Wentworth Institute of Technology
Encyclopedia
The Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is an independent, co-educational, technical design and engineering college located in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through its fifteen bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 programs in areas such as architecture, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

, engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

, engineering technology, and management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

, as well as Masters degrees in architecture and construction management
Construction management
Construction Project Management is the overall planning, coordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a client’s requirements in order to produce a functionally and financially viable project that will be complete mingement is project management that applies...

. Wentworth is one of six institutions of higher learning known collectively as the Colleges of the Fenway
Colleges of the Fenway
]The Colleges of the Fenway is a collegiate consortium in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The association promotes collaboration between local schools to enhance the variety of educational programs; to gain economics benefits through shared research, medical, and...

.

History

In 1903, Boston businessman Arioch Wentworth left the bulk of his estate, estimated at $7 million, for the purpose of founding an industrial school within the city. Accordingly, a board of seven directors incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...

 Wentworth Institute on April 5, 1904, as a school "to furnish education in the mechanical arts." The directors spent several years investigating the educational needs of the community and increased the endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....

 — only $3.5 million at the time and reached a settlement with Wentworth's daughter, who had contested his will. — The campus was established in Boston's Back Bay Fens
Back Bay Fens
The Back Bay Fens, most commonly called simply The Fens, is a parkland and urban wild in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to serve as a link in the Emerald Necklace park system, the Fens gives its name to the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, and thereby to...

, and Arthur L. Williston was hired as the first principal of the college.

On September 25, 1911, Wentworth opened its doors as a technical school
Technical school
Technical school is a general term used for two-year college which provide mostly employment-preparation skills for trained labor, such as welding, culinary arts and office management.-Associations supporting technical schools:...

 to 242 students. The school quickly gained enrollment and by 1919, it had 1,800 students in day and evening programs and 45 teachers. In 1953, Wentworth named its first president, H. Russell Beatty. Wentworth became a degree-granting institution in 1957 and began awarding its first baccalaureate-level degrees in 1970. Wentworth changed from a commuter college to a residential campus in the 1960s with the addition of several residence halls.

{| style="text-align:center; float: right; font-size:85%; margin-left: 2em;" align="center" class="wikitable"
|+ Demographics of WIT
!Ethnicity !! Percentage
|-
! Caucasian American
| 75.5%
|-
! Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...


| 4.7%
|-
! African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...


| 4.1%
|-
! Hispanic American
| 3.4%
|-
! International
International student
According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development , international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their own national...


| 3.0%
|-
! Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...


| 0.1%
|-
! Multiracial/Other
Multiracial American
Multiracial Americans, US residents who identify themselves as of "two or more races", were numbered at around 9 million, or 2.9% of the population, in the census of 2010. However there is considerable evidence that the real number is far higher. Prior to the mid-20th century many people hid their...


| 9.2%
|}

In 1972, the Institute admitted its first female students. By 2005, women represented 21% of the academic population. In 1975, cooperative education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...

 programs were introduced at Wentworth. In 1973, Wentworth instructors unionized to join the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...

 and on October 28, 1977, the teachers of Wentworth went on strike. Before 1977, the college's lower and upper divisions operated as two separate schools; in that year these two schools merged and theWentworth Institute of Technology was created. With admissions numbers growing, Wentworth expanded by acquiring the Ira Allen School building from the city of Boston in 1980 and the former Boston Trade High School in 1983.

Major renovations to the third floor of Annex Hall were enacted in 1989 at a cost of $1 million to add architectural studios and facilities. After renovation, Wentworth gained accreditation from the National Architectural Accrediting Board
National Architectural Accrediting Board
The National Architectural Accrediting Board is the sole authority for accredited US professional degree programs for architecture in the United States, developing standards and procedures to verify that each accredited program meets standards for the appropriate education of architects...

 in 1991. In 1993, Wentworth introduced a pair of five-year engineering programs to the curriculum: electromechanical engineering and environmental science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...

. In 2002, these programs received initial accreditation from the Engineering Accreditation Commission.

In 2001 and 2005 Wentworth opened new residence halls with 473 and 360 beds respectively, ending Wentworth's status as a majority commuter school.

On June 8, 2005, Zorica Pantic
Zorica Pantic
Zorica Pantic, born circa 1951 in the former Yugoslavia, is a college administrator and professor of electrical engineering. In 2005 she was appointed the fourth president of Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston....

 was announced as Wentworth's fourth president. She assumed office on August 1, 2005, as the first female engineer to head an institute of technology. Her inaugural ceremony was held on April 5, 2006.

In November 2009, Wentworth became a master's degree-granting institution, with the creation and accreditation of its Master of Architecture
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...

 (M.Arch.
Master of Architecture
The Master of Architecture is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation that result in receiving a license.-Overview:...

) program.

Academics

Wentworth has seven academic departments: the Department of Applied Mathematics
Applied mathematics
Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with mathematical methods that are typically used in science, engineering, business, and industry. Thus, "applied mathematics" is a mathematical science with specialized knowledge...

 and Sciences, the Department of Architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...

, the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, the Department of Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

 and Systems; the Department of Design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

 and Facilities, the Department of Electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...

 and Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...

; and the Department of Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....

, Social Sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...

, and Management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

. Wentworth offers bachelor's degrees in fourteen engineering, technology, design and management majors. Wentworth's co-op program, which begins during a student's junior year, prepares students to enter the work force through practical laboratory experiments, studios and co-op working experience.

Wentworth is a technology-oriented college; all of the residence hall rooms and suites have hard-wired high speed Internet access and all incoming freshman receive a laptop as part of the Institute's Laptop Initiative to provide all students with the proper tools and skills to succeed. Depending on the student's major, a student will receive either an Apple
Apple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...

 Macbook Pro or a Lenovo Thinkpad to work with. The program, started in 2004 also guarantees that all students have adequate software for all courses and are capable of accomplishing all projects assigned.

Cooperative education

As a fundamental part of Wentworth education, the Institute requires students to complete two cooperative education
Cooperative education
Cooperative education is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for structured job experience...

 semesters in work placements. These can be anywhere in the world and are always related to the career major of the student to prepare students for postgraduate work or further study. By the end of the two mandatory co-op semesters, students should be better prepared to enter the work force with considerable experience.

Center for Community & Learning Partnerships

The Center for Community and Learning Partnerships supports neighborhood concerns while enhancing the educational and professional environment at Wentworth. It is the hub for community service, service learning, and college access and success initiatives at the Institute.
Projects and programs facilitated through the Center during the 2007-08 academic year engaged more than 1,800 students who contributed 116,000 hours to community-based work and service. According to the Independent Sector and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It is the principal fact-finding agency for the U.S. government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is a governmental statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and...

, a volunteer hour in Massachusetts was valued at $25.47 in 2007. Based on this figure, Wentworth’s service efforts had an estimated economic impact of approximately $3 million for the 2007-08 academic year.

Wentworth's civic engagement work garnered national recognition in 2008, earning the Elective Classification for Campus and Community Engagement from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Campus

The Wentworth campus spreads over 35 acres (141,640.1 m²) in the Fenway, an urban neighborhood of Boston. It consists primarily of 15 buildings for administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, laboratories, a library and athletic facilities. The main buildings are on Huntington Avenue.

The MBTA Green Line provides light-rail mass transit service at two stations. The Institute's neighbors include the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Northeastern University, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is an accredited, private institution located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area of Boston, Massachusetts...

 and the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...

.

Students enrolled for full-time study may live in one of eight residence halls near the main campus buildings. Baker Hall is the home of the First-Year Experience (FYE), where incoming students have the chance to socialize in a more extensive way due to closely grouped residence halls. Other residence halls include Evans Way/Tudbury hall, the Louis Prang
Louis Prang
Louis Prang was an American printer, lithographer and publisher. He is sometimes known as the "father of the American Christmas card".- Youth :...

/Vancouver Street apartments and the Edwards/Rogers halls for upperclassmen.

Student body

Most Wentworth students are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. The Institute also has international students from Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Most students choose on-campus housing, which creates a large community of diverse students.

A larger portion of the student body has historically been composed of male students. To balance this, the Institute has placed an emphasis on female applicants and has a number of programs and areas dedicated to women. Resources for women include the Women's Center (a designated female lounge), the Woman to Woman Program, and the establishment of the Society of Women Engineers
Society of Women Engineers
The Society of Women Engineers , founded in 1950, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is the driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for...

 on campus. More women entering fields such as architecture and engineering has led to more female applicants and female enrollment has recently increased.

Athletics

Wentworth's athletics programs include 15 varsity, two club, and six intramural sports, emphasizing both men's and women's sports.

Wentworth's athletic program competes as a Division III member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 and holds memberships in the Commonwealth Coast Conference
Commonwealth Coast Conference
The Commonwealth Coast Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA’s Division III. Member institutions are located in New England in the States of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island....

 and Eastern College Athletic Conference
Eastern College Athletic Conference
The Eastern College Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 21 sports . It has 317 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from Maine to North Carolina and west to Illinois...

.

Since 1989, the Leopards have captured 16 conference championships in Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

, Men's Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

, Golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

, Men's Soccer, and Men's Tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. Wentworth has earned an invitation to the NCAA Division III Tournament six times (Men's Basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

: 1997 and 2007; Hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...

: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004) in the last 10 years. Wentworth received ECAC Tournament bids in baseball, men's basketball, hockey, lacrosse, men's soccer and women's soccer within the last 12 years.

A multi-purpose athletic field, a gift from Myles Sweeney '28 and his wife, Eugenia, opened in 1996. Sweeney Field is in front of the main building of the Institute - Wentworth Hall. Since 1996, the men's and women's soccer teams have enjoyed a combined home record of 81-27-2 (75% won).

Individual student-athletes have garnered numerous all-league, rookie of the year, and player of the year honors throughout Wentworth's history, with four student-athletes earning five Verizon/CoSIDA Academic honors in the last 11 years.

Student clubs and organizations

  • National Society of Black Engineers
    National Society of Black Engineers
    National Society of Black Engineers , founded in 1975 at Purdue University, is one of the largest student-run organizations in the US, centered on improving the recruitment and retention of African-American engineering students.-History:...

     (NSBE) NSBE/WIT
  • Wentworth Student Government (WSG)http://myweb.wit.edu/wsg
  • Wentworth Internet Radio Experience (WIRE)
  • Wentworth Events Board (WEB)
  • American Institute of Architecture Students WIT Chapter (AIAS)
  • Wentworth Architecture Club (WAC)
  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
  • Wentworth Architecture Review (WAr)
  • Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers WIT Chapter (SHPE @ WIT)
  • Wentworth Environmental Club (Green Team)
  • American Society of Civil Engineers (WIT Chapter)
  • Mechanical Contractors Association of America (WIT Chapter)
  • Student Association of Interior Designers (SAID)
  • Student Association of Facility Managers (SAFM)
  • Peer Educators Advancing Knowledge (PEAK)
  • Association of Information Technology Professionals WIT Chapter (AITP)
  • Society of Women Engineers WIT Chapter (SWE)
  • Wentworth Alliance (WITA)

Notable alumni

  • Vahe Aghabegians
    Vahe Aghabegians
    Vahe Aghabegians was educated in Armenian schools of Teheran. After graduating from high school, in 1973, he left for the United States, where he attended Wentworth Institute of Technology and Northeastern University in Boston and received a BS in Electrical Engineering in 1978.From 1975 to 1979...

  • Luther Blount
    Luther Blount
    Luther H. Blount was an American entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist. Blount was a shipbuilder and holds 22 patents; most of which are relating to his trade.- Biography :...

     (MC&TD '37), entrepreneur, prolific inventor
  • George Chamillard
    George Chamillard
    George W. Chamillard is an American business executive who served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Teradyne, a manufacturer of automatic test equipment for semiconductor devices, from 2000 to 2006....

     (IE '58), former chairman and CEO of Teradyne, Inc.
  • Russell Colley
    Russell Colley
    Russell Colley created the spacesuits worn by the Project Mercury astronauts, including fitting Alan B. Shepard Jr. for his historic ride as America's first man in space on May 5, 1961.- Early life :Colley was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1899...

     (MC&TD '18), prolific inventor, NASA
    NASA
    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

     engineer, inventor of silver nylon space suit used in first manned space flight
  • Joe Lauzon
    Joe Lauzon
    Joseph E. Lauzon Jr. is an American mixed martial artist from Brockton, Massachusetts. He currently lives in Massachusetts and is training at Lauzon MMA in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.-Early life and background:...

     (BCNS '06), mixed martial artist
  • David Lovering (EET '82), musician, drummer for the Pixies
  • Stephen F. Lynch (CMW '88), U.S. Representative from Massachusetts
  • Robert H. Swanson, Jr. (PET '59), founder and chairman of Linear Technology
    Linear Technology
    Linear Technology Corporation designs, manufactures and markets a broad line of standard high performance analog integrated circuits. Applications for the company's products include telecommunications, cellular telephones, networking products, notebook and desktop computers, video/multimedia,...

  • John A. Volpe
    John A. Volpe
    John Anthony Volpe was the 61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts and a U.S. Secretary of Transportation.-Early life and education:Volpe was born in 1908 in Wakefield, Massachusetts. He was the son of Italian immigrants Vito and Filomena , who had come from Abruzzo to Boston's North End in 1905;...

     (AC '30), Governor of Massachusetts
    Governor of Massachusetts
    The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

    , United States Secretary of Transportation
    United States Secretary of Transportation
    The United States Secretary of Transportation is the head of the United States Department of Transportation, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fourteenth in the Presidential line of succession. The post was created with the formation of the Department of Transportation on October 15, 1966,...

    , namesake of the John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
    John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center
    The John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center or simply Volpe Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a center of transportation and logistics expertise, operating under the United States Department of Transportation....


External links

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