HISTORY
The story begins in New England in the USA. When the Iraqi-American Science Association, an organization ministered by Jesuit fathers, had achieved success in its mission to found the Baghdad College Secondary School, it realized the importance of establishing a higher education institute in Iraq. Consequently, a request was presented to the Ministry of Knowledge in April 1955 and approved one month later. In 1956, the new university was named Al-Hikma University – “The Wisdom University” – and the first classes were enrolled for the academic year 1956/57. These classes covered three major disciplines: business, engineering, and liberal arts. In addition, there was a minor class in Arabic studies.
In 1969, two charters were issued. The first provided for the nationalization of the university and the annexation of its colleges by the University of Baghdad and the second established the Baghdad Institute of Technology, which took over the university campus. The Baghdad Institute of Technology became the nucleus for what would become known as the Foundation of Technical Education (FTE). FTE subsequently expanded to reach a total of 42 technical colleges and institutes covering the entire country, a large network which was difficult for a single administrative body to oversee.
In 2014, another charter was issued to overcome this administrative difficulty. FTE was divided into four technical universities: Northern, Middle, Middle Euphrates, and Southern Technical Universities. Middle Technical University inherited the campus of Al-Hikma University in Baghdad; it now contains six technical colleges and institutes and has additional campuses in four other provinces.