Page 6 - Illinois Tech Student Handbook 2022-23

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
In 1890, when advanced education was often reserved for society’s elite, Chicago minister Frank Gunsaulus delivered what came to be known as the “Million Dollar Sermon.” From the pulpit of his South Side church (near the site Illinois Tech now occupies), Gunsaulus said that with a million dollars he would build a school where students of all backgrounds could prepare for meaningful roles in a changing industrial society. Philip Danforth Armour, the Chicago meat packer and grain merchant, heard Gunsaulus’ sermon and came to share the minister’s vision. He agreed to finance the endeavor with the stipulation that Gunsaulus become the first president of the Armour Institute. When Armour opened in 1893, the Institute offered professional courses in engineering, chemistry, architecture and library science. Illinois Tech was created in 1940 by the merger of Armour Institute with Lewis Institute (1895), a West Side Chicago college that offered liberal arts as well as science and engineering courses. The Institute of Design, founded in 1937, merged with Illinois Tech in 1949.
In 1969, Illinois Tech became one of the few technology-based universities with a law school when Chicago-Kent College of Law, founded in 1888, became an integral part of the university. Stuart School of Business was also added in 1969 with a gift from the estate of Lewis Institute alumnus and Chicago financier Harold Leonard Stuart. Midwest College of Engineering, founded in 1967, joined in 1986, forming the nucleus for Illinois Tech’s west suburban campus.
Today, Illinois Tech is a private, Ph.D. granting university, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. One of the 17 institutions that constitute the Association of Independent Technological Universities, Illinois Tech offers exceptional preparation for professions that require technological sophistication. Through a committed faculty and personal attention, Illinois Tech provides challenging academic programs focused by the rigor of the real world. Illinois Tech’s fourth site is Illinois Tech’s Moffett Campus, the location of the National Center for Food Safety and Technology, a multidisciplinary food safety research facility in southwest suburban Bedford Park. A Master of Science degree and a certificate program in food safety and technology are offered at Moffett Campus.
Students also may take classes through the William F. Finkl Interactive Instructional Television Network (IIT Online), which enables students to take classes at more than 50 remote TV receiving sites.
ILLINOIS TECH’S MISSION
To provide distinctive and relevant education in an environment of scientific, technological, and professional knowledge creation and innovation.
ILLINOIS TECH’S VISION
Illinois Tech will be internationally recognized in distinctive areas of education and research, using as its platform the global city of Chicago, driven by a professional and technology-oriented focus, and based on a culture of innovation and excellence.
ILLINOIS TECH’S COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY
Illinois Institute of Technology is a community that values and respects its members. We appreciate that our faculty, staff, students, alumni/ae and trustees come from many backgrounds and many parts of the world. We embrace the contributions that differences offer. We are committed to providing a working and learning environment in which all students and all members of the faculty and staff are able to realize their full potential.
TELEPHONE DIALING DIRECTIONS
When dialing from non-Illinois Tech phones, use the entire prefix 567 or 808 for Mies Campus; or 906 for Downtown Campus; 682 for Rice Campus; 595 for Institute of Design). The area code for Mies, Downtown and ID Campuses is 312; for Rice 630; and for Moffett, 708. To call Illinois Tech extensions from Illinois Tech phones, drop the first two digits of the prefix.
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