Located in the well-endowed historic and cultural city of Nanjing, Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) is a national key institution of higher learning, directly affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Education. Famously known for its established disciplines in agriculture and life sciences, NAU also offers balanced, comprehensive programs in diverse branches of learning, including sciences, economics, management, engineering, humanities and law. NAU is a university covered by the 211 Program and has been selected as one of the Innovation Platforms for Outstanding Disciplines listed under the National 985 Excellence Initiative Project as well as one of the institutions of higher education chosen to develop world-class disciplines under China’s Double First-class University Project. NAU’s Party Secretary is Prof. Chen Ligen; President, Prof. Chen Fadi.

The history of NAU can be traced back to its predecessors – the Sanjiang Normal School, a teacher training center in Nanjing founded in 1902, and the Faculty of Agriculture of Private University of Nanking, which was founded in 1914. In 1952, Nanjing Agricultural College was founded through the merger of the two agricultural faculties of University of Nanking (today’s Nanjing University) and National Central University along with several departments of the Agricultural College of Zhejiang University. In 1963, the college was recognized as one of the two key institutions of higher agricultural education in China. In 1972, it was relocated to Yangzhou, where it was merged with the Agricultural College of Northern Jiangsu to form the Agricultural College of Jiangsu. In 1979, it was relocated back to Nanjing under its previous name. In 1984, the college was renamed Nanjing Agricultural University. In 2000, NAU was transferred from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Ministry of Education.

NAU consists of 18 colleges plus one department, including College of Agriculture, College of Engineering, College of Plant Protection, College of Resources & Environmental Sciences, College of Horticulture, College of Animal Science and Technology (including Wuxi Fisheries College), College of Veterinary Medicine, College of Food Science and Technology, School of Economics and Management, College of Public Administration, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, College of Life Sciences, College of Science, College of Information Science and Technology, College of Foreign Studies, College of Finance, College of Prataculture, College of General Education on Political Science, and Department of Physical Education.

NAU offers undergraduate programs in 62 specialties, first-level master’s programs in 31 disciplines, professional degree programs in 15 specialties and doctoral programs in 17 first-level disciplines, as well as 15 postdoctoral programs. The university has more than 2,700 faculty and staff members and over 25,500 full-time students, including more than 17,000 undergraduates and over 8,500 postgraduates. Among the faculty and staff are 2 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 27 people who either have been recruited through China’s Recruitment Program of Global Experts, or have been honored with “Changjiang (Yangtze River) Scholar” or “National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars.” Eight faculty members have been nationally and provincially recognized for their exceptional teaching accomplishments and five have received honors such as “National Outstanding Teacher”, “National Model Teacher” and “Model Educational Worker.” More than 100 people have been included in other national talent projects or programs. Besides, NAU is also home to 6 national/provincial-level teaching teams and 3 teams listed as part of the Innovation Team Development Program under the Ministry of Education.