Higher Education and Research Addressing Local and Global Needs
IAU 13th General Conference
IAU at UTRECHT
15 - 18 July 2008
Work with Universities: The 1948 Utrecht Conference and the Birth of the IAU In August of 1948, UNESCO and the government of the
Netherlands
organized a conference on international university cooperation in
Utrecht. The disastrous consequences of World War II had reinforced the
idea that universities from all over the world should concentrate more
on the social role that they should take on and, partly for these
reasons, organize themselves at the international level. Such ideas had
already been formulated before World War II, but they had not been
translated into anything as concrete as the creation of an
International Association of Universities.From August 2-18, 1948, hundreds of university representatives from close to 35 countries and all continents, as well as representatives from a large number of international organizations, met in Utrecht. The conference took place in the auditorium of the University of Utrecht, a historic hall dating from the 15th century. The University of Utrecht and the city of Utrecht took charge of the organization of this event. It is in this same hall that the Union of Utrecht was sealed in 1579, marking the birth of the Netherlands as an independent state. Professor Kruyt was the President of the 1948 Conference; he was also the Secretary General of the Dutch Commission for UNESCO. It is from this Utrecht Conference that the foundations to develop what would later become the International Association of Universities, the IAU, were put in place. In Nice in 1950, the official constitution of the Association, which would not have come into existence if not for this historic conference in Utrecht, was signed. The ideals that inspired the creation of the IAU still guide the organization today. On the occasion of the 13th General Conference of the IAU, Professor Leen Dorsman and Annemarieke Blankensteijn presented the results of their studies on the creation of the IAU, in the book entitled: “Work with Universities: The 1948 Utrecht Conference and the Birth of the IAU”. |
| Presentation |
| IAU Thematic Conference |
| Theme |
| Programme |
| Parallel Workshops |
| Programme Committee |
| IAU Business |
| Business Sessions |
| Elections |
| 60 years of IAU |
| Special initiatives |
| International Music CD |
| IAU in 1948 |
|
| Photo Gallery |
| Join IAU |
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| Host, venue and sponsors |
| Utrecht University |
| Dutch Higher Education |
| The City of Utrecht |
| Conference Sponsors |
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