View source for Illinois Institute of Technology

{{Short description|Private university in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Illinois Tech|Illinois Technical College}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox university
| name                  = Illinois Institute of Technology 
| image                 = IIT Seal.svg
| image_upright         = 0.6
| former_names          = Armour Institute (1890–1940)<br />Lewis Institute (1895–1940)
| motto                 = ''Transforming Lives. Inventing the Future.''
| type                  = [[Private university|Private]] [[research university]]
| established           = {{start date and age|1890}} (first predecessor)<br />{{start date and age|1940|4|23}} (merged school)
| accreditation         = [[Higher Learning Commission|HLC]]
| faculty               = 659<ref name="viewbook">{{cite web|title=IIT Viewbook|url=http://www.iitadmission.org/viewbook/PDF/IIT_Viewbook.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122000954/http://www.iitadmission.org/viewbook/PDF/IIT_Viewbook.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 22, 2008|access-date=March 14, 2009|year=2008|pages=64}}</ref>
| president             = Raj Echambadi 
| provost               = Jamshid Mohammadi (interim)<ref>{{cite web |title=Office of the Provost |url=https://www.iit.edu/provost |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=January 26, 2023}}</ref>
| students              = 6,943 (fall 2022)<ref>{{cite web | url =https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Illinois+Institute&s=all&id=145725#enrolmt| title =Illinois Institute of Technology| access-date =August 10, 2023}}</ref>
| undergrad             = 3,125 (fall 2022)
| postgrad              = 3,818 (fall 2022)
| doctoral              =
| endowment             = $304&nbsp;million (2021)<ref>As of May 31, 2021. {{cite web |url=https://www.iit.edu/sites/default/files/2021-10/2021_annual_report.pdf |title=Annual Report to the Board of Trustees on the State of the University |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=September 27, 2022}}</ref>
| city                  = [[Chicago]], Illinois
| country               = United States
| colors                = {{color box|#cc0000}} {{color box|#8c8984}} {{color box|#000000}}<br />Red, gray, and black<ref>{{cite web |title=Graphic Standards Manual |url=https://web.iit.edu/sites/web/files/departments/marketing-communications/pdf/Graphic-Standards-Jan2016.pdf |website=Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=February 12, 2019 |archive-date=September 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906001558/http://www.iit.edu/departments/pr/downloads/pdf/standards_manual.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| campus                = Large city
| campus_size           = {{convert|120|acre|ha|1}}<ref name="viewbook" />
| sports_nickname       = Scarlet Hawks
| mascot                = Talon the [[Hawk]]
| sporting_affiliations = [[NCAA Division III]] — [[Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference|NACC]]
| free_label            = Newspaper
| free                  = ''TechNews''
| academic_affiliations = {{hlist
|[[Association of Independent Technological Universities|AITU]]
|[[National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities|NAICU]]|[[Oak Ridge Associated Universities|ORAU]]|[[Universities Research Association|URA]]
|[[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space-grant]]
}}
| website               = {{URL|https://www.iit.edu/| iit.edu}}
| logo                  = Illinois tech logo.png
| logo_size     = 250
}}

The '''Illinois Institute of Technology''', commonly referred to as '''Illinois Tech''' and '''IIT''', is a [[Private university|private]] [[research university]] in [[Chicago]], Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has programs in architecture, business, [[communication studies|communications]], design, engineering, [[industrial technology]], information technology, law, [[psychology]], and science. It is [[Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education|classified]] among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".<ref>{{cite web |title=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=145725 |publisher=Center for Postsecondary Education |website=carnegieclassifications.iu.edu |access-date=September 12, 2020 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030160929/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=145725 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The university's historic roots are in several 19th-century engineering and professional education institutions in the United States. In the mid 20th century, it became closely associated with trends in modernist architecture through the work of its Dean of Architecture [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], who designed its campus. The Institute of Design, [[Chicago-Kent College of Law]], and Midwest College of Engineering were also merged into Illinois Tech.

==History==
===The Sermon and The Institute===
In 1890, when advanced education was often reserved for society's elite, Chicago minister [[Frank Wakely Gunsaulus]] delivered what came to be known as the "Million Dollar Sermon." From the pulpit of his South Side church, near the site Illinois Institute of Technology now occupies, Gunsaulus said that with a million dollars he could build a school where students can learn to think in practical and not theoretical terms; where they could be taught to "learn by doing."

Inspired by Gunsaulus' vision, [[Philip Danforth Armour, Sr.]] (1832–1901) gave $1 million to found the '''Armour Institute'''—and Armour, his wife, Malvina Belle Ogden Armour (1842–1927) and their son J. (Jonathan) Ogden Armour (1863–1927) continued to support the university in its early years. Armour claimed it was his best paying investment.<ref name = "obit2">{{cite news |title=P. D. Armour Dead. Chicago Millionaire Yielded to Long Illness. Fever Rallied After Son's Death. |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86081854/1901-01-10/ed-1/seq-8/#words=ARMOUR+Armour |publisher=The Republican (Laport, PA.) |date=January 7, 1901 |page=8}}</ref> When Armour Institute opened in 1893, it offered professional courses in engineering, chemistry, architecture and library science.<ref>IIT Archives/1998.186/Armour Institute of Technology Records.</ref>

Illinois Tech was created in 1940 by the merger of Armour Institute and Lewis Institute. Located on the west side of Chicago, '''Lewis Institute''', established in 1895 by the estate of hardware merchant and investor [[Allen C. Lewis]], offered liberal arts as well as science and engineering courses for both men and women.<ref>IIT Archives/1998.001/Lewis Institute Records.</ref> At separate meetings held by their respective boards on October 26, 1939, the trustees of Armour and Lewis voted to merge the two colleges. A Cook County circuit court decision handed down on April 23, 1940, solidified the merger of the two schools into the Illinois Institute of Technology.<ref>IIT Archives/1998.211/Board of Trustee Records/Meeting Minutes; IIT Archives/1998.212/Board of Trustee Records/Executive Committee Records.</ref>

===Mergers and changes===
The Institute of Design (ID), founded in Chicago by [[László Moholy-Nagy]] in 1937, merged with Illinois Tech in 1949.<ref>See photo of this event in IIT Archives/1998.199.002/Unprocessed Photographs (Box A-2)/Folder: Serge Chermayeff: "Serge Chermayeff, Crombie Taylor, H. T. Heald signing Institute of Design merger agreement".</ref>

Chicago-Kent College of Law, founded in 1887, became part of the university in 1969, making Illinois Institute of Technology one of the few technology-based universities with a law school.

Also in 1969, the Stuart School of Management and Finance—now known as the Stuart School of Business – was established thanks to a gift from the estate of Lewis Institute alumnus and Chicago financier [[Harold Leonard Stuart]]. The program became the Stuart School of Business in 1999.<ref>IIT Archives/1991.006.19/Deceased Donor Files/Stuart (some materials in this collection may be restricted); 1998.033/Biographical Files/Box S/Stuart.</ref>

The Midwest College of Engineering,<ref>IIT Archives/2003.021/Midwest College of Engineering Records.</ref> founded in 1967, joined the university in 1986, giving Illinois Tech a presence in west suburban Wheaton with what is today known as the Rice Campus.<ref>IIT Archives/RG010.03.06/Daniel F and Ada l. Rice Campus; IIT Archives 1993.002/Rice Campus Collection.</ref>

In December 2006, the University Technology Park at Illinois Institute of Technology, an incubator and life sciences/tech start-up facility, was started in existing research buildings located on the south end of Mies Campus.<ref>IIT Archives/2006.012/University Technology Park at IIT Collection.</ref> {{as of|2014|April}}, University Tech Park at Illinois Institute of Technology is home to many companies.

Today, Illinois Tech is a private, PhD-granting university with programs in engineering, science, human sciences, applied technology, architecture, business, design, and law. It is one of 23 institutions that comprise the [[Association of Independent Technological Universities]] (AITU).<ref>{{Cite web|title=FOUNDING MEMBERS – AITU|url=https://theaitu.com/about-aitu/founding-members/|access-date=July 30, 2020|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Growth and expansion===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2013}}
[[File:Crown Hall 1.jpg|thumb|alt=a low glass and steel building behind a sidewalk and small lawn and three trees | [[S. R. Crown Hall]] on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. Designed by [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] in 1956, it was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 2001.<ref name="S. R. Crown Hall">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1989164123&ResourceType=Building |title=S.R. Crown Hall |date=August 7, 2001 |work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=April 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605215530/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1989164123&ResourceType=Building |archive-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref>]]
Illinois Tech continued to expand after the merger. As one of the first American universities to host a [[V-12 Navy College Training Program|Navy V-12 program]] during [[World War II]]<ref name="iit-v-12">{{cite web|url=http://www.iit.edu/nrotc/a_history.htm |title=About IIT NROTC : History |publisher=Chicago, Illinois: Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=September 28, 2011 |year=2011}}</ref> the school saw a large increase in students and expanded the Armour campus beyond its original {{convert|7|acre|ha|2}}. Two years before the merger, German architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] joined the then Armour Institute of Technology to head both Armour's and the [[Art Institute of Chicago]]'s architecture program. The Art Institute would later separate and form its own program. Mies was given the task of designing a completely new campus, and the result was a spacious, open, {{convert|120|acre|ha|1|adj=on}} campus set in contrast to the busy, crowded urban neighborhood around it. The first Mies-designed buildings were completed in the mid-1940s, and construction on what is considered the "Mies Campus" continued until the early 1970s.

Engineering and research also saw great growth and expansion from the [[World War II|post-war]] period until the early 1970s. Illinois Tech experienced its greatest period of growth from 1952 to 1973 under President [[John Rettaliata|John T. Rettaliata]], a [[fluid dynamics|fluid dynamicist]] whose research accomplishments included work on early development of the [[jet engine]] and a seat on the [[National Aeronautics and Space Council]]. This period saw Illinois Tech as the largest engineering school in the United States, as stated in a feature in the September 1953 issue of ''[[Popular Science]]'' magazine. Illinois Tech housed many research organizations: [[IIT Research Institute]] (formerly Armour Research Foundation and birthplace of [[magnetic recording]] wire and tape as well as audio and [[video cassettes]]), the [[Institute of Gas Technology]], and the American Association of Railroads, among others.

[[File:IIT SSV Housing.jpg|thumb|left|[[State Street Village]] IIT dormitories]]
Three colleges merged with Illinois Tech after the 1940 Armour/Lewis merger: [[IIT Institute of Design|Institute of Design]] in 1949, [[Chicago-Kent College of Law]] in 1969, and Midwest College of Engineering in 1986.<ref>{{cite web|title=Midwest College of Engineering |url=http://www.iit.edu/rice/midwest_college_of_engineering/|publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus |access-date=March 26, 2011|year=2011}}</ref> Illinois Tech's [[Stuart School of Business]] was founded by a gift from [[Lewis Institute]] alumnus [[Harold Leonard Stuart]] in 1969, and joined Chicago-Kent at Illinois Tech's Downtown Campus in 1992; it phased out its undergraduate program (becoming graduate-only) after spring 1995. (An undergraduate business program focusing on technology and entrepreneurship was launched in fall 2004 and was for a while administratively separate from the Stuart School. It is now part of the school, but remains on Main Campus.) The Institute of Design, once housed on the Mies Campus in [[S.R. Crown Hall]], also phased out its undergraduate programs and moved downtown in the early 1990s.

Although not used in official communication, the nickname "Illinois Tech" has long been a favorite of students, inspiring the name of the student newspaper; (renamed in 1928 from ''Armour Tech News'' to ''TechNews''), and the former mascot of the university's collegiate sports teams, the Techawks. During the 1950s and 1960s, the nickname was actually more prevalent than "IIT." This was reflected by the [[Chicago Transit Authority]]'s [[Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority)|Green Line]] [[rapid transit]] station at 35th and [[State Street (Chicago)|State]] being named "Tech-35th", but has since been changed to "[[35th–Bronzeville–IIT station|35th-Bronzeville-IIT]]." In the 2010s, school administrators began a move to reintroduce the "Illinois Tech" nickname, to decrease confusion with the [[Indian Institutes of Technology]] that share the IIT abbreviation and with [[ITT Technical Institute]] whose abbreviation is similar.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-iit-on-its-way-out-20150828-column.html |title='IIT' on its way out |last=Zorn |first=Eric |date=August 28, 2015 |website=Chicago Tribune | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202212042/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/zorn/ct-iit-on-its-way-out-20150828-column.html |archive-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref>

In June 2020 Illinois Tech launched the College of Computing and the revamped Lewis College of Science and Letters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=College of Computing and Lewis College of Science and Letters Launch at Illinois Tech|url=https://www.iit.edu/news/college-computing-and-lewis-college-science-and-letters-launch-illinois-tech|access-date=July 30, 2020|website=www.iit.edu|date=June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> The College of Computing houses the computer science, applied mathematics, and information technology and management departments, as well as the industrial technology and management program. The revamped Lewis College added the biology, chemistry, food science and nutrition, and physics departments to the remaining humanities, psychology, and social science departments. With the launch of the College of Computing and revamped Lewis College of Science and Letters, the School of Applied Technology and College of Science were dissolved.

===Today===
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2013}}

In 1994 the National Commission on IIT considered leaving Mies Campus and moving to the Chicago suburbs. Construction of a veritable wall of [[Chicago Housing Authority]] high-rises replaced virtually all of Illinois Tech's neighbors in the 1950s and 1960s, a well-meaning but flawed attempt to improve conditions in an economically declining portion of the city. The closest high-rise, [[Stateway Gardens]], was located just south of the Illinois Tech campus boundary, the last building of which was demolished in 2006. But the Dearborn Homes to the immediate north of campus still remain. The past decade has seen a redevelopment of Stateway Gardens into a new, mixed-income neighborhood dubbed Park Boulevard; the completion of the new central station of the Chicago Police Department a block east of the campus; and major commercial development at [[Roosevelt Road]], just north of the campus, and residential development as close as Michigan Avenue on the east boundary of the school.

Bolstered by a $120&nbsp;million gift in the mid-1990s from Illinois Tech alumnus [[Robert Pritzker]], former chairman of IIT's board of trustees, and [[Bob Galvin|Robert Galvin]], former chairman of the board and former Motorola executive, the university has benefited from a revitalization. The first new buildings on Mies Campus since the "completion" of the Mies Campus in the early 1970s were finished in 2003—Rem Koolhaas's [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center]] and Helmut Jahn's [[State Street Village]]. [[S. R. Crown Hall]], a [[National Historic Landmark]], saw renovation in 2005 and the renovation of Wishnick Hall was completed in 2007. Undergraduate enrollment has breached 3,000.<ref name="usnwr">{{cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/illinois-institute-of-technology-1691|title=Illinois Institute of Technology – Best Colleges|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825075051/https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/illinois-institute-of-technology-1691|archive-date=August 25, 2018|url-status=dead|access-date=September 10, 2018}}</ref> To further boost their focus on biotechnology and the melding of business and technology, University Technology Park at Illinois Tech, an expansive research park, has been developed by remodeling former [[Institute of Gas Technology]] and research buildings on the south end of Mies Campus.

==Campuses==
{{see also|Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus}}
Illinois Institute of Technology has four campuses in the Chicago area. A portion of the 120-acre Main Campus, identified as the Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus, was entered onto the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.<ref name="ReferenceA">IIT Archives/2005.018/National Register of Historic Places–IIT Academic Campus Nomination.</ref> The complete 120-acre campus, also known as the Mies Campus, was designed by [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], universally considered one of the 20th century's most influential architects and the director of the architecture program at Illinois Tech from 1938 to 1958. In 1976, the American Institute of Architects recognized the Illinois Tech main campus, centered at 33rd and State Streets in Chicago, as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States.  S. R. Crown Hall, home of Illinois Tech's College of Architecture, was named a National Historic Landmark in 2001.<ref>IIT Archives/2001.042/S. R. Crown Hall Collection.</ref>

The Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus undertook a series of projects with Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape Architecture, Inc. (now Hoerr Schaudt) in 2000 to revitalize the historic campus.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hoerrschaudt.com/project/illinois-institute-technology/?parent=75|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807003157/https://www.hoerrschaudt.com/project/illinois-institute-technology/?parent=75|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 7, 2020|title=Illinois Institute of Technology|website=Hoerr Schaudt|language=en-US|access-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> Keeping in spirit with the original design of landscape architect [[Alfred Caldwell]] (1903–1998) who worked closely with van der Rohe, the [[landscape architect]]s at Peter Lindsay Schaudt played upon his concept of horizontality and favored a native plant palette.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.asla.org/awards/2005/05winners/238.html|title=ASLA 2005 Professional Awards|website=www.asla.org|access-date=December 3, 2018}}</ref> The projects created cohesive formal and informal spaces for students and faculty to relax and gather that honor the connection between the original architecture and [[landscape architecture]]. The projects included State Street Boulevard, Crown Hall, Federal Street, State Street Village, a planting restoration for Crown Hall, the IITRI Tower Renovation, and the IIT Research Park.<ref name="auto"/> Upon their completion in 2005, the firm Peter Lindsay Schaudt submitted the projects as a single entry for the National [[American Society of Landscape Architects|ASLA]] design competition, winning the General Design Award of Honor.<ref name="auto"/>

The 10-story Downtown Campus at 565 West Adams Street, designed by Gerald Horn of Holabird & Root and built by Illinois Tech in 1992, is home to Illinois Tech's Chicago-Kent College of Law and Institute of Design (ID), as well as the downtown campus for the Stuart School of Business.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.iit.edu/about/campus-locations|title=Campus Locations {{!}} Illinois Institute of Technology|website=web.iit.edu|language=en|access-date=April 2, 2017}}</ref> The Downtown Campus was renamed the Conviser Law Center in early 2020. The Institute of Design has re-located to the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship on the Mies Campus.

The 19-acre Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus in west suburban Wheaton, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates, Inc. for Illinois Tech and dedicated in 1990,<ref name="Dawson">IIT Archives/1999.017/Office of Public Information-Mary Dawson Papers.</ref> offers graduate programs, upper-level undergraduate courses, and continuing professional education.

The five-acre Moffett Campus in southwest suburban Bedford Park was designed in 1947 by Schmidt, Garden, and Erickson and was donated to Illinois Tech in 1988.<ref name="Dawson"/> It houses the Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH), which includes the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, a unique consortium of government, industry, and academic partners.

===Bronzeville===
[[File:IIT Machinery Hall.jpg|thumb|Several buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology main campus, such as Machinery Hall pictured here, have been designated as [[Chicago Landmarks]] and listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]].]]

The main campus is located at 10 West 35th Street in Chicago's [[Douglas, Chicago#Bronzeville|Bronzeville]] neighborhood and houses all undergraduate programs and graduate programs in engineering, sciences, architecture, communications, and psychology. The downtown campus, which was renamed the Conviser Law Center in early 2020,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Illinois Tech Names Building for Professor Richard J. Conviser|url=https://www.iit.edu/news/illinois-tech-names-building-professor-richard-j-conviser|access-date=July 30, 2020|website=www.iit.edu|date=February 19, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> at 565 West Adams Street in Chicago houses [[Chicago-Kent College of Law]], [[Stuart School of Business]], and the graduate programs in Public Administration. The [[Dan and Ada Rice|Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice]] Campus in [[Wheaton, Illinois]] houses some degree programs in Information Technology and Management. This {{convert|19|acre|ha|2|adj=on}} campus opened its doors in January 1991. Moffett Campus in [[Bedford Park, Illinois]], is home to the [[Institute for Food Safety and Health]]. Moffett Campus was donated to Illinois Tech by [[Ingredion|CPC International Inc.]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iit.edu/ifsh/about/pdfs/ifsh_6pager_links_singles.pdf |title=Commonsense Science. Uncommonly Practised. |author=Institute for Food Safety and Health |access-date=March 21, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130721150707/http://iit.edu/ifsh/about/pdfs/ifsh_6pager_links_singles.pdf |archive-date=July 21, 2013 }}</ref>

VanderCook College of Music shares Illinois Tech's Main Campus: [[VanderCook College of Music]] and offers cross-registration for Illinois Tech students.

[[File:IIT Galvin Library.jpg|thumb |left |alt=a low steel and glass building and concrete courtyard, with the words Paul V. Galvin Library about a bank of doors, flanked by trees and an abstract steel sculpture |The Paul V. Galvin Library, designed by architect [[Walter Netsch]] in 1962. It is named for the founder of [[Motorola]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Illinois Tech Climbs to #23 in the Nation in The Wall Street Journal's 2024 Best Colleges List |date=September 8, 2023 |url=https://www.iit.edu/news/illinois-tech-climbs-23-nation-wall-street-journals-2024-best-colleges-list |access-date=September 9, 2023 |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology}}</ref>]]

The {{convert|120|acre|ha|1|adj=on}}<ref>{{cite web |title=IIT History – Inventing the Future |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology |url=http://www.iit.edu/about/history/inventing_the_future.shtml |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527110847/http://www.iit.edu/about/history/inventing_the_future.shtml |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Illinois Tech main campus, known as Mies Campus, is centered around 33rd and State Streets, approximately {{convert |3 |mi|km}} south of the [[Chicago Loop]] in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood on the [[South side (Chicago)|South Side]] of Chicago,<ref>{{cite web |title=Visitor Information |url=http://www.iit.edu/about/visitor_information.shtml |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100508013455/http://iit.edu/about/visitor_information.shtml |archive-date=May 8, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> part of the [[Douglas, Chicago|Douglas]] [[Community areas of Chicago|community area]]. Also known as the Black Metropolis District, the area is a landmark in African-American history.<ref name=NRexcerpt>{{cite web |title=Excerpt from the National Register Nomination for Chicago's Black Metropolis |publisher=National Park Service |url=http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/53black/53factsr.htm |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref> Following rapid growth during the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]] of African Americans from the South between 1910 and 1920, it became home to numerous African-American-owned businesses and cultural institutions and offered an alternative to the race restrictions that were prevalent in the rest of the city.<ref name=NRexcerpt /> The area was home to author [[Gwendolyn Brooks]], civil rights activist [[Ida B. Wells]], bandleader [[Louis Armstrong]], pilot [[Bessie Coleman]] and many other famous African Americans during the mid-20th century.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Bronzeville ''History |publisher=Bronzeville Cultural Tour |url=http://dig.lib.niu.edu/gildedage/culturaltourism/laurasummers/history.html |access-date=April 22, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708034306/http://dig.lib.niu.edu/gildedage/culturaltourism/laurasummers/history.html |archive-date=July 8, 2012 }}</ref> The church where [[Emmett Till]]'s funeral was held is less than a mile south of the campus. The nine extant structures from the period during the Great Migration, when the area became known as the Black Metropolis District, were added jointly to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1986<ref>{{citation|url={{NRHP url|id=64000173}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: BLACK METROPOLIS THEMATIC NOMINATION |date=November 7, 1985 |publisher=National Park Service |format=PDF |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref> and designated a [[Chicago Landmark]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|title=Black Metropolis District|publisher=City of Chicago|url=http://webapps.cityofchicago.org/LandmarksWeb/districtDetail.do;jsessionid=LT3Pqw3tYY9MZbG5ry932nh6z2jjXwWclCHM3tBvyPwVgvJ6NtJJ!904635392?disID=6|access-date=April 10, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 1941, the [[Chicago Housing Authority]] began erecting massive public-housing developments in the area.<ref>{{cite book |title =Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing |url =https://archive.org/details/blueprintfordisa00hunt |url-access =limited |last=Hunt |first=D. Bradford |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-226-36085-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/blueprintfordisa00hunt/page/n14 3]}}</ref> By 1990, the Illinois Tech campus was encircled by high-rise housing projects rife with crime.<ref name=renewal>{{cite book |title=The new urban renewal: the economic transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville |last=Hrya |first=Derek |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-226-36604-3 |page=89}}</ref> The projects were demolished beginning in 1999,<ref name=renewal/> and the area began to revitalize, with major renovations to King Drive and many of the historic structures and an influx of new, upscale, housing developments.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Rebirth in Bronzeville; Housing Renovation Boom Sparks Community Spirit |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |last=Severinsen |first=Kay |date= May 26, 1995 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4285223.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104014309/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4285223.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |format=subscription required |access-date=April 23, 2010}}</ref> Neighborhood features include [[Rate Field]]—home of the [[Chicago White Sox]]—[[Burnham Park (Chicago)|Burnham Park]], and [[Chicago beaches#31st Street Beach|31st Street Beach]] on the [[Lake Michigan]] waterfront, and historical buildings from the heyday of the Black Metropolis era, including the [[Chicago Bee Building]], the [[Eighth Regiment Armory (Chicago)|Eighth Regiment Armory]], and the [[Overton Hygienic Building]]. The campus is bordered on the west by the [[Chicago 'L']] [[Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)|Red Line]], which runs parallel to Lake Michigan north to [[Rogers Park]] and south to 95th Street. The [[Green Line (Chicago Transit Authority)|Green Line]] bisects the campus and runs north to the Loop and then west to the near west suburbs and south to the [[Museum Campus Chicago|Museum Campus]] and the [[University of Chicago]].<ref>{{cite map |publisher=Chicago Transit Authority |access-date=April 23, 2010 |title=Rail 'L' System Map |url=http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/maps/ctatrainmap.png |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025170918/http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/maps/ctatrainmap.png |archive-date=October 25, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Today, Illinois Tech continues to support the Historic Bronzeville area by sponsoring non-for-profits such as The Renaissance Collaborative.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trcwabash.org/sponsors.html|title=Sponsors|website=The Renaissance Collaborative|access-date=December 3, 2017|archive-date=December 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204171149/https://www.trcwabash.org/sponsors.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Architecture===
{{see also|List of Illinois Institute of Technology buildings}}
[[File:IIT Perlstein Hall.jpg|thumb|alt=a low glass and steel building behind a sidewalk and lawn and trees|Perlstein Hall: one of the campus buildings designed by [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]]]]
[[File:McCormick Tribune 060304.jpg|thumb |right |alt=large steel tube encircling elevated train track with a train on it, over low building with large glass windows |The [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center]]. Icons of male figures in action are placed throughout the building; several are visible at the lower left.<ref name=koolhaas>{{cite news |title=IIT architect would love encore Designer of student center would like to build high-rise here |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |last=Reed |first=Cheryl |date=October 1, 2003 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1509786.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104004444/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1509786.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |format=subscription required |access-date=April 23, 2010}}</ref>]]
The campus, roughly bounded between 31st and 35th streets, [[Michigan Avenue (Chicago)|Michigan Avenue]], and the [[Dan Ryan Expressway]], was designed by [[modernism|modernist]] architect [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], "one of the great figures of 20th-century architecture,"<ref>{{cite news |title=Mies van der Rohe Dies at 83; Leader of Modern Architecture |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 19, 1969 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0327.html |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref> who chaired the IIT School of Architecture from 1938 to 1958.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bauhaus Roots at IIT: A Heritage of Innovation and Experimentation |publisher=The Mies van der Rohe Society |url=http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/master_plan/bauhaus_roots.shtml |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611123944/http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/master_plan/bauhaus_roots.shtml |archive-date=June 11, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Van der Rohe's master plan for the Illinois Tech campus was one of the most ambitious projects that he ever conceived, and the campus, with 20 of his works, is the greatest concentration of his buildings in the world.<ref name=masterplan>{{cite web |title=Original Master Plan |publisher=The Mies van der Rohe Society |url=http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/master_plan/ |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513070827/http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/master_plan/ |archive-date=May 13, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The layout of the campus departs radically from "traditional college quadrangles and limestone buildings".<ref name=masterplan/> The materials are inspired by the factories and warehouses of Chicago's South Side<ref name=masterplan/> and "embod[y] 20th century methods and materials: steel and concrete frames with curtain walls of brick and glass."<ref>{{cite web |title=Mies: The Man, The Legacy |publisher=Mies van der Rhoe Society |url=http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/about_mies/ |access-date=April 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527144352/http://www.iit.edu/giving/mies/about_mies/ |archive-date=May 27, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The campus was landscaped by van der Rohe's close colleague at Illinois Tech, [[Alfred Caldwell]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Alfred Caldwell |url=http://www.iit.edu/about/history/hall_of_fame/alfred_caldwell.shtml |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology |access-date=April 22, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518061137/http://www.iit.edu/about/history/hall_of_fame/alfred_caldwell.shtml |archive-date=May 18, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> "the last representative of the [[Prairie School]] of landscape architects."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Last Master |last=Domer |first=Dennis |publisher=Inland Architect Magazine |url=http://www.inlandarchitectmag.com/pdf/caldwell.pdf |page=69|access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref> Known as "the nature poet",<ref>{{cite news |title=Rooted in design; Caldwell's Prairie-style landscapes are thriving |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=September 28, 1997 |last=Drell |first=Darienne |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4406043.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104014140/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4406043.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |format=subscription required |access-date=April 23, 2010}}</ref> Caldwell's plan reinforced van der Rohe's design with "landscaping planted in a free-flowing manner, which in its interaction with the pristine qualities of the architecture, introduce[d] a poetic aspect."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Anti-Rationalists and the Rationalists |last1=Richards |last2= Pevsner |last3=Sharp |first1=J. M. |first2=Nikolaus |first3=Dennis |location=Oxford |publisher=Architectural Place |year=2000 |isbn =0750648155}}</ref>

On the west side of Mies Campus are three [[red brick]] buildings that were original to Armour Institute, built between 1891 and 1901. In 1938, [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]] began his 20-year tenure as director of IIT's School of Architecture (1938–1959). The university was on the verge of building a brand new campus, to be one of the nation's first federally funded urban renewal projects. Mies was given carte blanche in the large commission, and the university grew fast enough during and after World War II to allow much of the new plan to be realized. From 1943 to 1957, several new Mies buildings rose across campus, including the [[S.R. Crown Hall]], which houses the architecture school, and was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 2001.<ref name="S. R. Crown Hall" />

Although Mies had emphasized his wish to complete the campus that he had begun, commissions from the late 1950s onward were given to [[Skidmore, Owings & Merrill]] (SOM), prompting Mies to never return to the campus that had changed architecture the world over. SOM architect [[Walter Netsch]] designed a few buildings, including the new library that Mies had wished to create, all of them similar to Mies's style. By the late 1960s, campus addition projects were given to SOM's [[Myron Goldsmith]], who had worked with Mies during his education at Illinois Tech and thus was able to design several new buildings to harmonize well with the original campus. In 1976, the [[American Institute of Architects]] recognized the campus as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States. The [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center|new campus center]], designed by [[Rem Koolhaas]], and a new state-of-the-art residence hall designed by [[Helmut Jahn]], State Street Village, opened in 2003. These were the first new buildings built on the Main Campus in 32 years. Illinois Tech opened its first new academic building in nearly 40 years in October 2018, when it dedicated the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kamin|first=Blair|title=John Ronan's new building at IIT is clearly unique, thoughtful — but questions cloud its future|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/blair-kamin/ct-biz-iit-building-kamin-20181026-story.html|access-date=July 30, 2020|website=chicagotribune.com|date=October 31, 2018 }}</ref>

In 1976, [[American Institute of Architects]] named the Illinois Tech campus one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the United States.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Politics of Place: A History of Zoning in Chicago |page=51 |last1=Schweiterman |last2=Caspall |last3=Heron |first1=Joseph P |first2=Dana M |first3=Jane |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=Lake Claremont Press |year=2006 |isbn=1-893121-26-7}}</ref> Mies Campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.<ref>{{citation|url={{NRHP url|id=05000871}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus |date=August 12, 2005|publisher=National Park Service |format=PDF |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref>

===Sustainability===
In 2010, Illinois Tech received [[the Princeton Review]]'s highest [[sustainability]] rating among universities in Illinois, tied with the [[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges |publisher=The Princeton Review |page=76 |format=pdf |url=http://www.princetonreview.com/greenguide |access-date=April 22, 2010}}</ref>

===Notable buildings===
[[S. R. Crown Hall]], erected in 1955, was considered by Mies to be one of his greatest architectural achievements. To provide for a flexible, columnless interior, he suspended the roof from four steel girders supported by eight external columns spaced 60 feet apart. S. R. Crown Hall, home to Illinois Tech's College of Architecture, has been described as an "immortal contribution to the architecture of Chicago and the world." S. R. Crown Hall was granted National Historic Landmark status in 2001. A $15&nbsp;million renovation, completed in August 2005, modernized the structure with energy-saving mechanicals and windows, along with needed technology upgrades for computers and the Internet—all while carefully preserving the architectural integrity of the building, inside and out. Additional improvements were completed in 2013.<ref>IIT Archives/2004.051/S. R. Crown Hall Collection-Historic Structure Report; IIT Archives/2012.028.02/Campus Building Blueprints.</ref>

[[State Street Village]] (SSV), a student residence hall designed by Murphy/Jahn architects on the southeast corner of 33rd and State Streets just south of the campus center, was completed in August 2003. Helmut Jahn, who studied architecture at Illinois Tech under Mies van der Rohe in the late 1960s, is responsible for the innovative design of the residence hall. The structure is composed of three separate five-story buildings, joined by exterior glass walls that muffle noise from passing trains on the adjacent "L" tracks. SSV houses 367 students in apartment-style and suite-style units.

The [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center|McCormick Tribune Campus Center (MTCC)]] at 33rd and State Streets opened in September 2003. Designed by Dutch architect [[Rem Koolhaas]], considered one of the "10 most influential living architects by the American Institute of Architects," the campus center arranges various areas around diagonal pathways, resembling interior streets, that are extensions of the paths students use to cross the campus. The design includes a concrete and stainless steel tube that encloses a 530-foot stretch of the Green Line elevated commuter rail ("L") tracks, passing directly over the one-story campus center building. The tube dampens the sound of trains overhead as students enjoy food courts, student organization offices, retail shops, a recreational facility and campus events.

[[File:IIT_Kaplan_Institute_Main_Entrance.jpg|alt=|thumb|Main entrance of the Kaplan Institute]]
The newest addition to the Mies Campus came from Chicago architect, and College of Architecture professor John Ronan, who was selected to design the '''Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship'''.<ref>IIT Archives/RG010.09/Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship.</ref> Ronan's building, the first new academic building in more than 40 years, was completed in 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-new-illinois-tech-building-late-bsi-20160825-story.html|title=Illinois Tech delays, downsizes new innovation building|first=Ally|last=Marotti|website=Chicagotribune.com|access-date=December 3, 2017|archive-date=December 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203224607/http://www.chicagotribune.com/bluesky/originals/ct-new-illinois-tech-building-late-bsi-20160825-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2019, the Kaplan Center won the [[American Institute of Architects]] Chicago Chapter' s highest architectural design award.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/blair-kamin/ct-biz-chicago-architecture-awards-kamin-20191026-dnt7y4wsgrfo5lqpbve3oxwrhe-story.html |title=Column: Top architecture awards go to riverfront skyscraper, U. of C.'s public policy school and IIT's innovation center |last=Kamin |first=Blair |date=October 25, 2019 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=November 6, 2019}}</ref>

==Academics==
Illinois Tech is divided into five colleges (College of Computing, Armour College of Engineering, Lewis College of Science and Letters, College of Architecture, [[Chicago-Kent College of Law]]), the [[Institute of Design IIT|Institute of Design]], one school (Stuart School of Business), and a number of research centers, some of which provide academic programs independent of the other academic units. While many maintain undergraduate programs, some only offer graduate or certificate programs.

In 2003 Illinois Tech administrators split the former Armour College of Engineering and Science into two colleges known as the Armour College of Engineering and the College of Science and Letters.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Science and Letters – Facts about CSL|url=http://www.iit.edu/csl/about/facts/|access-date=August 18, 2009|publisher=IIT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527190651/http://www.iit.edu/csl/about/facts/|archive-date=May 27, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Armour College of Engineering is composed of five departments: the Department of [[Biomedical engineering|Biomedical Engineering]], the Department of [[Biological engineering|Biological]] and [[Chemical engineering|Chemical Engineering]], the Department of [[Civil engineering|Civil]], [[Architectural engineering|Architectural]] and [[Environmental engineering|Environmental Engineering]], the Department of [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical]], [[Materials science|Materials]] and [[Aerospace engineering|Aerospace Engineering]], and the Department of [[Computer engineering|Computer]] and [[Electrical engineering|Electrical Engineering]].<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Armour College of Engineering|url=http://www.iit.edu/engineering/|access-date=August 18, 2009|publisher=IIT}}</ref>

In 2013, Illinois Tech administrators reorganized the College of Science and Letters and Institute of Psychology, forming the College of Science (Department of [[Applied mathematics|Applied Mathematics]], the Department of [[Biology]], the Department of [[Chemistry]], the Department of [[IIT Physics Department|Physics]], the Department of [[Computer science|Computer Science]], and the Department of Mathematics and Science Education),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://science.iit.edu/|title=IIT College of Science – Illinois Institute of Technology|website=science.iit.edu|access-date=December 3, 2017}}</ref> and the Lewis College of Human Sciences (the Department of [[Humanities]], the Department of [[Psychology]], and the Department of [[Social science|Social Sciences]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://humansciences.iit.edu/|title=Home – IIT Lewis College of Human Sciences – Illinois Institute of Technology|website=Humansciences.iit.edu|access-date=December 3, 2017}}</ref>

The [[Institute of Design IIT|Institute of Design]] was founded in 1937 as the New Bauhaus: Chicago School of Design by László Moholy-Nagy. It became known as the Institute of Design in 1944 and later joined Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949.<ref name="Summerfield">Summerfield, Carol J.; Devine, Mary Elizabeth; Levi, Anthony. "International dictionary of university histories." Taylor & Francis, 1998. page 205. {{ISBN|1-884964-23-0}}.</ref>

Illinois Tech also contains the College of Architecture. This college began in 1895 when trustees of Armour Institute and Art Institute merged the architectural programs of both schools to form the Chicago School of Architecture of Armour Institute.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iit.edu/arch/about/history/|title=IIT College of Architecture|website=Iit.edu|access-date=December 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812003636/http://www.iit.edu/arch/about/history/|archive-date=August 12, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The School of Applied Technology was founded as the Center for Professional Development in 2001 to provide technology oriented education for working professionals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iit.edu/cpd/about/|title=About – IIT School of Applied Technology|website=Iit.edu|access-date=December 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213211458/http://iit.edu/cpd/about/|archive-date=February 13, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Daily Herald Electronic Archives|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=ADHB&p_theme=adhb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EDA7177EDA28BFD&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D|access-date=August 19, 2009|newspaper=The Daily Herald}}</ref> In December 2009 Illinois Tech announced the formation of the School of Applied Technology, composed of undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Industrial Technology and Management (INTM) and Information Technology and Management (ITM), as well as non-credit Professional Learning Programs (PLP).<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Today, Dec 17, 2009|url=http://www.iit.edu/publications/iittoday/back_issue.php?date=2009-12-17|access-date=February 8, 2010|publisher=IIT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622020346/http://www.iit.edu/publications/iittoday/back_issue.php?date=2009-12-17|archive-date=June 22, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> These programs were all formerly part of the Center for Professional Development. Professional Learning Programs offers noncredit continuing education courses and certificates, corporate training, a Professional Engineering Exam Review program, international programs including English as a Second Language instruction, short courses and seminars ranging from a few hours to several days in length.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the School of Applied Technology at IIT|url=http://www.iit.edu/cpd/about/|access-date=December 30, 2011|publisher=IIT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201020305/http://www.iit.edu/cpd/about/|archive-date=February 1, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Professional Learning International Programs|url=http://www.iit.edu/cpd/professional_learning/international_programs/|access-date=December 30, 2011|publisher=IIT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102025228/http://www.iit.edu/cpd/professional_learning/international_programs/|archive-date=January 2, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2014 the Department of Food Science and Nutrition was formally launched within the School of Applied Technology, formed from degree programs originating within Illinois Tech's [[Institute for Food Safety and Health]] (IFSH).<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Department of Food Science and Nutrition|url=http://appliedtech.iit.edu/food-science-and-nutrition/about-department-food-science-and-nutrition|access-date=July 17, 2015|publisher=IIT}}</ref> The School of Applied Technology was dissolved in June 2020; its departments and programs remained, split between the new College of Computing and Lewis College of Science and Letters.

[[Chicago-Kent College of Law]] began in 1886 with law clerks receiving tutorials from Appellate Judge Joseph M. Bailey to prepare for the newly instated Illinois Bar Examination. By 1888 these evening sessions developed into formal classes and the Chicago College of Law was established.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chicago-Kent College of Law|url=http://www.kentlaw.edu/overview/dateline.html|access-date=August 19, 2009|publisher=IIT|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100527083619/http://www.kentlaw.edu/overview/dateline.html|archive-date=May 27, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was not until 1969 that the school was incorporated into Illinois Institute of Technology.<ref name="Summerfield" />

With a bequest from Illinois Tech alumnus and financier Harold Leonard Stuart the [[Stuart School of Business]] was established in 1969.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Stuart |url=http://www.stuart.iit.edu/about/explorestuart/history.shtml |access-date=August 19, 2009 |publisher=IIT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604103046/http://stuart.iit.edu/about/explorestuart/history.shtml |archive-date=June 4, 2009 }}</ref> In addition to the [[M.B.A.]] and PhD, Stuart offers specialized programs in Finance, [[Mathematical Finance]] (provided in conjunction with the Illinois Tech Department of Applied Mathematics), [[Environmental resource management|Environmental Management]] and [[Sustainability]] (provided in conjunction with the [[Chicago-Kent College of Law]] and Department of Civic, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering), Marketing Analytics, and [[Public administration|Public Administration]]. The PhD program in [[Management science|Management Science]] offers specializations in Finance and [[Analytics]].

Illinois Tech also offers many dual admission programs including programs in medicine, optometry, pharmacy, law, and business.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pre-Health/Pre-Med|url=https://www.iit.edu/academics/pre-health-pre-med|access-date=July 30, 2020|website=www.iit.edu|language=en}}</ref>

===Reputation and rankings===
{{Infobox US university ranking
| THES_W = 351-400
| QS_W = 469
| USNWR_NU = 98
| Wamo_NU = 120
| USNWR_GU = 736
| THE_WSJ = 23
| Forbes = 154
}}

*Illinois Tech was ranked as a tier 1 university being the 122nd best university nationally (climbing seven places up from the previous year), and the third best university in the [[Chicago metropolitan area]] (after the [[University of Chicago]] and [[Northwestern University]]), based on ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''{{'}}s "Best Colleges 2019."<ref name="usnwr" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/illinois-institute-of-technology-1691|title=Illinois Institute of Technology|work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303042758/http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/illinois-institute-of-technology-1691|archive-date=March 3, 2011|url-status=dead|access-date=September 10, 2013}}</ref>
* In 2018, [[Forbes]] ranked Illinois Tech 23rd among STEM universities.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/cartercoudriet/2018/08/20/top-25-stem-colleges-2018/?sh=72d037191f8b|title=Top 25 STEM Colleges 2018|work=[[Forbes]]|access-date=September 11, 2023}}</ref>
* In 2024, ''[[Washington Monthly]]'' ranked Illinois Tech 120th among 438 national universities in the U.S. based on Illinois Tech's contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 National University Rankings |url=https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024-college-guide/national/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Washington Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref>
*Chicago-Kent was ranked as a tier 1 law school being the 68th best law school nationally (5th in Trial Advocacy, 11th in Intellectual Property Law, and 21st in Part-time Law) based on ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]''."<ref name="usnwr" />
*According to the ''U.S. News & World Report'', Illinois Tech's Aerospace Engineering was ranked 21, Materials Engineering was ranked 59, Chemical Engineering was ranked 60 and Biomedical Engineering was ranked 61.<ref name="bestgrad">{{cite web|url=http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/items/02053 |title=Best Graduate Schools: Illinois Institute of Technology (Armour) |access-date=March 12, 2013 |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]]}}</ref>
* Illinois Tech was designated in 2015 as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the U.S. [[Department of Homeland Security]] and the [[National Security Agency]], acknowledging the substantial focus on cybersecurity and digital forensics in formal degrees, certificates, and specializations in programs offered by the College of Computing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.iit.edu/itm_loopback/2015/07/17/iit-named-national-center-of-academic-excellence-in-cyber-defense-education/ |access-date=July 17, 2015 |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology|title=IIT Named National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.iit.edu/itm_loopback/files/2015/07/CAE-Illinois-Institute-of-Technology.pdf |access-date=July 17, 2015 |publisher=[[National Security Agency]]|title=Letter designating Illinois Institute of Technology as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education}}</ref>

==Student life==
{{see also|Illinois Institute of Technology student groups}}
[[File:WIIT Radio Station.jpg|thumb|right|WIIT's studio inside the McCormick Tribune Campus Center]]
There are numerous student organizations available on campus, including religious groups, academic groups, and student activity groups.

Three of Illinois Tech's major student organizations serve the entire student body: the Student Government Association (SGA), the Student Union Board (UB), and ''TechNews''. SGA is the governing student body and acts as a liaison between university administration and the student body, serves as a forum to express student opinion, and provides certain services to student organizations such as official recognition and distribution of funds.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Student Government Association (SGA)|url=http://sga.iit.edu|access-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref> Union Board serves as the main event programming group and plans more than 180 on- and off-campus events for students annually. Founded in 1938 UB is responsible for the emergence of the school spirit and booster group Scarlet Fever.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT Student Union Board (UB)|url=http://ub.iit.edu|access-date=July 17, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090926083657/http://ub.iit.edu/|archive-date=September 26, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''TechNews'' is the campus paper and serves as a news outlet for campus interests and as another outlet for student opinion in both a weekly paper edition and online format; it has existed since at least the 1930s.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT ''TechNews''|url=http://technews.iit.edu|access-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref>

Illinois Tech hosts a campus radio station, WIIT, with a radio studio in The McCormick Tribune Campus Center. WIIT was originally an AM radio station through the 1960s, using the name WIIT Radio 64.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://web.iit.edu/125/your-memories | title = Your Memories | first = Steve | last = Bellinger | quote = One of my favorite memories was hosting my own program on WIIT Radio 64. I was there when it went FM... | publisher = Illinois Institute of Technology | location = Chicago | access-date = May 16, 2015 | archive-date = December 12, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211212061913/https://web.iit.edu/125/your-memories | url-status = dead }}</ref>  It was simulcast on AM 640 and stereo FM 88.9 by the end of January 1972.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume92/tnvol92no2.pdf | page = 4 | title = Announcements | volume = 91 | issue = 2 | date = January 28, 1972 | work = Technology News | publisher = Illinois Institute of Technology | location = Chicago | quote = Tune in 7-12pm WIIT 640 AM, 88.9 FM (stereo). | access-date = May 16, 2015 | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103829/http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume92/tnvol92no2.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> The station was forced to change its callsign to WOUI in 1972 because WIIT was similar to [[WAIT (AM)]].<ref name="technews-2001">{{cite news | url = http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume150/tnvol150no9.pdf | title = Where Has WOUI Gone? | first = Bhargava | last = Gannavarapu | pages = 1, 3 | work = TechNews | date = April 2, 2001 | volume = 150 | issue = 9 | publisher = Illinois Institute of Technology | location = Chicago | access-date = May 16, 2015 | archive-date = November 23, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151123110600/http://archives.iit.edu/technews/volume150/tnvol150no9.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref>  After the WAIT callsign was dropped,<ref name="technews-2001"/> the IIT station eventually returned to its original call letters, WIIT, on February 23, 2001.<ref name="fcc-callsign">{{cite web | url = http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=28307&Callsign=WIIT | title = Call Sign History | publisher = [[Federal Communications Commission]] | location = Washington, D.C. | access-date = May 16, 2015 | archive-date = December 12, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211212061849/http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/call_hist.pl?Facility_id=28307&Callsign=WIIT | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In September 2007 the university opened a nine-hole [[disc golf]] course that weaves around the academic buildings on Mies Campus and is the first disc golf course to appear within the Chicago city limits.

In anticipation of the opening of The [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center]], the on-campus pub and bowling alley known as "The Bog" ceased operations in 2003. However, in response to students, faculty, and staff who missed the former campus hangout, The Bog reopened in February 2007 and offers [[bowling]], [[billiards]], [[table tennis]], and [[video games]]. The Bog is also home to the campus bar, which serves beer and wine, and hosts weekly events such as comedians, live bands, or karaoke nights on its stage.<ref>{{cite web|title=IIT ''The BOG''|url=https://www.iit.edu/student-life/get-involved/bog|access-date=January 18, 2025}}</ref>

In fall 2007, the third generation of [[a cappella]] groups was formed, The TechTonics, a coed group of students. Within a year the organization expanded and now includes an all-male group, the Crown Joules, and an all-female group, the X-Chromotones. IIT A Cappella performs a variety of shows on campus as well as off campus and in the midwest. They also perform shows at the end of each semester.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://technews.iit.edu/index.php?id=1074|title=A Cappella Back at IIT|last=Shaughnessy|first=Ciaran|date=May 6, 2008|publisher=TechNews|access-date=March 12, 2009}}</ref>

Illinois Institute of Technology Mies (Main) Campus has seven Illinois Tech fraternities (and one VanderCook College of Music fraternity) and three sororities. Fraternities [[Pi Kappa Phi]], [[Delta Tau Delta]], [[Alpha Sigma Phi]], [[Phi Kappa Sigma]], [[Sigma Phi Epsilon]] and [[Triangle Fraternity]] and sororities [[Kappa Phi Delta]], and [[Alpha Sigma Alpha]] have chapter houses on The Quad. The Omega Delta fraternity does not.

== Athletics ==
[[File:Illtech scarlet hawks wordmark.png|thumb|Illinois Tech athletics wordmark]]
The Illinois Tech (IIT) athletic teams are called the Scarlet Hawks. The university is a member of the [[NCAA Division III|Division III]] level of the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA), primarily competing in the [[Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference]] (NACC) since the 2018–19 academic year; coinciding with the program's acceptance as a full NCAA Division III member.<ref>{{cite web|title=Illinois Tech to Join NCAA Division III This Fall|url=https://news.iit.edu/stories/2018/07/illinois-tech-join-ncaa-division-iii-fall|website=ILLINOIS TECH MEDIAROOM |date=July 9, 2018 |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Illinois Tech Joins Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference|url=http://www.illinoistechathletics.com/sports/general/Illinois_Tech_Joins_NACC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506205545/http://www.illinoistechathletics.com/sports/general/Illinois_Tech_Joins_NACC|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 6, 2017|website=ILLINOIS TECH ATHLETICS|date=May 3, 2017|publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology|access-date=May 5, 2017}}</ref> The Scarlet Hawks previously competed in the Division I level of the [[National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics]] (NAIA), primarily competing in the [[Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference]] (CCAC) until after the 2012–13 season, as well as a member of the [[United States Collegiate Athletic Association]] (USCAA), until the athletic program completed the transition to NCAA Division III after the 2017–18 season (which competed during five seasons as an [[NCAA Division III independent schools|NCAA D-III Independent]] during its provisional member status from 2013–14 to 2017–18).

Illinois Tech competes in 19 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball. Illinois Tech also has a [[cricket]] team as a part of non-varsity sports level that competes in Division II of the Midwest Cricket Conference.

===Basketball===
Illinois Tech discontinued its men's and women's basketball programs after the 2008–09 season,<ref name='bball'>{{cite news |first=Sara |last=Olkon |title=IIT shuts down basketball program |date=March 26, 2009 |url=http://articles.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009-03-26/news/28523941_1_basketball-program-student-extracurricular-experiences-basketball-players |work=Chicago Breaking News Center |access-date = April 13, 2009}}</ref> but re-instated them beginning with the 2012–13 season. The men's basketball team played in its first USCAA Division I Championship in March 2017. Although the team lost to Concordia Alabama, the Scarlet Hawks finished the season at 22–6.

===Track & Field===
Illinois Tech's oldest athletics program is Track & Field with the Armour Institute team starting in 1893.<ref>http://hdl.handle.net/10560/islandora:1012255 {{Bare URL inline|date=May 2025}}</ref> The Lewis Insitute team dominated the early 1900's with Olympic athletes like [[William Hogenson]], [[Louis Wilkins]], [[George M. Varnell]], [[Harlan Page]] and [[Charles Dvorak]]. The latter would go on to become the first Track coach for Armour in 1905.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Integral, 1905 {{!}} repository.iit |url=https://repository.iit.edu/islandora/object/islandora:1014351#page/208/mode/2up |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=repository.iit.edu}}</ref> The track program was boosted during World War II with the V-12 Navy program led by Norman Hankins, who would go on to be a 3-time NCAA All-American. The track program was disbanded after 1963 and was brought back as a club team in 2004 and as a varsity team in 2011. The team has produced 25 NCAA or NAIA National Qualifiers since inception.

== Notable alumni ==
{{Main|List of Illinois Institute of Technology alumni}}

== Notable faculty ==
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}

===Faculty (current and former)===
* [[Ajit Singh (politician, born 1939)|Chaudhary Ajit Singh]], former Indian Minister of [[Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare|Agriculture]], [[Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)|Commerce and Industry]] and [[Ministry of Civil Aviation (India)|Civil Aviation]]  <ref>{{Cite news|date=May 6, 2021|title=RLD Chief Ajit Singh: Political career, age, wife, son, health, daughter and native place|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/information/story/rld-chief-ajit-singh-political-career-age-wife-son-health-daughter-and-native-place-1799481-2021-05-06|work=[[India Today]]|access-date=July 17, 2022}}</ref>
* [[Virgil Abloh]], fashion designer (Creative Director for Louis Vuitton and Founder of Off-White x Nike), entrepreneur, DJ
* [[John L. Anderson]], professor of chemical engineering
* [[Lori Andrews]], professor of law
* [[Wiel Arets]], professor of architecture
* [[Shlomo Argamon]], professor of computer science
* [[Carol Ross Barney]], adjunct professor of architecture
* [[John F. O. Bilson]], professor of finance, dean of Stuart School of Business
* [[Harry Callahan (photographer)|Harry Callahan]], professor of photography
* [[Cosmo Campoli]], professor of sculpture 
* [[Patrick Corrigan (writer)|Patrick Corrigan]], professor of psychology
* [[Michael Davis (philosopher)|Michael Davis]], professor of philosophy
* [[Martha Evens]], emeritus professor
* [[Martin Felsen]], associate professor of architecture
* [[Lance Fortnow]], dean of the College of Computing
* [[Susan Fromberg Schaeffer]], assistant professor of English
* [[Lois Graham]], professor of mechanical engineering
* [[S. I. Hayakawa]], professor of English
* [[Marie Hicks (historian)|Mar Hicks]], associate professor of history of technology 
* [[Fazlur Khan]], adjunct professor of structural engineering
* [[Albert Henry Krehbiel]], professor of art
* [[Walter McCrone]], professor of microscopy and materials science
* [[Josephine Janina Mehlberg]], mathematician
* [[Karl Menger]], professor of mathematics
* [[Hassan Nagib]], John T. Rettaliata Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 
* [[László Moholy-Nagy]], professor of design
* [[Art Paul]], designer, creator of Playboy logo
* [[Walter Peterhans]], taught 'visual training' course for architecture students
* [[Sonja Petrović (statistician)|Sonja Petrović]], associate professor of applied mathematics
* [[Nambury S. Raju]], professor of psychology
* [[Edward Reingold]], professor of computer science and applied mathematics
* [[Ludwig Mies van der Rohe]], professor of architecture
* [[John Ronan]], professor of architecture
* [[Mohammad Shahidehpour]], Bodine Chair professor of electrical and computer engineering
* [[Tamara Sher|Tamara Goldman Sher]], professor of psychology
* [[Arthur Siegel (photographer)|Arthur Siegel]], professor of photography
* [[Aaron Siskind]], professor of photography
* [[Nellie Bangs Skelton]], professor of piano
* [[Abe Sklar]], professor of applied mathematics
* [[Susan Solomon]], discover the hole in ozone layer, leader in Atmospheric Chemistry, inducted in National's Women Hall of Fame
* [[Robert Bruce Tague]], professor of architecture
* [[David Tannor]] (born 1958), [[theoretical chemist]], Hermann Mayer Professorial Chair in the Department of Chemical Physics at the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]]
* [[John Henry Waddell]], professor of sculpture and art
* [[John Heskett]], professor of design
* [[Charles N. Haas]], Betz Professor of Environmental Engineering, [[Drexel University]] (IIT BS 1973, MS 1974); was a faculty member at IIT from 1981-1990.  Member, [[National Academy of Engineering]]

==== Nobel laureate faculty ====
* [[Leon M. Lederman]], professor of physics; [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate in physics]] (1988); director emeritus of [[Fermilab]]; founded the [[Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy]]<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lederman|first=Leon M.|title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1988: Leon M. Lederman, Melvin Schwartz, Jack Steinberger|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1988/lederman.html|journal=Nobel Lectures, Physics 1981–1990|year=1988|access-date=May 22, 2012|author-link=Leon M. Lederman|editor1-first=Tore|editor1-last=Frängsmyr|editor2-first=Gösta |editor2-last=Ekspång|publisher=[[World Scientific|World Scientific Publishing Co.]]|location=Singapore}}</ref> 
* [[Herbert A. Simon]], professor of psychology; political, economic, psychological and computer science [[polymath]]; [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Nobel laureate in economics]] (1978)<ref>{{cite book|last=Simon|first=Herbert A.|title=Nobel Lectures, Economics 1969–1980|year=1978|publisher=[[World Scientific|World Scientific Publishing Co.]]|location=Singapore|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1978/simon.html|author-link=Herbert A. Simon|editor=Assar Lindbeck|access-date=May 22, 2012}}</ref> 
* [[Jack Steinberger]], physicist; [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel laureate in physics]] (1988); studied chemical engineering at Armour Institute of Technology but his scholarship ended and he had to leave

{{col-end}}

==See also==
* [[Architecture of Chicago]]
* [[Chicago–Kent College of Law]]
* [[IIT Physics Department]]
* [[IIT Research Institute]] (IITRI)
* [[McCormick Tribune Campus Center]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{official website}}
* [https://illinoistechathletics.com/ Athletics website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190819174945/https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/archives/237526/iit-new-campus-center-competition-fonds Finding aid for the IIT – New Campus Center Competition fonds] – [[Canadian Centre for Architecture]] (archived August 19, 2019)

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