Saint John's University, Shanghai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saint John's University (圣约翰大学) was an Anglican university located in Shanghai, China. Before the Chinese Civil War it was regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in Shanghai and China. In 1952, the University was broken up and its faculties were joined with similar faculties from other universities to create several specialist universities.
[edit] History
The University was founded in 1897 by Samuel Scherschewsky, Bishop of Shanghai, by amalgamating two pre-existing Anglican colleges in Shanghai.
St. John's began with 39 students, and taught mainly in Chinese. In 1891 it changed to English teaching, and courses began to focus on science and natural philosophy.
The University was registered in Washington state in the U.S., and thus had the status of a domestic university in the U.S. Graduates of St John's could proceed directly to graduate schools in the U.S. As a result, the university attracted some of the brightest and wealthiest students in Shanghai at the time. It was the first institution to grant bachelor's degree in China, starting in 1907.
The University was located on a bend of the Suzhou Creek in Shanghai, and was designed to incorporate Chinese and Western architectural elements.
The University survived the Chinese Civil War. However, in 1952 the Communist government adopted a policy of creating specialist universities in the Soviet style of the time. Under this policy, St Johns was broken up. Most of its faculties was incorporated into the East China Normal University and Fudan University. The Medical school was incorporated into Shanghai Second Medical University which became the School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University in 2005. The campus became the site of the East China University of Politics and Law.
[edit] Alumni
The alumni of St John's University is many and illustrious in the early half of the 20th Century. They include:
- Wellington Koo, diplomat, was foreign minister of the Republic of China
- Lin Yutang, author
- Francis Hsu, former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong
- Shi Jiuyong, jurist, currently President of the International Court of Justice
- I.M. Pei, architect
- T.V. Soong, politician, brother to the Soong Sisters, was Premier of the Republic of China
- K.H. Ting, religious leader
- Yen Chia-kan, politician, was President of the Republic of China
- Rong Yiren, "Red Capitalist", was Vice President of the People's Republic of China
- David Au, founder of the Sincere Company, the first department store in China
