Harbin Institute of Technology - History

History

Harbin Institute of Technology was established in 1920, as Harbin Sino-Russian School for Industry to educate, in the Russian education style, railway engineers. Students were educated in the two majors at the time: Railway Construction and Electric Mechanic Engineering. On April 2, 1922, the School was renamed Sino-Russian Industrial University. The original two majors became two departments: the Railway Construction Department and the Electric Engineering Department. Between 1925 and 1928 the University's Rector was Leonid Aleksandrovich Ustrugov, Russian Deputy Minister of Railways under Nicholas II before the Russian Revolution and was involved in the development of the East Chinese Railway.

On February 4, 1928, the institution came under the leadership of the Northeastern Provincial Special Administrative Region of the Republic of China, and was renamed the Industrial University of the Northeastern Provincial Special Administrative Region. On October 20, 1928, the Law College and College of Commerce were incorporated, and the institution was officially named HIT, co-managed by China and the USSR, with General Zhang Xueliang as the President of the School Board. Postgraduate students were enrolled from the spring of 1931.

With the invasion by the Japanese, by 1935, the institution had been completely taken over by the Japanese. The classes were taught in Japanese, and only Chinese and Japanese students could be enrolled. On January 1, 1936, the name of the institution was changed into National Harbin Polytechnic. After January 1937, the educational system was entirely transitioned to that of the Japanese. On January 1, 1938, the name Harbin Institute of Technology was reinstated, a name that has been in use since.

After the Allies defeated Japan in World War II, Japan departed China on September 3, 1945, and HIT came under the joint management of the Chinese and Soviet governments through the China Changchun Railway Administration.

In June 1950, the administration of HIT was taken over by the Chinese government and started a period of full-scale reform and growth. In 1951, HIT was approved by the central government to become one of the two institutions of higher learning to learn advanced techniques from the USSR . HIT then became the important base for learning from the USSR and training talents for universities throughout the country, HIT enjoyed the fame of being the 'Cradle for Engineers'.

In 1958, HIT made significant rearrangement in its majors, creating a batch of advanced disciplines. By 1962, HIT had accomplished the change from civic purposes to that of military, becoming an all-embracing, multidisciplinary university, whose disciplines complemented one another, and served the construction of national economy and national defense science and technology.

During this era, the enrollment increased dramatically, the largest being more than 8000. The number of teachers also increased rapidly. By 1957, teachers numbered more than 800, averaged 27.5 years of age, responsible for all the teaching and research tasks, and being reputed the '800 warriors' of HIT. The research at HIT experienced great development and improvement. All the disciplines established ties of scientific cooperation with factories and research institutes, laying solid foundations for the integration of teaching, research, and production and for scientific research to serve the national economy.

The Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966, severely affected the normal teaching and research activities of HIT.

In Spring 1970, according to the order of the authorities, a small number of HIT personnel and most equipment moved south to Chongqing, and, together with Department 2 of the PLA Military Engineering Institute, formed Chongqing Institute of Technology. The rest of HIT, combined with Heilongjiang Institute of Technology and Harbin Institute of Electrotechnics, became the new HIT. In August 1973, the State Council and the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee decided that Chongqing Institute of Technology should again move back north to Harbin.

In 1977, the undergraduate programs reopened, 1978 the graduate programs followed, and in 1982 doctoral programs were for the first time offered. In 1984, HIT again found its way into the list of 15 universities to be favorably built. In the same year, HIT became one of the first 22 universities to establish a graduate school. In 1992, HIT High-and-New Tech Park was founded. In 1996, HIT was in the first batch of universities to enter the list of Project 211. In November 1999, HIT was appointed by the Central Government one of the 9 best universities to be preferentially built according to the standards of internationally renowned universities.

In 1985 HIT opened a new campus in Weihai, Shandong Province. In 2000 Harbin University of Architecture was merged into HIT.