Hangzhou Normal University


Hangzhou Normal University, or Hangzhou Teachers College, is a public university in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, China. It is a comprehensive university with an excellence in teacher training and professional development.
Having merged with Hangzhou Education College and Hangzhou Medical Junior College, HNU comprises nine campuses with a combined area of 513,590 m².
HNU has nearly 12,000 full-time students, 9,000 of whom are undergraduates. Of over 1,000 teachers, over 100 have a doctorate degree or are Ph.D. candidates, and 283 have a master's degree. There are nearly 490 professors and associate professors.

History

In 1905, the governor of Zhejiang Province founded a teaching school, aimed at training teachers for high schools and primary schools for the province. In 1908, the school was named Zhejiang Official Secondary Normal School and was in the original address of Zhejiang Gongyuan. Shen Junru was appointed as supervisor in 1909.
In 1912, under the guidance of the Education Department of the Republic of China, the school became one of the six well-known higher teacher education schools at that time. It issued its own publications, such as Baiyang and Zhejiang Trendy. It set up clubs, such as Music Rock Club, Lakeside Poetry Club, and Mingyuan Club. Educationist Jing Hengyi was the principal; famous masters such as Li Shutongand Lu Xun taught there; Feng Zikai, Qian Xuesen, and Pan Tianshou studied at the school.
When the Japanese invaded Hangzhou during World War II, the school was relocated in to places such as Jiande and Lishui; it was moved back to Hangzhou after the war.
The school has been under direct jurisdiction of the Hangzhou Municipal Government since 1954. In 1978, the State Council approved to found Hangzhou Normal College, which was approved by Ministry of Education to change its name to Hangzhou Normal University in March 2007.
In 2010, a proposal was jointly submitted by Sun Zhonghuan, Zhao Guangyu, Yu Jialing, Zhu Zude and Chen Xiaoping, three municipal officials of Hangzhou. They suggested changing Hangzhou Normal University to be Hangzhou University, because this university had reached the level of old University of Hangzhou. However, many provincial and municipal officials and dignitaries obviously rejected it. This was a widespread but unsuccessful proposal in the end.

General information

As the key municipal university, Hangzhou Normal University has five campuses — Xiasha Campus, Wenyilu Campus, Yuhuangshan Campus, Gudangwan Campus, and Xianghu Campus — covering a total area of around 1400 mu. Having acquired a land of about 558 mu, the university is building another called Cangqian Campus.
Consisting of 18 schools providing 49 undergraduate majors and 39 postgraduate disciplines, the university has three majors with features at the state level; 11 key majors and six key disciplines at the provincial level; one course of fine quality at the state level; and 18 courses of fine quality at the provincial level.
The school accommodates 18,597 undergraduates and 1,341 postgraduates and employs over 2,100 staff and faculty members. Among 1,388 full-time teaching faculty, 700 are either professors or associate professors. In addition, four honorable co-engaged academicians are engaged to make valuable contributions to the cause of education.
Hangzhou Normal University is undergoing several major projects.
In 2009, joint venture was made between Hangzhou Normal University and Alibaba group to form Alibaba Business School. Jack Ma, who is the founder and executive chairman of Alibaba Group, is the chairman of Alibaba Business School. Alibaba Business School is determined to change the traditional business education, to establish an entrepreneurial college for internet entrepreneurs. Alibaba Business School offers full-time bachelor's and master's degree programs in China, which include E-commerce, International Business, Marketing and Logistics. It has its ASEAN office in Singapore, conducting E-commerce certification program to enable working adults to be qualified to develop SME's E-commerce business as well as play an E-commerce specialist role in MNCs.
Working with Nanyang International Business College in Singapore, Alibaba Business School launched "ASEAN E-Commerce Executive Training Program", a series of training courses in ASEAN countries. Since the program started in May 2016, it has successfully cultivated many internet thinking talents in Singapore and Malaysia, leading enterprises.
A key laboratory co-built with the Education Department of Zhejiang Province, a group of provincial-level centers for teaching and demonstration centers, National 863 Plan, scientific and technological programs of the 10th Five-Year Plan National Funds of Natural Sciences and National Funds of Social Sciences, etc. The University publishes some periodicals, such as Hangzhou Normal University Journal, Hangzhou Normal University News, and Yuwen Xinpu. Hangzhou Normal University Journal is selected as "Excellent Magazine" in East China and has successfully been listed in the “National 100 Top Journals of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences” for three years.
To facilitate intercultural learning experiences, the university has established academic cooperation programs with more than 30 universities around the globe, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Philippines.
Adhering to the eight-character school motto "Diligence, Caution, Honesty, Forgiveness, Erudition, Refinement, Perfection, and Initiative," all members of the university are carrying forward the cause pioneered by the predecessors and forging ahead for the best and most outstanding comprehensive university in the province and even in the country.

Notable alumni

From education leaders to world's billionaire, from well-known singers to academic researchers, the alumni of Hangzhou Normal University have achieved success in a variety of fields.