Madurai Kamaraj University

"MKU" redirects here. For other uses, see MKU (disambiguation).

Madurai Kamaraj University
மதுரை காமராஜர் பல்கலைக்கழகம்
Motto	"To Seek Truth is Knowledge"
Established	1966
Type	Public
Chancellor	Governor of Tamilnadu (Surjith Singh Barnala)
Vice-Chancellor
Location	Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	UGC
Website	www.mkuuniversity.org

Madurai Kamaraj University also abbreviated MKU is a public university in India.

Overview

Madurai Kamaraj University, located in Madurai city (in southern Tamil Nadu, India) established in 1966, has 18 schools comprising 72 departments. The Directorate of Distance Education of the University has a student strength of about 1.3 lakhs. The university has 109 affiliated colleges (nine autonomous) including other approved institutions and seven evening colleges.

Madurai Kamaraj University is named as a memorial to Kamarajar, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister who works for improving the literacy rate in the state. The Madurai part of its name comes from the historical city of Madurai, the ancient capital of the Pandyan rulers and the seat of three Tamil academies going back to the beginnings of the Christian and even perhaps an earlier era. It was inaugurated on 6 February 1966 in the heart of the city. Its nucleus was the extension centre of the University of Madras located at Madurai. Two years later, the foundation stone for a new campus was laid by Dr Zakir Hussain, the President of India on the Madurai to Theni road, 13 kilometers to the west of the city. Since then the campus has grown into a university township with an area of 750 acres (3.0 km²), called in Tamil "Palkalai Nagar" (which means "University Township").

In 1978, the name of the university was changed to Madurai Kamaraj University to honour late Mr Kamaraj (ex-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu).

The Directorate of Distance Education of the university was established in 1971 and has a student strength of about 1.20 lakhs. There are 29 Spot Admission Centres and 16 Information Centres within Tamil Nadu, and 73 Study Centres outside Tamil Nadu across the country, and 10 Study Centres outside the country.

The university is declared a 'University with Potential for Excellence' by University Grants Commission (UGC) ^[1]

References

1. ^ http://www.mkudde.org/aboutuniv.php

External links

• Computer Centre
• Directorate of Distance Education website
• Madurai Kamaraj University
• School of Biological Sciences
• School of Chemistry
• Department of Management Studies Alumni website
• School of Historical Studies