$2 Million Raised to Establish Collens Scholarship Program

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) has established the Collens Scholarship Program to benefit Chicago Public School students entering IIT, in honor of Lew Collens, who is retiring after 17 years as president of the university.

At a dinner honoring Collens, $2 million was raised to begin the program, which was announced last November. Beginning this fall, the Collens Scholarship is available to any Chicago Public School graduate who meets IIT's rigorous academic standards and whose family has an annual income of less than $40,000. The scholarship provides for all tuition, books and fees.

"The Collens Scholarship is an expression of the IIT mission to transform lives, and a fitting tribute to Lew, who rescued and transformed IIT," said John W. Rowe, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation and Chairman of IIT's Board of Trustees. "It honors the spirit of Philip Armour, when he founded the Armour Institute to serve children of the city’s working class in 1890."

Lew Collens is a lifelong Chicagoan and attended Chicago Public Schools, graduating from Senn High School. He came to IIT as a law professor in the 1970s and soon became dean, serving for 16 years before his 17 years as IIT’s president.

At the dinner, Collens received the 2007 Henry Townley Heald Award, the highest award bestowed by IIT. It honors the memory of the university's first president and is awarded to an individual who commits his or her efforts for the public good. Heald Award recipients are an inspiration to humankind, placing service above self and exhibiting intellectual and ethical integrity. The award was presented to Collens by Leon Lederman, Nobel Laureate, IIT Pritzker Professor of Science, and previous Heald Award recipient.

"It has been an honor to serve IIT as president," Collens said. "I am especially pleased that low-income Chicago Public Schools students will have the opportunity to attend IIT without concern about cost. As I retire, it is a legacy of which I am very proud."

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 6,700 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment.