岭南最早的国立大学——中山大学

 1924年9月，孙中山先生亲自创办的广东大学，是由国立广东高等师范学校、广东公立法科大学、广东公立农业专门学校合并而成。1925年孙中山先生在北京逝世后，为纪念一代伟人，国民政府将广东大学改名为国立中山大学。随后医科、法科、工科各大专学校陆续并入，从此中山大学成为华南最高学府。这是岭南最早的国立大学。
 国立中山大学，校址本部原在文明路215号广东高等师范学堂。1931年遵循孙中山的遗愿，在他生前选定的石牌地区分期建设新校址，先后共建有门楼、农学院、理学院、文学院、法学院教学大楼以及体育馆和学生宿舍等。1935年校本部及各学院迁入新址。
 抗日战争期间，由于种种原因，国立中山大学曾先后迁址广东罗定，云南澄江，广东坪石、东江、连县等地。后于1945年又回迁广州石牌。新中国成立后的1952年，全国高等院校进行调整，广东调整为五所高等院校。而在天河地区的华南工学院、华南农学院、华南师范学院三所大专院校，基本上是在中山大学的工、农、文三学院的基础上与某些院校合并组成。中山大学则迁往海珠区康乐园，与岭南大学合并。从此，中山大学成为一所以文理为基础的综合性大学。2001年10月26日，中山大学又与中山医科大学合并，组成新的中山大学。
 今天的中山大学，是国家首批批准有权授予学位学衔的单位之一，也是国家科委确定首批建立博士后科研流动站的单位之一。学校有权审批教授、副教授的任职资格。至2001年，有权授予博士学位的学科专业104个，9个博士后流动站，有博士生导师380位，硕士点165个。
 八十多年来，中山大学以孙中山先生为楷模，以中山先生的革命思想为办学理念，培养了大批优秀人才。

 The First National University in the Lingnan Region - Sun Yat-Sen University

Sun Yat-sen University, originally known as Kwangtung University, was founded in 1924 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It combined National Kwangtung Higher Normal College, Kwangtung Provincial Law College, and Kwangtung Provincial Agricultural Technical School. It was renamed National Sun Yat-sen University by the Nationalist Government in 1925 after Dr. Sun passed away in Beijing. Over time, it merged various medical, law and engineering colleges to become the largest higher-learning institution in southern China. It was also the first national university in the Lingnan region.

Originally located on the site of the former Kwangtung Higher Normal College at 215, Wenming Road, in 1931, construction on a new campus began at Shipai for the university in accordance with the wishes of Dr. Sun Yat-sen before he died. The new campus consisted of a gate tower, buildings for the Colleges of Agriculture, Science, Humanities and Law, a stadium, and student dormitories. In 1935, the university was relocated to the new site.

During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the university was relocated in turn to Luoding in Guangzhou, Chengjian in Yunnan, and Pingshi, Dongjiang and Lianxian in Guangdong. In 1945, following the end of World War II, it moved back to Shipai in Guangzhou. After the new Republic was founded, the government reformed higher-education institutions nationwide, and in Guangdong, colleges and universities were merged to form five new institutions. South China Engineering College, South China Agricultural College, and South China Normal College were formed by merging the engineering, agriculture and humanities schools of Sun Yat-sen University with a number of independent colleges. Sun Yat-sen University was merged with Lingnan University and relocated to Kangle Yuan in Haizhu District, becoming a comprehensive university that now includes the humanities and sciences. On October 26, 2001, the former Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences was merged into Sun Yat-sen University.

Today, Sun Yat-sen University is one of the institutions authorized by the Central Government to confer academic degrees and one of the first groups of institutions approved by the National Science and Technology Commission to set up post-doctoral research centers. It also has the right to award professorships and association professorships. In 2001, it offered 104 doctoral programs and 165 master’s programs, operated nine post-doctoral research centers and had 380 doctoral advisors on its faculty. 

For more than eighty years, since its inception, the university, inspired by the pioneering spirit of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, has been dedicated to the pursuit of academic excellence and produced a significant number of outstanding professionals.