About
WUF at a glance
The Global Voice of Universities, on one page.
The World Universities Foundation (WUF) is an independent, inclusive and global organization that gives the world’s universities one voice. It brings universities of every size, type and region to one table, together with the governments, organizations, companies, students and thinkers who shape their future, so that universities shape the decades ahead instead of reacting to them.
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | San Diego, California · Antalya, Türkiye |
| Mandate | REACT: Represent, Empower, Advocate, Celebrate, Transform |
| Serves | 35,000+ universities in 200+ countries, and everyone who shapes their future |
| Convenes | Summits, forums, workshops, digital roundtables and award evenings |
| Membership | The World University Family: open to every university and every stakeholder |
| Independence | No political, religious, partisan or national ties |
| Founder and Secretary General | Prof. Bassem Khafagy |
| Contact | connect@w-u-f.org |
The scale we serve
35,000+ universities · 200+ countries · 260+ million students · 15+ million academics · 20+ million administrative staff · 1+ million executives and leaders.
More than 80 percent of the world’s universities have never had a seat at the global table. WUF exists for all of them.
Source: World Universities Foundation, 2026.
Why WUF exists
For centuries universities have been the architects of human progress. Yet when the world discusses the future of education, they speak in fragments: strong one by one, silent together. The forces now at work on them, from artificial intelligence and climate to geopolitics and public trust, are larger and faster than any in living memory. If universities do not define their own future, others will define it for them. WUF exists so that they move from reacting to change to shaping it.
What WUF is
WUF is a democratic assembly, not an exclusive club. It champions every legitimate institution, regional, technical, emerging and community universities alongside the established ones, and it measures a university’s value by how well it serves its students and its society, not by its place in a ranking. Universities differ by mission, size, culture and place, and that diversity is a strength. WUF does not centralize or rank them. It gives them a common platform, owned by universities, where they can speak together.
In one sentence
The World Universities Foundation is the global voice of universities, representing, empowering, advocating for, celebrating and transforming the world’s 35,000+ universities and everyone who shapes their future.
Read more: The REACT mandate · What we stand for · An Introduction to WUF