Middle East Technical University (commonly referred to as METU; in Turkish, Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, ODTÜ) is a public research university located in Ankara, Turkey.
The university offers 41 undergraduate programs across five faculties and 105 master's and 70 doctoral programs through five graduate schools. The main campus of METU spans an area of , comprising, in addition to academic and auxiliary facilities, a forest area of , and the natural Lake Eymir. METU has more than 120,000 alumni worldwide. The official language of instruction at METU is English.
METU had the greatest share in national research funding by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) in the last five years. Over 40% of METU's undergraduate alumni choose to pursue graduate studies.
History
Foundation and vision In 1954, Charles Abrams from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, commissioned by the United Nations to study housing issues and the state of architectural, urban and regional planning education in the Middle East, visited Turkey. Upon completing his survey, Abrams submitted a report to the UN recommending the establishment of a technological institute in Turkey to provide education in architecture and planning. Subsequently, the UN assigned G. Holmes Perkins from the University of Pennsylvania to assist in establishing an institute that would train Turkish architects and urban-regional planners.
Middle East Technical University was founded under the name "Orta Doğu Teknoloji Enstitüsü" (English: Middle East Institute of Technology) on November 15, 1956, by then Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, the Director-General of Highways Vecdi Diker, and a group of academics. The university was established to contribute to the development of Turkey and the surrounding regions of the Middle East, Balkans, and Caucasus by fostering skilled professionals in the urban planning, engineering and social sciences. "Arrangements and Procedures as for the Foundation of METU, Law No 6213" was enacted on January 22, 1957, whereby the current name "Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi" (ODTÜ) was adopted. Finally, the "Foundation Act No 7907", setting forth the particular standing of METU and establishing it as a juridical entity, was enacted on May 27, 1959.
During the legislative discussions regarding METU, the establishment law was debated in parliament. Democrat Party deputy Münib Hayri Ürgüplü emphasized that "in a period marked by various ideological threats in the Middle East, the university would play a crucial role by educating young people armed with the profound truths of science to effectively confront these challenges". During the legislative discussions regarding the laws for Middle East Technical University, Zakar Tarver, a member of parliament, proposed that the university be exempt from all types of taxation.
The governance of METU was distinctively structured under a Board of Trustees, initially composed of five members, unlike any other institute managed by the Ministry of National Education. Temporary directorship was assumed by Thomas Godfrey until March 1959, with Marvin Sevely also part of the initial foreign faculty.
METU initially started with programs in Architecture and City Planning during the 1956–1957 academic year and expanded to include Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and programs under the Faculty of Administrative Sciences such as Business Administration, Public Administration, and Industrial Management in subsequent years. Classes were initially held in a small building owned by the Retirement Fund in Kızılay and barracks near the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Early developments In its early days, Middle East Technical University, initially heavily criticized due to its humble facilities resembling a middle school building, quickly embarked on efforts to establish its own campus. Although the campus location had not been finalized, a plan proposed by G. Holmes Perkins was accepted. Amid considerations to use either the lands behind Yalıncak Village or the buildings of the Etimesgut Sugar Factory for the campus site, the government pressed for immediate foundation laying. Consequently, a groundbreaking ceremony was held in Yalıncak Village on October 2, 1957, attended by nearly all ambassadors in Ankara, then-President Celal Bayar, Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, and other ministers. The first chairman of the METU Board of Trustees, Vecdi Diker, had brought an excavator from the General Directorate of Highways to commence the digging. At the start of the 1957–1958 academic year, the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Engineering, and the Faculty of Administrative Sciences were established. In 1959, the establishment of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was completed. Within the framework of Perkins’ campus plan, the first building designated was the Faculty of Administrative Sciences, and in 1959, a Turkish team comprising Dr. Turgut Cansever, Ertürk Yener, and Mehmet Tataroğlu won an international design competition for it. However, the project was put on hold as the campus location was still not definitively established.
The 1960 Turkish coup d'état led to significant upheaval at METU. Then-Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, a member of the METU Board of Trustees, and MP Ahmet Tokuş were arrested and expelled from the board, spreading fears of the university's potential closure. Colonel Sami Küçük, a member of the National Unity Committee, opposed other junta members who wanted the university closed, arguing it was Adnan Menderes' project, and ensured that educational activities at METU continued. In March 1959, Willis Raymond Woolrich, who also served as the dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Texas, was dismissed as an advisory rector following a law passed in August 1960 that terminated the Board of Trustees' mandate. After Woolrich's rectorship, Edwin S. Burdell, who previously served as president of the Cooper Union for 22 years and as the first dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, took on the role of president at METU. After Burdell's period, Prof. Dr. Turhan Feyzioğlu was appointed as the first Turkish rector of METU. During his speech at the opening ceremony, Rector Feyzioğlu emphasized, "Middle East Technical University is entirely a Turkish university." In June 1960, METU graduated its first class, comprising 30 students including 11 from Mechanical Engineering and 19 from Architecture, and the top student was awarded a prize of 1000 lira along with a plaque.
On October 27, 1960, in response to the military government's decision under Law No. 114 to expel 147 academic staff members from universities, an event known as the 147 Incident, many rectors and faculty members, including Feyzioğlu, resigned in protest; however, Feyzioğlu's resignation was not accepted, and he continued in his role. After Feyzioğlu was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in January 1961, he was succeeded as rector by Prof. Dr. Seha Meray on February 23, 1961. Shortly after Meray's appointment, the university witnessed a student boycott due to uncertainties about the recognition of diplomas and concerns over educational facilities. The boycott ended following discussions with the rector. Meray served as rector for about three months before resigning due to illness, and his duties were temporarily assumed by Uğur Ersoy. After Ersoy's resignation in August 1961, Associate Professor Arif Payaslıoğlu took over for two months.
On April 26, 1961, the Board of Trustees decided on Aşağı Balgat for the new campus, and a new national competition with an international jury was organized. The winning project was by Behruz Çinici and Altuğ Çinici, announced in September 1961. Kemal Kurdaş, who became rector on November 22, 1961, prioritized the campus construction. Initial plans included the Architecture Faculty, laboratories for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the rectorate building, the first section of the dining hall, and two dormitory buildings. On December 3, 1961, the first tree-planting activities at METU took place, with students planting 135,000 saplings. During the initial surveys near Yalıncak Village, Kemal Kurdaş identified remnants of historical structures and artifacts, indicating the site's archaeological importance. This discovery was reported to the Ministry of National Education, the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, and the Ankara Archaeology Museum, now known as the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Subsequently, archaeological excavations were initiated under the direction of archaeologist Burhan Tezcan.
Despite constraints in faculty and infrastructure, METU established departments of mathematics, physics, theoretical physics, chemistry, education, humanities, and psychology, along with a preparatory class, in 1961. The construction blueprint for the campus was finalized in January 1962, prioritizing the completion of the Architecture Faculty and infrastructure tunnels within the first two years. The cornerstone laying ceremony for the Architecture Faculty building took place on May 11, 1962, attended by then-President Cemal Gürsel. Decisions were made to relocate the preparatory class to the new campus, and by summer 1962, four temporary barracks had been constructed to facilitate this transition. The preparatory class began its activities at the new location in October 1962, marking it as the first academic unit to move to the campus. The preparatory class was later formalized into a Preparatory School by the board of trustees. Extensive tree-planting activities followed, with over 1.5 million trees planted by the rector and students. By the academic year 1961–62, student enrollment at METU reached 1,025, increasing to 1,274 by the 1962–63 academic year. The Architecture Faculty building, which cost 12.5 million lira, became operational on September 30, 1963. The new campus was officially inaugurated on October 1, 1963, with a ceremony attended by then-Prime Minister İsmet İnönü. By the start of the 1963–64 academic year, a significant portion of the university had transitioned to the new campus, hosting 1,893 Turkish and 167 foreign students, taught by 310 Turkish and 56 foreign faculty members. From this cohort, 158 undergraduate and 59 graduate students graduated.
The METU Library, established in 1956 with a donation of 50 books from the United Nations, began offering services that same year. By 1957, the library staff comprised Furuzan Olşen and Solmaz İzdemir, who both had received master's degrees in librarianship in the United States. On January 4, 1958, to organize the library in a contemporary sense, UNESCO expert Natelle Isley was appointed as the library director. In March 1958, under the foundational principles concerning the library's organization, the American Library of Congress Classification System was adopted. This made METU Library the first in Turkey to utilize a system now commonly employed by many university and research libraries across the country.