Magtymguly Turkmen State University is one of the leading universities in Turkmenistan, located in the capital city Ashgabat. It is named after Magtymguly Pyragy, a Turkmen poet. Its current rector is Bayramgul Orazdurdyyeva.

History

Turkmen State University named after Maxim Gorky was founded on July 14, 1950, through the reorganization of the Ashkhabad Pedagogical Institute, which had existed since 1931. It has been a member of the Eurasian Association of Universities since 1989. It was renamed in honor of the Turkmen poet Magtymguly Pyragy in 1993.

Faculties

Campus

In 2007, the French company Bouygues built the main building of TSU with a library, a reading room, an assembly hall and a total area of 13,500 m2 at a cost of $40 million. Bouygues under contract with TSU executed reconstruction of buildings for $45 million. The firm also reconstructed of the façade of the main building as well as one other. On September 1, 2008, the physics and mathematics faculty was opened. President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the dedication of the building. On September 1, 2011, the faculty of geography and two blocks of dormitories built by Bouygues were opened. The geography building can accommodate 800 students.

Famous alumni

During World War II, part of Moscow State University was evacuated to Ashgabat (then known as Ashkhabad), where it operated out of the Ashkhabad Pedagogical Institute. Many classes were taught jointly by the two institutions. Among the Moscow State University graduates in 1942 was the famous Soviet physicist and human-rights defender Andrei Sakharov, who completed his degree program in Ashkhabad. Other alumni include football manager Kurban Berdyev, businessman Igor Makarov, and entomologist Svetlana Myartseva.