wallonia
* Crealys Science Park
* Education in Belgium

External links

* [http://www.fundp.ac.be/ Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix ]