Established in 1893, Wuhan University was originally named Ziqiang Institute. In July 1928, the university was renamed National Wuhan University.

In 1952, after the reorganization of higher education institutions in China, Wuhan University became a comprehensive and research-oriented university, with a concentration on humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. In August 2000, Wuhan University amalgamated with Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electrical Engineering, Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping and Hubei Medical University and became a leading university. The current Wuhan University covers 11 disciplines, such as philosophy, economics, law, education, literature, history, natural sciences, engineering, agriculture, medical sciences, management and others.

Wuhan University has six divisions with 36 schools and departments. The university has over 8,200 faculty and staff, including 3,400 full-time academic teachers, 4 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 8 academicians of Chinese Academy of Engineering. The university has49,000 full-time students. It now has 197 doctoral programs, 272 master programs, 108 undergraduate programs and 23 postdoctoral programs. It has 8 national research and teaching centers, 20 national key disciplines, 4 national key laboratories and 2 national engineering research centers.

Wuhan University attaches continuous importance to international exchanges and cooperation. It maintains cooperative relations with over 300 institutions in more than 60 countries. Each year, the university invites over 430 foreign experts to teach, lecture or do research on campus. It has 860 international students from over 80 countries.