By unanimous decision from the Illinois Institute of Technology Board of Trustees, Raj Echambadi, a noted innovation researcher, was named the 10th president of the university and began his new role on Monday, August 16. The former Dunton Family Dean at D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University will be inaugurated in a Mies Campus ceremony on Friday, September 17, as part of Illinois Tech’s Homecoming & Alumni Awards Weekend.
In a video prepared for the university community, Echambadi spoke of Frank Wakeley Gunsaulus’s “Million Dollar Sermon” and its timeless message of establishing an academic institution that would provide an education for the city’s diverse population.
“Illinois Tech has been an opportunity engine enabling our students’ economic mobility by offering exceptional and world-class technology and innovation across multiple disciplines. Never has this mission been more relevant as we rise out of this global pandemic in order to meet the challenges and opportunities of this unprecedented moment,” he said. “Illinois Tech, through its multidisciplinary and entrepreneurial ethos, is well prepared to lead into the future of abundant and thriving opportunities. A future that creates pathways and offers incredible possibilities is essential for extraordinary innovation, for an inclusive economy, and for our long-run social equity.”
Learn more about Echambadi’s vision for the university in this WTTW Chicago Tonight presentation. You can also look forward to reading about the new president in the fall 2021 edition of Illinois Tech Magazine.