Overview

History

The Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering offers a new kind of computing education—one where students not only learn how technology works, but also what it can accomplish.  Our interdisciplinary approach to research, as well as our innovative curriculum, is designed to instill a new generation of students with the knowledge, imagination, and flexibility to tackle complex issues from global warming to national security. We are training a new kind of thinker, one who is ready to solve the problems we face today and those that will challenge us tomorrow.

Computing education has a long and storied history at Indiana University. The Department of Computer Science, founded in 1971, has graduated thousands of students who have gone on to become leaders and innovators in technology development.

Founded in  2000 as the IU School of Informatics, the school added a new dimension to our technology programs. The School of Informatics was the first IT school of its kind—an innovative, interdisciplinary program where technology fuels discoveries in fields as diverse as music and microbiology. We offered the first Ph.D. in Informatics, as well as one of the first master’s degrees in cybersecurity.

Recognizing the vital connection between these fields and wanting to provide students with a richer educational experience, the Department of Computer Science and the School of Informatics joined forces in 2005, and the School of Library and Information Science  merged with the then-School of Informatics and Computing in 2012.

The intelligent systems engineering program, IU's first engineering program, was established in 2016. It provides a modern vision of engineering through technology with curriculum designed to teach students how to take on the next generation of solutions powered by computing and artificial intelligence. Our data science program prepares students to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret the massive amounts of data generated daily to become valuable data professionals who have the vision and skills to use data to solve problems, unite communities, prevent disasters,  transform industries, and most importantly, improve lives.

A transformative, $60 million gift from IU alumnus Fred Luddy in 2019 - the second-largest gift in Indiana University history - expanded support for faculty and students both at the graduate and undergraduate level. The gift also allowed the creation of the Luddy Center for Artificial Intelligence and served as a catalyst for the school.  In honor of Luddy's generosity, the school was renamed the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering.