Olin was founded to radically change engineering education with the goal of fueling the technical innovation needed to solve the world’s complex future challenges.
In 1997, the F.W. Olin Foundation established the college with a visionary and unprecedented grant “to be an important and constant contributor to the advancement of engineering education in America and throughout the world.” From day one, Olin had no departments or tenured faculty, allowing for true collaboration and integration of efforts.