South Ural State University

During the Great Patriotic War, industries from various cities of the USSR’S European part, including factories from Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kharkov which became the basis of Tankograd, were evacuated to Chelyabinsk. Stalingrad Mechanical Institute, evacuated in August 1942, performed training of engineering cadres for industry works; in October of that year, the Institute started admission of postgraduates. In the academic year 1942/43, the first year of operating in Chelyabinsk, the Institute overall had about 400 students, including 90 students who attended evening classes. In spring of 1943, the second admission group of 40 young specialists trained for assistance to the Army graduated the Institute. At the beginning of the next academic year of 1943/44, there were already about 660 students and 20 postgraduates studying at the Institute. When the Battle of Stalingrad was over, the Institute had to get transferred back to its city.

In order to prevent “personnel gap” in September 1943, people's commissar of tank industry, V. А. Malyshev, director of Tankograd, deputy people's commissar I. М. Zaltzman and Head of the Chelyabinsk regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party (of Bolsheviks), N. S. Patolichev addressed the Council of People's Commissars with a request to create an institute in Chelyabinsk.

On November 2 of 1943, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued the Decree No. 1201-361с “On actions for improvement of training of engineering cadres for tank industry enterprises”, which allowed to establish Chelyabinsk Mechanical Engineering Institute in the buildings occupied by the Stalingrad Mechanical Institute. On November 15 of 1943, the first group of Stalingrad Institute's employees headed by the Director А. V. Lovyagin left for their motherland; the second group headed by Deputy Director V. А. Dobrovolsky stayed to finish the first semester and hold winter exam session, after that they departed as well in April 1944. Kirovsky Zavod provided Chelyabinsk Institute with engineers-lecturers, dormitories, laboratories, foundries and workshops; this allowed for continuing the education process and research activity. Lecturers from Chelyabinsk Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture and Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical Institute were sent to CMEI, as well as alumni of Moscow and Leningrad's higher education institutions; Chief Engineer of Kirovsky Zavod, Zh. Ya. Kotin, provided consultations for senior students.

In December 1943, Associate Professor, Candidate of Engineering Sciences Petr Alekseevich Grishin was appointed as Acting Director of CMEI. The day when he signed his first order— December 15 of 1943 — is celebrated as the Day of SUSU foundation.

In 1943—1944, the university located in different parts of Chelyabinsk. The first university's laboratory for engineering measurements was located in a shed with stove heating, and the first laboratory of welding was in a storage room of a school. After the beginning of re-evacuation of industrial plants and other institutions, the university was located in a three-storeyed shop building at the Spartaka street — today there is the Detsky Mir (Children's World) shop. Initially, the Institute had only two faculties: of mechanical engineering and of tank construction, which in 1944 was renamed into the Faculty of Wheeled Caterpillar Vehicles. The Faculty included 24 Departments.

From the beginning of its existence, CMEI started conducting research in the sphere of mechanical engineering. This was the wartime requirement: the country needed equipment and people able to manage it. During the time of post-war recovery of economic development, the country needed specialists of another education spheres: mechanical engineers, metallurgists, power engineers, and constructors. This influenced the university's structure: new faculties were established. By the end of the 1940s, it became clear that the university could not efficiently achieve its goals within the old structure; therefore a restructurization started, signifying the beginning of a new stage in the university's development. By that time, there already were more than 900 students and 9 specialties.

On April 26 of 1949, Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1671 was issued on establishment of Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute (CPI) on the basis of CMEI through its unification with Chelyabinsk Institute of Mechanization and Electrification of Agriculture (CIMEA) in 1951. But in 1950, an Order was issued which allowed CIMEA to remain an independent institute, and Chelyabinsk Mechanical Engineering Institute was reorganized into Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute. The two already-existing Faculties were complemented with new ones: the faculties of Power Engineering, Metallurgy, Engineering and Construction, Mechanical, and Instrument Engineering. In 1958, evening studies were reorganized into a separate Faculty of evening studies.

In August 1951, Associate Professor, Candidate of Engineering Sciences А. Ya. Sychev, was appointed to be the Director of CPI, and in 1952, after А. Ya. Sychev was approved for the position as a Professor of the Department of Economics and Production Organization, training of postgraduates majoring in economic sphere started. The first postgraduate student of А. Ya. Sychev was А. К. Tashchev. In 1953, the Faculty of evening studies was established in Miass branch university, and in 1956, a branch university was founded in Zlatoust. The Faculty of Instrument Engineering was established in 1954.

In order to perform training of research and teaching staff, a Council for Defense of Candidate's and Doctor's Dissertations in such specialties as: “Machine Science, Drive Systems and Machine Elements”, “Heat Engines”, “Wheeled and Caterpillar Vehicles” was created at CPI in March 1962. Postgraduate Office was established; research and teaching staff could receive training at the following Departments: “Workstations and Instruments”, “Physical Chemistry”, “Engineering Structures”, “Gyroscopic Apparatus and Devices”, “Water Supply and Water Drainage”, etc.

From the very beginning of the university's existence, research schools and laboratories were being established, targeted at solving defensive (during the war time) and then economic problems: a basic research laboratory (New technology process of rolling), 12 industrial laboratories and 12 laboratories established upon the Rector's order. Later, a basic research laboratory of control systems and a laboratory of radio electronics were established; the latest one subsequently became the Research and Development Institute of Digital Systems.

In 1968 the Institute was named after Lenin's Komsomol. In 1989, the Institute included 8 Faculties.

In 1990, Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute named after Lenin's Komsomol was renamed into Chelyabinsk State Technical University (CSTU). At that time, the university started developing liberal arts specialties, departments, and faculties.

In 1997, CSTU was renamed into South Ural State University and transformed from an engineering university into a classic one.

In 2001—2004, the university's main building got two storeys, a tower and a steeple covered in gold-simulating titanium nitride, additionally constructed in correspondence with its initial “Stalinist” engineering project. Silhouette of the reconstructed main university's building and the Student memorial installed in front of it in 1994 (the sculptor is Vardkes Avakyan) were used at the university's coat of arms until 2017. In 2003, two sculptures made by V. Avakyan – Prometheus and Slava – were installed on the building's façade over the 10th floor.

In April 2010, SUSU became one of Russia's 15 higher education institutions which were given a status of National Research University.

In 2015, the university got included in a number of universities taking part in Project 5-100, targeted at enhancement of competitiveness of Russia's leading universities at the global market of educational services.

In 2018, South Ural State University for the first time in its history was included into the ranking of the world’s best universities drawn by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) consulting company from Great Britain.

In 2019, SUSU entered the THE World University Rankings-2020 from the Times Higher Education Rating Agency for the first time.

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