·1919年南开大学开学纪念(第二排右7为张伯苓,后排左1为周恩来)

        严修和张伯苓,在成功地开办南开中学的基础上,为了解决学生求学深造的问题,1915年便在南开中学成立专门部,拟定1916年将专门部改为大学; 但因 “经费竭蹶”而未成。为了实现筹办南开大学的愿望,严修和张伯苓决定考察美国的私立大学。1917年8月,张伯苓先行赴美留学,入哥伦比亚大学师范学院学习近代教育学和心理学。第二年秋,严修也到美国。每天晚上,严、张在严修的下榻处讨论研究教育学的心得; 更多的时间则用于考察美国私立大学教育。
        1918年11月,严、张从旧金山乘船回国。在旅途上,他们充分讨论了筹办大学的计划。同年12月24日,他们回到天津; 当天,南开召开欢迎校长回国大会,时子周代表教师致辞时说: “南开大学之兴当可拭目而待。”严、张首先着手筹措资金,经多方努力,严修自己也先后捐款、捐地,使经费有了着落。从1919年4月开始,建设大学校舍; 南开中学拨空地40亩作为大学校址;5月,成立大学筹备课,由张彭春任主任; 设文、理、商3科; 9月7日、8日,举行新生入学考试,共录取周恩来(文科)、马骏等96人,计文科49人,理科19人,商科28人。
        1919年9月25日,在大学礼堂举行天津第一所私立大学——南开大学开学典礼,黎元洪、严修、范源濂、卢木斋、孙子文及直隶省代表与教育厅长王章祜等莅会。校长张伯苓及黎元洪、范源濂等讲话。10月17日,南开学校15周年纪念日,又召开南开大学正式成立大会。从此,每逢10月17日,即为南开大学校庆日。
        随着南开大学的发展,校址不广,屋舍狭隘,成为突出矛盾。1922年3月,学校租定八里台村北、村南2段公地400余亩,经过一年的努力,建成新校址。同年6月28日,首届21名本科毕业生输送给社会。20世纪30年代,文、理、商3科分别改为文学院、理学院、商学院,共13个系。
        1937年7月30日,在天津沦陷时,南开大学被日本侵略军炸毁。这是抗日战争以来,中国第一个罹难的高等学府。张伯苓在南京向《中央日报》记者发表谈话说: “敌人此次炸毁南开,被毁者南开之物质,而南开之精神,将因此挫折,而愈益奋励。”8月,南开大学南迁长沙,与国立北京大学、清华大学,成立临时大学。此后,临时大学再度南迁昆明。1938年4日,临时大学改称国立西南联合大学。
        抗日战争胜利后,1945年7月31日,西南联合大学正式结束,3校回迁复校。1946年1月,南开大学复校筹备处成立,开始重建南开园; 秋天正式复校,并由私立改为国立。建成一所拥有文、理、工、商4个学院、16个系的综合大学; 全校师生1200多人,其中教师170多人。
        新中国建立后,揭开了南开大学新的里程碑。1952年,全国高等院校进行院系调整,南开大学的工学院等系科调出,原分布于市区内外的5处校址,划出4处,仅保留八里台的现校址。调整后全校共设14个系、3个专修科,后又调整为9个系。南开大学由文、理、工、商多院制综合大学,转变为一所文、理2科的综合大学。1959年,定为全国重点大学。1994年12月,原隶属国家外经贸部的天津对外贸易学院,并入南开大学。1995年,南开大学通过国家教委“211工程”预审,成为国家面向21世纪重点建设高校。
        目前,南开大学已成为人文社会科学、自然科学、管理科学、技术科学、生命科学、医学、艺术等多学科的综合大学; 拥有11个专业学院、30个系和教学部、47个研究所和研究中心、6个国家基础学科人才培养和科研基地、83个硕士点、35个博士点、6个博士后科研流动站、11个国家重点学科、6个国家重点实验室和开放实验室、1个国家工程研究中心、近百个教学实验室、4900名教职工(教授、副教授1108名) 、17000余名学生。形成了多类型、多层次的教育、科研、社会服务相结合的开放式办学格局。
        After the successfully running of Nankai Middle School,Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling set up a special departmentin 1915 to prepare for the founding of Nankai Universityin 1916 for the further study of students of the middleschool. However,the plan was aborted because of lackof funds.
        To fulfill the wish of founding a university,YanXiu and Zhang Boling decided to investigate privateuniversities in the United States. In August 1917,Zhang Boling went to the Normal College of ColumbiaUniversity to study modern education and psychology.In the autumn of next year,Yan Xiu also came to theUnited States for study. Yan and Zhang discussededucation in the room of Yan Xiu. They spent most oftheir time in investigating private university education inthe United States.
        In November 1918,Yan and Zhang returned toChina by ship. They exchanged ideas on the preparationfor the founding of Nankai University in detail on thejourney. On December 24th they arrived in Tianjin. Onthe same day,Nankai School held a welcome assemblyfor their schoolmasters. The teacher representative ShiZizhou delivered a speech saying that the founding ofNankai University was coming.
        Yan and Zhang first collected funds for the foundingof the university. After making many efforts,includingdonation from Yan Xiu himself,the problem of fundingwas solved. University buildings started to be built fromApril in 1919. Nankai Middle School spared a land of 40Mu for the university buildings. In May the UniversityPreparation Section was founded with Zhang Pengchunas the section head. The university had three majors,Arts,Science and Business. Entrance examinationwas held in September 7th and 8th. The first group ofstudents included 96 people with Zhou Enlai (Arts) andMa Jun. Among them,49 were majored in Arts,19 inScience and 28 in Business.
        In September 25,1919,the ceremony for termbeginning for the first private university in Tianjin -Nankai University was held in the university hall. LiYuanhong,Yan Xiu,Fan Yuanlian,Lu Muzhai,SunZiwen and the director of the Provincial EducationDepartment Wang Zhanggu attended the ceremony. Theprincipal Zhang Boling,Li Yuanhong and Fan Yuanliandelivered speeches. On October 17 which was the 15thanniversary of Nankai Middle School,a formal foundingceremony for Nankai University was held. After that,Nankai University made October 17 as its anniversaryday.
        As Nankai University developed,the university`sbuildings could not meet its land demands. In March1922,the university rented a land of more than 400Mu in the second south segment of the northern BalitaiVillage and built new buildings after efforts of one year.In June 28 in 1922,the first 21 graduates began to servethe public. In 1930s,Arts,Science and Business majorswere changed into College of Arts,College of Scienceand College of Business,including thirteen departments.
        On July 30th 1937 Tianjin was occupied by theJapanese army. Nankai University was destroyed by theJapanese bombs. It was the first university destroyedin the Anti-Japanese War. Interviewed by the CentralNewspaper,Zhang Boling said," What is destroyedby the Japanese is only Nankai building,not Nankaispirit. Nankai spirit would grow stronger because of thissetback."
        In August 1937,Nankai University moved toChangsha and founded a temporary university with thePublic Beijing University and Tsinghua University. Thetemporary university moved to Kunming then. In April1938,the temporary university was changed into PublicSouthwest United University.

        

·南开大学木斋图书馆

        After victory of the Anti-Japanese War,on July31,1945,Public Southwest United University ceasedand the three universities returned to their campuses andresumed their previous operations. In January 1946 thePreparation Section for resuming was founded and thecampus was rebuilt. In autumn the new term began andNankai University became a public university ratherthan a private university. It became a comprehensiveuniversity with four colleges,College of Arts,Collegeof Science,College of Engineering and College ofBusiness,and 16 departments. It had more than 1200faculty members and students,with the number ofteachers reaching more than 170.
        Nankai University had a new era after the liberationof China. In 1952,the higher education system wasadjusted. Nankai University previously was scattered infive locations in and outside Tianjin city. However,afterthe adjustment,only the current location in Balitai waskept.
        In 1952,the schools of higher education inChina were restructured. The colleges of industryand engineering were moved out. Only one of its fivelocations was retained,i.e the current location at Balitai.After the restriction,there were 14 departments (then 9ones). Nankai University changed from a comprehensiveuniversity of humanities,natural sciences,engineeringand business to a university of humanities and naturalsciences.
        In 1959,Nankai University was chosen as oneof the key national universities. In December,1994,Tianjin College of Foreign Trade was merged intoNankai University. In 1995,Nankai University passedthe examination of "211 Project" by the EducationCommittee of China. It became one of the keyuniversities built by China in the 21st century which willhave a more bright future.
        Nowadays,Nankai University is a comprehensiveuniversity with the majors of human,natural science,management science,technology,life science,medicine,arts,and so on. It has 11 colleges,30 departments,47academies and research centers,6 bases of basic science,83 master projects,35 doctor projects and 6 post-doctorate research centers,11 key national subjects,6national laboratories and open laboratories,1 nationalresearch center of engineering,hundreds of teachinglaboratories,4900 faculty and staff including 1108professors and assistant professors,and 17,000 students.It has become a university with different levels and typesof education,research and social services.

        

·南开大学原男生宿舍 (1937年被日军炸毁)