Forman Christian College - History

History

The university was founded by Dr. Charles W. Forman who arrived to South Asia in 1847 and, two years later, settled in Lahore (now in Pakistan). He was the founder of the Rang Mahal School, Lahore, which was the first Anglo-vernacular school in the Punjab. The school added a college department in 1865 which was later known as Forman Christian College and then University.

One of Forman's faculty members, Prof. Arthur Compton, conducted the bulk of his research on cosmic rays at FCC University for which he received the Nobel Prize in 1927. One of Professor Compton's former students Professor Piara Singh Gill taught at the college as Lecturer in Physics between 1940 and 1947. Two alumni, Dr. Sir S. S. Bhatnagar and Dr. Bashir Ahmad, laid the foundation for scientific and industrial research in both parts of the subcontinent by establishing ICSIR and PCSIR respectively.

The first two Science graduates of FC College University were also the first Science graduates of the University of the Punjab (1900–1902). In this way FCCU was the first to establish, in this part of the sub-continent, Departments of Biology (1898), Greek, Latin and Hebrew Languages (1895–96), Industrial Chemistry (1917), Geography (1924), setting up the Experimental Psychology Laboratory, introducing the tutorial system (1908), appointing Deans of the Faculties introducing co-educational system (1902), and establishing a alumni Association (1896).