Institute of Design

Institute of Design is the design school at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and is widely recognized for advancing human-centered design, systems thinking, and strategic design at the graduate level. Founded in 1937 as the New Bauhaus by László Moholy-Nagy, the school became the Institute of Design in 1944 and later joined Illinois Institute of Technology in 1949. That history places it among the most influential design institutions in the United States, linking Bauhaus experimentation with contemporary work in research, innovation, and complex problem solving. Its academic portfolio centers on graduate education. The school offers the Master of Design, Master of Design + MBA, Master of Design + Master of Public Administration, and PhD in Design. It also runs professional education through ID Academy, extending design methods to working professionals and organizations. The Institute of Design serves students and practitioners who want to apply design beyond traditional product or graphic practice, including work on services, systems, policy, and organizational change. The school’s location in Chicago anchors its role within a major urban research university while giving it national and international reach. Its curriculum emphasizes methods for understanding users, framing problems, prototyping, and translating insight into strategy. As part of Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design contributes to graduate education, interdisciplinary collaboration, and design research with a focus on real-world challenges faced by businesses, public-sector institutions, and communities. Its legacy and current programs make it a distinctive center for advanced design study in the United States.