Lewis Collens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lewis Collens is the current president of the Illinois Institute of Technology. On September 12, 2006, Lew Collins announced his retirement. It is expected that his replacement will be found before summer, 2007. Collens, 68, is one of the longest serving university presidents in the United States.

In addition to his position as IIT's president, he serves as a director of Dean Foods Company, AMSTED Industries, Alion Science and Technology Corp. and The Colson Group, Inc. Collens has also served in various leadership roles on the Advisory Committee of The Partnership for New Communities, Leadership Greater Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago, Association Independent Technological Universities, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, The Latin School of Chicago, and the Mayors Council of Technology Advisors.

Prior to joining IIT Collens practiced law in Chicago and Washington, D.C., and was co-founder and chairman of BAR/BRI Educational Publishing Co. Collens served as a Law and Humanities Fellow at Harvard Law School and taught corporate and securities law at IIT’s Chicago-Kent College of Law. He was named dean of in the law school in 1974 and was appointed president of IIT in 1990. Collens holds degrees in accounting (B.S. University of Illinois), philosophy (M.A. University of Illinois) and Law (J.D. University of Chicago).