The university was established by the Iranian Parliament with the help of scientist Mahmoud Hessaby in 1934 and originally consisted of six faculties:
- Engineering
- Natural Science and Mathematics
- Literature, Philosophy and Pedagogical Sciences
- Medicine and related sciences
- Jurisprudence, Political and Economic Sciences
- Theology
- Fine Arts (1941)
- Veterinary Medicine (1943)
- Agriculture(1945)
- Business Administration (1954)
- Education (1954)
- Natural Resources (1963)
- Economics (1970)
- Foreign Languages (1989)
- Environmental Studies (1992)
In 2003, Shirin Ebadi a graduate and a professor of law at the university received the Nobel Prize for Peace.