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East China Normal University (ECNU)（华东师范大学：Huádōnɡ Shīfàn Dàxué） was founded in October 1951 on the site of Great China University（大夏大学：Dàxià Dàxué） with most of its faculties from Great China University joined by some faculties from a number of other universities such as Fudan University. In 1972, East China Normal University was renamed Shanghai Normal University, when other four institutes including Shanghai Teachers Institute, Shanghai Education Institute, Shanghai Physical Education Institute, and Shanghai in-Service Teachers Institute were merged with it. In July 1980, it regained its original name of East China Normal University as the other four institutes separated again and resumed their original status one after another in 1978.

Over fifty years of development has shaped East China Normal University into one of the key institutions of higher learning under the direct auspices of the Ministry of Education, influential both at home and abroad. The University has 15 full-time schools, namely School of Humanities, School of Educational Science, School of Educational Administration, School of Preschool Education and Special Education, School of Foreign Languages, School of Business , School of Law and Politics, School of Life Science, School of Physical Education and Health Care, School of Science and Engineering, School of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, School of Information Science and Technology, School of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language,School of software engineering and the Vocational College. These schools consist of 35 departments offering 55 undergraduate programs, 5 of which, i.e. Chinese, History, Mathematics, Geography and Psychology, are on the list of State Training and Research Bases for Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences.