On July 22, 2000, under the approval of the Ministry of Education, the former Shandong University, Shandong Medical University and Shandong University of Technology merged into a new Shandong University. This new Shandong University is under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education and the joint construction and administration Shandong Province. Dr. Zhan Tao, a professor of mathematics, is the president of the new Shandong University and Mr. Zhu Zhengchang takes the office of Chairman of the University Council.

The former Shandong University was founded in 1901, a key comprehensive university under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Education, grown out of Shandong Da Xue Tang established under the approval of the Qing government. Along its 100 years of development, the University hosted many national celebrities and scholars teaching here, such as Cai Yuanpei, Wen Yiduo, Liang Shiqiu, Shen Congwen, Lao She, Wang Ganchang, Hong Shen, Cheng Fangwu and Pan Chengdong. Among the graduates of Shandong University all over China, there are tens of academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering. Nurtured in the Shandong University, men of note like Luo Ronghuan, Zang Kejia, Ji Xianlin and Zhang Daoyi became the pillars of the country and society. The campuses of the former Shandong University cover an area of 200 hectares with floor space of the buildings amounting to 2.03 million square meters. The library of the University houses a collection of over 2.45 million volumes of books. The University was comprised of 14 schools, 45 departments, 56 undergraduate programs, 65 graduate programs, 25 doctoral programs and 5 post-doctoral mobile stations. Among all the disciplines offered by the University, there are 2 key national disciplines and 17 key provincial ones. The University owns also 2 key national laboratories, 6 key provincial laboratories, one Technology Promotion Center of the Committee of Sciences of China and 3 Technology and Engineering Research Centers of Shandong Province.

The former Shandong Medical University was founded in 1911, a merger of East China Bethune Medical University, Shandong Provincial Medical Institute and Medical School of Qilu University. It is a key national medical institution of higher learning under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Health. The University covers an area of 40 hectares with floor space amounting to 200,000 square meters and fixed assets of 50 billion RMB and houses a collection of 450,000 volumes of books. The University offers 7 full- time undergraduate programs, 3 diploma programs, 14 doctoral programs, 43 graduate programs and one post-doctoral mobile station with 5 key provincial disciplines and 4 key laboratories of the Ministry and Shandong Province.

The former Shandong University of Technology was founded in 1949, a well-known comprehensive engineering university in China and the only member of 211 project among all the provincial schools of higher learning in Shandong. The University covers an area of over 120 hectares with floor space amounting to 430,000 square meters. The University is comprised of 7 schools, 16 departments and 3 teaching departments offering 30 undergraduate programs, 25 graduate programs, 4 doctoral programs and 2 post-doctoral mobile stations. The University owns 19 key provincial disciplines, key laboratories and Engineering Technology Research Centers.

After this merger, Shandong University offers courses covering nine major fields, namely Philosophy, Economics, Literature, Law, Sciences, Engineering, Medicine and Management with 43 doctoral programs, 133 graduate programs and 8 post-doctoral mobile stations, which are respectively 59%, 32% and 42% of the total of Shandong Province. The University has 34 key disciplines and 23 key laboratories of the state, Ministry of Education and Shandong Province. There are 27,000 full- time students on campus, including 24,000 undergraduates and 3000 graduate students and there are additionally over 14,000 students under continuous education programs. Among 7922 faculty members and school employees, there are 718 professors and 217 doctoral supervisors. The University covers an area of over 3,300 hectares with 1.1 million square meters of infrastructure. The University owns a large number of equipment and instrument with a total value of 38 billion RMB and houses more than 3.55 million volumes of books in the libraries.

Under the leadership and strong support of both the Ministry of Education and the government of Shandong Province, the new Shandong University will make full play of all its advantages and take full measures to build itself into a more important comprehensive university in China.