Cairo University

Ibrahim Pasha University (Ain Shams) has been established in 1950 at Abbaseya – Cairo to meet the need of expanding academic education after the demand of it increased after equipping graduates of secondary schools after the Second World War and the increase of inhabitants and the governorates near to it. This made Cairo University unable to accommodate applicants of secondary certificate holders.

The need to establish a new university at Cairo became urgent, especially that there were high institutes that served as a nucleus for a new university, such as; School of Art at Abbaseya. There were also the sites that were occupied by Faculty of Science – Cairo University at Kasr Al-Zaafran at Abbaseya. This facilitated the way to establish Faculty of Engineering at the site of the School of Art and get benefit from its laboratories and potentials. The same thing happened for the Faculty of Science and Faculty of Medicine getting benefit from Al-Demerdash Hospital that Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University was supervising as well as Faculty of Arts, which occupied the site of a former foreign school at Shobra. Faculty of Law and Commerce were annexed to Faculty of Engineering and some High Schools at Al-Monira. This paved the way to establish the university campus at Al-Abbaseya where the faculties were transferred to in 1962. Faculty of Agriculture was headquartered in Mohamed Ali Pasha at Shobra Al-Khema. Again, Cairo University became responsible for organizing a new university and some staff members of Cairo University of different specialties transferred to the new university where vacant chairs and chances of promotion were available. Ibrahim Pasha University got benefit from experiences of staff members who were transferred from Cairo University and who gained their experiences from years of studying and teaching at Cairo University. Most of them were graduates of Fuaad the First University. The existence of a new university urged hiring of staff members of Cairo University to fill the gap through mandating them to teach at Ibrahim Pasha University that became known as Ain Shams University after July 1952 Revolution. In the mid fifties, idea of annexing Ain Shams University to Cairo University was issued in order not to lead to duplication as a result of the existence of two universities similar in specialties at the same city. Thus, Dr. Taha Hussein defended the idea of keeping Ain Shams University independent, in an article that was published in Al-Gomhoureya Newspaper on 7/8/1955. Moreover, Minister of Education demanded deliberation in modifying system of the university as well as consulting experts before implementing any new system. Universities of East and West were implementing system of multiplying universities not mixing them. Therefore, Ain Shams University continued as independent as it was.