Timeline

In December 1984, Sir Yue-Kong Pao decided to donate RMB 50 million yuan (or 20 million US dollars) to establish Ningbo University (NBU), and signed the “Meeting Minutes” with Mayor of Ningbo Mr. Geng Dianhua in Beijing.

In January 1985, the Zhejiang Provincial Government approved the proposal of the Ningbo Municipal Government on the establishment of NBU.

The reply said: "Proposal to build NBU agreed, the university is to be located in Ningbo, and the student population on campus should reach 2,000 students before1990”.

In September 1985, Mr. Deng Xiaoping inscribed the name of Ningbo University in Chinese characters “Ning Bo Da Xue” to express his support of the new-born university.

In October 1985, the Ningbo Municipal Government held the groundbreaking ceremony for NBU. The then Acting Premier Wan Li and Sir Yue-Kong Pao attended the ceremony.

In April 1986, the former State Education Commission arranged for Zhejiang University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology, Peking University and Hangzhou University to help NBU.

In September 1986, NBU had its first enrollment of students.

In November 1986, NBU held its opening ceremony. The Acting Premier of the State Council Wan Li, officials from relevant departments of the CPC Central Committee, provincial and municipal leaders, and the Paos attended the ceremony.

In October 1988, NBU held the inauguration ceremony of the first school building. Vice Premier Tian Jiyun and other leaders attended the ceremony.

In July 1990, NBU was approved as a bachelor's degree granting institution.

The first group of undergraduates were awarded bachelor's degrees.

In 1990, NBU began to jointly train graduate students with other universities and research institutes.

In May 1992, the former General Secretary Jiang Zemin wrote the inscription Yue-Kong Pao Library, praising him as a model compatriot loving the hometown.

In September 1992, the opening ceremony of the Yue-Kong Pao Library, the inauguration ceremony of NBU Sports Center and the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue of Yue-Kong Pao were held simultaneously.

In 1992, the University was approved as one of the first batch of colleges to enroll students in China.

In 1995, NBU was among the first to pass the assessment of undergraduate teaching quality organized by the former State Education Commission.

In March 1996, the Zhejiang Provincial Government decided that the former NBU, Ningbo Teachers College, and Zhejiang Fisheries College Ningbo Branch merge to form a new NBU.

The three schools got merged, co-built by the Zhejiang Provincial Government and the Ningbo Municipality.

In June 1998, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council approved NBU as an institution granting master’s degrees, and the three master programs in international trade, engineering mechanics and aquaculture were approved.

In June 1998, the Medical School of NBU was founded with the donations by Dr. Tang Yuhan, a well-known medical scientist, academician of the Royal College of Physicians of London and academician of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

In April 1999, the College of Science & Technology College Ningbo University, the first state-owned private college in the province, was established.

In April 2000, 18 colleges of NBU were established and six academicians were appointed as deans ofsomecolleges.

In May 2000, according to Zhe-zheng-fa [2000] File No. 94, the former Ningbo Ocean School under the State Oceanic Administration and Ningbo Forestry School under the Ministry of Forestry were merged into NBU.

In June 2000, Vice Premier Li Lanqing paid a visit to the university. He said "I hope that NBU will become a star university in China."

In June 2000, according to Zhe-jiao-shi [2000] File No. 101, the former Ningbo Teacher Training School and Ningbo Run Run Shaw Teachers School for Preschool Education were merged into NBU.

According to the Municipal Education Commission Yong-jiao-shi [2001] File No. 254, in July 2001, Ningbo Teacher Training School and Ningbo Run Run Shaw Teachers School for Preschool Education merged to form the junior branch of NBU Teachers College.

In 2000, NBU was listed as a university under key support by Zhejiang Provincial Government.

In March 2001, according to Zhe-jiao-ji (2001) File No. 55, Ningbo Health School was merged into NBU and became the College of Health Sciences of Ningbo University.

In February 2002, NBU was listed by the provincial government as one of the three key universities under development in Zhejiang Province.

In March 2003, according to Zhe-zheng-han [2003] File No. 48, the provincial government gave the consent to NBU on the proposal of establishing an independent Ningbo College of Health Sciences based on the College of Health Sciences of NBU, which would be led and run by Ningbo Municipality.

In December 2003, NBU passed the evaluation of the undergraduate teaching organized by the Ministry of Education with a flying color.

In July 2004, according to Zhe-zheng-han[2004] File No. 109, the provincial government agreed that the former College of Health Sciences of NBU to be independently established as Ningbo Tianyi Vocational and Technical College, to be run by Ningbo Municipality.

In November 2004, the College of Science & Technology Ningbo University was recognized as an independent college by the MOE.

In January 2005, the junior branch of NBU Teachers College was renamed the School of Elementary Education, which was substantively integrated into NBU and moved to the North Campus.

In 2005, the number of master’s programs in NBU exceeded 50, and the research funding exceeded 100 million yuan.

In 2006, NBU won 1 second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award and 1 first prize of Natural Science Achievement of MOE.

In June 2007, with the approval of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, NBU was added as a doctoral degree granting unit. NBU's three disciplines of Engineering Mechanics, Communication and Information System, and Aquaculture were listed as doctoral degree programs.

In December 2007, NBU established a basic college oriented to first-year students (renamed Yangming College in April 2008).

In 2009, NBU won 2 second prizes of National Teaching Achievement Award and 1 second prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award.

In November 2011, NBU became a university jointly supported by the State Oceanic Administration and the Ningbo Municipality.

For the first time, NBU's comprehensive strength ranked Top 100 in China.

In October 2012, NBU became a university jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, and the People's Government of Ningbo.

In 2012, NBU won 1 second prize of the National Natural Science Award.

In 2014, NBU won 1 first prize and 1 second prize for national teaching achievement, and 1 second prize for National Award for Technological Invention.

So far, NBU has become the second university in Zhejiang, following Zhejiang University, to pocket the country's three highest scientific and technological awards (National Natural Science Award, National Award for Technological Invention, National Science and Technology Progress Award).

In April 2015, NBU was selected as one of the first group of key universities in Zhejiang.

In September 2017, NBU was selected as a university included in the “Shuang Yi Liu” (“Double First-Class”) Initiative of the country.