Historical Sketch

Fu Jen Catholic University was established by the Holy See in Beijing in 1925, and entrusted to the Benedictine Fathers of St. Vincent's Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA. It was opened as a single college under the name of Fu Jen Academy with Ying Lien-Chih as director. In 1926 Chen Yuan became director, formed a Board of Trustees, and changed the name to Fu Jen Catholic University. The Board of Trustees appointed Fr. O'Toole as President and Chen Yuan as Vice President. In 1927, the Ministry of Education officially recognized Fu Jen as a University.

By 1929 the University had already expanded to three colleges--Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences and Education, totaling twelve departments, with Chen Yuan as President.

With the world-wide economic depression of the 1930's, Fu Jen became too great a financial strain on the Benedictine Order so that in 1933 the Holy See requested the Society of the Divine Word to take charge of the University. In 1937, a research center for typhus serum and two graduate schools--Chinese Literature and History-- were added.

Even after the Marco Polo Bridge incident, the invasion of Northern China and the occupation of Beijing by the Japanese, the international character of Fu Jen University saved it from a Japanese take over. With the deterioration of the relations between Japan and the U.S., the American members of the faculty left in 1941 and were replaced by German nationals, thus allowing Fu Jen to continue its work undisturbed. At the end of the war with Japan, the Ministry of Education gave an award to Fu Jen for its efforts during war time and granted official status without further screening to the alumni who had been graduated during the occupation. In 1946, the College of Agriculture was added. In 1949, the Communists invaded Beijing and took over the University in 1950. In 1951, the University was confiscated and annexed to the Normal Beijing University, thus putting a stop to all further development of Fu Jen Catholic University.

In 1956, Fu Jen Alumni Association proposed the re-opening of Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan. In 1959, Pope John XXIII asked the then Archbishop Yu Pin to begin work for the reestablishment of the University and then appointed him to be its first President. In 1960, President Yu organized a Board of Trustees, and Cardinal Thomas Tien was elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees. In April 1960, the Ministry of Education granted permission to restore Fu Jen in Taiwan.

In 1961, the Graduate Institute of Philosophy was opened at Chi-Lin Road in Taipei. In 1963, the University purchased 30 acres of land in Hsinchuang, Taipei County, to serve as the main campus. The same year the University was granted a share of the successful candidates of the University Entrance Examinations and received the first freshmen of the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Science and Engineering, and Law.

In 1967, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek was elected Chair of the Board of Trustees. In 1978, Cardinal Yu Pin resigned as President but was appointed superintendent of the University, and Archbishop Stanislaus Lokuang succeeded him.

In 1992, Archbishop Stanislaus Lokuang resigned and was conferred with the honorable title " Rector Emeritus " of Fu Jen Catholic University. Archbishop Joseph Ti Kang was appointed Chancellor of the University, and Monsignor Gabriel Chen Ying Ly was inaugurated as President. In February 1992, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek resigned as Chair of the board of Trustees but was conferred with the honorable title " Chair Emeritus, " and Archbishop Paul Shan was elected to succeed her as the Chair. In July 1993, Archbishop Ti Kang was elected the Chair of the Board of Trustees. In February 1996, Monsignor Gabriel Chen Ying Ly completed his four-year tenure of office and Professor Tuen-Ho Yang was elected to succeed him as the President. Since its reestablishment in Taiwan, the University has grown and developed rapidly, making progress in both quality and quantity.

At present, Fu Jen has a day and an evening division. The day division consists of 8 colleges: Liberal Arts, Arts, Medicine, Science and Engineering, Foreign Languages, Human Ecology, Law, and Management, and 40 departments. Currently, we have 6 Ph. D. programs and 27 master's programs. The evening division has 14 departments. The total enrollment is nearly 18,000 students. More than 50.000 students have graduated from Fu Jen since its re-opening in Taiwan.

The University is well known for the quality of its education and for fostering the faculty's intellectual vitality by means of a well balanced division of labor between research and teaching, and between general education and specialist training. Currently, the faculty consists of more than 250 professors, more than 600 associate professons and about 1000 lecturers, and more than 70 specialists in various fields, with the majority enjoying full-time status.

Fu Jen is jointly administered by three constituent groups: the Chinese Bishop Conference, the Society of the Divine Word, and the Society of Jesus. The Chinese Bishop Conference is in charge of the colleges of Liberal Arts, the Arts, and Medicine; the Society of Divine Word, the Colleges of Foreign Languages, Science and Engineering, and Human Ecology; and the Society of Jesus, the colleges of Law and Management.