Northeastern University (Shenyang, China)
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Northeastern University (NEU; simplified Chinese: 东北大学; traditional Chinese: 東北大學; pinyin: Dōngběi Dàxué) is a public university in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China . With an annual enrollment of over 20,000 students, it is one of the largest and most prestigious universities in Northeast China.
The university was founded on April 26, 1923 in the capital city of Liaoning province, Shenyang (previously known as Mukden), which was also the historic political and economic center of Northeast China. Northeastern University attracted top scholars and teachers from throughout the region, and it quickly developed into a comprehensive university, with six schools in science, engineering, humanities, law, agriculture, and education. In the July of 1928, the university was taken over by Marshall Chang Hsüeh-liang (張學良, Zhang Xueliang), the military warlord who controlled all of Northeast China at the time. Marshal Chang assumed the title of president and became the university's most important financial and political patron throughout its early history.
Less than a decade after it was founded, the university was forced to evacuate following the Mukden Incident on 1931 September 16. After the incident, the Japanese invaded and annexed all of Northeast China, including Shenyang, and reorganized the region into the puppet state of Manchukuo. Like many other national universities in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Northeastern University was repeatedly displaced and re-established in several cities. The university was relocated to Beijing, Xi'an, and the city of Santai in Sichuan Province, before the war ended in August of 1945. The university returned to its original campus in Shenyang in February of 1946.
After the establishment of the People's Republic of China on 1949 October 1, Northeast China became the beneficiary of substantial Soviet investment. The region became heavily industrialized and one of the most prosperous regions in China. Northeast University was renamed Northeast University of Technology in August of 1950, and it became primarily an engineering school.
However, by the 1990s, economic reforms had caused most of the nation's economic investment to shift to the Pacific Coast cities. While most of China became increasingly prosperous, factories throughout Northeast China closed and the region fell into an extended economic recession. In 1993 March 8, Northeast University reverted back to its original name. Today, Northeastern University is part of the 211 Project, a nationwide effort to expand and modernize the nation's university system. The university is also part of the national government's initiative to replace the region's heavy manufacturing industry with a modern high-tech manufacturing economy.
Northeastern University consists of the School of Liberal Arts and Law, the School of Business Administration, the School of Sciences, the School of Resources and Civil Engineering, the School of Materials Science and Metallurgy, the School of Mechanical Engineering, the School of Information Science and Engineering, and the Department of Foreign Languages. It has 46 undergraduate programs, 53 master's degree programs, and 23 doctoral degree programs, as well as an adult education program. The campus itself has 1.98 million square meters and 730,000 square meters of floor-space.
