The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (A.U.Th.; often called the Aristotelian University or University of Thessaloniki; ) is the sixth oldest, and among the most highly ranked, tertiary education institution within Greece. Named after the philosopher Aristotle, who was born in Stageira, about 55 km (34 miles) east of Thessaloniki, it is the largest university in Greece and its campus covers 230,000 square metres in the centre of Thessaloniki, with additional educational and administrative facilities elsewhere. As of 2014, there is a student population of approximately 40,000 active students enrolled at the university (31,000 at the undergraduate level and 9,000 in postgraduate programmes of which 3,952 at Doctoral level) and 2,366 faculty members. There are additionally 248 members of the Special Laboratory Teaching Personnel and 213 members of the Special Technical Laboratory Personnel. The administrative staff consists of 400 permanent employees and 528 subcontractor employees that are contracted by the university. The language of instruction is Greek, although there are programs in foreign languages and courses for international students, which are carried out in English, French, German and Italian. History The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki was founded in 1925 during the premiership of Alexandros Papanastassiou and was legislated under Law 3341/14-6-25. It was the second Greek university to be founded after the University of Athens, which was established in 1837. The university was built on top of the remains of what had once been the Jewish cemetery in Thessaloniki, until the cemetery's destruction during the Nazi occupation. According to Eleftherios Venizelos' plans following the end of the World War I, Smyrni was intended to be the seat of the second Greek university, while the third university was to be established in Thessaloniki. However, Smyrni was not part of Greece at the time and the plans fell through after the outcome of the Greco-Turkish War in Asia Minor. Nevertheless, in 1924, Alexandros Papanastassiou decided to found a university in Thessaloniki in order to boost the local economy and culture. The chronological development of the university, which was renamed the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1954, can be divided into three stages, each covering a period of approximately 25 years. First stage (1926–1950) During the first stage of its operation (1926–1950), the development focused on those schools which were generally accepted as constituting one educational institute, namely the Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, the Faculty of Law and Economics,