Florida Institute of Technology

Florida Institute of Technology

Motto	Ad Astra Per Scientiam "To the stars through science."
Type	Private
Established	September 22, 1958
Endowment	$66.2 million
President	T. Dwayne McCay
Academic staff	623
Students	6,631
Undergraduates	3,586
Postgraduates	3,045
Location	Melbourne, Florida, U.S. 28°03′56.78″N 80°37′28.14″W / 28.0657722°N 80.6244833°W / 28.0657722; -80.6244833Coordinates: 28°03′56.78″N 80°37′28.14″W / 28.0657722°N 80.6244833°W / 28.0657722; -80.6244833
Campus	Small city 130 acres (.53 km²)
Colors	Crimson and Gray
Nickname	Panthers
Mascot	Pete the Panther
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division II Sunshine State Conference Gulf South Conference (football only) Peach Belt Conference (track only)
Website	www.fit.edu

The Florida Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Florida Tech and FIT) is a private doctoral/research university in Melbourne, Florida. Florida Tech has six academic divisions with emphases on science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), aviation and human-centered design. The university's 130-acre primary residential campus is located near the Melbourne International Airport and the Florida Tech Research Park. It is about 50 miles (80 km) from the Kennedy Space Center and 75 miles (121 km) from Orlando.

The university was founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College and has been known by its present name since 1966. In 2013, Florida Tech had an on-campus student body of 4,633, almost equally divided between graduate- and undergraduate-level students with the majority of them focusing their studies on engineering and the sciences.

Florida Institute of Technology was founded as Brevard Engineering College by Dr. Jerome P. Keuper in 1958. Classes were originally held at the Melbourne Municipal Airport in buildings formerly used by the Naval Air Station Melbourne. In 1961, the university moved its location to Melbourne, Florida. During the 1960s additional classroom and laboratory buildings, a library, the Denius Student Center, Hedgecock Gymnasium, Gleason Auditorium and several dormitories were constructed. The university was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1964 and officially changed its name to Florida Institute of Technology in 1966.

In 1972, the university launched its first off-campus program at the request of the United States Navy.

The Evans Library was completed in the early 1984. The following year the original library was renovated and dedicated as the Jerome P. Keuper Administration Building. In 1988, the Homer R. Denius Student Center was renovated, the student plaza completed, and the applied research laboratory building acquired. The Claude Pepper Institute for Aging and Therapeutic Research and Skurla Hall, home of the School of Aeronautics, opened in 1990. In 1997, the university received a $50 million grant from the F. W. Olin Foundation. An engineering building and life sciences building were opened in 1999 in result of the grant.