Louisiana Tech University

Louisiana Tech University
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Louisiana Tech University LouisianaTechSeal.png
Former names
    Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana (1894–1898)
Louisiana Industrial Institute (1898–1921)
Louisiana Polytechnic Institute (1921–1970)
Motto     Union, Justice and Confidence
Established     1894
Type     Public, Space grant
Endowment     $92 million
President     Les Guice
Students     11,271
Undergraduates     9,545
Postgraduates     1,726
Location     Ruston, Louisiana, United States
32.52736°N 92.64701°WCoordinates: 32.52736°N 92.64701°W
Campus     Rural, 1,774 acres (7.18 km2)
Colors     Red & Blue
        
Athletics     NCAA Division I FBS – C-USA
Sports     16 varsity teams
Nickname     Bulldogs & Lady Techsters
Mascot     Champ & Tech
Affiliations     UL System
APLU
SURA
Website     www.latech.edu
LATech logo.png

Louisiana Tech University, colloquially referred to as Louisiana Tech or La. Tech, is a coeducational public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier One national university by the 2015 U.S. News & World Report college rankings and is the only Tier One national university in the nine-member University of Louisiana System.[4] As a designated space grant college, member of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, member of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and Carnegie Research University with high research activity (RU/H), Louisiana Tech conducts research with ongoing projects funded by agencies such as NASA, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Louisiana Tech is one of only 35 comprehensive research universities in the nation and the only university in Louisiana to be designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education and Research by the National Security Agency (NSA) and the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS).[5] The university is known for its engineering and science programs.

Louisiana Tech opened as the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana in 1894 during the Second Industrial Revolution. The original mission of the college was for the education of students in the arts and sciences for the purpose of developing an industrial economy in post-Reconstruction Louisiana.[6] Four years later, the state constitution changed the school's name to Louisiana Industrial Institute. In 1921, the college changed its name to Louisiana Polytechnic Institute to reflect its evolution into a larger and more capable institute of technology. Under the leadership of Dr. F. Jay Taylor, the college continued to grow and change over time. Louisiana Polytechnic Institute became desegregated in the 1960s and officially changed its name to Louisiana Tech University in 1970 as the school developed into a research university.

Louisiana Tech enrolled 11,271 students in five academic colleges during the Fall 2014 academic quarter including 1,726 students in the graduate school.[1] In addition to the main campus in Ruston, Louisiana Tech holds classes at the Louisiana Tech University Shreveport Center, Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City, Barksdale Air Force Base, and on the CenturyLink campus in Monroe.

Louisiana Tech fields 16 varsity NCAA Division I sports teams (7 men's, 9 women's teams) and is a member of Conference USA of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The university is known for its Bulldogs football team and Lady Techsters women's basketball program which won three national championship titles (1981, 1982, 1988) and made 13 Final Four appearances in the program's history.