The University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn was established on September 1, 1999, in accordance with the new Statute of Sejm signed by the President of the Republic of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, as well as the Minister of National Education, Mirosław Handke, in August of the same year. Its first rector became prof. dr. hab. Ryszard Górecki. The Faculty of Theology was prescribed with the agreement between Polish Episcopate and the government, in the presence of Cardinal Józef Glemp among others. In October the first academic year was inaugurated. The core structure of the University was based upon the agreement between the academic senate of three institutions of higher learning already established in the city: the Academy of Agriculture and Technology, the Pedagogical Institute, and the Warmia Institute of Teology. The University has 16 faculties, out of which 8 hold full academic rights and therefore entitle the university to operate as an autonomous unit.