In April 2000, then Hunan Medical University (湖南医科大学), then Changsha Railway College (长沙铁道学院), and then Central South Industrial University (中南工业大学) merged to establish Central South University.[5]
History
CSU was established by approval of the
State Council on 29 April 2000 by merging three separate universities: Hunan Medical University (HMU), Changsha Railway University (CRU) and Central South University of Technology (CSUT).[5][6]
HMU, formerly under the administration of the
Ministry of Health, dates back to 1914 when Xiangya Medical College was founded through the joint efforts of Hunan Yuqun Society and the
Yale-China Association.[7][8] Founded by Dr.
Edward Hicks Hume and
Yan Fuqing.[9] Hunan Yukun Society was named "Xiangya" after the abbreviation of Hunan "Xiang", and the Yale pronunciation of "ya".[10]
CRU, one of the universities under the administration of the
Ministry of Railways, initially restructured in 1953 as Central South College of Civil Engineering and Architecture. It was established in 1960 based on its predecessor's teaching and research divisions.[11]
More than 33,000 full-time undergraduates and 12,000 graduate students attend Central South University. Of the total number attending CSU approximately 1,000 are foreign students. The faculty-student ratio is about 1:8.
CSU covers an area of 3,810,000 square meters and has the total floor space of 2,330,000 square meters. The library of CSU have a collection of more than 4,390,000 volumes.
CSU has six campuses:
Main campus: dormitories and academic buildings for junior undergraduates and postgraduates of most engineering schools, two state key laboratories, as well as office buildings.[48]
South campus: dormitories for all freshman and postgraduates of all humanities schools, as well as office buildings.
New campus: academic buildings for all freshman and all humanities and science postgraduates, as well as office and library buildings.
Xiangya School of Medicine (New campus): dormitories and academic buildings for medical postgraduates, with Xiangya Hospital and the State Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics of China.[49]
Xiangya School of Medicine (Old campus): dormitories and academic buildings for medical undergraduates, with Third Xiangya Hospital and medical library.
Railway campus: dormitories and academic buildings for junior undergraduates and postgraduates of civil engineering, traffic engineering, software engineering, and architecture, as well as office and library buildings.[50]
Zhang Xiaoqian, gastroenterologist, is considered the founder of gastroenterology in China. He served as President of Hsiang-Ya Medical College and Vice President of Peking Union Medical College, and was a founding member of both
Academia Sinica and the
Chinese Academy of Sciences.