Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch

Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch (, 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 m2 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.

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)

Campus
The university has 13 Faculties:

The university has three campuses:

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

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


 * Department of Biomedical Engineering


 * Department of Computer Engineering


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

2013: International rank : 87,  National rank : 1 (Islamic Azad University)

Faculty

 * Zahra Rahnavard – Iranian Reformist Politician
 * Mohammad-Javad Haghshenas – Iranian Reformist journalist and Political activist
 * Amir Mohebbian – Iranian Conservative Politician
 * Mansour Falamaki – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in architecture
 * Hassan Riahi – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in music and composer of National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran
 * Seyyed Bagher Ayatollahzadeh Shirazi – Architect and Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in Heritage site repairs
 * Homayoun Riahi Chaleshtari – Chairman of Zamyad Co. (2008–2009) and board member of Iran Khodro and SAIPA
 * Mostafa Kavakebian, Iranian Reformist Politician and former parliament representative
 * Hossein Allahkaram, Ansar-e Hezbollah activist
 * Ali Akbar Saremi – Architect
 * Karen Khanlari – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Karim Zareh – Former representative of Iranian parliament
 * Hassan Mohadessi – Sociologist
 * Jahanbakhsh Khanjani – Iranian Reformist Politician
 * Ali Najafi Tavana – Iran Central Bar Association President
 * Jalil Maleki – Iran Central Bar Association Board Member
 * Isa Amini – Iran Central Bar Association Board Member
 * Elaheh Koulaei – Former representative of Iranian parliament
 * Ferdos Hajian – Primary school education expert


 * Mohammad-Reza Rahimi – Vice President of Iran (2009–2013)
 * Enshallah Rahmati – Journalist and Translator in Philosophy and theosophy
 * Sadegh Zibakalam – Political analyst
 * Effat Shariati – Iranian parliament representative
 * Hamid Sajjadi – United Nations Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sport Vice-president
 * Mohammad-Hossein Farhangi – Iranian parliament representative
 * Habibollah Sadeghi – Painter
 * Saeid Kharaghani – Iranian Ministry of Energy Deputy for Research & Human Resources (1998–2005)
 * Ali Darabi, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting Deputy
 * Shabnam Gholikhani – Actress and Director
 * Farhad Nazerzadeh Kermani – Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Famer in Arts
 * Ahmad Bakhshayesh – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Hossein Abolhasan Tanhayi – Sociologist
 * Mostafa Askarian – Pedagogian
 * Mohammad Reza Sadegh – Senior Advisor to President Hassan Rouhani
 * Abdollah Ramezanzadeh – Iranian Reformist Politician, governor of the Kurdistan Province under President Mohammad Khatami
 * Abdolhossein Mokhtabad – Musician, Singer, Member of City Council of Tehran
 * Shadi Azizi – Architect and Urbanist

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


 * Mohammad Abbasi – Iran Minister of Cooperatives (2005–2011) and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports (2011–2013)
 * Faezeh Hashemi – former representative of Iranian parliament and women rights activist
 * Parvin Ahmadinejad – former member of City Council of Tehran
 * Mohammad-Ali Pourmokhtar – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Mehdi Davatgari – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Rajab Rahmani – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Rahmatollah Norouzi – Representative of Iranian parliament
 * Shabnam Gholikhani – Actress and Director
 * Hanieh Tavassoli – Actress
 * Shahrokh Razmjou – Archaeologist
 * Elnaz Shakerdoust – Actress
 * Kazem Sayahi – Voice actor
 * Behdad Moghadasi – Guitarist
 * Akbar Mohammadi Argi – Football coach
 * Fariba Davoodi Mohajer – Journalist and activist


 * Abbas Araghchi – Diplomat, Iranian Ambassador to Finland & Japan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
 * Ali Shoroughi – Writer and Journalist
 * Laleh Eskandari – Actress
 * Bahareh Rahnama – Actress
 * Azita Afrashi – linguist and Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies fellow
 * Mojtaba Saminejad – blogger and human rights activist
 * Kambiz Hosseini – co-presenter of Parazit
 * Shararh Farnejad – Musician and member of Arian Band
 * Mehrab Ghasemkhani – Screenwriter
 * Mahdi Pakdel – Actor
 * Elnaz Shakerdoust – Actress
 * Houman Haji-Abdollahi – Voice actor and IRIB Host
 * Siamak Ansari – Actor
 * Abolfazl Shahi – Artist
 * Arash Dadgar – Theater Actor
 * Hamed Behdad – Actor
 * Marzieh Khakifirooz - Professor (Tecnologico de Monterrey)

Athletics
Several students have won medals in International competitions while studying at the university.

Other notable sportspeople at the university include Ali Daei, Karim Ansarifard, Mohammad Mayeli Kohan, Akbar Mohammadi, Mahmoud Miran and Arash Miresmaeili.