East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University founded in 1924 and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) which had its ultimate origins in the St. John's College established in the city in 1879. Its original role was to train teachers for secondary and higher education, as suggested in the name "Normal", but very soon housed top-class researchers and evolved into an elite research-intensive university.