The National University of Rwanda (NUR;, , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at -2.61611°N, 29.74278°W in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Province of Quebec, Canada. Its founder and first rector was Father Georges-Henri Lévesque. When it was established, the NUR had three divisions (Faculties of Medicine and Social Sciences, and a Teacher Training College), 51 students and 16 lecturers. The university suffered badly during the genocide and had to close in 1994, reopening in April 1995. At that time English was introduced as a medium of instruction alongside French. In 2013, along with all public higher education institutions in Rwanda, it was merged into the newly created University of Rwanda.

History

When it started in 1963 NUR was composed of three academic units: the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Teacher Training College (ENS). At that time, it had 51 students and 16 lecturers. By 2005, the university had 8221 students and 425 lecturers. Important dates and facts are:

Colleges

1998: creation of the department of Clinical Psychology as a response to trauma from the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The department was integrated in the Faculty of Education, and later on (2009) moved to the Faculty of Medicine.

Faculties

The university has 9 faculties, comprises:

Notable alumni