New York Institute of Technology - History

History

In 1910, NYIT’s predecessor, New York Technical Institute, was licensed by the New York State Board of Regents. In 1955, NYIT opened under a provisional charter granted by the New York State Board of Regents to NYIT. Its first campus opened at 500 Pacific Street in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York.

The founders of NYIT, and in particular, Alexander Schure, Ph.D., started NYIT with the mission of offering career-oriented professional education, providing all qualified students access to opportunity, and supporting applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. Schure later served as NYIT's first president.

NYIT sought to meet critical national demands, particularly the need for scientists, engineers, and high-level technicians in the United States. In the higher education community at the time, a debate arose around the concern that humanities studies would be overshadowed by too much emphasis on science and engineering. NYIT's goal was to create a balance between science/engineering and a liberal arts education, and ever since, it has been focusing on this model to prepare students for current and future careers. NYIT's mission resonated among industry and learners. By the 1958–1959 academic year, the university had more than 300 students, and the time had come to expand its physical operations.

In April 1958, the college purchased the Pythian Temple at 135–145 W. 70th St. in Manhattan for its main center. The building, adjacent to the planned Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, was an ornate 12-story structure with a columned entranceway. Built in 1929 at a cost of $2 million, it included among its features a huge 1,200-seat auditorium.

In 1958, NYIT sponsored the first National Technology Awards, created by Frederick Pittera, an organizer of international fairs and a member of the NYIT Board of Trustees, to help raise funds for the NYIT science and technology laboratories. The awards, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, were attended by several hundred guests, with entertainment provided by the U.S. Air Force Band. Senator Lyndon Johnson was the keynote speaker. His speech was broadcast nationally by the ABC Radio Network. Among the honorees were Dr. Werner von Braun and Major General Bernard Schriever, Commanding General of the Ballistic Air Command. Photos, press clippings, and audio tapes of the event are on view at the Lyndon Johnson Library at Austin, Texas.

NYIT’s faculty designed curricula to incorporate modern technologies with teaching and applied academics. In 1959, NYIT introduced “teaching machines” for student instruction in physics, electronics, and mathematics. NYIT also pioneered the use of mainframes as a teaching tool, having received its first, donated by the CIT Financial Corporation, in 1965.

The curriculum was successful enough that NYIT received two grants totaling approximately $3 million from the federal government – one to develop a system of individualized learning through the use of computers; the other to develop a computer-based course in general physics for midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

NYIT was a pioneer in 3-D computer animation. Before Pixar and Lucasfilm, there was NYIT’s Computer Graphics Lab (CGL). In 1974, NYIT’s Computer Graphics Lab (CGL) was established and attracted the likes of: Pixar Animation Studios President Edwin Catmull and co-founder Alvy Ray Smith; Walt Disney Feature Animation Chief Scientist Lance Joseph Williams; Dreamworks animator Hank Grebe; and Netscape and Silicon Graphics founder Jim Clark.

In 1995, NYIT’s School of Engineering took first place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Air Road Rally. The student engineering team spent three years designing and building the high-performance hybrid electric car that beat out 43 other vehicles.

In 1998, NYIT opened its first international program in China.

In 2002, NYIT installed the fastest broadband network on the East Coast.

In 2003, NYIT opened its Bahrain campus to students seeking an American-style education in the Middle East.

In 2005, NYIT participated in its first Solar Decathlon, an international competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. NYIT was one of nineteen colleges internationally and the only school in the New York metropolitan area. The team, composed of students and faculty, captured fifth place honors.

In 2007, NYIT co-hosted the International Energy Conference and Exhibition in Daegu, South Korea. In that year, the university also received $500,000 in federal funding to develop a "green print" initiative to research alternative fuel technology and determine its carbon footprint.

In 2008, NYIT installed a state-of-the-art 3-D motion capture lab for its Fine Arts program in Old Westbury. The system allows the university to use Hollywood technology to teach the next generation of computer animators. Later that year, NYIT was awarded a $130,000 research contract by United Space Alliance to help NASA scientists design the crew module of the Orion spacecraft using 3-D motion capture technology. NYIT's College of Osteopathic Medicine also uses 3-D motion capture technology to help doctors better identify mobility and stability problems in patients with Parkinson's disease.

NYIT sponsored the first annual International Water Conference in July 2008 at the United Nations in New York City. The event brought together representatives from non-governmental organizations, international corporations, and universities to discuss the need to safeguard the planet's water resources. The following year, NYIT sponsored its second U.N. event, the International Energy Conference (Aug. 31-Sept. 1, 2009) to welcome energy secretaries, policy makers, and executives from multinational companies to examine opportunities and innovations in the field of sustainable technology.

Today, NYIT is recognized as one of the top science and engineering schools and now offers a total of 90 undergraduate degree, graduate degree programs, and medical degree programs to 14,000 students in academic areas such as architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine; with more than half pursuing advanced degrees. Campuses are located in New York (Manhattan and Old Westbury, Long Island), Bahrain (Manama/Adliya), Canada (Vancouver), China (Nanjing), Jordan (Amman), and the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi). NYIT's other global graduate degree programs are located in China at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics (JUFE) and Tongji University.

NYIT's plan for its future is a continuation of its original mission, defined by a 25-year plan introduced in 2005 called NYIT: 2030.