Anna University was a premier technical university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Anna University was formed on September 4, 1978, as a unitary university that integrated four technical institutions in the city of Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 (previously known as Madras), including the College of Engineering, Guindy

College of Engineering, Guindy

College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, India, is India's oldest engineering and technical institution, having been established in 1794. Today it is one of the four constituent colleges of Anna University, Chennai....

, Alagappa College of Technology

Alagappa College of Technology

Alagappa College of Technology is an educational institution that offers higher education in Engineering, Technology and allied Sciences. This college was established in the year 1978 by combining three technological departments of University of Madras as a constituent part of Anna...

, Madras Institute of Technology

Madras Institute of Technology

The Madras Institute of Technology is an engineering institute located in Chromepet, Chennai , India. It is one of the four autonomous constituent colleges of Anna University. It was started in 1949 by Mr. C. Rajam as the first self-financing engineering institute in the country, and later it...

 and the School of Architecture and Planning. It was named after C. N. Annadurai

C. N. Annadurai

Conjeevaram Natarajan Annadurai , popularly called Anna , or Arignar Anna was a former Chief Minister of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu...

.

Originally the university was named Perarignar Anna University of Technology (PAUT).