# Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch

Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch (Persian: دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد تهران مرکزی, Daneshgah-e Âzad-e Eslâmi-ye Vahed-e Tehran Mirkâzi) is a private research university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1982, Central Tehran is the flagship institution of the universities affiliated with Islamic Azad University system. The university is the oldest, the largest and the top university among all branches of Islamic Azad University academic organization, established in 1982, originally as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran. The university campuses rest on 297,904 m$^2$ (3,206,610 sq ft) of various districts of Tehran. It offers approximately 488 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines such as sciences, engineering, art, architecture, humanities and social sciences.

## History
### Establishment

Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University, so the history of this branch can be traced back to the foundation of the university.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sought to establish a private university to address the challenges posed during the early years of Iranian Revolution -such as Cultural Revolution- and to meet increasing demands of secondary-school graduates for higher education in Iran. On the sidelines of an Islamic Republican Party conference, Rafsanjani mooted the idea with Abdollah Jasbi, who supported and developed the plan to establish Islamic Azad University. Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University. In its early days, the university lacked sufficient funds and facilities to operate, sorely relying on donations made by people and government. The initial endowment was about 100,000 Rials.
Jasbi rented No. 155 building in Forsat Shirazi St., while Nassir Shekarriz and Mahmoud Latifipour – who were in charge as Chancellor and Vice Chancellor respectively – rented the sixth floor of a building located in Enqelab St., Felestin St. in order to hold an entrance exam in 1982. This university began as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran when it opened its doors to about 200 students, offering six majors in bachelor's degree and two in associate degree. Soon after, the whole building in Enqelab St. was purchased from Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution and became the university's first property. (Current Faculty of Arts and Architecture)

### Chancellors

| Chancellor | Tenure |
| Nasir Shekarriz | 1982–1998 |
| Majid Monajjemi | 1998 (interim) |
| Karim Zare | 1998–2003 |
| Hossein Aghaei | 2003 (interim) |
| Hossein Mojtabazadeh | 2003–2005 |
| Ahmad Moradi | 2005–2006 |
| Mohammad-Ali Gozashti | 2006–2012 |
| Ferdos Hajian | 2012–2013 |
| Farhad Hosseinzadeh Lotfi | 2013–2015 |
| Mehrdad Navabakhsh | 2015–2016 |
| Ahmad Shams | 2016–2017 |
| Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi | 2017–2018 |
| Seyed Mahmoud Reza Aghamiri | 2018–2022 |
| Towhid Pourrostam | 2022–present |

## Campus

The university has 13 Faculties:
IAUCTB Faculties :
| Faculty | Location |
| Faculty of Foreign Languages | Enghelab Campus |
| Faculty of Literature and Humanities | Enghelab Campus |
| Faculty of Sciences | Hashemi Rafsanjani Campus |
| Faculty of Engineering | Hashemi Rafsanjani Campus |
| Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning | Hashemi Rafsanjani Campus |
| Faculty of Management | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Arts | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Economics and Accounting | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Psychology and Education | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication Sciences and Media Studies | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Political Sciences | Velayat Campus |
| Faculty of Law | Velayat Campus |
The university has three campuses:
IAUCTB Campuses :
| Campus | Location | Schools |
| Velayat | Sohanak | Arts, Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences |
| Hashemi Rafsanjani | Punak | Science, Engineering and Architecture |
| Enghelab | Enghelab St., Pich Shemiran | Foreign Languages, Literature and Humanities |

### Schools and departments

Programs by subject:
* Arts & humanities
* Clinical, pre-clinical & health (medical sciences)
* Life sciences
* Social sciences
* Engineering & technology
* Physical sciences

## Enrollments

In academic year of 2023-2024
| Field of Study | Percent |
| Engineering and technology | ~30% |
| Humanities | ~51% |
| Art | ~13% |
| Science | ~5% |
| Agriculture and Veterinary | ~1% |
| Medical Sciences | ~0% |
| Total | 100% |
| Level of study (Degree) | Percent |
| Associate | 2.36% |
| Bachelor's | 62.20% |
| Master's | 30.15% |
| Ph.D. | 5.29% |
| Total | 100% |

## Faculty of Engineering
### Programs and majors

In academic year of 2023-2024:
* Aerospace engineering (BS, MS)
* Biomedical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Chemical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Civil engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Computer engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Electrical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Energy engineering (MS)
* Environmental engineering (BS, MS)
* Industrial engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Information technology engineering (MS)
* Materials engineering (BS, MS)
* Mechanical engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Mechatronics engineering (MS)
* Mining engineering (BS, MS)
* Nuclear engineering (BS, MS, PhD)
* Petroleum engineering (BS, MS)
* Polymer engineering (BS)
* Sports engineering (BS)
* Textile engineering (BS)

### Sub-program

* Department of Electrical Engineering
| B.S. | M.S. | Ph.D. |
| Communications | Communications (Communication System, Communication Networks, Secure Communication & Cryptography, Optical Communication, Field & Wave Communication) | Communications (Communication System, Field & Wave Communication) |
| Control | Control | Control |
| Electronics | Electronics (Micro and Nanoelectronic Devices, Digital Electronic Systems, Electronic Integrated Circuits) | Electronics |
| Power | Power (Power Systems, Power Electronics and Electrical Machines, Planning and Management of Electrical Energy Systems, Electrical Transportation Systems) | Power |
* Department of Biomedical Engineering
| B.S. | M.S. | Ph.D. |
| Biomedical Engineering | Bioelectric (joint program EE Dept) | Bioelectric (joint program EE Dept) |
| | Biomechanic | Biomechanic |
| | Biomaterial | Biomaterial |
| | Rehabilitation | |
| | Tissue | |
* Department of Computer Engineering
| B.S. | M.S. | Ph.D. |
| Computer Engineering | Computer Systems Architecture | Computer Systems Architecture |
| | Software | Software |
| | Artificial Intelligence & Robotics | Artificial Intelligence & Robotics |
| | | Network and Computing |
* Department of Nuclear Engineering
| B.S. | M.S. | Ph.D. |
| Nuclear Engineering | Medical Radiation Engineering | Medical Radiation Engineering |
| | Reactor Engineering | Nuclear Energy Engineering |
* Department of Mechanical Engineering
* Department of Industrial Engineering
* Department of Chemical Engineering

## Faculty of Science

* Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics
It offers the following programs:
| B.S. | M.S. | Ph.D. |
| Computer Science | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Applied Statistics | Applied Statistics | Statistics |
| Applied Mathematics | Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics) | Mathematics (Applied Mathematics, Pure Mathematics) |
* Department of Biology
* Department of Chemistry
* Department of Physics

## Admissions

The university received 35,317 applications for the Fall 2011 undergraduate class, making it the university with the most freshmen applicants among all branches of Islamic Azad University. In 2013, a total number of 11,789 and 6,061 applications were received for undergraduate and graduate programs respectively.

## Rankings

* Islamic World Science Citation Database
2011: third among Islamic Azad University campuses
* SCImago rankings
2012: International rank : 231, National rank : 1 (Islamic Azad University) 2013: International rank : 87, National rank : 1 (Islamic Azad University)

## Notable alumni and people

* Zahra Rahnavard, Faculty of Political Sciences
* Sadegh Zibakalam, Faculty of Political Sciences
* Abdolhossein Mokhtabad, Faculty of Arts
* Abbas Araghchi, MS (International Relation)
* Siamak Ansari, BS (Theater)
* Ali Daei, MS (Physical Education)
* Mohammad Abbasi, MS (Management)
* Marzieh Afkham, MS (Political Sciences)
* Hamid Sourian, BS (Physical Education)
* Hanieh Tavassoli, BS (Theater)
* Masoud Soltanifar, MS (Political Sciences)
* Faezeh Hashemi, MS (International law)
* Javad Khiabani, BS (Physical Education)
* Mohammad Reza Rahimi, MS (Sociology)

### Alumni

As of June 2010, the university has 176,973 alumni which makes it the biggest number among all branches of Islamic Azad University.

### Athletics

Several students have won medals in International competitions while studying at the university.
Medalists at 2010 Asian Games :
| Name | Sport | Medal |
| Taleb Nematpour | Wrestling | Gold |
| Jasem Vishgahi | Karate | Gold |
| Elaheh Ahmadi | STR3X20 | Silver |
| Elaheh Ahmadi | AR40 team | Silver |
| Elaheh Ahmadi | STR3X20 team | Bronze |
| Mir-Saeid Marouf | Volleyball | Silver |
| Farshad Alizadeh | Wrestling | Bronze |
| Sara Khoshjamal Fekri | Taekwondo | Bronze |
| Saeideh Maghsoudlou | Kabaddi | Bronze |
| Fatemeh Momeni | Kabaddi | Bronze |
| Sajjad Anoushiravani | Weightlifting | Bronze |
| Samad Nikkhah Bahrami | Basketball | Bronze |
Medalists at 2012 Summer Olympics :
| Name | Sport | Medal |
| Hamid Sourian | Wrestling | Gold |
| Sajjad Anoushiravani | Weightlifting | Silver |
Other notable sportspeople at the university include Ali Daei, Karim Ansarifard, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, Akbar Mohammadi, Mahmoud Miran and Arash Miresmaeili.