Karnatak Lingayat Education Society
Karnatak Lingayat Education Society (Kannada: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಲಿಂಗಾಯತ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ) was founded in 1916 by seven educated youth with the objective of bringing education to the Kannada-speaking region of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency and what is today the North Karnataka region. The founder life members of the KLE Society are:
- Shri S.S. Basavanal (7 November 1893 - 22 December 1951)
- Shri B.B. Mamadapur (24 July 1887 - 5 October 1976)
- Shri M.R. Sakhare (1892 - 1951)
- Shri H.F. Kattimani (1 June 1889 - 8 April 1964)
- Shri B.S. Hanchinal (18 March 1891 - August 1979)
- Shri P.R. Chikodi (February 1884 - 8 January 1961)
- Shri V.V. Patil (10 April 1888 - 3 July 1979)
Headquartered at Belgaum, KLE Society runs over 238 educational institutions in North Karnataka, South Maharashtra, Bangalore and New Delhi. On 13 November 1916, KLE Society started an Anglo Vernacular School in Belgaum. Lingaraj College came into existence in June 1933. In 1947, B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering and Technology was started in Hubli. Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College at Belgaum and Gudleppa Hallikeri College at Haveri were started in 1963. KLE also runs the world famous KLE engineering college in Belgaum, established in 1979.[1] From 1984 onwards, KLE Society started dental, education, nursing, information technology, computer applications, hotel management, business management, tourism, fashion design, and agriculture colleges, as well as polytechnics across India. Its health care institutions include the super-specialty KLE Society's Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre at Belgaum. Today under the leadership of Mr. Prabhakar Kore, the KLE Society runs 207 institutions.
Intellectuals who were part of KLE Society in its early years
G.S. Paramasivaiah was a student of the Nobel-laureate Sir CV Raman was the first Principal of the Karnatak Science College, Dharwad. He was also the Secretary of KLE Society Belgaum. He played an important role in founding of Karnatak University.
In 1947, the government of Bombay Province made attempts to establish a university in Bombay Karnataka. As per the resolution No. 7914 of Education and Industries Department, the government of Bombay, a committee was constituted on 17 April 1947 to make recommendations regarding form, scope, constitution and jurisdiction of a university for Karnataka. (which meant Bombay Karnataka because Bombay Karnataka was a southern part of Bombay Province).
Lingayat educationalists like Prof. G.S. Paramasivaiah along with Prof S.S. Basavanal and Dr. S.C Nandimath were associated with the committee. The Karnatak University came into existence in 1949.
KLE University collaborations and MoU
- University of Illinois, Chicago, USA,
- University of Michigan, USA
- University of Missouri, USA
- Sunderland University, UK
- Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia,
- Copperbelt University at Republic of Zambia
- Rhodes University, South Africa, Middlesex University, UK
- University of Birmingham, Alabama, USA
- Christina Care Health Services, Delaware, USA
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA
- University of Colorado, Denver, USA
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
- Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA
- University of California at San Francisco, USA
- Fortius World School, London United Kingdom