page_title: Petrozavodsk State University
section_title: Founding and development of PetrSU during 1950s–1960s
hierarchical_section_title: Petrozavodsk State University / History / Founding and development of PetrSU during 1950s–1960s
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Студент-заочник на экзамене.English: Student on exam.
context_page_description: Petrozavodsk State University is a classical university in Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia, Russia.
  It was founded in 1940 as the Karelian-Finnish University and was renamed in 1956. The rector of Petrozavodsk State University is Prof. Anatoly V. Voronin.
context_section_description: During the post-war restoration of the Karelian Republic there was a significant shortage of qualified personnel. To address that problem, the local government in cooperation with USSR Ministry of Higher Education decreed to expand the university's program in various fields, such us heavy industry, civil construction and agriculture.
  In 1951, the technical engineering faculty was created, with V. S. Artamonov as dean. That faculty was training forest engineers, agriculturists and zootechnicians. In May 1954 that faculty was divided into two separate ones: the forest engineering faculty with the dean A. L. Lukashin and the geological prospecting faculty with the dean V. S. Artamonov. In 1956, the forest engineering faculty opened a night school branch for the workers and employees of the Onega Tractor Plant.
  The same year, the USSR Ministry of Geology saw inexpedient to continue training of geological prospecting specialists within the Karelo-Finnish University, so the last group of geologists graduated from there in 1960.
  In 1951, the physics and mathematics faculty and the biological faculty were suspended, and in their place the natural mathematics faculty was created, on which students learned math, biology and agriculture. In February 1954 that faculty was divided into two: the physics and mathematics faculty with the dean A. A. Raikerus and the natural faculty (renamed to agricultural in 1958) with the dean M. P. Mironova.
  On October 8, 1956, the first issue of the large circulation newspaper "Petrozavodsk University" was published. The content for the newspaper was being proposed by lecturers and students. The newspaper has a page on the university's website since 1996.
  In 1957 the new rules for enrollment were issued, according to these rules the enrollees with at least two years work experience and ex-servicemen of the Soviet Army had an advantage. Shortly before that, the tuition fees were cancelled.
  In 1958, the university's faculties were assigned internship bases, according to the new law of linking the school to daily life.
  From 1957 to 1963, the enrollment to the Finnish language and literature majors of the History and Philology faculty was temporarily suspended, as the faculty underwent reformations.
  In 1960, the medical faculty was created. Initial yearly enrollment was up to 150 students for the day courses and 50 for the night courses (since 1961). N. B. Likhacheva, the representative of Leningrad medical school, became the dean.
  In 1962, the general technology faculty was created (abbr. GTF, Russian: ОТФ). It consisted of four subjects: mechanics, construction, energetics and technical. The faculty also conducted night courses and correspondence courses in more than 50 disciplines in three years, after which the students were transferred into other engineering subjects within the university, or to other technical universities of the country.
  On June 16, 1964 by a decree of Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party and the USSR Council of Ministries the university was named after O. V. Kuusinen.
  In 1968, from the construction discipline a new faculty of industrial and civil construction was created (abbr. ICC, Russian: ПГС) with professor V. V. Kazin as dean.
  Because of all these reformations, the university managed to become a source of wide-purpose qualified workforce, the income of new students increased considerably as well as the numbers of professors and lecturers. For example, in 1970 the university had 483 lecturers working in 47 departments, 30 of them being Ph.D. or professors, and 190 assistant professors. The final number of employees came to 529.
  In the 1950s and 1960s, extensive scientific research was being conducted within the university, for example, the students and professors of the History and Philology faculty actively participated in archeological, folklorist and linguistic expeditions, gathering valuable information on the history and culture of the native peoples of the republic. Thanks to the works of some historians, a large number of new documentary sources were unveiled 
caption: Part-time student on the exam
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