The College of Chemistry of Central China Normal University(CCNU) was founded in 1929 as the Chemistry Division of Huazhong University,which is one of the oldest chemistry departments in the national universitiesof China. The individual who was largely responsible for the rise to fame was Mr. Zhi-Gong Zhang, who becamedean in 1929 and served until 1938. Over the past 88 years, the faculty hasgrown significantly—both in numbers and distinction. The central mission of the  College of Chemistry is to advance society through education and research,and we have made it our responsibility to fulfill this mission year in and yearout. The College has numerous institutes and centers, including the Institute of Pesticide Science and Organic Chemistry, Institute of Inorganic Chemistry,Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Instituteof Environmental and Applied Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Education,National Experimental Teaching Demonstrating Center of Chemistry, and the Instrumental  Analysis Center. These institutes and centers emphasize collaboration amongresearch groups with overlapping or complementary interests, and enhancement ofgraduate training through collaboration and industrial liaison.

Currently, the College of Chemistry has 84 faculty and staff members,including 34 full professors and 36associate professors. Among our faculty members, there is one Academician ofthe Chinese Academy of Sciences, one Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, andone ChangjiangDistinguishedProfessor. One faculty is the participantin the National Thousands TalentProgram, two were awarded the Natural Science Fund for Distinguished YoungScholars, one member is the participant in the National Thousand Young TalentsProgram, one was selected by the National Key Talent Project, and seven facultywere awarded with the 21st Century Talent Fund by the Ministry of Education(MOE). In addition, there are many awardees of the state major research plansor provincial key programs. The college has three Innovative Research Groups whichare sponsored by the MOE of China and the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province,respectively. Moreover, the college has two Provincial Innovative Teams of KeyIndustries and one Provincial Outstanding Teaching Team. Many of our facultymembers have been honored with the CCNU Distinguished Teaching Award for theiroutstanding educational abilities.  

The College of Chemistry has trained generations of chemists who have become leaders in academia, industry,and government, through undergraduate and graduate programs that are designedto encourage the greatest possible amount of creativity and flexibility. Weoffer undergraduate degrees in chemistry and applied chemistry, as well asdouble majors in chemistry and biology, and in chemistry and physics. We alsooffers doctoral programs in chemistry (first grade disciplines) and pesticidescience, and master's programs in applied chemistry, chemical engineering, andchemical education. The chemistry program of CCNU provides depth in the traditionalareas of chemistry. Research areas include chemical synthesis and catalysis,pesticide chemistry, reaction mechanisms, bioinorganic and bioorganicchemistry, and materials chemistry. Chemical research at CCNU is also highlyinterdisciplinary. Pioneered by Professor Jing-Ling Zhang, pesticide chemistryhas become one of CCNU’s leading disciplines, as well as the National KeyDiscipline, and the MOE has established a key laboratory on our campus, namelythe “Key Laboratory of Pesticide and Chemical Biology”. The local government, Hubei Province, has also established two centers in CCNU: “Hubei Engineering ResearchCenter of Pesticides” and “Hubei Platform of Pesticide Residue Detection”. As aresult, the College of Chemistry of CCNU has become a leading national base forresearch in pesticide chemistry and related areas. We have conductedschool-to-school exchanges and extensive academic cooperation with more than 15universities from over 10 countries such as Canada, Germany, USA, Italy, England,  Japan, and South Korea. Furthermore, we also engage in close cooperation withsome leading global companies such as Syngenta and GlaxoSmithKline. Foreignexperts and professors are regularly invited to work at the college. In recentyears, teachers of our college have often been sent abroad for further study, amajority of whom have returned home to become the backbone in their ownteaching and research field. Established in 2013, the CCNU-uOttawa Joint Research Center on Chemical Synthesis and Catalysis (JRCCSC) combines the researchstrengths of University of Ottawa and CCNU. Professor Howard Alper serves asthe Director of JRCCSC. The center is a participating unit in the collaborative program in chemistryat the Master’s and Doctoral levels. Over the last ten years, the College of Chemistry has educated and trained over 4300 chemists, among which two graduatestudents have won the national excellent doctor degree dissertations, and sixhave received highly prestigious Humboldt Fellowships.

The 21st century has seenan increased emphasis on interdisciplinary research and scholarship, correlatedwith tremendous advances in technology. This development is visible throughoutour college. Our research strength is increasing markedly year by year. Overthe last decade, our faculty members have been undertaking a number of nationaland provincial projects, including “973” and “863” programs, national talentsfunds for basic sciences, and national key funds. The college of Chemistry obtains more than ¥20-million-RMB grants peryear from external funding agencies, and our laboratories are equipped withfirst-rate instruments and facilities that are valued over ¥94-million-RMB intotal. It publishes 250-300 SCI cited papers annually in top internationalscientific journals, such as J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.,Nat. Commun., Nat. Protocol, Adv. Material, Chem. Rev., Chem. Soc. Rev., Acc.Chem. Res. and has 10-20 patents which are authorized by the NationalPatent Office each year. Since its establishment, Chemistry at CCNU has alwaysbeen geared to the needs of both the national development strategies and thelocal economic development. Our achievements include the development of anumber of novel agricultural chemicals (e.g. Isocarbophos, Isofenphos-methyl,Clacyfos and Benzothiostrobin) and a key technology for phosphoric acidrefining, and in doing so have gained great economic benefits as well asnotable social effectiveness. Consequently, the College has won about 50research awards, including 4 national-level awards. CCNU chemistry is rated oneof the best in China. In Thomson Reuters ESI rankings of Chemistry, chemistry in CCNU placed top 0.5% inthe world.