·1919年南開大學(xué)開學(xué)紀念(第二排右7為張伯苓，后排左1為周恩來)

嚴修和張伯苓，在成功地開辦南開中學(xué)的基礎(chǔ)上，為了解決學(xué)生求學(xué)深造的問題，1915年便在南開中學(xué)成立專門部，擬定1916年將專門部改為大學(xué)； 但因 “經(jīng)費竭蹶”而未成。為了實現(xiàn)籌辦南開大學(xué)的愿望，嚴修和張伯苓決定考察美國的私立大學(xué)。1917年8月，張伯苓先行赴美留學(xué)，入哥倫比亞大學(xué)師范學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)近代教育學(xué)和心理學(xué)。第二年秋，嚴修也到美國。每天晚上，嚴、張在嚴修的下榻處討論研究教育學(xué)的心得； 更多的時間則用于考察美國私立大學(xué)教育。
1918年11月，嚴、張從舊金山乘船回國。在旅途上，他們充分討論了籌辦大學(xué)的計劃。同年12月24日，他們回到天津； 當天，南開召開歡迎校長回國大會，時子周代表教師致辭時說： “南開大學(xué)之興當可拭目而待?！眹?、張首先著手籌措資金，經(jīng)多方努力，嚴修自己也先后捐款、捐地，使經(jīng)費有了著落。從1919年4月開始，建設(shè)大學(xué)校舍； 南開中學(xué)撥空地40畝作為大學(xué)校址；5月，成立大學(xué)籌備課，由張彭春任主任； 設(shè)文、理、商3科； 9月7日、8日，舉行新生入學(xué)考試，共錄取周恩來(文科)、馬駿等96人，計文科49人，理科19人，商科28人。
1919年9月25日，在大學(xué)禮堂舉行天津第一所私立大學(xué)——南開大學(xué)開學(xué)典禮，黎元洪、嚴修、范源濂、盧木齋、孫子文及直隸省代表與教育廳長王章祜等蒞會。校長張伯苓及黎元洪、范源濂等講話。10月17日，南開學(xué)校15周年紀念日，又召開南開大學(xué)正式成立大會。從此，每逢10月17日，即為南開大學(xué)校慶日。
隨著南開大學(xué)的發(fā)展，校址不廣，屋舍狹隘，成為突出矛盾。1922年3月，學(xué)校租定八里臺村北、村南2段公地400余畝，經(jīng)過一年的努力，建成新校址。同年6月28日，首屆21名本科畢業(yè)生輸送給社會。20世紀30年代，文、理、商3科分別改為文學(xué)院、理學(xué)院、商學(xué)院，共13個系。
1937年7月30日，在天津淪陷時，南開大學(xué)被日本侵略軍炸毀。這是抗日戰(zhàn)爭以來，中國第一個罹難的高等學(xué)府。張伯苓在南京向《中央日報》記者發(fā)表談話說： “敵人此次炸毀南開，被毀者南開之物質(zhì)，而南開之精神，將因此挫折，而愈益奮勵?！?月，南開大學(xué)南遷長沙，與國立北京大學(xué)、清華大學(xué)，成立臨時大學(xué)。此后，臨時大學(xué)再度南遷昆明。1938年4日，臨時大學(xué)改稱國立西南聯(lián)合大學(xué)。
抗日戰(zhàn)爭勝利后，1945年7月31日，西南聯(lián)合大學(xué)正式結(jié)束，3?；剡w復(fù)校。1946年1月，南開大學(xué)復(fù)?；I備處成立，開始重建南開園； 秋天正式復(fù)校，并由私立改為國立。建成一所擁有文、理、工、商4個學(xué)院、16個系的綜合大學(xué)； 全校師生1200多人，其中教師170多人。
新中國建立后，揭開了南開大學(xué)新的里程碑。1952年，全國高等院校進行院系調(diào)整，南開大學(xué)的工學(xué)院等系科調(diào)出，原分布于市區(qū)內(nèi)外的5處校址，劃出4處，僅保留八里臺的現(xiàn)校址。調(diào)整后全校共設(shè)14個系、3個專修科，后又調(diào)整為9個系。南開大學(xué)由文、理、工、商多院制綜合大學(xué)，轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)橐凰摹⒗?科的綜合大學(xué)。1959年，定為全國重點大學(xué)。1994年12月，原隸屬國家外經(jīng)貿(mào)部的天津?qū)ν赓Q(mào)易學(xué)院，并入南開大學(xué)。1995年，南開大學(xué)通過國家教委“211工程”預(yù)審，成為國家面向21世紀重點建設(shè)高校。
目前，南開大學(xué)已成為人文社會科學(xué)、自然科學(xué)、管理科學(xué)、技術(shù)科學(xué)、生命科學(xué)、醫(yī)學(xué)、藝術(shù)等多學(xué)科的綜合大學(xué)； 擁有11個專業(yè)學(xué)院、30個系和教學(xué)部、47個研究所和研究中心、6個國家基礎(chǔ)學(xué)科人才培養(yǎng)和科研基地、83個碩士點、35個博士點、6個博士后科研流動站、11個國家重點學(xué)科、6個國家重點實驗室和開放實驗室、1個國家工程研究中心、近百個教學(xué)實驗室、4900名教職工(教授、副教授1108名) 、17000余名學(xué)生。形成了多類型、多層次的教育、科研、社會服務(wù)相結(jié)合的開放式辦學(xué)格局。
After the successfully running of Nankai Middle School,Yan Xiu and Zhang Boling set up a special departmentin 1915 to prepare for the founding of Nankai Universityin 1916 for the further study of students of the middleschool. However,the plan was aborted because of lackof funds.
To fulfill the wish of founding a university,YanXiu and Zhang Boling decided to investigate privateuniversities in the United States. In August 1917,Zhang Boling went to the Normal College of ColumbiaUniversity to study modern education and psychology.In the autumn of next year,Yan Xiu also came to theUnited States for study. Yan and Zhang discussededucation in the room of Yan Xiu. They spent most oftheir time in investigating private university education inthe United States.
In November 1918,Yan and Zhang returned toChina by ship. They exchanged ideas on the preparationfor the founding of Nankai University in detail on thejourney. On December 24th they arrived in Tianjin. Onthe same day,Nankai School held a welcome assemblyfor their schoolmasters. The teacher representative ShiZizhou delivered a speech saying that the founding ofNankai University was coming.
Yan and Zhang first collected funds for the foundingof the university. After making many efforts,includingdonation from Yan Xiu himself,the problem of fundingwas solved. University buildings started to be built fromApril in 1919. Nankai Middle School spared a land of 40Mu for the university buildings. In May the UniversityPreparation Section was founded with Zhang Pengchunas the section head. The university had three majors,Arts,Science and Business. Entrance examinationwas held in September 7th and 8th. The first group ofstudents included 96 people with Zhou Enlai (Arts) andMa Jun. Among them,49 were majored in Arts,19 inScience and 28 in Business.
In September 25,1919,the ceremony for termbeginning for the first private university in Tianjin -Nankai University was held in the university hall. LiYuanhong,Yan Xiu,Fan Yuanlian,Lu Muzhai,SunZiwen and the director of the Provincial EducationDepartment Wang Zhanggu attended the ceremony. Theprincipal Zhang Boling,Li Yuanhong and Fan Yuanliandelivered speeches. On October 17 which was the 15thanniversary of Nankai Middle School,a formal foundingceremony for Nankai University was held. After that,Nankai University made October 17 as its anniversaryday.
As Nankai University developed,the university`sbuildings could not meet its land demands. In March1922,the university rented a land of more than 400Mu in the second south segment of the northern BalitaiVillage and built new buildings after efforts of one year.In June 28 in 1922,the first 21 graduates began to servethe public. In 1930s,Arts,Science and Business majorswere changed into College of Arts,College of Scienceand College of Business,including thirteen departments.
On July 30th 1937 Tianjin was occupied by theJapanese army. Nankai University was destroyed by theJapanese bombs. It was the first university destroyedin the Anti-Japanese War. Interviewed by the CentralNewspaper,Zhang Boling said," What is destroyedby the Japanese is only Nankai building,not Nankaispirit. Nankai spirit would grow stronger because of thissetback."
In August 1937,Nankai University moved toChangsha and founded a temporary university with thePublic Beijing University and Tsinghua University. Thetemporary university moved to Kunming then. In April1938,the temporary university was changed into PublicSouthwest United University.

·南開大學(xué)木齋圖書館

After victory of the Anti-Japanese War,on July31,1945,Public Southwest United University ceasedand the three universities returned to their campuses andresumed their previous operations. In January 1946 thePreparation Section for resuming was founded and thecampus was rebuilt. In autumn the new term began andNankai University became a public university ratherthan a private university. It became a comprehensiveuniversity with four colleges,College of Arts,Collegeof Science,College of Engineering and College ofBusiness,and 16 departments. It had more than 1200faculty members and students,with the number ofteachers reaching more than 170.
Nankai University had a new era after the liberationof China. In 1952,the higher education system wasadjusted. Nankai University previously was scattered infive locations in and outside Tianjin city. However,afterthe adjustment,only the current location in Balitai waskept.
In 1952,the schools of higher education inChina were restructured. The colleges of industryand engineering were moved out. Only one of its fivelocations was retained,i.e the current location at Balitai.After the restriction,there were 14 departments (then 9ones). Nankai University changed from a comprehensiveuniversity of humanities,natural sciences,engineeringand business to a university of humanities and naturalsciences.
In 1959,Nankai University was chosen as oneof the key national universities. In December,1994,Tianjin College of Foreign Trade was merged intoNankai University. In 1995,Nankai University passedthe examination of "211 Project" by the EducationCommittee of China. It became one of the keyuniversities built by China in the 21st century which willhave a more bright future.
Nowadays,Nankai University is a comprehensiveuniversity with the majors of human,natural science,management science,technology,life science,medicine,arts,and so on. It has 11 colleges,30 departments,47academies and research centers,6 bases of basic science,83 master projects,35 doctor projects and 6 post-doctorate research centers,11 key national subjects,6national laboratories and open laboratories,1 nationalresearch center of engineering,hundreds of teachinglaboratories,4900 faculty and staff including 1108professors and assistant professors,and 17,000 students.It has become a university with different levels and typesof education,research and social services.

·南開大學(xué)原男生宿舍 (1937年被日軍炸毀)