Fergusson College

The Founders of the Fergusson College had started the New English School by 1880, in Puneitself and later established the Deccan Education Society in the year 1884. The College conducted the classes, for almost ten years. The cornerstone of the Main building of the institution, was laid in the year of 1892 and the building was completed by 1895. The foundation stone of the new college building was laid by His Excellency the Right Honourable George Robert Canning Harris, the Governor of Bombay. The college then commences their functioning in this campus in 1895. From then onwards, the institution has grown a lot by acquiring a reputation as a nation-building college.

On 27th March, 1895, the auspicious day of Gudi Padwa, the New Year Day, and the Main Building of Fergusson College was inaugurated by Lord Sandhurst, Governor of Bombay, with the presence of Shri. Shahu Chhatrapati, Maharaja of Kolhapur as well as the young President of the Society.

Many institutes of the DES, such as The Jagannath Rathi Vocational Guidance and Training Institute, DES Brijlal Jindal College of Physiotherapy, Institute of Management and Development Research, DES Smt. Subhadra K. Jindal Nursing College, DES Navalmal Firodia Law College, and The Technical Institute of Pune, are all situated on the College campus.

The Junior Section is for students graduating from the school level. Courses are offered in Arts and Science streams as well, at the end of which every student may appear for the Higher-Secondary examination. The senior section offers bachelor’s degrees in almost 29 disciplines and master’s degrees in a total of 16 disciplines.

Most of the Science departments as well as the Arts departments have their own separate buildings with sound laboratories and spacious classrooms. The College has maintained an excellent academic record throughout over its entire history. This in fact attracts many outstanding students from all over the country and even from other nations. The college got better faculties in each department that guides the students in pursuing their career.

Veer Savarkar, the Indian independence activist, was an alumnus of Fergusson College. P.V. Narasimha Rao, the ninth Prime Minister of India, regarded as the Father of Indian Economic Reforms, the man who is responsible for the dismantling of the Licence Raj finished his law degree from Fergusson. The seventh Prime Minister of India Vishwanath Pratap Singh known for his decision to implement the Mandal Commission report got his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Fergusson College. Radhika Apte, the most seen face from India on Netflix is a Mathematics and Economics graduate from Fergusson College. Prahlad Kakkar, the advertisement guru, graduated in Economics from Fergusson College in 1970. Smita Patil, the national award-winning actress was an esteemed alumna of Fergusson College. Pooja Batra, the Femina Miss India International 1993 graduated in Economics from Fergusson College. Sonali Kulkarni the noted Marathi and Hindi film actress did her graduation from Fergusson College. ShreeramLagoo, the theatre and film actor along with being an ENT surgeon, attended Fergusson College before getting into Medical College.