IIT President Announces Plans to Retire Will remain as president until summer 2007
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) President Lewis Collens today announced his plan to retire in summer 2007. Collens, 68, is one of the longest serving university presidents in the United States. During his tenure at IIT, student quality and enrollment has improved dramatically, a number of significant research centers and institutes have been created, the university has strengthened financially with its endowment increasing from $50 million to $300 million, and its main campus has been physically transformed.
Collens will continue as president for the current academic year while the university’s chairman-elect, John Rowe (chairman, president and CEO of Exelon Corporation), will lead a national search for Collens’ successor.
Robert Pritzker, CEO of the Colson Group, who has served as chairman of the IIT Board during Collens’ presidency, said “Lew Collens’ vision and fierce commitment to academic excellence have made it very easy for me to support his stellar leadership during this time of extraordinary change.”
“Lew Collens has fundamentally transformed Illinois Institute of Technology, both academically and architecturally,” said Rowe. “He has laid the foundation to position IIT as a national leader in technology and entrepreneurship.”
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said “Lew Collens has provided exceptional leadership for IIT and strong support for the redevelopment of the Near South Side. He is a great citizen of Chicago.”
“Serving as president for the past 16 years at a university as historically distinguished as IIT has been intellectually challenging, professionally rewarding, and a great personal privilege,” Collens said. “I am in awe of the men and women I have come to know at IIT who dedicate their lives to the education of tomorrow’s doers, thinkers, visionaries, and leaders.”
Collens successfully led the largest fundraising campaign in university history. This included two gifts of $60 million each from Robert Pritzker and Robert Galvin, retired CEO, Motorola, Inc. - the largest individual gifts ever made to an Illinois university at the time.
During his tenure, the university’s endowment grew from $50 million to $300 million. A key element of this growth was the sale of a significant portion of its research arm, IIT Research Institute, to Alion Science and Technology.
In 1996 Collens championed an interprofessional approach to higher education that has enabled IIT to become a national leader in educating students to collaborate across multiple disciplines. IIT students not only learn to work in diverse team settings, but also how to apply different methodologies to address the complex problems facing our society. This interprofessional focus has provided a foundation for strong programs in leadership, entrepreneurship and the nationally- recognized project-based Interprofessional Projects (IPROs) where students from various disciplines and concentrations work together to solve real-world problems.
During his tenure Collens also encouraged development of several new academic programs, including biomedical engineering, financial markets, design, and math and science teacher education which today is one of the largest Ph.D. programs in the field.
Student quality and enrollment dramatically improved during Collens’ presidency. IIT is now among the most selective schools in the country and recently welcomed the largest freshmen class in recent history.
Dramatic improvements to IIT’s historic Mies van der Rohe main campus have been a hallmark of Collens’ presidency.
He initiated development of the new University Technology Park At IIT (UTP) to provide opportunities for students and faculty to work directly with technology entrepreneurs. UTP, which already has 14 start up companies housed in the complex, will ultimately grow to 1.5 million square feet of office and research space dedicated to technology and research based companies.
Collens also championed restoration of Mies’ iconic S. R. Crown Hall and the addition of the first new buildings to the main campus in 25 years – the McCormick Tribune Campus Center designed by Rem Koolhaas and a new residence hall, State Street Village designed by Helmut Jahn. “Remaining true to the Miesian architecture of our Main Campus has been a major commitment of the revitalization plan,” said Collens. “The restoration of Crown Hall, a signature building of legendary architect Mies van der Rohe, is a particularly significant accomplishment of my presidency.”
In addition to his achievements for the university, Collens is also active in civic, business and professional activities. He currently serves as a director of Dean Foods Company, AMSTED Industries, Alion Science and Technology Corp. and The Colson Group, Inc. Collens has also served in various leadership roles on the Advisory Committee of The Partnership for New Communities, Leadership Greater Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago, Association Independent Technological Universities, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, The Latin School of Chicago, and the Mayors Council of Technology Advisors.
Prior to joining Illinois Institute of Technology Collens practiced law in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and was co-founder and chairman of BAR/BRI Educational Publishing Co. Collens served as a Law and Humanities Fellow at Harvard Law School and taught corporate and securities law at IIT’s Chicago-Kent College of Law. He was named dean of in the law school in 1974 and was appointed president of IIT in 1990. Collens holds degrees in accounting (B.S. University of Illinois), philosophy (M.A. University of Illinois) and Law (J.D. University of Chicago).
Collens is a life-long resident of the Chicago area, where he lives with his wife Marge. They have one son, Steven.
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.
