Illinois Institute of Technology President Elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities
Lew Collens, president of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ill., has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). He assumed his new responsibilities on January 31 at the association’s 25th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
NAICU serves as the unified national voice of independent higher education, and represents nearly 1,000 private nonprofit colleges and universities on policy issues with the federal government. The NAICU Board sets the association’s legislative, research, and communications agendas, and establishes guidelines for accomplishing its priorities.
“The 2000 election brings a host of new opportunities and challenges in Washington, D.C., on the student aid, tax, and regulatory issues that affect every independent college and university,” said NAICU President David L. Warren. “I’m delighted that Lew Collens has been elected by his peers to join the NAICU Board. He will bring leadership experience and a keen understanding of the issues that will face us.”
Lew Collens has been president of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) since 1990. Before assuming the presidency, Collens was dean of the Chicago-Kent College of Law at IIT for 16 years.
During his tenure, the university has seen its research volume grow significantly. It has reached out to support community schools and economic development efforts, and has undertaken the largest fund raising campaign in its history. IIT has quintupled its endowment, and has begun a substantial reinvestment in campus buildings and grounds.
Collens is actively involved in the Chicago business community, and serves as a director of AMSTED Industries and Dean Foods Co. He is on the boards of the Latin School of Chicago and the Illinois VentureTECH Advisory Committee, and is a former president of Leadership Greater Chicago.
He received his bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and his law degree from the University of Chicago.
Collens will serve a three-year term as an at-large member of the association’s 44-person board.
Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.
