The University of the Aegean (Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου) is a state, multi-campus university located in Mytilene, Greece. The university was officially founded in 1984, although its historical roots date back to the early 1920s. The University of the Aegean is the continuation of the Ionian University, which was founded in 1920 by the Greek mathematician Constantin Carathéodory and briefly operated in Izmir(Greek: Σμύρνη), yet had to seize its operations due to the Great Fire of Smyrna. The University of the Aegean is currently one of the largest in size of the 24 state supervised and funded universities in Greece. It is an institution mandated to provide inspiring, innovative, socially committed studies. As of 2011, there are 11,959 students studying at the university, which comprises five schools and seventeen departments with campuses in various locations across the Aegean Archipelago (Aegean Sea). The foundations of the University of the Aegean date back to October 1918 when Greece had expanded its geographic borders to the wider Smyrna area after the World War I.