Illinois Institute of Technology

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university's 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.

IIT was formed in 1940 by the merger of the Armour Institute of Technology, founded in 1890, and the Lewis Institute, founded in 1895. Both schools had nationally recognized engineering programs. The Institute of Design, founded in 1937, merged with IIT in 1949. In 1969 the Kent College of Law was merged into IIT and the Stuart School of Business was created with a gift from Harold Leonard Stuart, an alumnus of the Lewis Institute. In 1986, the Midwest College of Engineering at Lombard Illinois, founded in 1967, was absorbed by IIT. This was the start of IIT's strong presence in Chicago's west suburban high-tech "Silicon Prairie." In 1995, beset by declining enrollment in it's liberal arts programs, the university reorganized it's academic units, eliminating the liberal arts college entirely and concentrating on architecture, science and engineering, psychology, law, and business.

The university currently consists of five campuses in the Chicago area. The Main Campus, on Chicago's south side was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of the 20th century's most influential architects and director of IIT's School of Architecture from 1938 to 1958. This campus houses the Armour College of Science and Engineering, the College of Architecture, and the Institute of Psychology, as well as the university's administrative offices. IIT's Downtown Campus is located in Chicago's west loop area and houses the Chicago-Kent College of Law, the Center for Law & Financial Markets, the Master of Public Administration Program, and the Stuart School of Business. The Institute of Design has a separate campus located on Chicago's near north side. The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus in Wheaton serves Chicago's west suburban high-tech corridor by offering graduate programs, upper-level undergraduate courses, and continuing professional education. The Moffett Campus in Bedford Park, south of Chicago, houses the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, a consortium of government, industry and academia that seeks to improve the quality of our nation's food supply.