East China Normal University

East China Normal University

华东师范大学
Motto	求实创造，为人师表
Motto in English	Pursue what we have not been taught, and practice what we are going to teach [1]
Type	Public university
Established	1951;73 years ago (1951)
President	Xuhong Qian
Students	32,000
Location	Shanghai , China
Campus	North Zhongshan Rd. Campus (1072.25 acres) Minhang Campus (2071.53 acres)
Colors	Ecnu red
Affiliations	AALAU Yangtze Delta Universities Alliance
Mascot	ECNU Lions
Website	ecnu.edu.cn
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	华东师范大学
Traditional Chinese	華東師範大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Huádōng Shīfàn Dàxué

East China Normal University (ECNU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education and co-funded with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction.

It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. John's College founded in 1879. As of 2020, ECNU is organized into 22 schools, colleges, and institutes, located in two campuses throughout Minhang and Putuo.

History

Qun Xian Tang in North Zhongshan Road Campus, built in 1929, meaning "a place where talents and scholars assemble".

Former Seal of ECNU.

Origins

Main article: St. John's University, Shanghai

East China Normal University traces its roots to the formation of St. John's College (later to become St. John's University) in 1879, and its heritage has had a deep influence in the development of Chinese modern higher education. ^[2]

In 1879, St. John's College was founded by William Jones Boone and Joseph Schereschewsky, Bishop of Shanghai, by combining two pre-existing Anglican colleges in Shanghai. In 1905, the college became St. John's University and was registered in Washington D.C. in the United States. It was the first institution to grant bachelor's degrees in China, starting in 1907.^{[ citation needed ]}

After the May Thirtieth Movement in 1925, some academics and students left the St. John's University, later forming the private Kwang Hua University to support the labor and anti-imperialist movement during the middle period of the Republic of China era.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 1924, after a student protest at the Xiamen University in Fujian some academics fled north to Shanghai, where they established what became the Great China University (also known as Daxia University).^{[ citation needed ]}

Establishment of the university

Siqun Auditorium built in 1946, named in memory of Wang Boqun, former president of the Great China University and the first Minister of Communications.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, East China Normal University was officially formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University and the Kwang Hua University, and was joined at the same time by a number of faculty members from Fudan University, Tongji University, University of Shanghai and East China PE Academy, making it the first national teacher’s training university of the People's Republic of China. This was done in part due to the government's desire to pool these institutions' resources into a single, stronger entity, cultivate talents with professional knowledge, and promote the development of education in the country.^{[ citation needed ]}

In the 1950s, the Chinese government regrouped the country's higher education institutions in an attempt to build a Soviet-style system. Under this policy, most of the faculties from Saint John's University, Zhejiang University, University of Shanghai, Utopia University, and Aurora University were incorporated into ECNU to form a comprehensive multi-disciplinary university. Some of the academics at the Tongji University and Jiaotong University were also transferred to ECNU. ^[3]

In March 1959, ECNU was authenticated as one of the first 16 National Key Universities in China, and this status was reaffirmed in 1978. From 1972 to 1980 (during the Cultural Revolution in mainland China), five schools including ECNU were merged to create Shanghai Normal University, and in 1980 its original name was resumed. ^[4]

Diploma of East China Normal University, 1953.

1980 to present

University Library, Minhang Campus.

In June 1986, ECNU was one of the first 33 higher education institutions authorized, by the State Council, to establish their graduate schools.^{[ citation needed ]} In 1996, ECNU passed the prerequisites appraisal and became one of universities sponsored by the major national program "Project 211". In 2006, the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Municipality signed into a partnership for co-sponsoring the development of the university, qualifying ECNU as a member of the "Project 985".^{[ citation needed ]}

ECNU is now under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Education. The university sponsors or supervises publication of more than 20 academic journals and periodicals. The library collection exceeds 4,000,000 volumes. 25 primary or secondary schools are affiliated to the university.^{[ citation needed ]}

International partnerships

The university has established strategic cooperative partnership with universities such as École Normale Supérieure and its group in France, the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University in USA, Tokyo University and Kobe University in Japan, and the University of Melbourne in Australia, the University of Warwick in the UK, etc. It has been carrying out academic exchanges with over 150 universities and institutions of Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, and Russia, etc. ECNU plays host to a CIEE satellite campus, where 100 American college students study each semester. The university also runs an Online College of the Chinese language in collaboration with the National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (NOCFL), which is the first of its kind to be established in the country with over 5,800 students in 137 countries and regions. In 2008, it set up the NOCFL Study and Training Base for International Chinese Teachers.

• In 2002 the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, the École normale supérieure de Cachan, and the École normale supérieure de Lyon set up a Master's-PhD programme at East China Normal University in Shanghai. ^{[5] [6]} An ENS campus is housed in the ECNU at the Aspiring Researchers Institute and at the Franco-Chinese Advanced Studies Institute. ^[7]
• In 2007, the EMLYON Business School opened the official EMLYON Asia Campus in the heart of the ECNU campus. ^[8]
• In 2008, the Cornell-ECNU Center for Comparative Culture was jointly funded by Cornell University and ECNU. ^[9]
• China's first Sino-American university – New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai) – was co-established by New York University and ECNU and was approved by the Ministry of Education in early 2011. ^[10]

Study China Programme

Along with several other Chinese universities, East China Normal University has hosted the United Kingdom (UK) government-funded Study China Programme for a number of years. ^[11] In this programme, students from UK institutions spend one to two summer months studying Mandarin Chinese and Chinese culture at a university in China. The programme is organised by the University of Manchester and is fully funded by UK government bodies, such as the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. Its purpose is to strengthen ties between UK university students and China, in particular as relatively few British students enroll in degrees in China. The programme has increased relations between ECNU and numerous leading UK universities. ^[12]

Diplomats' Program

Sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and Shanghai Foreign Affairs Office, the Diplomats' Program has been organized by ECNU since 2011. In this program, consular officials from over 20 countries spend two months during summer studying at East China Normal University. ^[13]

Research

University Auditorium.

State key laboratories

• State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research ^[14]
• State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy ^[15]

Key laboratories of provincial level and ministerial level

• Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, Ministry of Education
• Key Laboratory of Geography-Information Science, Ministry of Education
• Shanghai Institute of Brain Functional Genomics ^[16]
• Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology ^[17]
• Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Green Chemical Process
• Shanghai Key Laboratory of Urbanization and Ecological Restoration
• Shanghai Key Laboratory of Trustworthy Computing ^[17]

Key research bases in humanities and social science

• Institute of Curriculum and Instruction ^[18]
• Institute of Modern Chinese Thought and Culture
• Center for Russian Studies
• Center for the Study of Chinese Characters and Their Applications ^[19]
• Institute of Schooling Reform and Development ^[20]
• Center for Modern Chinese City Studies ^{[17] [21]}

Joint Research Centre

• Cornell-ECNU Center for Comparative Culture
• KUL-ECNU Sino-Euro Culture Research Center ^[22]
• ECNU-UBC Joint Research Core Group on China in Modern World ^[23]
• Intercultural Education and Communication Research Center (with Humboldt University of Berlin) ^[24]

Rankings and reputation

University rankings

BCUR National [25]	Domestic	29
Wu Shulian National [26]	Domestic	34
CUAA National [27]	Alumni	=24
QS National [28]	General	33
THE National [29]	General	20–24
QS Asia (Asia version) [30]	General	111
THE Asia (Asia version) [31]	General	=58
ARWU World [32]	Research	201–300
QS World [33]	General	=501
THE World [34]	General	251–300
USNWR World [35]	General	=253

ECNU has always been ranked the top two or three among the mainland Chinese universities in Education and Training according to the most recent QS World University Rankings by Subjects ^[36] and Academic Ranking of World Universities by Subjects. ^[37]

In 2021, it was ranked 37th globally in the Times Higher Education Rankings by Subjects in "Education", ^[38] which is historical strengths of the university as suggested in the name "Normal". East China Normal graduates employability rankings placed at # 151-200 in the world in the 2017 QS Graduate Employability Rankings. ^[39] Globally, East China Normal University is regarded as a competitive university with a good reputation Chinese universities by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings where it ranked 151-175th. ^{[40] [41]}

Notable people

Alumni

Writers

• Chen Danyan: Writer
• Dai Houying: Writer
• Ge Fei: Writer, Professor of literature at Tsinghua University
• Mu Shiying: Writer

Academics

• Yu Lizhong: Chancellor of New York University Shanghai
• Wang Xingyu: President of East China University of Science and Technology (March 1994–July 2004)
• Xi Nanhua: Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Vice-President of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Liu Boli: Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
• Stephen Cheng: Academician of the National Academy of Engineering, United States
• Joe Z. Tsien: Neuroscientist, Georgia Health Sciences University
• He Jifeng: Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and academic at ECNU
• Yuan Zhongyi: Archaeologist, praised as "the father of the Terracotta Warriors"

In politics

• Han Zheng: Vice President of China, Vice Premier of China, Member of the 19th Politburo Standing Committee
• He Xian: Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of the P.R.China
• Chen Hao: Governor of Yunnan, China
• Yin Yicui: Chairwoman of the Shanghai People's Congress
• Li Yuanchao

In business and media

• Daniela Anahi Bessia: Celebrity performer for the China Central Television, Hunan Television, Shanghai Media Group, etc. | Culture and Entertainment
• Jason Jiang: Founder of Focus Media
• Dong Qing: Television host

In sport

• Liu Xiang: Gold medalist of 110-meter hurdles in the 2004 Summer Olympics

Study abroad

• Glenn Duffie Shriver: From Grand Valley State University, he did a study abroad program at ECNU. ^[42]

Notable faculty members

• Meng Xiancheng: Educator, the first president of East China Normal University.
• Li Linsi: Educator and diplomat who has been recognized as one of the key figures in modern Chinese cultural and diplomatic history.
• Shen Zhihua: Professor of history at ECNU, expert in the history of the Soviet Union, Sino-Soviet relations, and the Cold War.
• Lü Simian: Chinese historian, former professor of history at ECNU.
• Shi Zhecun: Author, former professor of Chinese Language and Literature.
• Hu Huanyong: Demographer, forefather of modern Chinese demography and the founder of China's population geography.
• He Jifeng: Computer scientist, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
• Ghil'ad Zuckermann: Linguist, revivalist.

Alumni associations

• East China Normal University Alumni Association ^[43]
• East China Normal University Alumni Association in US ^[44]
• East China Normal University Alumni Association in North California ^[45]

See also

• No. 1 High School Affiliated to East China Normal University
• No. 2 High School Attached to East China Normal University
• East China Normal University Press

References

1. "童世骏｜走出校门时，请带着校训一起远行" . Retrieved 2017-05-22.. News.ecnu.edu.cn. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
2. "Foreword to the First Issue of ECNU Review". ECNU. Archived from the original on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
3. "History" . Retrieved 2017-05-22.. English.ecnu.edu.cn (1951-10-16). Retrieved 2017-05-22.
4. About ECNU Archived 2012-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
5. "Joint Graduate Program with ENS Group – ECNU". Archived from the original on 2015-07-05. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
6. "ENS Cachan – Ouverture internationale". Archived from the original on 5 March 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
7. "The ENS in Shanghai". Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
8. "Shanghai Campus". Archived from the original on 2012-09-19. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
9. "New Cornell-China center for humanities will foster interdisciplinary research". USA: Cornell University. October 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
10. "First Sino-US university to open in 2013". University World News . 8 April 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
11. "Study China Programme Partnership Universities and locations". Study China. UK. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
12. University of Oxford, The Study China Programme, 2013.
13. "Study in Shanghai—Shanghai Summer School". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
14. State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, China.
15. State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, China.
16. Shanghai Institute of Brain Functional Genomics Archived 2008-03-02 at the Wayback Machine , China.
17. East China Normal University Archived 2010-02-27 at the Wayback Machine , China. (in English)
18. Institute of Curriculum and Instruction Archived 2007-12-08 at the Wayback Machine , China.
19. Center for the Study of Chinese Characters and Their Applications ^{[ permanent dead link ]}, China.
20. Institute of Schooling Reform and Development Archived 2007-08-10 at the Wayback Machine , China.
21. Center for Modern Chinese City Studies Archived 2007-08-06 at the Wayback Machine , China.
22. "提示信息" . Retrieved 3 July 2015.
23. "提示信息" . Retrieved 3 July 2015.
24. "提示信息" . Retrieved 3 July 2015.
25. "2024 Best Chinese Universities Ranking". Shanghai Ranking. 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
26. "Wu Shulian University Ranking". Chinese Academy of Management Science. 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
27. Chinese Universities Alumni Association (2024). "Alumni Association (22nd Edition): Chinese University Rankings 2024" . Retrieved January 16, 2024. Alternative URL
28. "QS University Rankings 2025 - China (Mainland)". Top Universities. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
29. "THE University Rankings 2025 - China". Times Higher Education (THE). 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
30. "QS World University Rankings: Asia 2025". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
31. "Asia University Rankings 2024". Times Higher Education. 2024. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
32. "Academic Ranking of World Universities". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
33. "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
34. "THE World University Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2025. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
35. U.S.News & World Report (2024). "2024-2025 Best Global Universities Rankings" . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
36. "Education". Top Universities. 2020-02-25. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
37. "ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects". www.shanghairanking.com. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
38. "World University Rankings 2022 by subject: education". Times Higher Education. 2021-09-28. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
39. "Graduate Employability Rankings 2017 | Top Universities". Archived from the original on 2017-10-14.
40. "World Reputation Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
41. "East China Normal University". Times Higher Education. 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
42. Tunison, John (2011-01-21). "Jenison area man who took money, allegedly intending to spy for China, sentenced to four years". MLive . Retrieved 2016-08-21.
43. East China Normal University Alumni Association, China.
44. East China Normal University Alumni Association in US, China.
45. East China Normal University Alumni Association in North California, China.

External links

• Official website (in English)
• Official Facebook page (in English)
• Campus Tour (in English)
• Global Education Center/International Students Office, ECNU (in English)
• NYU Shanghai（上海纽约大学） (in English)

31°13′41″N121°24′00″E / 31.22806°N 121.40000°E / 31.22806; 121.40000