Southwest Jiaotong University

Public research university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU; ) is a national public science and engineering university in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. The university is affiliated with the Ministry of Education. It is a national key university co sponsored by the Ministry of Education, China Railway Corporation, the Sichuan Provincial Government, and the Chengdu Municipal Government. The university is part of Project 211 and the Double First Class Construction. SWJTU was founded in 1896 and is one of China 's leading engineering universities. Known as the cradle of China's railway engineers and “the Cornell of the East,” SWJTU is the birthplace of China's modern education in transportation, mining and metallurgy, and civil engineering. Through its history, the university has adopted different names such as “Imperial Chinese Railway College,” “Tangshan Jiaotong University,” and “Tangshan Institute of Railway.”

SWJTU is consistently ranked as one of the top universities in China, placing 181 190 in The Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2016 and ranking 161 in The Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies 2016. It was included as one of the first universities into Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. To date, SWJTU faculty and alumni have won 57 fellowships to the United States and China National Academy of Sciences.

The university was founded at Shanhaiguan, Hebei, in 1896, and it is currently located in Chengdu, Sichuan. The University has three campuses: the main Xipu campus, the Jiulidi campus in downtown Chengdu, and Emei campus about 90 miles to the southwest of the city snuggled at the foot of the Mount Emei, one of China's four sacred Buddhist mountains. The university offers programs at the graduate and undergraduate level to approximately 60,000 students. Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU) was founded at Shanhaiguan in 1896, named then Imperial Chinese Railway College. It is one of the oldest universities in China majoring in engineering. In 1905, it was moved to Tangshan, Hebei Province, and was renamed Tangshan Chiao Tung University, Tangshan Railway Institute, and so on. In 1972, the university was removed to Emei, Sichuan province, and began to use its present name Southwest Jiaotong University. In 1989, it was moved to Chengdu, and in 2002, the construction of a new campus covering an area of over 3,000 mu was started in Chengdu. With this, a new pattern of “one university, in two places, with three campuses” is coming into being. Currently, the university has 18 schools, 3 departments and 2 divisions, with students totaling more than 38000, teachers and staff over 3900, which including full time teachers about 1800, professors and associate professors about 1000, 3 CAS academicians and 2 CAE academicians. In addition, there are also 29 academicians from CAS and CAE who serve as part time professors at the university's invitation. There are now 45 PHD programs, 95 master's degree accredit posts, 61 undergraduate majors and 7 post doctorate research centers, 3 national basic scientific research and teaching talents training bases, 6 national key disciplines and 1 state key laboratory.

Mao Yisheng: an expert on bridge construction and social activist. Tung Yen Lin: structural engineer best known as the pioneer of standardizing the use of prestressed concrete. Jianyou Cao: One of the earliest contributors to Chinese railway electrification, a member of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an expert in electric power system; the founder of the school of electrical engineering of Southwest Jiaotong University.