Fergusson College

Fergusson College (Autonomous), Pune
Shield of the Deccan Education Society
Former name
Fergusson College
MottoKnowledge is Power
TypePublic – Private
Established1885; 139 years ago (1885)
Affiliation
PrincipalDr. Nitin M Kulkarni[1]
Vice principalsP. M. Pawar
Dr. Radhika Jadhav[1]
Address
Fergusson College Road, Shivajinagar
,
Pune
,
Maharashtra
,
India

18°31′26″N 73°50′21″E / 18.523969°N 73.839219°E / 18.523969; 73.839219
CampusUrban, 65 acres (260,000 m2)
Websitewww.fergusson.edu

Fergusson College[2] is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India.[3][4][5] It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mahadeo Ballal Namjoshi and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar.[6] Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its first principal.[7] Social reformer, journalist, thinker and educationist Gopal Ganesh Agarkar served as the second principal from August 1892, till his death in June 1895.[8]

The college is named after Scottish-born Sir James Fergusson, the Governor of Bombay, the college has been under the jurisdiction of the University of Pune. In May 2018, Fergusson college was upgraded to a unitary university following an update from Ministry of HRD.[2]

The college has two sections:

  • The Junior Wing (junior college) is for students graduating from school. Courses are offered in Arts and Science streams, at the end of which students may appear for the Higher-Secondary State Certificate examination.
  • The Senior Wing offers bachelor's degrees in 29 disciplines and master's degrees in 16 disciplines.

Fergusson College is known for its close association with Indian politics. Its founders were pioneers of the Indian National Congress,[9] as well as, Indian Socialist Movement.[10] The college has produced, several ministers and legislators, including two Indian Prime Ministers.[11][12][13]

Fergusson was among the 19 colleges to get a heritage tag by the central government and UGC in 2015. So, the college receives financial help from UGC for the conservation of campus and buildings.[14]

  1. ^ a b "Fergusson College, Pune". www.fergusson.edu. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Fergusson is now a university, Xavier's & Mithibai on wait list". The Times of India. 26 May 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Pune's Fergusson College gets academic autonomy". The Times of India.
  4. ^ "Fergussonians give a thumbs up to autonomy". The Times of India.
  5. ^ "Fergusson becomes 3rd autonomous college in Pune". Indian Express.
  6. ^ "History of Foundation". Archived from the original on 12 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Home >> Academics >> Courses >> Arts". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  8. ^ "Gopal Ganesh Agarkar". Archived from the original on 8 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  9. ^ Founders BG Tilak, GK Gokhale were early leaders of the INC
  10. ^ Founders GG Agarkar and MB Namjoshi were early socialists in Maharashtra.
  11. ^ "About Us >> History". Archived from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  12. ^ See P. V. Narasimha Rao
  13. ^ "Scottish News - The Scotsman". www.scotsman.com.
  14. ^ "Xavier's, Fergusson among 19 colleges to get". Firstpost. 6 July 2015.