St. John's College, Agra
Motto | The Truth Shall Make You Free[1] |
---|---|
Established | 1850[1] |
Academic affiliation | Agra University |
Principal | Prof. Peter Edward Joseph |
Location | Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Website | stjohnscollegeagra.in |
St. John's College, India, is a college of Agra, Uttar Pradesh, established in 1850, now part of the Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University, earlier known as Agra University. It is amongst the oldest and one of the most beautiful Christian colleges in India.[2]
History
St. John's College, Agra, was established in 1850 [1] by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) of England, along with Agra C.M.S. Association, and its first principal was Rev. Thomas Valpy French (1825-1891), a fellow of University College, Oxford.[3][4] In 1869-70, it had 297 students, out of which 199 were Hindus, 76 Muslims, and 22 Christians.[5]
From 1862 to 1888, the college was affiliated to the University of Calcutta and till 1927, to the University of Allahabad. In 1927, when Agra University (now known as Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar University) came into existence, the college became affiliated to it, and its principal Dr. A.W. Davies became the first Vice-Chancellor of the newly formed University. Since 1893, the college has offered post-graduate courses.
The college celebrated its centenary in 1952, on this occasion a new wing of the college was built,The foundation stone of the Centenary Wing was laid by Bharat Ratna Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan former president of India in 1957 and was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru on 9 October 1959.[6]
Presently the Principal of the college is Dr. Alexander Lall.
Academics
St. John's offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in:
- English
- History
- Political science
- Economics
- Psychology
- Geography
- Hindi
- Sanskrit
- Urdu
- Business Administration
- Accounts and Law
- Business Economics
- Physics
- Chemistry
- Mathematics
- Statistics
- Zoology
- Botany.
St. John's offers one Ph.D. in Science and Commerce. Students can take vocational courses in Foreign Trade, Advertising and Sales Promotion, Insurance, Computer Science, Demography, Yoga Psychology and Mental Health and Communicative English. The college runs a study centre of Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Principals
- Rev. Thomas Valpy French, D.D. (First Principal 1850 - 1859)
- Scholar and Fellow of University College, Oxford. - First Bishop of Lahore, United India. (1877 - 1887)
- Rev. Henry William Shackell, M.A. (1859 - 1861)
- Student and Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
- Rev. John Barton, M.A. (1861 - 1863)
- Student of Christ's College, Cambridge. - First Principal, Cathedral Mission College, Calcutta. (1865) - Fellow of Madras University, Madras. (1871) - Vicar of Holy Trinity, Cambridge. (1876 - 1893)
- Rev. Charles Ellard Vines, M.A. (1863 - 1878)
- Student of Trinity College, Cambridge. - Honours in Mathematics, Trinity College, Cambridge. (1862)
- Rev. James Abbott Lloyd, M.A. (1878 - 1880)
- Student of St. John's College, Cambridge. - Vice Principal, St. John's College, Agra. (1877 - 1878) - Vicar of St. Giles's, Norwich. (1893)
- Rev. Robert John Bell, M.R.C.P (1880 - 1883)
- Professor at Cathedral Mission College, Calcutta. (1874 - 1880)
- Rev. George Edger Augustus Pargiter, M.A. (1883 - 1890)
- Student of Merton College, Oxford. - Fellow of Allahabad University, Allahabad. (1890) - Vicar of St. Paul's, Leamington. (1894)
- Rev. John Parker Haythornthwaite, M.A. (1890 - 1911)
- Student of St. John's College, Cambridge. - Fellow of Allahabad University, Allahabad. (1894) - Vicar of King's Langley. (1916)
- Rev. Harry Bickersteth Durrant, M.A. (1911 - 1913)
- Scholar and Exhibitioner of Pembroke College, Cambridge. - Fellow of Allahabad University, Allahabad. (1901) - Vice Principal, St. John's College, Agra. (1905) - Canon of Lucknow. (1912) - Bishop of Lahore, United India. (1913) - Fellow of Punjab University. (1913)
- Rev. Dr. Arthur Whitcliffe Davies, M.A., D.Litt. (1913 - 1928)
- Scholar of Uppingham and University College, Oxford. (1902) - Scholar of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. (1904) - Vice Principal, St. John's College, Agra. (1911) - Canon of Lucknow. (1917) - Kaiser-i-Hind Medal. (1921) - First Vice Chancellor of Agra University. (1927) - Hon. Canon of Bradford. (1930)
- William Edward Sladen Holland, M.A. (1929 - 1933)
- Student of Magdalen College, Oxford. - Founded Oxford and Cambridge Hostel (now Holland Hall, Allahabad) - Fellow of Allahabad University, Allahabad. (1906) - Principal, St. Paul's College, Calcutta. (1913) - Fellow of Calcutta University, Calcutta. (1916) - Canon of Lucknow. (1931)
- Rev. Canon Thomas Donald Sully, M.A. (1933 - 1948)
- Scholar of Wadham College, Oxford.
- C.W.S Mahajan, B.A. (1948 - 1954)
- Scholar of Keble College, Oxford.
- Dr. P. Thomas Chandi (1954 - 1968)
- Conferred 'Padam Shree' by the Government of India. (1965) - Vice Chancellor of Gorakhpur University. (1968)
- Dr. P.I. Ittyerah (1968 - 1978)
- Dr. S.C. Banwar (1978 - 1979)
- Pro Vice Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University, Shillong. (1979)
- Gladwin M. Ram, A.M. (1979 - 1991)
- Scholar of Harvard University, Massachusetts.
- Dr. M.S. Renick, P.hD. (1991 - 1996)
- Dr. Ipe Michael Ipe, P.hD. (1996 - 1999)
- Dr. Fazal Masih Prasad,M.Sc(Ag. Chem)., D.Phil., D.Sc., F.B.R.S., F.I.S.A.C., F.I.S.A.B., F.I.C.C., F.S.P.P.S., M.N.A.Sc. (1999 - 2011)
- Scholar of Agra and Allahabad Universities. - Member, Board of Governors, Ewing Christian College, Allahabad. - Member, Board of Governors, St. Andrew's College, Gorakhpur. - Member, Board of Governors, Sherwood College, Nainital. - Member, Board of Governors, All Saints' College, Nainital. - Manager, St. John's Inter College, Agra. - Fellow of Plant Protection Science. - Fellow and Life Member of Indian Council of Chemists - Conferred Dr. Sam Higginbottom Award for the Best Principal for the year 2004-2005. - Member of Board of Studies in Chemistry, Dairy Chemistry, Engineering Chemistry and Home Science. (1984 - 1999) - Member of Board of Studies in Agricultural Chemistry, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly. - Member of Editorial Board of The New Agriculturist. - Member of Executive Committee of Indian Society of Agricultural Chemists. - Technical Editor of The Allahabad Farmer - Conferred Rev. Fr. T.A. Mithias National Award for the Innovative College Educators for the year 2002. - Fellow of Indian Society of Agri-Bio Chemists. - Conferred The Jewel of India Award. (2001) - Conferred Vidya Ratan Award. (2001) - Fellow of Indian Society of Agricultural Chemists. - Fellow of Bioved Research Society. - Acting Principal, Allahabad Agricultural Institute. (1992 - 1993) - Head of the Department of Chemistry, Allahabad Agricultural Institute. (1996 - 1999) - Dean (Students' Welfare), Allahabad Agricultural Institute. - Proctor, Allahabad Agricultural Institute.
St. John's College, Agra (1850-1930), by Rev. John Parker Haythornthwaite, revised and completed by Rev. T D Sully Highway), 1932.
Notable alumni
- Dr. D.K. Hazra, former Dean of the Indian College of Physicians, discoverer of the synthesis of the T3, and TSH hormones, nominee for the Nobel Prize(1977),Padma Shri (2014)
- Babu Gulabrai, Hindi writer and philosopher
- C.N. Garg, former CMD, Cement Corporation Of India (CCI)
- G.N. Gupta, IRS (Retd.), former Chairman/secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes
- J. K. Verma, IRS, Member Income Tax Tribunal
- Justice S.D. Agarwala, former Chief Justice, High Court of Punjab and Haryana
- Khurshed Alam Khan, former Governor of Karnataka
- Laxmi Raman Acharya, freedom fighter and former deputy Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh
- M.C. Gupta, IAS (Retd.), former Chief Secretary, Haryana
- Meera Shankar, IFS, Indian Ambassador to the United States
- Raj Narain, IRS (Retd.), former Member/spl. secretary, Central Board of Direct Taxes
- Rangeya Raghav (1923-1962), Hindi writer.
- S.J.S. Chhatwal, IFS (Retd.), former Chairman, Union Public Service Commission
- Ratan Kumar Gupta, Veteran Freedom Fighter, Poet & Journalist. Led Bhopal State Merger Movement.
- Shankar Dayal Sharma, former President of India.
- Dr. Kusum Singh,PhD(Environmental Chemistry), Former Research Scholar in Environment & Analytical Chemistry.
- Kinshuk Gupta Finance Professional
- Shilendra Kumar Singh, former Foreign Secretary and Governor of Rajasthan
- Ashwini Kumar Singh IFS Deputy Conservator of Forests Karnataka
- Vice Admiral S.P. Govil (Retd.), former Vice Chief of Naval Staff
- Pradeep Taneja, Professor of Chinese Politics & Political Economy, University of Melbourne.
- Abhishek Vivian Prasad, Eminent Administrator, Director, Educator, Manager, Strategist & Politician. Parliament of Victoria
- Dr. David Daneesh Massey, Eminent Researcher, Environmentalist & Analytic Chemist, awarded with RA fellowship from CSIR [Council of Science and Industrial Research]
- Dr. T J Rajendra Prasad, Eminent Professor of Mathematics, Ph.D University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign
- Asrar ul Haq Majaz, Eminent Urdu Poet
Notable presidents
- Cyril Charles (1980)
- Samuel Charles (1952)
Further reading
- St. John's College, Agra (1850-1930), by Rev. John Parker Haythornthwaite, revised and completed by Rev. T D Sully Highway), 1932.
References
- 1 2 3
- ↑ The Christian college in India: the report of the Commission on higher education in India, by Commission on Christian higher education in India. Published by Oxford university press, 1931. Page 322.
- ↑ Thomas Valpy French Britannica.com.
- ↑ History
- ↑ REPORT ON THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN THE NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCES, FOR 1869-70, by M Kempson. Published 1870. pp. Page 67.
- ↑ Message of the President- Dr. Rajendra Prasad Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Correspondence and Select Documents, by Rajendra Prasad, Valmiki Choudhary. Published by Allied Publishers, 1984. ISBN 81-7023-002-0. Page 251."It is a pleasure to me to learn that.. St. John's College, Agra complete a century of service.. in 1952..."
- An Heroic Bishop : the life-story of French of Lahore (1913), Online- Chapter II St. John's College, Agra "French and Stuart sailed on September 11 in the East Indian Queen, which reached Calcutta after an unusually quick voyage, of course round the Cape, on January 2, 1851." page 11."The new college, named St. John's after Henry Martyn's college at Cambridge, with additional reference to St. John as the Apostle of Oriental Churches," was opened in 1853"..page 14 PDF
External links
- St. John's College, Agra website
- St. John's College, Agra, Student Alumni Network
- St. John's College, Agra at wikimapia