Hamdard University  Hamdard University () is a private research university with campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan. It was founded in 1991 by the renowned philanthropist Hakim Said of the Hamdard Foundation. Hamdard is one of the first and the oldest private institutions of higher education in Pakistan. In Karachi, Hamdard University is the largest private research university with a campus area of over 350 acres. Hamdard University's central library Bait-ul-Hikmah is one of the largest research libraries in South Asia with a collection of over half a million books, some of them dating back to the 17th century. The university includes eight faculties, nine research institutes, three teaching hospitals and three affiliated engineering institutes. There are more than 15,000 alumni of Hamdard University employed in organisations in Pakistan and worldwide. Major programs of Hamdard University are accredited by and offered in collaboration with bodies such as the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC), and the Pakistan Pharmacy Council (PCP). Hamdard University was established on 9 October 1991, by a provisional act of the Sindh Assembly. The founding chancellor, Hakim Said, had been long advocating for the establishment of private-sector higher education learning institutions. He received the university's charter from then-President Ghulam Ishaq Khan in a solemn ceremony. The university is named after Said's philanthropy and education lobby organisation, the Hamdard Foundation. An area of about 178 acres was earmarked at Madinat al-Hikmah: "a City of Education, Science and Culture" in Bund Murad neighborhood of Gadap Town of Karachi. Stretching over an area of 350 acres, Madinat al-Hikmah includes, in addition to the establishments of the university, Hamdard Garden, sports stadium, Hamdard Public School and college, operating as its earliest institutions, imparting education from primary to higher secondary level and Bait al-Hikmah library. The Institute of Education & Social Sciences (HIESS) and College of Eastern Medicine (HACEM) were among the earliest institutions established. The other institutions that appeared in the later stages include Hamdard College of Medicine & Dentistry (HCM&D), Hamdard Institute of Management Sciences (HIMS), Hamdard Institute of Engineering Technology (HIET), Faculty of Engineering Sciences and Technology (FEST), Usman Institute of Technology (UIT), Hafiz Mohammad Ilyas Institute of Pharmacology & Herbal Sciences, Hamdard School of Law (HSL), Hamdard Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (HIPS), Bait al-Hikmah Institute of Research and Regional CISCO Networking Academy.