The first steps towards founding Abdullah Gul University were taken, by the Kayseri City Council and other city notables, in 2007. The aim was to raise the profile of education in Kayseri in line with the city’s own vision of its development.
The University was named after the 11th president of the Turkish Republic, Abdullah Gül, who has accepted this honor, for the university is being dedicated to the quest to become a distinguished high-quality university in Turkey and be able to compete with international institutions.
The university was formally founded on 21 July 2010 as Turkey’s first foundation supported State University.
AGU admitted its first students in 2013 - 2014 Academic Year. Education is being conducted at the site of Turkey’s first industrial complex, which is being transformed from a place of great historical significance to be a notable place of education.
In the future, The University will be serving in a second campus known as Mimar Sinan.
As AGU aspires to its aim of being a research and teaching University of international standards, an institution playing a key role in its development will be the AGU Foundation.
Founded on 13 July 2011, the work of the AGU Foundation is dedicated to the overall goal of supporting the university with the following three specific aims:
- To provide financial incentives to successful students
- To provide economic cultural and social support to the University’s employees
- To fund developments in the university’s physical and technical technological facilities, and underwrite improvement in education, research and opportunities for their application.