Changes After Construction
The campus, whose construction began in 1911 by the firm “Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge,” owned by the American architect Charles H. Rutan, was completed in 1914.
Within the campus, the “Gould Hall,” which forms the main building, the “Mitchell Hall” for the function of the school kitchen and dining room, the “Woods Hall” for science education, and the “Sage Hall” for dormitory use were completed in the same period.
After these four buildings, each financed by different donors, the “Bingham Hall” was constructed in 1923 for the purpose of a medical faculty with the donations of William Bingham II.
In 1990, the “Feyyaz Berker Science Building,” “Suna Kıraç Theater,” and “Nejat Eczacıbaşı Sports Hall” buildings were constructed, and the campus took its present form.
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Known by its former name Robert College and by its present name Private American Robert High School, it is the oldest American educational institution founded outside the borders of the United States.
The school’s educational roots date back to the institution founded in an old wooden building in Bebek in 1863 through the efforts of the American missionary and educator Dr. Cyrus Hamlin.
In 1869, the first campus on the Bebek hills, which is used today as the South Campus of Boğaziçi University, was built, and educational activities continued there.
Robert College, which continued its educational activities with the Gedikpaşa campus in 1871, the Üsküdar campus in 1876, and its present Arnavutköy campus, became one of our country’s most important educational institutions.
The architect Charles H. Rutan, who left his mark on important structures such as the Stanford University Campus and the Harvard University Library Building, also applied the architectural style of American educational institutions in the architecture of Robert College.
The cornerstone of the building, laid on 9 November 1911 by the United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, contains a time capsule. The inscription “AD MDCCCCXI,” which indicates the year when the campus was founded in Roman numerals, is located on the south façade of the Gould Building.
The school has many important graduates from various fields, including Bülent Ecevit, İsmail Cem, Haldun Dormen, Halil Berktay, Nurettin Topçu, Orhan Pamuk, Rahmi Koç, Tansu Çiller, Halit Refiğ, and Gündüz Vassaf.
