A Bridge of Culture Robert College Boğaziçi University — John Freely

This is the story of two American schools in Istanbul Robert College and American College for Girls both of them founded in the third quarter of the nineteenth century The story takes the two schools through the last half century of the Ottoman Empire and the first half century of the Turkish Republic The last part of the book tells the story of the founding of Boğaziçi University on the campus of the old Robert College in Bebek Rumeli Hisar and the establishment of the new co educational Robert College on the campus of the old American College for Girls in Arnavutköy The principal characters in the story are the men and women who worked at the two colleges as teachers and administrators and the students who studied there many of them going on to distinguished careers including two prime ministers of Turkey and two of Bulgaria Boğaziçi University and the new Robert College both founded in 1971 continued a tradition that has now linked east and west for over a century perpetuating bonds of culture and friendship that have endured through wars and the fall and rise of nations Tadımlık Introduction This is the story of two American schools in Istanbul Turkey both of them founded in the third quarter of the nineteenth century and of the Turkish university that developed from them The setting for the story is the Bosphorus the incomparably beautiful strait that separates Europe and Asia in its course of thirty kilometers between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara flowing at its southern end past the great metropolis of Istanbul known to the Greeks as Constantinople and to the ancients as Byzantium the only city in the world that stands astride two continents Both of the schools were products of American philanthropy and the Protestant missionary movement The first was Robert College a school for boys founded in 1863 by the missionary Cyrus Hamlin a native of Maine The college was named for Christopher Rhinelander Robert a wealthy merchant and philanthropist from New York who provided most of the funds for the school in its early years Robert College was built on the hills above the villages of Bebek and Rumeli Hisarı on the European shore of the Bosphorus about twelve kilometers north of the Golden Horn the scimitar shaped inlet that joins the strait on its western side just north of the Marmara The second was the American College for Girls orginally known as the Home School founded in 1871 by the Womans Board of Missions of the Congregational Church The Home School began its life in İstanbul the Greek Constantinople the old city bounded by the Golden Horn the Marmara and the ancient Byzantine land walls Two years later the school moved to Üsküdar on the Asian shore of the lower Bosphorus where in 1890 it was chartered as the Constantinople College for Women later to be known as the American College for Girls The Girls College remained in Üsküdar until 1914 when it moved to a new campus on the European shore of the Bosphorus at Arnavutköy four kilometers down the strait from Robert College During the century and more of their existence Robert College and the American College for Girls were among the finest schools in the Middle East their graduates including four prime ministers two of Turkey and two of Bulgaria along with many others who distinguished themselves in the arts and sciences as well as in education social work engineering finance business industry and government At the first meeting of the United Nations in 1947 three nations were represented by graduates of Robert College Nearly half a century later the first woman to become prime minister of Turkey was a graduate of both the American College for Girls and Robert College The two American schools were founded under the Ottoman Empire which from 1453 until 1923 had its capital in Istanbul The Empire came to an end when the Turkish Republic was created in 1923 with its capital in Ankara During the early years of Robert College and the Girls College their students were almost all from the Christian minorities of the Ottoman Empire primarily Armenians Bulgarians and Greeks The first Moslem Turks graduated from the two schools in the early 1900s and by the middle of the twentieth century the student body was predominantly Turkish The two schools were amalgamated in 1971 under the name of Robert College a coeducational lycee using the buildings and grounds of the former Girls College in Arnavutköy The buildings and grounds of the old Robert College were then taken over by a new Turkish university called Boğaziçi Universitesi the University of the Bosphorus founded in 1971 The University of the Bosphorus and the new Robert College both began their first academic year in September 1971 and in the years since then they have grown and flourished continuing a tradition that has now linked east and west for more than a century a bridge of knowledge perpetuating international bonds of culture and friendship that have endured through wars and the fall and rise of nations

This is the story of two American schools in Istanbul Robert College and American College for Girls both of them founded in the third quarter of the nineteenth century The story takes the two schools through the last half century of the Ottoman Empire and the first half century of the Turkish Republic The last part of the book tells the story of the founding of Boğaziçi University on the campus of the old Robert College in Bebek Rumeli Hisar and the establishment of the new co educational Robert College on the campus of the old American College for Girls in Arnavutköy The principal characters in the story are the men and women who worked at the two colleges as teachers and administrators and the students who studied there many of them going on to distinguished careers including two prime ministers of Turkey and two of Bulgaria Boğaziçi University and the new Robert College both founded in 1971 continued a tradition that has now linked east and west for over a century perpetuating bonds of culture and friendship that have endured through wars and the fall and rise of nations

This comprehensive book by John Freely d 2017 professor of physics at Robert College and Boğaziçi University tells the remarkable story of an American institution that from its origins in the nineteenth century evolved into one of the most prestigious Turkish universities and a respected institution on the global stage Its foundations were laid in 1863 with the establishment of Robert College in Istanbul the first American college founded outside the United States by Dr Cyrus Hamlin and the philanthropist Christopher Rheinlander Robert In 1971 the institution was transformed into Boğaziçi University successfully combining the rich academic heritage of Robert College with the responsibilities of a public university Through a series of reforms and institutional developments after the 1980s the university gradually evolved from a small college into a dynamic and internationally recognized public university With a heritage spanning more than 160 years Boğaziçi University has embraced excellence in research and teaching participatory governance and freedom of thought as its guiding principles In this engaging and informative narrative readers will discover how the institution overcame numerous historical challenges to become the distinguished institution it is so today with a comprehensive historical review from its founding until the early 2000s Drawing extensively on the archives of Robert College and Boğaziçi University and having witnessed half a century of the institution s history firsthand John Freely chronicles this transformation with clarity and insight Both a scientist and a devoted lover of Istanbul he explores how the institution has served as a cultural and intellectual bridge between worlds often described as East and West

A Bridge of Culture Robert College Boğaziçi University

This comprehensive book by John Freely d 2017 professor of physics at Robert College and Boğaziçi University tells the remarkable story of an American institution that from its origins in the nineteenth century evolved into one of the most prestigious Turkish universities and a respected institution on the global stage Its foundations were laid in 1863 with the establishment of Robert College in Istanbul the first American college founded outside the United States by Dr Cyrus Hamlin and the philanthropist Christopher Rheinlander Robert In 1971 the institution was transformed into Boğaziçi University successfully combining the rich academic heritage of Robert College with the responsibilities of a public university Through a series of reforms and institutional developments after the 1980s the university gradually evolved from a small college into a dynamic and internationally recognized public university With a heritage spanning more than 160 years Boğaziçi University has embraced excellence in research and teaching participatory governance and freedom of thought as its guiding principles In this engaging and informative narrative readers will discover how the institution overcame numerous historical challenges to become the distinguished institution it is so today with a comprehensive historical review from its founding until the early 2000s Drawing extensively on the archives of Robert College and Boğaziçi University and having witnessed half a century of the institution s history firsthand John Freely chronicles this transformation with clarity and insight Both a scientist and a devoted lover of Istanbul he explores how the institution has served as a cultural and intellectual bridge between worlds often described as East and West

This comprehensive book by John Freely d 2017 professor of physics at Robert College and Boğaziçi University tells the remarkable story of an American institution that from its origins in the nineteenth century evolved into one of the most prestigious Turkish universities and a respected institution on the global stage Its foundations were laid in 1863 with the establishment of Robert College in Istanbul the first American college founded outside the United States by Dr Cyrus Hamlin and the philanthropist Christopher Rheinlander Robert In 1971 the institution was transformed into Boğaziçi University successfully combining the rich academic heritage of Robert College with the responsibilities of a public university Through a series of reforms and institutional developments after the 1980s the university gradually evolved from a small college into a dynamic and internationally recognized public university With a heritage spanning more than 160 years Boğaziçi University has embraced excellence in research and teaching participatory governance and freedom of thought as its guiding principles In this engaging and informative narrative readers will discover how the institution overcame numerous historical challenges to become the distinguished institution it is so today with a comprehensive historical review from its founding until the early 2000s Drawing extensively on the archives of Robert College and Boğaziçi University and having witnessed half a century of the institution s history firsthand John Freely chronicles this transformation with clarity and insight Both a scientist and a devoted lover of Istanbul he explores how the institution has served as a cultural and intellectual bridge between worlds often described as East and West