An abandoned airfield is an unusual place for the birth of a university. But in the summer of 1969, founding FIU president Chuck Perry gathered three leaders who would help him create his vision.

Butler Waugh, Donald McDowell and Nick Sileo joined the 31-year-old Perry at Tamiami Airport and set up shop in the former air traffic controllers' tower. The tower had no phones, no drinkable water and no furniture. President Perry decided that the control tower should never be destroyed and so it remains standing today at the center of campus, as FIU's Ivory Tower.

From that single building on that abandoned airfield, FIU has grown to be one of the largest universities in the country. The spirit of entrepreneurship born on that summer day thrives at today's FIU. 
As Miami's first and only public research university, offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, FIU is worlds ahead in its service to the academic and local community.

Designated as a top-tier research institution, FIU emphasizes research as a major component in the university's mission. The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the School of Computing and Information Sciences' Discovery Lab, are just two of many colleges, schools, and centers that actively enhance the university's ability to set new standards through research initiatives.

For over four decades, FIU has positioned itself as one of South Florida's anchor institutions by solving some of the greatest challenges of our time. We are dedicated to enriching the lives of the local and global community. With a student body of nearly 54,000, we are among the top 10 largest universities in the nation and have collectively graduated more than 200,000 alumni, 115,000 of whom live and work in South Florida.