The university is a member of the Alliance for Cooperation in Environmental and Sustainable Development, the International Association of Design Colleges and Universities, the 21st Century Academic Alliance, the Alliance for University Excellence, the China-Russia Association of Engineering Universities, the China-Europe Engineering Education Platform, and the Tongji-Berkeley Engineering Alliance.
Tongji University's predecessor was the German Medical Hall founded by German doctor Erich Paulung in Shanghai in 1907; it was renamed Tongji German Medical Hall in the following year; it was merged with the Tongji German Industrial Hall, which was founded not long ago, and renamed Tongji German Medical and Industrial Hall in 1912; it was formally named a university in 1923; and in 1927 it became the National Tongji University, one of the seven earliest national universities in China.
As of June 2018, Tongji University has 38 colleges and secondary school sponsoring organizations, 7 affiliated hospitals, and 6 affiliated primary and secondary schools. There are four campuses, including Sipinglu, Jiading, Huxi and Hubei, covering an area of 2.56 square kilometers, with a total building area of more than 1.75 million square meters and a total library collection of more than 4.07 million books.
In 1893, Dr. Erics Paulum, a German doctor, came to Shanghai and opened a clinic near the German Consulate General. Later, he and several German doctors in Shanghai established the "German Medical Association". When the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China, Germany brought in a large amount of medical equipment and hired Dr. Paulum, who was well-known in Shanghai at that time, to help set up a hospital for wounded soldiers in Shanghai. When the German army returned to China, in order to thank Baolong, the medical equipment of the hospital for the wounded was given to Baolong.
In 1900, with the support of Wilhelm Knappe, the German Consul General in Shanghai, Dr. Blum opened a 20-bed hospital next to the new road in Zhangjabang. Funded by the Chinese and German sides, the hospital was named "Tongji Hospital", and Baolong was the director; in early 1904, Knappe met with representatives of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Prussian Ministry of Culture, and the director of the Oriental Languages Department of the University of Berlin in Berlin. When talking about the implementation of German education policy in China, Knappe proposed a plan to open a German medical school in Shanghai.
In 1905, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prussian Ministry of Culture reached an agreement on the opening of a German medical school in Shanghai. Althoff, head of the education department of the Prussian Ministry of Culture, established the "Koppel Foundation for the Promotion of Spiritual and Cultural Relations between Germany and Foreign Countries". The foundation was under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Culture, and its board of directors was chaired by Koppel, a business advisor. The Koppel Foundation was not only responsible for raising money, but also appeared to the public as the founder of the school.
In March 1907, the Koper Foundation, the Committee for the Promotion of German Culture in China, the Shanghai German Medical Association and the Tongji Hospital signed an agreement on the establishment of a German medical school in Shanghai drafted by the Prussian Ministry of Culture in Berlin; on June 3, 1907, the board of directors of the "German Medical Hall" was formally established. On June 3, 1907, the Board of Directors of the German Medical School was formally established, consisting of 18 members.
On October 1, 1907, the opening ceremony of the medical school was held, and it was named "German Medical School".
In 1908, the name was changed to "Tongji German Medical Hall". At that time, "Tongji" symbolized that the Germans and Chinese were in the same boat***, and the word "Tongji" came from the harmonic of German "Deutsch (Germany)" in Shanghainese, which means "cooperation***. The word "Tongji" comes from the German word "Deutsch" in Shanghainese, meaning "cooperation".
In 1909, Dr. Baolong died on March 5 in Shanghai due to illness. Dr. Fuchsaber, the patriarch of the Shanghai German Medical Association, took over as the General Supervisor and Premier of the Tongji German Medical Hall. The trustees named the school "Tongji", meaning "harmony", hoping to use modern medicine for the benefit of mankind.
In 1912, the Tongji German Medical School added an engineering department, renamed "Tongji Medical School", with three departments: medicine, engineering and German. By the school board of directors to raise funds for the school, by the Fuchsaber comprehensive leadership school. In that year, the three students of the medical department, Zhang Jinshu, He Lizhong and Jiang Fengzhi, participated in the first graduation examination of the school in accordance with the rules of the medical examination of the German University, and all of them passed the examination successfully and graduated as scheduled. They were the first graduates in the history of Tongji.
In 1917, World War I came to an end, and in February 1917, the United States announced that it had broken off diplomatic relations with Germany, and soon declared war on Germany. Shanghai French Concession to Tongji Medical School is Germany's industry, in order to prevent the Germans to use the school machinery manufacturing weapons for the reason, publicly announced the dissolution of the school, and limit the teachers and students to leave the school on the same day. In this regard, the community called the Ministry of Education, please try to make arrangements for the students of Tongji. The Ministry of Education immediately sent people to discuss and move the school to Wusong Town, and continued to open classes. on April 23, 1917, the Ministry of Education ordered the school to be changed to a Chinese private school, which was operated by the Board of Directors of the Chinese, and was directly under the leadership of the Ministry of Education. In December of the same year, the name was changed to Private Tongji Medical and Industrial Specialized School.
In 1922, the school was officially moved to Wusong Town.
In 1922, the school was moved to Wusong town. according to the record of Baoshan county: in 1917, Tongji German medical school was taken over by Hua Dong and moved to Wusong Chinese public school. in 1918, under the auspices of Yuan Xitao, the undersecretary of the ministry of education, the ministry of education allocated funds to purchase 150 mu of land in Wusong to prepare for the construction of the school building. in 1921, after the completion of the school building was moved into the new school building.
On May 20, 1924, the Ministry of Education approved Tongji Medical College as a university. Therefore, May 20 every year is designated as the school day.