Presidency College, Chennai


Presidency College is an arts, commerce and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. Established as the Madras Preparatory School on 16 October 1840 and later, upgraded to a high school and then, graduate college, the Presidency College is one of the oldest government arts colleges in India. It is one of the two Presidency colleges established by the British in India, the other being the Presidency College, Kolkata.

History

At the behest of Sir Thomas Munro, a Committee of Public Instruction was formed in 1826. In 1836, the duties of the Committee were taken over by a "Committee of Native Education". The plans drawn up by the Committee did not commend themselves to the Governor of Madras, Lord Elphinstone, who in turn proposed nineteen resolutions which were passed unanimously.
As first Principal, the choice of Elphinstone fell on E. B. Powell, a University of Cambridge Wrangler in Mathematics, who accepted the post. Powell reached Mumbai on 20 September 1840 but did not arrive at Chennai until 24 November, the journey from Bombay to Madras taking some four weeks. In the meantime, the Committee had invited a Mr Cooper, from the Hoogly College, Kolkata, to carry out the duties of Principal temporarily, at a salary of Rs. 400 a month. Cooper accepted the invitation and came to Chennai. He and his staff opened Presidency School, a preparatory school, in a rented building in Egmore known as Edinburgh Home on 16 October 1840. Cooper remained in the preparatory school for only a few months. Soon after Eyre Burton Powell's arrival and before the opening of the high school department in 12 April 1841, he returned to Kolkata. The preparatory School was shifted to Popham's Broadway in 1841.
The schools grew into Presidency College. When the University of Madras was founded in 1857, Presidency College was affiliated to it.
In 1870, the college moved to its present location in Kamaraj Salai, opposite Marina Beach.

Courses

Graduate courses

; Arts
; Sciences
; Commerce
; Arts
History
Political Science
Public Administration
Economics
Tamil
Telugu
English
Sanskrit
; Sciences
Computer Science, Mathematics
Statistics
Physics
Chemistry
Botany
Zoology
Geology
Geography
Applied Microbiology
Psychology
; Philosophy
There are M.Phil courses in English
History
Political Science
Public Administration
Economics
Tamil
Telugu
Sanskrit
Mathematics
Chemistry
Botany
Zoology
Computer Science
Geography
Commerce

Doctorate courses

Facilities for research leading to the Ph.D. degree are available in the Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, Geology, Geography, History, Political Science, Public Administration, Economics, Commerce, English, Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu departments.

Rankings

Presidency College, Chennai is ranked fifth among colleges in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2020.

Notable alumni