Henan Normal University is one of the key universities directly under the provincial government, developed from the Zhongzhou University (founded in 1923) and Pingyuan Teachers college (founded in 1951). It is situated in Xinxiang, a famous city in north Henan, which is at the junction of the Beijing- Guangzhou, Taiyuan-Heze railways, nestling near Taihang Mountain to the north and the Yellow River to the south, where the famous Muye battle once took place. Due to the adjustment of colleges and departments, the university has successfully been renamed as Henan Teachers College 2, Henan Second Teachers college and Xinxiang Teachers College after the founding of New China. And in 1985, she began to be called Henan Normal University.
In the past 84 years after the founding, especially after the founding of New China, the university has gradually grown into a comprehensive normal university with complete subjects and courses. There are now 17 colleges, 24 research institutes (centres), 10 provincial key disciplines, and 49 majors of undergraduate course covering 9 subjects such as economics, science of law, education, literature, science, engineering, agriculture, history and administration. The university recruited master degree candidates from 1978. She has been 4 doctor’s degree granting points, 6 master’s degree granting first-level discipline points, 75 master’s degree granting second-level discipline points and 3 master’s degree granting points covering 11 subjects such as philosophy, economics, science of law, education, literature, science, engineering, agriculture, history, administration and medical science until now. The university has the cell differentiation regulation and control of provincial and ministerial jointly building state-class key lab, Huanghe and Huaihe River water pollution and prevention and cure of provincial and ministerial jointly builting key lab of the Ministry of Education, Henan environmental pollution and controll key lab, Henan Bioengineering key lab, Henan bioengineering research and application center, life science state-class experiment and teaching center, 4 provincial level experiment and teaching centers of life science, chemistry, computer and physics. 3 provincial level humanity social science research base. The university is the experimental unit of Ministry of Education’s Education Master’s degree and the overall reform and proving base of Henan province teacher and education. Henan Colleges and Universities' Teachers Training Center and Henan province President of high school training base are in our unversity. The university has the Biological Specimen Museum which is the largest in scale and the maximum in varieties in Henan province. She covers an area of 1,280,000 square meters with a floor space of 600,000 square meters. The total value of teaching and research instruments is amount to 130 million yuan. She boasts a library with more than 2,000,000 paper editions and more than 440,000 electronic editions. At present, there are more than 20,000 postgraduates and under-graduates. There is a teaching staff of 2,000 of whom 1,700 are professional technologists including 4 academicians of CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences) or CAE (Chinese Academy of Engineering), 12 provincial level specially engaged professors, 500 professors and associate professors, 4 young experts with national outstanding contributions, 26 winners of special government subsidy, 3 teaching guiding committee members of Ministry of Education’s colleges and universities, 24 Henan’s outstanding talents and 2 Henan’s teaching well-known master.
Henan Normal University highly values its talented teachers, devotes much of its focus to quality teaching, and facilitates the full engagement of the teachers’ talents. Since its establishment, many noted scholars and professors both at home and abroad have taught here, such as Zhao Jibin, Li Junfu, Yao Conggong, Wei Mingchu, Fan Yingchu, Du Mengmo, Sun Zuoyun, Hang Dunci, Xu Mengying Bi Liejue and Lu Jinsuo. In recent years, another group of youth and middle-aged experts and scholars with great influence at home and abroad have emerged. The joint efforts of many generations have created an excellent school spirit of “Noble morality, Erudite, Aiming at absolute perfection”.
Henan Normal University enjoys reputation because of pure school spirit, upright teaching general mood, great studying ethos and high level college course teaching. She got the “excellent” in the Ministry of Education’s assess to the level of college course teaching in 2006. In recent years, source of students is plentiful, the number of reached the admission test score in the college enrolment first aspiration always is twice as much as enrolment plan. Graduate employment rate keeps above 90%, the proportion that graduating students are admitted to master is above 25%. In 2007, the college courses such as Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and English enter the first enrollment. The universty’s society reputation rises gradually.
Henan Normal University pays special attention the research of science and technology and their development and application. The value that high and new technology achievement created which the university transferred had reached several hundreds of million yuan in the fields of chemistry pharmacy, battery material, biotechnology and environmental protection. She has been one of the important bases that promote Henan science and technology innovation and ecomonic growth. In the past three years, the university has undertaken over 80 scientific research projections in succession of the “863”, “973”, national natural science fund and so on, 200 scientific research projections at the provincial level and more than 38 at or above the provincial level have been awarded prizes, 200 teaching materials or academic works as well as 4,000 academic papers have been published. The research results in the fields such as basic mathematics, theoretical physics, atomic and molecular physics, physical chemistry, bioengineering, medical synthesis and environmental sciences in the leading position both at home and abroad. Statistics of China Research Institute of S&T Information shows that the collection quality of the academic papers published by teachers of the university and included by SCI has been listed among the top 50th in 8 years in succession since 1994, she was listed in 29th in 1995 and in 4th in the normal colleges and universities throughout the country. The university has always occupied the top 72nd in the colleges and universities of the whole country since 2002. The thesis quotes SCI has always occupied the top 51st since 1995 and ever been up to 32nd. Natural Science Edition and Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition of Journal of Henan Normal University are both chosen as the Chinese core journal. Full text reprint amounts of Philosophy and Social Science Edition ranked the top 7th among the journals of the colleges and universities throughout the country.