California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Although founded as a preparatory and vocational school by Amos G. Troop in 1891, the college attracted influential scientists such as George Ellery Hale, Arthur Amos Noyes, and Robert Andrews Millikan in the early 20th century. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910, and the college assumed its present name in 1921. In 1934, Cal tech was elected to the Association of American Universities, and the antecedents of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which Cal tech continues to manage and operate, were established between 1936 and 1943 under Theodore Von Kármán.The university is one among a small group of Institutes of Technology in the United States which tends to be primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences.Cal tech has six academic divisions with strong emphasis on science and engineering, managing $332 million in 2011 in sponsored research. Its 124 acre  primary campus is located approximately 11 mi  northeast of downtown Los Angeles. First-year students are required to live on campus, and 95% of undergraduates remain in the on-campus house system. Although Cal tech has a strong tradition of practical jokes and pranks,student life is governed by an honor code which allows faculty to assign take-home examinations. The Cal tech Beavers compete in 13 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA Division Wii's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.Cal tech started as a vocational school founded in Pasadena in 1891 by local businessman and politician Amos G. Troop. The school was known successively as Troop University, Troop Polytechnic Institute and Manual Training School] and Troop College of Technology, before acquiring its current name in 1920. The vocational school was disbanded and the preparatory program was split off to form an independent Polytechnic School in 1907.At a time when scientific research in the United States was still in its infancy, George Ellery Hale, a solar astronomer from the University of Chicago, founded the Mount Wilson Observatory in 1904. He joined Troop's board of trustees in 1907, and soon began developing it and the whole of Pasadena into a major scientific and cultural destination. He engineered the appointment of James A. B. Scherzo, a literary scholar untutored in science but a capable administrator and fund raiser, to Troop's presidency in 1908. Schemer persuaded retired businessman and trustee Charles W. Gates to donate $25,000 in seed money to build Gates Laboratory, the first science building on campus.
     
        Cal tech's 124 acre primary campus is located in Pasadena, California, approximately 11 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is within walking distance of Old Town Pasadena and the Pasadena Playhouse District and therefore the two locations are frequent getaways for Cal tech students.In 1917 Hale hired architect Bertram Good hue to produce a master plan for the 22 acres campus. Good hue conceived the overall layout of the campus and designed the physics building, Delaney Hall, and several other structures, in which he sought to be consistent with the local climate, the character of the school, and Hale's educational philosophy. Good hue's designs for Cal tech were also influenced by the traditional Spanish mission architecture of Southern California.