American Robert College of Istanbul is an independent, co-educational, private high school in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded in 1863, Robert College is the oldest continuously operating American school outside the United States.
The school is situated in a wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul in the Beşiktaş district, with the historic Arnavutköy neighborhood to the east and the upscale Ulus neighborhood to the west.
History
In 1863, Robert College was founded in Bebek by Christopher Robert, a wealthy American philanthropist, and Cyrus Hamlin, a missionary devoted to education. Six years after its foundation, with the permission () of the Ottoman Sultan, the first campus (currently housing Boğaziçi University) was built in Bebek at the ridge of the Rumeli Castle. At the time, the school was very close to a Bektashi tekke, whose leaders maintained an excellent relationship with the Congregational and Presbyterian founders of Robert College, according to Friedrich Schrader, a German lecturer at Robert College during the 1890s. Hamlin, who became the first president of Robert College, was preoccupied with the construction of the campus such that George Washburn acted as the de facto head of the college from 1871 onwards. In 1877, he was officially named president by the trustees. During his tenure between 1877 and 1903, Washburn "gradually assembled a faculty of distinguished scholars who firmly established the college's academic reputation." Gale Biography In Context.
Christopher Robert died in 1878, leaving a significant portion of his wealth to the college. In that same year, a college catalog was compiled, providing general information and an outline of the courses of study. Defining the aims of the college, the catalog stated: "The object of the College is to give to its students, without distinction of race or religion, a thorough educational equal in all respects to that obtained at a first-class American college and based upon the same general principles."
After Washburn, Robert College was administrated by Caleb Gates (1903–1932). During his presidency, the student body of the school underwent a major demographic transition; whereas the student body previously consisted of Bulgarian, Romanian, and other Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire, the Young Turks' liberalization of policies directed towards foreign schools and an increasing demand amongst Turks for a western education resulted in considerable numbers of Turkish students enrolling. Founded at the time of the Ottoman Empire as an institution of higher learning serving the Christian minorities of the Empire as well as foreigners living in Constantinople, the school adopted a strictly secular educational model in accordance with the republican principles of Turkey in 1923. Robert College, at various points of its existence, had junior high school, high school, and university sections under the names Robert Academy, Robert Yüksek and American College for Girls. Since 1971, the current-day Robert College has functioned only as a "high school" (more comparable to the French lycée in academic rigor) on its Arnavutköy campus (formerly the campus of American College for Girls), yet it retains the title of "College". The Bebek campus and academic staff were turned over to the Republic of Turkey for use as a public university named Boğaziçi University, the renamed continuation of Robert College's university section.
Major events
1863, September 16: Robert College opened with 31 students at Bebek Seminary School. 1912: The School of Engineering at Robert College was established, beginning with Civil Engineering. 1922: President Caleb Gates and Hüseyin Pektaş (the first Muslim graduate and then vice-president of the college) attended the Conference of Lausanne representing foreign educational institutions in the Ottoman Empire. 1932: With Paul Monroe, the joint presidency system was adopted by Robert College (RC) and the American College for Girls (ACG). Robert Academy was the preparatory school for Robert College, which had a reputable engineering school. Instruction was bilingual, in Turkish and English. 1934: The School of Engineering at Robert College was expanded with the programs of Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Mining Engineering. 1957: Robert College was granted permission to become an institution of higher learning by the Republic of Turkey with the name Robert Koleji Yüksek Okulu (Higher Education School of Robert College) and was given the status of a university. 1961: Universities in Turkey were granted autonomy with Article 120 of the Turkish Constitution of 1961. All undergraduate degree programs at Robert College became 4-year bachelor's degree programs in 1961, including those which were previously offered as 2-year programs. 1971: Following the 1971 Turkish military memorandum, a law was passed for the nationalization or closure of private higher education institutions in Turkey which offered college degree programs. This led to the organizational restructuring of Robert College in Istanbul and to the closure of the Theological School of Halki in Heybeliada (the latter refused the Turkish Ministry of National Education's proposal of being attached to the Faculty of Theology at Istanbul University). As a result, the college section (Robert Koleji Yüksek Okulu), which offered 4-year bachelor's degree programs (e.g. the programs of the School of Engineering) and master's degree programs (e.g. in Industrial Engineering), was officially closed on 18 May 1971, and was nationalized and reorganized as Boğaziçi University, which took over its buildings. The high school section of Robert College, formerly named Robert Academy (RA), continues to operate as an American high school, with the Turkish name Robert Kolej referring mainly to the still active high school section since 1971. The merger of the American College for Girls and Robert Academy as a co-educational private institution with junior high and high schools, on the Arnavutköy campus, was officially confirmed in September 1971. Robert College's Bebek campus was donated to the Republic of Turkey. Boğaziçi University was established as a public university on this land. The autonomy of the universities in Turkey, granted with Article 120 of the Turkish Constitution of 1961, was suspended in 1971 and annulled with the Higher Education Law numbered 2547 () which became effective on 6 November 1981. Since then, the Council of Higher Education is responsible for supervising the universities in Turkey, in a capacity defined by Article 130 of the Turkish Constitution of 1982. 1998: With the adoption of a law calling for eight years of uninterrupted primary education in Turkey (junior high school would now be a part of primary education), the school stopped accepting students to its junior high school section. 2004: The last junior high school students graduated and the school's junior high school section was officially closed. Now, Robert College has Prep, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th grades, and accepts students who have finished compulsory primary education of eight years.
List of presidents and heads
Heads of Robert CollegeHeadYears of service Cyrus Hamlin 1863–1877 George Washburn 1877–1903 Caleb Frank Gates 1903–1932 Paul Monroe 1932–1935 Walter Livingston Wright 1935–1943 Harold Lorain Scott (acting president) 1943–1944 Floyd Henson Black 1944–1955 Duncan Smith Ballantine 1955–1961 Harold Locke Hazen (acting president) 1961 Patrick Murphy Malin 1962–1964 James L. Brainerd (acting president) 1965 Dwight James Simpson 1965–1967 Howard P. Hall (acting president) 1967–1968 John Scott Everton 1968–1971 John Clay Chalfant 1971–1977 James Richard Maggart 1977–1981 Elizabeth Dabanovitch (acting head) 1981–1982 Alan Donn Kesselheim 1982–1984 Margaret A. Johnson 1984–1988 Harry A. Dawe 1988–1992 Benjamin D. Williams III (interim head) 1992–1993 Christopher Wadsworth 1993–2001 Livingston Merchant 2001–2005 John Russell Chandler 2005–2012 Anthony Jones 2012–2015 Charles H. Skipper 2015–2019 Adam Oliver 2019–2025 Whitman Shepard 2025–2027Stephen Murray2027–
Academics
, as per Turkish Ministry of National Education (MEB) regulations, Turkish is the instructional language of history and social studies classes.
Students Robert College accepts 180 to 220 students each year, who have scored within the top 0.2 percentile in a nationwide examination (LGS), which every Turkish student must take in order to study in a high school (secondary education) after they complete their primary education. The school has around 1000 students each academic year.
In the 1998–1999 academic year there were 942 students, with 99% having Turkish nationality.
Circa 1904, the school had about 300 students, with boarding space for about 200. Lucy Mary Jane Garnett wrote in the 1904 work Turkish Life in Town and Country that at that time most of the students were Christian as the college had a requirement for students to attend Christian Sunday church services and chapel services, and "it would be unsafe for any professed Moslem to become either a resident or a daily student" since the Ottoman government would take a dim view of a Muslim going to chapel. In 1904, Greek students made up the majority and other students included significant numbers of Armenians and Bulgarians.Garnett, Lucy Mary Jane. Turkish Life in Town and Country. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1904. p. 204-205.
Faculty and staff The faculty have an average of 20 years of teaching experience and the majority have either Turkish or United States citizenship. The school currently has faculty who are 50% Turkish, and 48% native English speakers (including faculty from English-speaking countries other than the United States). Sixty percent of the full-time faculty hold master's degrees or higher.
there were 102 teachers, with 45% being Turkish and 32% being American. Of the teachers, eight were part-time. The school's guidance counselors, as of that year, were English-speaking Turkish citizens.
, as per Turkish Ministry of National Education regulations, the school employs only Turkish citizens to teach history and social studies classes.
, the school pays its foreign employees funds so that their children may attend Istanbul International Community School. If an employee chooses another school, Robert College will pay an equivalent amount.
In 1904, the faculty included Americans, Turks, Armenians, Bulgarians, and Greeks.
Curriculum Robert College is a five-year high school, with the first year (Prep) being the English immersion year that prepares students for rigorous curriculum, which is mostly in English. English is the language of instruction used in Science, Mathematics, Literature, Physical Education, Art and Music courses. Turkish is the required language of instruction in social sciences and Turkish language/literature.
Higher education