Our mission started in 1890 with the “Million Dollar Sermon,” when Chicago minister Frank Wakely Gunsaulus said that with $1 million he could build a school where students of all backgrounds could prepare for meaningful roles in a changing industrial society.
Inspired by this vision, Philip Danforth Armour Sr gave $1 million to found Armour Institute in 1893, which offered professional courses in engineering, chemistry, architecture, and library science. In 1940 Armour Institute merged with Lewis Institute to create Illinois Tech.
More than 80 years later, Illinois Tech has grown to become the premiere technology university in Chicago, fueling innovation in the city.
Our campus is a national historical landmark, and is the only campus with buildings designed by the legendary architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Our alumni have invented the cell phone, barcode technology, Alexa, and built the Chicago skyline. Our students come from 90 different countries, representing a global community that believes in lifting others up and leading innovation in an ever-changing society—just as Frank Gunsaulus intended.
