Lawrence Technological University
Lawrence Technological University (LTU), frequently referred to as Lawrence Tech, is a private university in Southfield, Michigan. Lawrence Tech was founded in 1932 in Highland Park, Michigan, as the Lawrence Institute of Technology (LIT) by Russell E. Lawrence. The university moved to Southfield in 1955 and has since expanded to 107 acres (0.43 km2). The campus also includes the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Affleck House in Bloomfield Hills and the Detroit Center for Design + Technology in Midtown Detroit.[2][3]
Former names | Lawrence Institute of Technology |
---|---|
Motto | Theory and Practice |
Type | Private Non Profit |
Established | 1932 |
President | Virinder K. Moudgil |
Provost | Tarek Sobh |
Academic staff | 407 |
Students | 4,154 |
Undergraduates | 3,065 |
Postgraduates | 1,089 |
Location | , , United States |
Campus | Suburb 107 acres (43.3 ha) |
Colors | Blue and White [1] |
Athletics | NAIA – WHAC *ACHA Division 3 – MCHC (*men's hockey) |
Nickname | Blue Devils |
Affiliations | AITU NASAD |
Sports | 20 Varsity Teams |
Mascot | Blue, the Blue Devil |
Website | www |
The school offers undergraduate, masters, and doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering, architecture, and mathematics fields.[4] The university's four colleges are Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering. LTU's athletic teams are known as the Blue Devils. They compete in the NAIA and joined the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference in 2012.[5]
Academics
Lawrence Tech offers nearly 100 programs in four colleges, with a total enrollment of nearly 3,500 students, and employs over 400 full- and part-time faculty.[6]
The University is organized into four Colleges: Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, and Engineering.
In November 2016, LTU and St. John Providence Hospitals announced they had received state approval to establish a nursing education program. The program, which opened in August 2017, has classroom instruction at LTU's Southfield campus, with clinical and laboratory instruction at six St. John Providence hospital locations around metro Detroit. The new program will fall under Lawrence Tech's College of Arts and Sciences as a major in the LTU Department of Natural Sciences, granting a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. LTU will admit up to 32 students a year in the program. Lawrence Tech has hired Therese Jamison, DNP, ACNP-BC, as professor of nursing and director of the program. Jamison earned her Doctorate of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University. Earlier, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a master's degree in Nursing from Wayne State University, as well as a post-master's certificate as an acute care nurse practitioner from the University of Michigan. A veteran nursing specialist, Jamison continues to work one day a week as a nurse practitioner in cardiovascular services at St. John Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Warren Campus.[7]
In December 2020, LTU announced it would add a two-year master's degree level program in physician assistant studies in the fall of 2022, again in collaboration with Ascension. [8]
In its 2021 rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranked Lawrence Tech as tied for #37 in Regional Universities Midwest.[9]
Athletics
Lawrence Tech teams are known as the Blue Devils. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Wolverine–Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) while the university's second men's ice hockey team is a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) at the Division III level as a member of the Michigan Collegiate Hockey Conference (MCHC).[10] Men's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse and soccer; while women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball.
Lawrence Tech fielded athletic teams throughout its history from 1930 to 1962.[11] The 1950–51 men's basketball team played the 1951 National Invitation Tournament, held at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lawrence Tech was defeated by Dayton, 71-77 in the opening round of the tournament.[11] Blaine Denning, an alumnus from the 1951 team, went on to play professional basketball with the Baltimore Bullets of the NBA.[12]
Lawrence Tech re-instated athletic programs in 2011 and joined the NAIA.[13] Men's soccer and bowling, along with women's volleyball, joined the already established men's ice hockey team for the university's athletic offerings during the 2011–12 academic year.[12] During its fifth season in the NAIA, the university fielded teams in men's baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, hockey, volleyball, lacrosse, soccer and tennis, and women's basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.[12]
Thanks to a $1 million gift from an anonymous donor, during the summer of 2016 Lawrence Tech constructed an AstroTurf surface athletic field at the Point, the part of campus at the intersection of Northwestern Highway and 10 Mile Road. LTU's men's and women's soccer and lacrosse teams began playing on this field in August 2016. The project also includes a 40-car parking lot. In the summer of 2018, lighting for night games, a new scoreboard with a video replay display, temporary seating for 2,000 fans and a pressbox were constructed in preparation for the inaugural 2018 season of LTU's football team. The first football game, held Sept. 1, 2018, drew an overflow crowd of more than 3,800 fans. Future plans for the site include permanent stadium seating for 4,000 fans, a two-story team building with locker rooms, a weight room, and offices for trainers and coaches, and a concession and restroom building.[14]
In January 2017, Lawrence Tech announced that it would resume intercollegiate football competition, after a hiatus of more than 70 years dating back to just after World War II. The university has admitted two recruiting classes of about 90 student-athletes for a team that competed as an independent squad in the fall of 2018, and which will begin playing a full varsity schedule in the Mid-States Football Association of the NAIA in the fall of 2019. LTU hired Jeff Duvendeck, former head coach at Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College and a former assistant at Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, Grand Valley State University, and Tiffin (Ohio) University, as its head coach.[15][16] The Blue Devils finished 5-3 in their abbreviated first season, and attracted nearly 4,000 fans to their first game on Sept. 1, 2018.
Student life
Student organizations
On campus extracurricular activities include leadership opportunities and more than 60 student clubs and organizations. Student Government represents all organizations on campus. The university generally allows new student clubs in any interest area if they are supported by a student petition with at least 30 signatures.[17]
Fraternities and sororities
The University is also home to chapters of fraternities, including Alpha Sigma Phi, Theta Tau, Sigma Pi, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Phi Kappa Upsilon, and Phi Beta Sigma. The sororities represented on campus include Chi Omega Rho, Delta Tau Sigma, Delta Phi Epsilon, Kappa Beta Gamma, and Delta Sigma Theta.[17]
Notable alumni
- Steven A. Ballmer, while still simultaneously enrolled in high school, participated in Lawrence Tech's Summer Science Institute, then spent a year at the university, excelling in six of Lawrence Tech's top mathematics classes. Ballmer is the former CEO of Microsoft and current owner of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers.
- John DeLorean, B.S. Industrial engineering 1948 – Former GM executive who created the first muscle car and an American businessman who founded the DeLorean Motor Company based in Northern Ireland.
- Harvey Ferrero, B.S. Architectural Engineering 1955 - American architect, architectural illustration expert, the founder of Ferrero Architects, and a former adjunct professor of Lawrence Technological University.
- Alfred Taubman, former Lawrence Tech architecture student – was one of the nation's leading real estate developers, innovators, and owners of shopping malls throughout the U.S. He also owned Sotheby's auctioneers and the A&W restaurant chain.
- Lewis Veraldi, B.S. Mechanical Engineering 1968 – late father of the original Ford Taurus and Sable. As Ford Motor Company vice president in charge of car development, Veraldi pioneered cross-disciplinary personnel teams that led to the launch of these cars. The "team" development process he innovated has become the industry standard.[18]
Photo gallery
- Lawrence Tech's redesigned quad and the Taubman Center.
- Architecture building.
- The Center for Innovative Materials Research.
- University Technology and Learning Center.
References
- "Style Guide: Colors". Office of Marketing and Public Affairs, Lawrence Technological University. August 2, 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
- "Dec. 18 groundbreaking for new Midtown Detroit, Inc. building anchored by Lawrence Tech". Retrieved 2015-09-02.
- "History". Lawrence Technological University. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
- "Academics and Majors - Programs A-Z". Lawrence Technological University.
- "Metro & state: Lawrence Tech, Marygrove to be added to WHAC". Retrieved 2015-09-02.
- "Lawrence Tech Academics". Lawrence Technological University.
- "Lawrence Tech, St. John Providence to launch Bachelor's Degree in Nursing". Lawrence Technological University.
- "Lawrence Tech, Providence establish master's degree physician assistant program". Lawrence Technological University.
- "Lawrence Technological University". usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report, L.P. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
- Staff (October 26, 2011). "WHAC set to add 2 new schools". Livonia Observer. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- LewAllen, Dave (March 16, 2011). "60 years later: Lawrence Tech basketball's NIT appearance was the talk of the town!". WXYZ-TV. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- Miller, Jennie (September 28, 2011). "Lawrence Tech brings athletics back to campus". Southfield Sun. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- Satyanarayana, Megha (October 11, 2011). "Game on: Lawrence Tech brings back sports to lure students". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
- "New turf field coming to the Point at LTU". Retrieved 2016-08-02.
- Krupa, Gregg. "Lawrence Tech football back in the saddle". Detroit News.
- "LTU adding football team". Lawrence Technological University.
- "Current Student Organizations". Lawrence Technological University. Lawrence Technological University. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
- Information supplied by Lawrence Technological University's Office of Marketing and Public Affairs, 2010.