A Distinguished Past
Under Henry T. Heald’s presidency, Alumni Memorial Hall—a product of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s “almost nothing” philosophy—served as both an armory and a hub for the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps from its opening in 1946 until 1972. Originally dubbed the Navy Building, it now houses the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, yet honors all Illinois Tech alumni who gave their lives in active military service. It is also a testament to the more than 40,000 individuals who completed defense-related training courses at the university during 1941 to 1943 as well as to those in the V-12 Navy College Training Program—a nationwide effort that gave aspiring officers the opportunity to earn bachelor’s degrees at civilian institutions of higher learning.
