The Chemistry Department of Tongji University was founded in 1937. Mr. Wang Baoren, then the first Dean of the School of Science, served as the first Dean of the department. With a long history and outstanding achievements, the department saw many excellent teachers and students. Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who taught or studied in the department included Tang Youqi, Lu Peizhang, Huang Zhitang, Cao Chunan, Deng Jingfa, Qi Zhengwu, Yan Deyue, and Ji Liangnian. In 1952, the Department of Chemistry was merged into Fudan University and East China Institute of Chemical Technology. In 1953, Tongji University established a chemistry teaching group to undertake the teaching task of basic chemistry courses. In 1958, the university started to offer the major of Applied Chemistry, and from 1958 to 1964, students were enrolled and trained for three consecutive classes. Later, due to the overall economic adjustment of the country, the major of Applied Chemistry was suspended again. In 1982, Tongji University rebuilt the Department of Chemistry and began to enroll students as the major of Applied Chemistry was set up. After the reform and opening up, the Department of Chemistry has been restored, the discipline has developed rapidly, and great progress has been made in scientific research and teaching. Since the 1990s, the department was successively approved as a site to grant the Master's Degrees in Analytical Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry and Applied Chemistry. In 2003, the department obtained the granting right of the Doctoral Degree in the second-level discipline of Inorganic Chemistry. In 2006, the department obtained the granting right of the Doctoral Degree in the first-level discipline of Chemistry. In 2007, a postdoctoral mobile station of the first-level discipline of Chemistry was established. Through the joint efforts of several generations of chemists, the Department of Chemistry made major breakthroughs in discipline development, laying a solid foundation for a new round of development. In 2014, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Chemical Assessment and Sustainability (under preparation) was initiated with the department as a main contributor. After two years of development, the key laboratory was officially inaugurated in 2016, which was the first provincial- or ministerial-level key laboratory the Department of Chemistry set up. In May 2016, Tongji University approved the revocation of the Department of Chemistry of Tongji University and the establishment of the School of Chemical Science and Engineering of Tongji University.

At present, the School of Chemical Science and Engineering of Tongji University has an academic team with reasonable structure in knowledge, educational background, age and professional titles, solidarity, cooperation, and upright and active academic ideas. At present, there are 98 faculty members, including 40 with senior professional titles, 23 with associate senior professional titles, 2 academician-level talents, 5 selected into the National High-Level Talents Special Support Program, 3 winners of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 13 selected into the National High-level Young Talents Program, and many selected into the Shanghai Municipal and provincial- or ministerial-level talent programs. The school has engaged famous chemists at home and abroad such as Tang Youqi, Huang Weiyuan, Lu Peizhang, Huang Zhitang, Deng Jingfa, Cao Chunan, Wang Zhiqin, Yao Shouzhuo, Deng Jiaqi, Qi Zhengwu, Chen Nianyi, Ji Liangnian, K. Barry Sharpless (Nobel Prize winner in 2001 and 2022), and A. Haas. B. Giesse as advisory, honorary or adjunct professors. There are 209 undergraduate students and 398 graduate students in the school. The young faculty and active-thinking students are studying and researching in a strong scientific research atmosphere and an open exploration environment.