California Institute of Technology

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California Institute of Technology
Motto"The truth shall make you free"[1]
TypePrivate
Established1891
EndowmentUS $1.55 billion[2]
PresidentJean-Lou Chameau
Academic staff
294 professorial faculty
1207 other faculty[3]
Students2175[4]
Undergraduates967[4]
Postgraduates1208[4]
Location, ,
CampusUrban, 124 acres (50 ha)
ColorsOrange and White   
AthleticsNCAA Division III
MascotBeaver
Websitecaltech.edu

The California Institute of Technology (called "Caltech" for short) is a major American research university in the city of Pasadena in the state of California. Caltech specializes - is especially good, or especially interested - in the study of engineering, computer science, and the physical sciences (some physical sciences are physics and chemistry, as well as others). Caltech is also in charge of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also called JPL. JPL is part of NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is the part of the United States government that explores space. Caltech is not owned or run by the United States, or NASA, but NASA pays Caltech to run JPL for them. By most measures, it is the most selective college/university in the world and has one of the highest faculty-to-student ratios in the world.

Caltech's mascot is the beaver. Many schools that specialize in engineering have beavers for their mascot, because in the wild, beavers are known for making dams, and so people think that they are the animal most like engineers.

Famous alumni[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  • "California Institute of Technology". caltech.edu. Retrieved June 28, 2008.
  1. The motto is largely unused since 1990, when the logo displaying it was replaced by the Centennial logo.
  2. As of FY 2010. "U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2010 Endowment Market Value and Percentage Change in Endowment Market Value from FY 2009 to FY 2010" (PDF). 2010 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments. National Association of College and University Business Officers. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
  3. "Caltech: At a Glance". California Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on June 26, 2013. Retrieved February 9, 2011.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Caltech Office of the Registrar Enrollment Statistics". Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
  5. (in French)Jean Robieux Archived 2012-06-09 at the Wayback Machine