East China Normal University(ECNU) was founded in October 1951 on the site of Great China University with most of its faculties from Great China University joined by some faculties from a number of other universities such as Fudan University and Tongji University. In 1972, ECNU was renamed Shanghai Normal University, when other four institutes including Shanghai Teachers Institute, Shanghai Education Institute, Shanghai Physical Education Institute, and Shanghai in-Service Teachers Institute were merged with it. In July 1980, it regained its original name of ECNU as the other four institutes separated again and resumed their original status one after another in 1978.

Over fifty years of development has shaped ECNU into one of the key institutions of higher learning under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Education, influential both at home and abroad. The University has 12 full-time schools, namely School of Humanities, School of Educational Science, School of Preschool Education and Special Education, School of Foreign Languages, Business School, School of Law and Politics, School of Physical Education and Health Care, School of Science and Engineering, School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, School of Life Science, School of Information, and School of Vocational Techniques. These schools consist of 31 departments offering 44 undergraduate programs, 5 of which, i.e. Chinese, History, Mathematics, Geography and Psychology, are on the list of State Training and Research Bases for Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences. Besides, the University has 4 state key programs, 1 state key laboratory, 1 key laboratory under the Ministry of Education, 1 open laboratory and 5 key research bases for humanities and social sciences approved by the the Ministry of Education, and over 40 research institutes and a number of multi-disciplinary research, experiment, computing and testing centers. The Graduate School offers 61 doctoral programs, 101 Master's programs (including Master's Degree of Education and MPA), and has 8 mobile post-doctoral research stations. In addition, the University has Web School of Education, College of Continuing Education and International College of Chinese Culture. Among the total staff of over 4,500, there are nearly 1,600 full-time teachers, including 3 national academicians and nearly 1,100 professors and associate professors, many of whom enjoy high reputation in their respective academic circles.

The University has always attached great importance to the integration of the special characteristics of a normal university and academic excellence with equal emphasis on teaching and scientific research, and has, thus, developed into a university not only strong in educational science but also strong in the fields of social science, humanities, natural sciences, science and technology and management science. While mainly training students to be teachers in high schools, colleges and universities, the University also nurtures scientific researchers and other academic and administrative professionals. Since its founding, the University has already educated over 100,000 students who have been well received by their employers. Meanwhile, in its effort to give full display to its academic superiority, the University has undertaken a great number of key scientific research projects, consultant projects and training projects from the central government and the local authorities, as well as those from business companies and other institutions. Besides, the University has been actively involved in providing service for the elementary and secondary education, economic construction and social progress of both the city of Shanghai and other parts of China, which has eventuated in remarkable scientific achievements with very good social effect and economic results. The Training Center of High School Principals at ECNU is the only national base for training provincial key high school principals and other senior administrators of educational administration. In addition, the University has established relations with nearly 100 foreign institutions of higher learning for academic exchanges.

The East China Normal University Press has published about 20 academic periodicals and many monographs and textbooks considerably influential in China. The University boasts a library with a stock of over 3.5 million volumes of books and 7 attached primary and middle schools, which rank among the most prestigious model schools for elementary and secondary education in the whole country.

Besides, it has a group corporation, Huada Group Co. Ltd., engaging in various kinds of business activities.

East China Normal University is known as a garden university for its beautiful campus covering a total area of about 188 acres.

In April 1996, East China Normal University successfully passed the preliminary examination of the Ministry of Education as a candidate for the "211 Project" - a state project aiming at substantial improvement of the conditions and at the enhancement of the academic excellence of about 100 universities and colleges in the 21st century. In April 1997, the Ministry of Education and the Municipal Government of Shanghai reached an agreement on the "joint construction and supervision" of the University by the two parties, "mainly by the Municipal Government of Shanghai", and on the role of the University in the structural reshuffle of teacher-training schools in Shanghai. Accordingly, Shanghai Senior Pre-schooling Teachers College and two education institutions, i.e. Shanghai Education Institution and Shanghai Second Institution of Education, were merged into the University respectively in September 1997 and September 1999. On the successful completion of the merger, the University has started a number of constructive programs for "211 Project". It is taking active measures to concentrate further on the development of its academic disciplines and on the building-up of the faculties to improve their teaching and research work in its exploration for a new unified pre-service and in-service teacher-training system for the 21st century. With boundless enthusiasm and enterprising spirit, the faculty and staff of the University are determined to make greater contributions to the economic construction and social development, especially to the reform and development of education, of China