In 1890, when advanced education was often reserved for society’s elite, Chicago minister Frank Gunsaulus delivered what became known as the “Million Dollar Sermon.” From the pulpit of his South Side church, near the site Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) 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 Gusaulus’ 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 Armour Institute.

When Armour Institute opened in 1893, the institute offered professional courses in engineering, chemistry, architecture and library science. IIT was created in 1940 by the merger of Armour Institute with Lewis Institute (est. 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 IIT in 1949.

In 1969, IIT became one of the few technology-based universities with a law school when Chicago-Kent College of Law, founded 1887, became an integral part of the university. Stuart School of Business was added in 1969, with a gift from the estate of Lewis Institute alumnus and Chicago financier Harold Leonard Stuart. The school became the Stuart Graduate School of Business in 1999. Midwest College of Engineering, founded in 1967, joined the university in 1986, forming the nucleus for IIT’s west suburban campus.

Today, IIT is a private, Ph.D.-granting university with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. One of the 16 institutions that comprise the Association of Independent Technological Universities (AITU), IIT offers exceptional preparation for professions that require technological sophistication. Through a committed faculty and close personal attention, IIT provides a challenging academic program focused by the rigor of the real world.

IIT has more than 38,000 living alumni and is known as the alma mater of
accomplishments as well as people. IIT scientists and engineers have made some of the century’s most important technological advances, including the invention of magnetic recording and the development of re-entry technology for spacecraft. IIT architects have shaped the skyline of Chicago and cities throughout the world.

The university’s senior administration, along with all undergraduate programs is headquartered on the 120-acre main campus on Chicago’s South Side, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The Main Campus is also home to graduate programs in architecture, engineering, the sciences and the Institute of Psychology.

The state-of-the-art, 10-story Downtown Campus at 565 West Adams Street houses Chicago-Kent College of Law and the Stuart Graduate School of Business.

The Institute of Design, an international leader in teaching systemic, human-centered design, is located at 350 N. LaSalle Street in Chicago's Near North neighborhood.

The 19-acre Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Campus in Wheaton complements area community colleges, serving west suburban residents and employees in Illinois' high-tech corridor by offering graduate programs, upper-level undergraduate courses, and continuing professional education.

The five-acre Moffett Campus in Summit-Argo houses the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), a unique consortium of government, industry and academia that seeks to improve the quality of our nation's food supply.

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.