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Welcome to IPFW

Dear Friends and Visitors:

Welcome to Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, northeast Indiana’s premier center for educational excellence.

In 1966, IPFW celebrated its first commencement by awarding degrees to 47 students. The graduates who participated in this trail-blazing event were, like any other IPFW graduates, proud to have fulfilled their goals, grateful to their mentors, and eager to begin the next stage of their lives. But they are unique in that the completion of their IPFW degrees was not only life-changing for them but also marked a milestone for the many who would follow in their footsteps.

Today, we know what those early graduates could not: more than 40,000 other alumni have realized their dreams at IPFW in the past 40-plus years. It’s because of history-makers—like those 47 graduates—that IPFW has made such great strides. We’ve become the leading educational institution of northeast Indiana, offering more opportunities than any other university in the region.

Consider this:

• In 1964, only about 3,000 students attended IPFW. Today, IPFW has nearly 12,000 students from nearly all 50 states and more than 40 countries.
• We now attract the best and brightest students, with more top-10 seniors in Allen County choosing IPFW over any other university in 2004.
• Just one four-year degree program was offered in 1965. Today, the university offers more than 190 undergraduate and graduate programs, and students can earn bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, minors, and certificates, not to mention master’s degrees and graduate-level certificates.
• Our athletics program started out in a high school gym. Today, we have our own athletics facility, 16 NCAA Division I sports, and basketball games held in the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
• University life has become an important contributor to the region’s cultural growth, with more than 1,500 free events on campus each year and 95 growing and active student organizations.
• For most of our history, IPFW students have had to drive to class. Today, they can walk—from IPFW Student Housing over the Willis Family Bridge.
• The IPFW campus has evolved from just one building—Kettler Hall—into a multicampus community with more than 20 buildings. Construction was recently completed for the John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center, and plans are moving ahead for construction of a health sciences building, a six-story hotel, and expansion for a student-services complex.
• Scholarly research at IPFW has expanded greatly, with more than $5 million in grants and contracts awarded in the past year to faculty and staff pursuing greater knowledge in their fields. The university is also home to nine Centers of Excellence, providing expertise and resources to the community.

Thanks to visionaries—students, faculty and staff, alumni and donors, and community partners—IPFW has truly become a world-class institution. We’ve remained committed to excellence in academics and research, as we’ve striven to enrich the lives of students and the community. That’s been our formula for success, and we plan to continue using it well into the future.

I hope you enjoy your visit to the IPFW Web site and plan to visit our campus soon.

Michael A. Wartell, Chancellor

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