Greetings from Illinois Institute of Technology. The university is in the midst of an exciting period of change and opportunity. More than 2,200 students received degrees this May. Those who participated in our Main Campus commencement ceremony heard an enlivening address on innovation from keynote speaker, Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience for Google, Inc. IIT's strategic plan, Many Voices, One Vision, unveiled this spring, further positions the university as a leader in professional and technology-oriented education. One person who will help to take IIT to this next level of excellence is Natacha DePaola, new dean of Armour College of Engineering, who will be coming on board this summer. Her role as chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and her experience with strategic development are perfectly suited for IIT.
Like our students, many of our faculty are continuing their efforts to position the university as a leader in charting the course toward a cleaner and greener future. The Perfect Power System is one of IIT�s top projects for 2009 and the coming years. Based on a smart microgrid, the system will redefine the concept of electricity distribution and management, serving as a laboratory for helping to solve the widespread and costly problem of power outages. Perfect Power will also serve as a model resource for lawmakers, increase the energy efficiency of the IIT campus, and allow for exploration of other renewable electricity generation.
As one of the Midwest�s top Ph.D.-granting universities, with several nationally ranked programs, IIT is committed to the advancement of the human condition through quality teaching and research. Through our schools of engineering, the sciences and humanities, design, architecture, law, business, and psychology, we are educating students to excel in a complex global society.
One of the ways that we prepare our students is through participation in unique, team-based interprofessional projects that allow them to pursue challenging issues with students from a variety of majors and backgrounds. Our faculty research initiatives also are addressing some of the most complex topics of our time, from energy and sustainability to biomedicine to cancer research. And through University Technology Park, the university is helping to build the South Side of Chicago into a thriving hub for science entrepreneurs.
I encourage you to explore this website to learn more about the people—students, faculty, and staff—that make IIT distinctly unique.
Sincerely,
John Anderson• Students
• Faculty / Staff
John L. Anderson began his first full week as the eighth president of IIT with a press conference promoting alternative energy research and development with Congressman Dan Lipinski. Anderson was elected president in May 2007.