History of the Ateneo de Manila
The Ateneo de Manila University (Filipino: "Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila") is a private research university in Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1859 by the Society of Jesus, the Ateneo is the third-oldest university in the Philippines.
The founding of the Ateneo de Manila University has its roots in the history of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as a teaching order. The first Spanish Jesuits in the Philippines, Alonzo Sánchez and Antonio Sedeño, arrived in 1581 as missionaries. They were custodians of the "ratio studiorum", the Jesuit system of education developed around 1559. Within a decade of their arrival, Sedeño and the Jesuits had founded the Colegio de Manila ("Colegio Seminario de San Ignacio") in the historic core of Manila, Intramuros, in 1590. The Colegio formally opened in 1595, the first school in the Philippines.
Ateneo de Manila University
Ateneo undergraduates follow a Catholic-rooted liberal arts curriculum throughout their programmes in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Science and Engineering, or Business Management. The Commission on Higher Education has recognized its units in biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, information technology, entrepreneurship education, English literature, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and business administration as Centers of Excellence while the communication, electronics engineering, environmental science, history, Filipino literature, and political science units have been declared Centres of Development. The Loyola Heights campus also hosts two chemistry research centres: Philippine Institute of Pure and Applied Chemistry (PIPAC) and National Chemistry Instrumentation Centre (NCIC).