The University of Iceland (Icelandic: Háskóli Íslands) is an Icelandic state university, founded in 1911. During its first year of operation 45 students were enrolled. Today, the university provides instruction for about 16,000 students studying in twenty-five faculties. The University of Iceland was founded by Alþingi on June 17, 1911, uniting three former Icelandic schools Prestaskólinn, Læknaskólinn and Lagaskólinn, which taught theology, medicine and law, respectively. The university originally had only faculties for these three fields, in addition to a faculty of humanities. The first Rector of the university was Björn M. Ólsen, a professor in the faculty of humanities. The current Rector of the University of Iceland is Dr Kristín Ingólfsdóttir. For its first 29 years the University was housed in the Icelandic Parliament building, Alþingishúsið, in central Reykjavík. In 1933, the university received a special licence from Alþingi to operate a cash-prize lottery called Happdrætti Háskólans. The University Lottery, which started in 1934, remains a major source of funding for the construction of new university buildings.