Utkal University, Odisha's oldest university, founded at Cuttack on 27 November 1943

Background

In the news: Odisha's campuses head into student union elections on 15 October, across 13 universities and 347 colleges; Utkal University is one of the prominent centres of student politics.
Until 1936, when Odisha became a separate province, its colleges came under Patna University or Andhra University.
The Odisha Legislative Assembly passed the Utkal University Bill on 30 June 1943, and the Utkal University Act, 1943 came into force after the Governor's assent on 2 August 1943.
The University was founded on 27 November 1943 and began functioning in room no. 15 of Ravenshaw College, Cuttack.
Dr. Pranakrushna Parija, then Principal of Ravenshaw College, was its first Vice-Chancellor.
Its first constituent college, now Madhusudan Law College, Cuttack, was established in 1949.
Universities at Sambalpur and Berhampur came into existence from 1 January 1967. The University describes itself as the oldest university in the state of Odisha and the seventeenth oldest university in India.