Hamdard University (جامعہَ ہمدرد) is a private research university with campuses in Karachi and Islamabad, Pakistan. It was founded in 1991 by the philanthropist Hakim Said of the Hamdard Foundation. It is one of the first and oldest private institutions of higher education in Pakistan, and also is the largest private research university in Karachi, 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.[7] The university includes eight faculties, nine research institutes, three teaching hospitals, and three affiliated engineering institutes.
Hamdard University was established on 9 October 1991, by a provisional act of the Sindh Assembly. The founding chancellor, Hakim Said,[4] 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.