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Soochow University (Suzhou)

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Motto in English
  
Unto A Full Grown Man

President
  
Sidong Xiong

Campus
  
Urban

Founded
  
1900

Type
  
Public

Location
  
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Province
  
Jiangsu

Soochow University (Suzhou)

Established
  
1900, refounded in 1982

Address
  
China, Jiangsu Sheng, Suzhou Shi, Gusu Qu, YuanQu HuXi, 东环路50号 邮政编码: 215000

Motto
  
养天地正气,法古今完人 (Unto A Full Grown Man)

Notable alumni
  
Lynn Hung, Jin Yong, Tan Jiazhen, Li Haopei, Ping Fu

Similar
  
Southeast University, Nanjing Normal University, Jiangnan University, Nanjing University, Nanjing University of Scienc

Soochow University (simplified Chinese: 苏州大学; traditional Chinese: 蘇州大學; pinyin: Sūzhōu Dàxué), colloquially known in Chinese as Suda (苏大, Sūdà) is a university in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The school is part of the Chinese Ministry of Education's Project 211, and a Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive university. The School of Humanities, School of Textile and Clothing Engineering, School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and School of Medicine are the university's most visibly distinguished schools.

Contents

History

The original Soochow University (simplified Chinese: 东吴大学; traditional Chinese: 東吳大學; pinyin: Dōngwú Dàxué) was founded by Methodists in Suzhou in 1900 as a merger of three existing institutions: the Po-hsi Academy, the Kung-hsiang Academy, and the Chung-hsi Academy. The university was split in 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War, and merged with the Southern Jiangsu College of Culture and Education and the Department of Mathematics and Physics at Jiangnan University to form the Jiangsu Teacher's College in 1952. The English name Soochow University was revived in 1982; however, the original Chinese name Dongwu 東吳 was not adopted, and the institution was given the name Suzhou 苏州. The Suzhou College of Sericulture, Suzhou Institute of Silk Textile Technology and Suzhou Medical College were each merged into the University in 1995, 1997 and 2000 successively.

Members of the Soochow Alumni Association who fled to Taiwan after 1949 established the Soochow University in Taipei, starting with its College of Law in 1951 and becoming a full-fledged university with five schools in 1971.

Academics

The university is part of the national "211 Project" and is a "2011 Plan" university. It is also one of the Jiangsu provincial key comprehensive universities. Soochow University currently has 26 post-doctoral programs, 24 main discipline doctoral programs, including 167 doctoral programs with different areas of emphasis, one professional doctoral program, 47 main discipline master’s programs, including 244 master’s degrees with different areas of emphasis, 21 professional master’s programs, and 124 undergraduate programs. Today, Soochow University has developed into a comprehensive university with 12 major disciplines: philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, management science, and art.

Soochow University is one of the top 5% research universities (overall ranking 28 within 704 Chinese universities in 2017), and a member of the "2011 plan" - the latest program launched in 2011 by the Chinese Ministry of Education to develop into world class top universities.

U.S. News & World Report ranked Soochow University 511st in the world, 32nd in Greater China, and 87th in Asia. The Times Higher Education Word University Rankings ranked Soochow University 17th in China, and 501-600 in the world.

Campus

The university consists of 6 campuses covering an area of 135 hectares and with 940,000 square meters of building area.The main and most beautiful campus is located at No.1 Shizi Street. The total enrollment is more than 39,000 students, including more than 28,000 graduates/undergraduates and more than 11,000 adult students of formal education.

The campus grounds have been described as among China's most beautiful, in part based on the incorporation of "typical features of the classical gardens in Suzhou".

Schools and Departments

  • School of Humanities
  • Phoenix Communication College - financial support provided by Phoenix Television, Hong Kong.
  • School of Social Science
  • School of Politics and Public Administration
  • School of Education
  • School of Business
  • Kenneth Wang School of Law
  • School of Foreign Languages
  • Gold Mantis School of Architecture and Urban Environment
  • School of Mathematical Sciences
  • School of Physical Science and Technology & School of Energy
  • School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
  • School of Computer Science and Technology
  • School of Electronic Information
  • School of Mechanic and Electronic Engineering
  • School of Textile and Clothing Engineering
  • School of Arts
  • School of Music
  • School of Sports Science
  • Medical College - merged with the previously-independent Suzhou Medical College in 2000.
  • School of Urban Rail Transportation
  • School of Iron and Steel
  • Applied Technology College
  • Wenzheng College
  • School of Overseas Education
  • International collaboration

    The university has established several joint programs with foreign universities:

  • Soochow University and Athabasca University in Canada offer a joint degree program for Chinese undergraduate students, who study in Suzhou and are awarded a Bachelor of Management degree (from Athabasca) and a Bachelor of Administration degree (from Soochow) upon completing four years of coursework. All courses are delivered in English.
  • Daejin University, a South Korean private university, operates one of its two China campuses on the Soochow University grounds, with the other campus located at Harbin Normal University. Daejin maintains its own building with accommodation and classrooms.
  • Cornell Law School (United States) and Bucerius Law School (Germany) operate a Summer Law Institute in partnership with Soochow's Kenneth Wang School of Law.
  • Bard College, a private liberal arts college in New York in the United States, and Soochow University will offer a comprehensive partnership that will include a joint programme between Soochow University School of Music and Bard College Conservatory of Music, exploration leading to the creation of The Bard College Liberal Arts Academy at Soochow University, and student exchange.
  • Notable alumni

    Listed in alphabetical order of family name.

    The following people attended Soochow University in Suzhou after 1900, or one of the institutions that later merged with the university:

  • Jin Yong - novelist
  • Chen Yanqing - weightlifter
  • Chiang Wei-kuo - military leader and adoptive son of Chiang Kai-shek.
  • Thomas Dao - physician
  • Lynn Hung - model and actress
  • Nora Lam - Christian religious leader
  • Li Haopei - international law academic and jurist
  • Lu Zhiwei - linguist
  • Ma Ke - fashion designer
  • Ni Zhengyu - judge of the International Court of Justice (1985–1994)
  • Tan Jiazhen - geneticist
  • Zhao Puchu - religious and political leader, calligrapher
  • Fei Fei Sun - fashion model, she became the first model of Asian descent to appear solo on a Vogue Italia cover.
  • Loh H Y - distinguished Physicist and representative of China to the Atomic Energy Commission in 1947.
  • References

    Soochow University (Suzhou) Wikipedia