High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Ateneo de Manila University (also Ateneo de Manila or Ateneo; Filipino: Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila) is a private teaching and research university run by the Society of Jesus in the Philippines. It began in 1859 when the City of Manila handed control of the Escuela Municipal de Manila in Intramuros, Manila, to the Jesuits. It was then a state-subsidized school. It became a private school during the American occupation of the Philippines, and has moved from Manila to its current location. It received its university charter in 1959.