Far Eastern University - History

History

Far Eastern University was founded in 1934 when the Far Eastern College and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance (IABF) merged. Far Eastern College, founded in 1919, had been a liberal arts college in Quiapo; the IABF had been established (originally under the name Institute of Accountancy) by Nicanor Reyes, Sr., head of the Department of Economics of the University of the Philippines, with a number of other prominent educators in 1928. IABF had been originally predominately used by night students, and the new university, which was supported by the tuition provided by its students rather than government grants.

In its earliest days, FEU was housed in a converted tobacco factory already present on the four hectare (nearly 10 acre) plot which would eventually host the current campus. Reyes Sr. was appointed the first president of the University, which spent its early years establishing several of its institutes, including those of Law and Technology. Reyes commissioned Pablo Antonio, who would later be titled National Artist of the Philippines, to construct a building for the school. In 1939, the Nicanor Reyes Hall, which would later house the library and Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, opened. Two other buildings by Antonio, the Girls’ High School Building and Boys High School Building, followed in 1940 and 1941, by which year FEU had 10,000 registered students, with an international student population of 400.

During World War II, the campus was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army, who left only its shell unharmed. Dr. Nicanor Reyes having been killed during the occupation, Dr. Hermenigildo B. Reyes was appointed the second president of the University when it reopened in 1945.

Thereafter, FEU continued to expand, with the opening of a Science Building and the establishment of the Institute of Medicine and the School of Nursing. In 1955, the FEU hospital was opened. Humanities were introduced in 1959, and in 1970 the Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts opened. Also in 1970, the for-profit status of the Institute of Medicine, School of Medical Technology, FEU Hospital and the Student Health Service Clinic was altered, when these were converted in the FEU Dr. Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation, a non-stock, non-profit educational foundation.

1989 introduced substantial revitalization to FEU that took place over a number of years, with renovation and modernization of facilities and grounds and upgrading of the University's educational standard. This resulted in the accreditation of the Institute of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Education, and the Institute of Accounts, Business and Finance, and, in the mid-1990s, the deregulation of the University by the Commission on Higher Education. The auditorium was upgraded to accommodate modern stage productions and the new twice-monthly presentations by local and international artists established by the President's Committee on Culture. The University also prioritized publication, launching a number of scholarly journals, and began networking with other institutions nationally and abroad. Recent En banc session of CHED with the letter received by the FEU president. FEU has been Granted with Autonomous Status till 2014.