Central China Normal University

Central China Normal University is located on Guizi Hill beside Nanhu Lake in Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei Province, a city known as the thoroughfare of nine provinces. It covers more than 1.2 million square meters. It is a key comprehensive normal university directly under the Ministry of Education, a key university under the national Project 211, and a participating institution in the national Project 985 Innovation Platform for Advantageous Disciplines in teacher education. It is an important national base for training teachers for secondary and higher education and other advanced professionals.

The university has a long history. Public Huazhong University was formed in 1951 from the university division of Wenhua College established in 1903–which originated from Wenhua College founded in 1871 and was renamed Huazhong University in 1924–together with Zhonghua University, founded in 1912, and the School of Education of Zhongyuan University, founded in 1949. It was reorganized as Huazhong Higher Normal School in 1952, named Huazhong Normal College in 1953, and renamed Central China Normal University in 1985. Deng Xiaoping, one of the founders of Zhongyuan University, personally inscribed its name. In 1993, Jiang Zemin wrote an inscription for its ninetieth anniversary: “Develop teacher education and improve the cultural quality of the nation.” Over more than a century, it has inherited the essence of traditional Chinese culture, absorbed elements of overseas cultures and carried forward the tradition of revolutionary cultural education. It has developed a spirit of “Loyalty and Broad Cultivation, Simplicity and Fortitude” and trained more than 300000 outstanding people for the country.

The university has 30 schools and recruits nationally for 70 undergraduate programs. Its higher education system extends from undergraduate to master’s, doctoral and postdoctoral education, and from full-time to adult education. It currently has nearly 32000 full-time students of all types, including nearly 18000 undergraduates, more than 11000 postgraduates and over 2900 international students. It has more than 3800 faculty and staff, including 1966 full-time teachers, 1293 professors and associate professors, and 397 doctoral supervisors. Its 40 national-level talents include full-time or part-time academicians, senior humanities and social science professors, Changjiang Scholars distinguished professors, national distinguished teachers, Thousand Talents Program participants and recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.

The university has 8 national key disciplines, 1 national key discipline under cultivation, and 22 Hubei first-level key disciplines. It has postdoctoral research stations in 15 fields including Chinese language and literature and physics, doctoral degree authorization in 14 first-level disciplines, master’s degree authorization in 32 first-level disciplines, 92 disciplines and programs authorized for doctoral degrees, and 178 disciplines and programs authorized for master’s degrees.