Ataturk who was fully cognizant of the fact that the young republic established in 1923 needed the spark of the youth, gave an utmost importance to education. Prominent architects of the time were asked to prepare projects for the establishment of a teacher training school. The winning project of Architect Kemalettin, who was one of the leaders of the National Architecture trend, soon turned into the glamorous building at the center of Ankara where “Teacher Training Institute for Secondary Schools", one of the first educational Institutes of the young republic was established in 1926. The institute was renamed as "Gazi Teacher's College and Training Institute for Secondary Education" in 1926 and “Gazi Education Institute” in 1976.
The establishment of Ankara Technical Teachers College for Boys and Ankara Technical Teachers College for Girls in 1935, Ankara Economic and Commercial Sciences College in 1955, and Ankara State Engineering and Architecture College in 1966 played a pivotal role in the development of the institute.
As deep rooted and a leading higher education center, Gazi Training Institute was restructured as Gazi University and took a leading role in the higher education of the country. The university which started education with 9 faculties, 12 academies and 4 institutes in 1982 turned out to be one of the major education centers of the country with 20 faculties, 1 conservatoire, 5 academy, 11 vocational colleges, 45 research centers and 7 institutes.
Based upon modern science understanding and the basic principles of the republic since its foundation, Gazi University has become an institution where experience is synthesized with dynamism in cultural and intellectual dimensions.
With its qualified academic staff consisting of over 4.000 professors, associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers, research assistants, instructors and experts, the university has reached the world average in the number of faculty members per student. Gazi University has managed lots of project funded different sources such as EU, Tübitak (Turkish science foundation), State Planning office, etc. The university has capacity to publish the results of the project in national and international activities. Papers that show the results of project will be presented at related conferences, seminars and workshops, thus providing further diffusion to different target groups at various contexts.
Gazi University is one of the biggest universities of Turkey with over 78.000 students including 66.000 undergraduate and 12.000 postgraduate students currently studying in its 171 academic departments. There are also over 1000 foreign students in the university from various countries.