Moldova State University marks 80 years since foundation, one century of Romanian education in Bessarabia

The Moldova State University (USM) is marking 80 years since the institution was founded and a century of Romanian education in Bessarabia. To mark the occasion, a festive session was held today in Chisinau, bringing together more than 600 guests, including members of the academic community from Moldova and 15 other countries, officials of Moldova and Romania and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Chisinau.

Attending the opening of the event, President Maia Sandu emphasized the role of universities in educating young people in the context of the challenges facing contemporary society. The official highlighted USM’s contribution to educating more generations of specialists and conveyed a message to the academic community on the institution’s anniversary.

“Moldova needs universities where young people want to learn, universities that educate free and well-prepared people who have the ability and courage to face the challenges of this century. For eighty years, the Moldova State University has educated such people and today’s generation has the responsibility to carry this history forward. Happy anniversary to the professors, students, graduates, and everyone who has contributed to building Moldova State University,” Maia Sandu said.





The head of state said that Moldova wants more young people to choose universities in the country and for its higher education institutions to become attractive to students from other countries as well.

“We want our young people to choose to study at home. And we want young people from other countries to choose universities of Moldova. In recent years, important steps have been taken in this direction through university reform and the integration of research institutes into universities. But we still have much to do. The world for which we are preparing today’s students is changing very quickly. We are facing major global challenges,” the president said.

USM Rector Otilia Dandara said that the event represented an opportunity to review the institution’s achievements to date and to shape its development strategy.

“Today, we are celebrating an anniversary and recording the achievements of the university community. The university is an environment that creates knowledge, promotes innovation and provides education. As in years past, Europe today places great importance on the university as a higher education institution, the role of which role is to lead civilization toward the future. The Moldova State University is part of the common European higher education area. It was actively involved in preparing the conditions for and promoting the new Bologna framework in 2005. Today, through its experts, teaching staff and researchers, it continues to support efforts to prepare the country for accession to the European Union, always keeping pace with processes of historic importance,” the rector said.





Otilia Dandara emphasized that USM has followed an 80-year academic journey—decades of integration into the local cultural and socioeconomic environment—and that the institution’s approximately 165,000 graduates have contributed over time to the development of the national economy in various fields.

“The Moldova State University has generated and continues to generate diversity. This is the characteristic that sets it apart. (...) Hundreds of innovative ideas and hundreds of thousands of pages of scientific and methodological work have created and shaped an academic environment—a universe of knowledge and science, an atmosphere in which the character and intellectual elite of this country are formed,” the USM rector emphasized.

Liviu-George Maha, rector of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, conveyed a congratulatory message to the academic community on the occasion of USM’s 80 years of activity and the 100th anniversary of Romanian education in Bessarabia.

“We see the Moldova State University as a true partner. I wish you to remain a guiding beacon of knowledge and spirituality, the same reference point within the community and the same reflection of our community across the Prut,” Liviu-George Maha said.





“The main mission of a university is to educate people who seek the truth and defend freedom,” said Valentin-Sorin Costreie, adviser to the President of Romania on education and research. According to him, Romanian universities on both sides of the Prut must cultivate freedom and truth, jointly fight manipulation and disinformation and generate valuable ideas.

“The history of education in Moldova is not only the history of schools and programmes. It is also the history of a struggle for freedom of language, for the alphabet, for memory and identity. In short, it is a struggle for freedom—for the freedom to speak and think in one’s mother tongue. (...) A few years ago, here in Chisinau, I said that it was time to move from a bridge of flowers to a bridge of diplomas. In the meantime, we have already had the first graduates of joint programs, and this is more than encouraging. Now, it is time to move toward a bridge of ideas—shared ideas. I believe that Romanian universities on both sides of the Prut must cultivate and nurture freedom and truth together, fight manipulation and disinformation together, and produce valuable ideas,” the official said.





Valentin-Sorin Costreie also said that universities are factories of the future, while education is the key to freedom and prosperity.

“Beyond information and knowledge, it is important to transmit values and principles and to educate free and independent minds. Our universities are our factories of the future. If you want to see what state institutions will be like and what society will look like, look at our universities today. The society of the future is being built here and now; history is written in universities, and history is also made in universities. All of this can be achieved together. Education is the key to freedom and prosperity,” the Romanian presidential adviser concluded.

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development Vladimir Bolea, who is and a graduate of Moldova State University, congratulated the institution on its anniversary and emphasized that, over its 80 years of activity, USM had developed and evolved, while its graduates now work in the country’s institutions, schools, laboratories and ministries.

“We are marking 80 years since the founding of USM and 100 years of Romanian education in Bessarabia. These are two figures that represent a great deal of work, dedication and devotion on the part of professors who, every day, regardless of their social status or income, worked and built people for this state. Dear students of today, in 10, 20 or 30 years, you will be the next ministers, presidents of the country and presidents of Parliament. The future belongs to you, and for this reason, we want you to understand that the future is being built today in the classroom together with your teachers. Be active and do not allow anyone to lead you down any path other than the path of truth,” Vladimir Bolea concluded.





For his part, Minister of Education and Research Dan Perciun said that today marks not only what USM has become over 80 years, but also what Moldova has become thanks to the Moldova State University.

“In schools, courts, newsrooms, laboratories and public institutions, we encounter graduates of this university. Over eight decades, approximately 165,000 specialists have graduated from this university. Behind every diploma, there is a person, a professional journey and the lives of other people influenced by that person’s work. The value of a university can be seen in what its graduates do after graduation,” Dan Perciun said.





The minister added that, in recent years, the Ministry of Education and Research had invested substantial financial resources in modernizing higher education of Moldova and urged young people to continue choosing to study at the country’s universities.

The ceremony marking 80 years since the founding of USM brought together more than 600 guests, including representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Chișinău—ambassadors from countries such as Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Qatar, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States, as well as the Delegation of the European Union. Members of the academic community from more than 15 countries, including Japan, Vietnam, Australia, Ukraine and the United States, also participated in the festive session. The ceremony was organized by Moldova State University in partnership with Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi. 

The Moldova State University is the first higher education institution with university status established in Moldova. Founded on October 1, 1946, under the original name of Chisinau State University, it has built an impeccable reputation nationally and internationally over time. Its establishment laid a fundamental pillar for the development and consolidation of higher education of the country.