Northwest A&F University (NWAFU; ) is a key national

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

Xianyang Xianyang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now integrated into the Xi'an metrop ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

, China, under the administration of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. NWAFU is a member of "

Project 985 Project 985 () was a terminated project that was first announced by General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin at the 100th anniversary of Peking University on May 4, 1998, to promote the development and reputation of the C ...

" club, which is an origanization of 39 the most reputational elite universities in China. It is also a Class B Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government, which aims to comprehensively develop elite Chinese universities into world-class institutions. As of 2023, the university is ranked 590th globally by USNews Global Universities Rankings. Especially, its "agricultural sciences" is ranked 12th in the world. Regarding scientific research output, the

Nature Index The Nature Index is a database that tracks institutions and countries and their scientific output since its introduction in November, 2014. Each year, Nature Index ranks the leading institutions (which can be companies, universities, government agen ...

2022 placed NWAFU 334th in the world. The university has an annual income of around

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...

1.72 billion (around £172 million) in 2011. By April 2013, the university has 1661 faculty members and 28,964 students.2012-2013学年初学校基本数据
/ref>

History

Origins and re-organization

Northwest A&F University originated from ''National Northwest Junior College of Agriculture and Forestry'' founded in 1934, which was the earliest institution of higher agriculture and forestry education in northwest China. Since its establishment, NWAFU has been closely bound up with the fate of the country and the nation, assuming the responsibility of rejuvenating northwest China, boosting agricultural prosperity, and cultivating talents. In September 1999, Northwest A&F University was established by merging five scientific research institutions and two universities in Yangling, Shaanxi Province, namely # Institute of Soil and Water Conservation,

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

# Northwest China Institute of Water Resource Sciences, Ministry of Water Resources of China # Shaanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences # Shaanxi Academy of Forestry # Northwest China Institute of Botany,

and

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ni ...

# Northwest Agricultural University # Northwest Forestry College. The 7 members involved in re-organization were very close to each other historically. Northwest Agricultural University has the biggest area and the longest history out of 7 members and are the origin of Institute of Water Resource Sciences (Northwest China) and Northwest Forestry College. Her history can be dated back to 1934(Year 23 in

Minguo calendar The Republic of China calendar, often shortened to the ROC calendar or the ''Minguo'' calendar, is a calendar used in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. The calendar uses 1912, the year of the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC), as ...

) when ''National Northwest Senior College of Agriculture and Forestry'' (the predecessor of Northwest Agricultural University) was founded by the Senior Politician of

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Mr.

Yu Youren Yu Youren (); (April 11, 1879 – November 10, 1964) was a Chinese educator, scholar, calligrapher, and politician. Early life He was born on April 11, 1879, in the town of Hedaogang (), Sanyuan County (north of Xi'an), Shaanxi Province, Qing Chi ...

, Kuomintang veteran member

Dai Jitao Dai Jitao or Tai Chi-t'ao (; January 6, 1891 – February 21, 1949) was a Chinese journalist, an early Kuomintang member, and the first head of the Examination Yuan of the Republic of China. He is often referred to as Dai Chuanxian () or by his ...

, Kuomintang General Yang Hucheng. In 1937 and 1938, the Senior College merged with College of Agriculture of National Northwest Associated University and Department of Animal Husbandry in College of Agriculture of National

Henan University Henan University () is one of the oldest public and Double First Class Universities in China. It was founded in 1912. In the beginning, its name was the Preparatory School for Further Study in Europe and America. In 1942, its name was changed to ...

() respectively, then was renamed as National Northwest Agricultural College. Meanwhile, Department of Water Conservancy of National

Lanzhou University Lanzhou University () is a major research university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Founded in 1909, it is one of the key universities under China's Ministry of Education (Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985 and Project 211). It ...

() joined the college. Following the establishment of P.R.China in 1949, "National" was deleted from the college name although it remains a government funded academic school. In 1952, Department of Agricultural Water Conservancy was partially given to

Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an Jiaotong University (XJTU, ) is a public research university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. As a member of Double First Class University Plan, C9 League, Project 985, and Project 211, it is a leading national university with special strengths ...

() under the order of The State Council. 2 years later, the remained Department of Agricultural Water Conservancy became an independent academic institution which is the mold of Institute of Water Resource Sciences (Northwest China). In 1979, Northwest Forestry College came out to be an independent school from Department of Forestry in Northwest Agricultural College. In 1985, with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fishery, the university name changed to be Northwest Agricultural University.
Other institutions have relatively shorter history. Institute of Botany (Northwest China) became an independent academy from Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (founded in 1956) in 1965. In 1980,

Academy of Forestry got separated from Shaanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences (founded in 1952). The State Council agreed to merge 7 organizations as new Northwest A&F University in a reply to the proposal drafted by Ministry of Education and Shaanxi Province Government. A financial budget of 600,000,000 RMB was granted as start fund and further investment plan as well as related issue such as reshuffle were also briefly stated in this official reply. On 11 September 1999, a central government delegation led by Vice Premier

Li Lanqing Li Lanqing (; born 22 May 1932) is a retired Chinese politician who served as first-ranked Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China between 1998 and 2003. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ...

attended the opening ceremony and made the announcement.

List of presidents

Chancellor/ Communist Party Committee Secretary since new A&F(1999) ;President * 1999.9 – 2003.8 Mr. Chen, Zongxing ( 陈宗兴) * 2003.8 – 2011.1 Professor. Sun, Wuxue () * 2011.1 – 2017.7 Professor Sun, Qixin () * 2017.12 - present Professor Wu, Pute () ;Communist Party Committee Secretary of A&F * 1999.9 – 2003.8 Professor Sun, Wuxue () * 2003.8 – 2013.5 Professor. Zhang, Guangqiang () * 2013.5 – 2015.8 Dr. Liang, Gui () * 2015.8 – present Mr. Li, Xingwang ()

Academic colleges

The university is composed of 23 academic faculties (colleges, schools or departments) including Institute of Water and Soil Conservation, and Institute of Ideological and Political Education. These colleges, departments and schools are in charge of undergraduate studies, offering 3,000 courses. All of them are listed below: * College of Agronomy (Academy of Agricultural Sciences) * College of

Horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

* College of Plant Protection * College of

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

(Academy of Forestry) * College of

Animal Science Animal science is described as "studying the biology of animals that are under the control of humankind". It can also be described as the production and management of farm animals. Historically, the degree was called animal husbandry and the ...

and Technology * College of

Veterinary Medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

* College of Life Sciences * College of Enology * College of Sciences * College of Chemistry and Pharmacy * College of

Information Engineering Information engineering is the engineering discipline that deals with the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information, data, and knowledge in systems. The field first became identifiable in the early 21st century. The component ...

* College of

Mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

and

Electric Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

* College of Water Resources and

Architectural Engineering Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health. Archi ...

* College of

Food Science Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the development ...

and Engineering * College of Natural Resources and Environment * College of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

and

Management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

* Innovation Experimental College * College of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

* International School * Department of

Foreign Languages A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a given country, and that native speakers from that country must usually acquire through conscious learning - be this through language lessons at sch ...

* Department of Physical Education * College of Vocational and Adult Education * College of Landscape Architecture and Arts * Institute of Water and Soil Conservation * Institute of

Ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

and Political Education * Innovation Experimental College

Campus and students life

The university urban area is around 3.94 km², covering two main campuses: North Campus and South Campus. Besides, Institute of Water and Soil Conservation, College of Food Science and Engineering and College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering have their own independent campuses for administrative affairs and research respectively. Generally, South Campus hosts study and living facilities for senior undergraduates from College of Agriculture, College of Horticulture, College of Forestry, College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, College of Resource and Environment and College of Economics and Management. All students from International School, most of postgraduates, undergraduates from Department of Arts (Landscape Arts Design) and all students from College of Vocational and Adult Education also live and study in South Campus. Although North Campus is mainly for undergraduates of other colleges, some postgraduates move to North Campus for their research since they become the 2nd year students. On South Campus, Agriculture Science Building, Social Science Building, new apartments as well as students facilities are under construction now. Study and living environment will be greatly improved when these buildings are available. Besides, A&F provides vehicles (small bus) to ferry students and staff between South Campus and North Campus on a daily schedule. The

Museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

Garden (a collection of 5 museums including

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...

plants Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclude ...

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

and China's agricultural history) is located beside South Campus. The Insects Museum holds the most extensive collection of butterflies in China's Universities. This garden is also the greatest Agriculture-themed museum area in China. Besides its teaching role for A&F students, this garden is also serving as a popular science centre in Shaanxi Province and attracts thousands of visitors especially young students every year. A&F provides convenient

sports facilities A sports venue is a building, structure, or place in which a sporting competition is held. A stadium (plural: stadiums or stadia) or arena is a place or venue for sports or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely ...

to staff and students. Across the campuses, there are 12

tennis courts A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

, 1 indoor stadium, 2 outdoor stadiums, 1

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

for

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, 2 outdoor

swimming pools A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (a ...

, 48 outdoor

basketball courts In basketball, the basketball court is the playing surface, consisting of a rectangular floor, with baskets at each end. Indoor basketball courts are almost always made of polished wood, usually maple, with -high rims on each basket. Outdoor sur ...

, 28 outdoor volleyball courts, several badminton courts and 143 outdoor tables for

Ping-Pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

. Tennis is popular across the campus and tennis championships are held every year. A&F also supports College Students Basketball and Volleyball Team to gain reputation in CUBA (

Chinese University Basketball Association Chinese University Basketball Association (CUBA, ) was founded in 1996 and the league was launched in 1998. It is the most competitive and popular college basketball competition in China. This event is held annually and divided into the preliminary ...

) and CUVA (Chinese University Volleyball Association). The university library was initially launched in 1934 and got extended in 1999 when new A&F was established. In both North and South Campus, the well equipped air-conditioning system in the library makes it a popular site for students' study, especially in summer. A training centre for engineering in North Campus provides engineering courses and practices to all undergraduates, especially students majored at mechanics and electronics. At the heart of North Campus stands the tallest building of A&F, the ten-storey NO. 8 Teaching Building. Along with its 12 subsidiary great lecture halls, they serve as the teaching centre in North Campus.

Chefs A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

in 11

cafeterias A cafeteria, sometimes called a canteen outside the U.S., is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or schoo ...

scattered in the 2 main campuses cook breakfast, lunch and supper to students and staff every day in each term. However, the cafeterias are usually very busy and crowded at dining time. Among these cafeterias, 2 Muslim cafeterias are specially built to cater for the needs of Muslim group. Food safety in these cafeterias is seriously controlled to provide good quality food. Campus Card (a campus identity card which acts like a Debit card to facilitate payment across campuses) is needed to buy food in all cafeterias but cash is also accepted. Totally 48 dorm buildings are available for students. For Chinese students, 4 or 6 students share 1 bedroom while

international students International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

live in single or double bedroom equipped with

bathroom A bathroom or washroom is a room, typically in a home or other residential building, that contains either a bathtub or a shower (or both). The inclusion of a wash basin is common. In some parts of the world e.g. India, a toilet is typically ...

and

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

(the price is much higher). Air conditioning in all students dormitories will be available since summer of 2015. As a part of International A&F project, new apartments for international students and foreign experts will be ready since 2015. All apartments and dormitories are centrally heated in winter from 15 November to 15 March next year. Campus events are usually hold in Xiu-Shan Students Venue Centre in North and South Campus. Xiu-Shan was named after Xiu-Shan Zhu, the father of a Taiwanese entrepreneur Yinglong Zhu who endowed NWAFU. Now, Xiu-Shan Students Venue is an important place for campus events such as exhibition,

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by T ...

and conferences. File:WP 20150422 049.jpg, Chinese Students Dormitory Building, South Campus File:WP 20150422 035.jpg, One Apartment for International Students, South Campus File:WP 20150422 053.jpg, Seasons Square, South Campus File:WP 20150422 084.jpg, Xiu-Shan Students Venue Centre, South Campus

Rankings and Reputation

The university ranks as Top 3 research and teaching quality in China's agriculture universitieshttp://edu.qq.com/a/20120416/000438.htm 武书连2012中国大学农学排行榜 and is a member of "

" club which is an organization of 39 reputable universities in China. Northwest A&F University's research achievements are dominant in the fields of agriculture biology including

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

breeding, entomology, agriculture resource management,

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

, plant protection,

food science Food science is the basic science and applied science of food; its scope starts at overlap with agricultural science and nutritional science and leads through the scientific aspects of food safety and food processing, informing the development ...

(especially in Enology),

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

. Besides, the university is also reputable in agricultural water conservancy,

agriculture economics Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

and management, agriculture mechanics and

information engineering Information engineering is the engineering discipline that deals with the generation, distribution, analysis, and use of information, data, and knowledge in systems. The field first became identifiable in the early 21st century. The component ...

and ancient agricultural

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

research. In 2017,

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...

ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally. In 2022, the "Agriculture Science" subject was ranked 11th globally by ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global University Rankings 2022. Meanwhile, "Plant and Animal Science" was ranked 86th globally by the same ranking. The overall global ranking of NWAFU by the ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Global University Rankings 2021 is 613. In 2022, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranked the university at 401-500 band globally.

References

External links

Official website

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northwest AandF University Universities and colleges in Shaanxi Forestry in China Forestry education Vice-ministerial universities in China Xianyang 1934 establishments in China Educational institutions established in 1934