Sheng Xuanhuai, the mandarin who proposed the idea to the Guangxu Emperor, became the first president and is regarded as the founder of the university, along with John Calvin Ferguson, a missionary educator.

So the Education Department of Guomin Government chose Chongqing Branch as the headquarters of Jiaotong University.

[citation needed] The national strategy adopted in 1956 dictated that the majority of Jiao Tong University would be moved to Xi'an, Shaanxi (Chinese: 交通大学西迁).

Thus, from July 31, 1959, with the approval from State Council of the People's Republic of China, two campuses became independent.

[citation needed] Xi'an Jiaotong University has been part of all major government efforts to establish world-class universities in China, including Project 211, Project 985, the C9 League, and the Double First-Class Construction (Class A).

[citation needed] XJTU's faculty and staff of more than 5500 includes twelve members of the Chinese National Academy of Engineering, nine of whom are also members of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences[citation needed]; 38 Changjiang (Yangtze River) Scholars; and 25 National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars award winners.

[citation needed] From the perspective of teaching, XJTU's faculty and staff include five recipients of national teaching awards, 142 participants in the Ministry of Education's "New Century Program for Promising Young Talent", and 547 recipients of government stipends for outstanding contributions to China.

[citation needed] XJTU's four campuses (Xingqing, Yanta, Innovation Harbor, and Qujiang) cover over 250 hectares.

The library's computer system is fully integrated with the campus network, CERNET, and the Internet.

[13][14] Students who subsequently pass their undergraduate courses can begin master's programs at XJTU without taking the Postgraduate Admission Test.

[37] The 2023 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked XJTU 10th in the world by total publications and 37th in the world based on the number of their scientific publications belonging to the top 1% in their fields for the time period 2018–2021.

[40][41] Among XJTU's alumni are many renowned scholars, including Huajian Gao, Tsien Hsue-shen, Zhigang Suo, Tony Jun Huang, Changqing Chen, Xi Chen, Xi Yao, Yilu Liu, Shouren Ge (Ernest S. Kuh) Wu Wenjun, Xu Guangxian, Zhang Guangdou and An Wang.

Among XJTU's alumni are numerous famous entrepreneurs in both China and abroad, including the following: