College of Horticultural Science and Engineering has a long and glorious history of advanced education. Its history can be traced back to the Department of Horticulture in College of Agronomy of Shandong University (1946, Qingdao) and Department of Horticulture of Shandong Agricultural College (1947, Jinan). In 1952, due to the national integration and adjustment of departments and colleges, the Department of Horticulture of the former University of Nanking and the Pomology Section of Nanjing University merged with Shandong Agricultural College to launch a new Department of Horticulture. In 1958, relocated from Jinan to Taian with Shandong Agricultural College, the Department of Horticulture was then renamed College of Horticulture in December 2002 and College of Horticultural Science and Engineering in March 2004. And the major of Horticulture was selected as the First-Class Discipline of Shandong Province in 2016.

After 60 years of construction and development, College of Horticultural Science and Engineering is famously known for its multi-level education via offering undergraduate programs, master’s programs, professional degree programs and doctoral programs. The College now consists of Department of Pomology, Department of Olericulture, Department of Facility Agriculture Science and Engineering, Department of Tea Science, Department of Ornamental Horticulture and the Horticultural Experiment &Teaching Center.

The college currently has 1263 undergraduate students, 384 graduate students, and 100 full-time faculty and staff members, including 24 professors and 31 associate professors. A total of 18 PhD supervisors and 55 master student supervisors are taking charge of the graduate education and training on daily basis. Among the faculty members, there is 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, 1 being honored with “Cheung Kong (Yangtze River) Scholar”, 1 being awarded with “National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars”, 1 being awarded with “Ten Thousand Talent Program - Leading Talents in Scientific and Technological Innovation”, 1 national candidate for “Hundred-Thousand-Ten-Thousand Talent Project”, 1 being honored with the national level of “Young and Middle-Aged Experts with Outstanding Contribution”, 1 being honored with “Young and Middle-aged Leading Talents in Scientific and Technological Innovation, Ministry of Science and Technology, P. R. China”, 1 being awarded with “National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars”, 2 “Taishan Climbing Scholars”, 5 “Taishan Scholars” (including 1 part-time special-term professor), 1 “Taishan Industry Leading Talents”, 2 “Taishan Young Scholars”, 4 being awarded with the State Council Government allowance, 7 experts in China Agriculture Research System, 2 being honored with teaching awards funded by Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation, 1 being awarded with “The Most Beautiful Teacher in Qilu”, 2 being awarded with “Top Ten Excellent Teachers of Shandong Province”, 2 provincial outstanding teachers, 2 being honored with the provincial level of “Young and Middle-Aged Experts with Outstanding Contribution”, 1 “Distinguished Young Scholar of Shandong Province” , 5 experts in Shandong Agriculture Research System & Innovation Team and many other distinguished professors who have won a great deal of national or provincial titles and awards. Moreover, the college is home to innovative teams supported by “Cheung Kong Scholars” project and Shandong Province Innovative Team project. Lots of the faculties have been honored with the First or the Second Prizes for Shandong Agricultural University Excellent Teaching Quality Award and “Ten Outstanding Teachers in Students' Mind”.

Among its 3 undergraduate disciplines including Horticulture, Facility Agriculture Science and Engineering and Tea Science, Horticulture was rated as “A+++” in the national assessment of disciplines in a row from 2002 to 2005. Horticulture was also selected as the top priority discipline for construction in Shandong Province during “The Tenth Five Year Plan Period” and 1 of the second series of national featured constructive disciplines in institutions of advanced education. Additionally, the teaching group of Horticulture was awarded with the provincial level of “Outstanding Teaching Group”. The course of “General Horticultural Science” is identified as the “National Excellent Course” and “National Recourse-Sharing Excellent Course”. And meanwhile the college had established the first MOOC platform for Pomology and Horticulture among all agricultural universities in China.

The college hosts 1 postdoctoral research program and 1 national first-level Horticulture PhD degree program, which covers 5 second-level PhD and master’s degree programs in Pomology, Olericulture, Tea Science, Ornamental Horticulture and Facility Agriculture Science and Engineering. Pomology is the national key discipline and Olericulture is the provincial featured constructive discipline during the “The Twelfth Five Year Plan Period”. The College also has an array of international, national and provincial research platforms, including the National Research Center for Apple Engineering and Technology, Key Laboratory of Biology and Genetic Improvement of Horticultural Crops (Huanghuai Region), Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China, Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Environment Controlled Agricultural Engineering in Huang-Huai-Hai Region, Ministry of Agriculture, P.R. China, Shandong Collaborative Innovation Center for Fruit & Vegetable Production with High Quality and Efficiency, Key Laboratory of Fruit Biology in Universities of Shandong Province, China-New Zealand Centre for Apple Quality Innovation, China-Japan Joint Research Center for Agriculture Science in Shandong Province, China-Japan-Korean Joint Research Center for Chrysanthemum, etc. In addition, the College of Horticultural Science and Engineering has established the National Key Laboratory of Crop Biology along with other colleges and focuses on making discoveries and sharing knowledge about horticultural crops.

Faculty members of the college are undertaking more than 50 research projects with a total annual research fund over 75 million yuan. These research projects cover a wide spectra of national and provincial projects, such as National Program 973, National Program 863, National Program “948”, 40 in National Program 948, National Science Fund, National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars and Excellent Young Scholars, Key Projects in the National Science & Technology Pillar Program of China, National Key R & D Project, National Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Fund, International Science and Technology Cooperation Project, Key R & D project in Shandong Province, Science Fund in Shandong Province, etc.

Faculty members of the college have also published dozens of national textbooks and Facing the 21^st Century textbooks as chief or co-editors. They have accomplished so much in teaching and research by winning 4 national teaching awards, 6 provincial teaching awards and more than 20 over-provincial & ministerial-level science and technology awards and by publishing more than 1000 papers (over 200 of them published on SCI journals). Due to the tremendous economic and social benefits jointly created by these research outcomes, the college has made a major contribution to the horticulture industry locally and nationally.

It consistently updates and improves its research facilities to provide service and training to internal and external students or scientists. Thanks for the support from aforementioned research, teaching and key discipline platforms, the Horticultural Experiment &Teaching Center which is directly affiliated to the college has purchased many state-of-the-art research instruments with a total value of 27.8 million yuan. It has established an experimental station covering an area of 200 mu equipped with modern greenhouses and solar greenhouses, which has more than 300 cultivars of fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants and tea plants.

The college has been increasingly active in academic exchanges and collaborations over the past few years. Nowadays, it exchanges frequently with more than 10 overseas universities and scientific institutions, such as University of Kentucky, Cornell University, University of Wisconsin, Oregon State University, University of Florida, Chiba University, Osaka Prefecture University, Shizuoka University, National Institute of Fruit Tree Science (Japan), Ecole Supérieure d’Agriculture d’Angers, Potato research center (Ministry of agriculture, Canada), Seoul University, KongJu National University, Gyeongsang National University, New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research, etc.

At present, College of Horticultural Science and Engineering is quickening its steps along the path towards a more internationally renowned institute with high-quality education and scientific contribution in the field of Horticulture.