The 1990s

In an October 1999 speech delivered to the NYIT community, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates discussed the college’s role in shaping new technologies to educate a generation of students whose experiences will be defined by the Internet.

In 1990, Kevin Costner went “Dancing with Wolves,” McCauley Culkin got stuck “Home Alone,” and Julia Roberts became known as a “Pretty Woman.” People everywhere learned the power of telephone screening with caller ID, and the Hubble space telescope provided new glimpses of the universe. Meanwhile, music legend Ray Charles became the new face of Diet Pepsi, singing, “You’ve Got the Right One, Baby,” on television screens across the nation. NYIT’s own advertising program advanced that year with the creation of a student-run advertising agency, the Carleton Group, at the Central Islip campus. During this time, NYIT was one

of only two colleges in the state offering a concentration in advertising. Fifteen years later, the award-winning agency continues to list nonprofit organizations as its clients.

In 1990, many NYIT students and staff members lent their support during one of the biggest tragedies to touch Long Island when Avianca Flight 52 crashed in Cove Neck on Jan. 25. A year later, the United States entered the Gulf War, and students, many of whom had been born at the end of the Vietnam War, supported U.S. troops by tying yellow ribbons around trees at the Old Westbury campus.

NYIT’s sports programs continued to grow, and several athletes, such as southpaw pitcher Allen Watson, turned pro. He proved his mettle on the NYIT diamond and was a first-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1991. Watson finished his career as a New York Yankee in 2000 and is one of more than 50 NYIT student athletes who went on to play professional baseball.

NYIT’s commitment to distance learning remained a priority as upgrades were constantly developed. In 1991, COSY, an early Internet tool, featured group capability and provided statistical reports on student and faculty participation. Shifting to the Collegis tool set in 1998 allowed faculty members to use more sophisticated files, including multimedia, and made available a 24-hour help desk. NYCOM continued to grow in student population and prestige. In 1991, the school graduated its 1,000th physician and began to draw the attention of international doctors who wanted to

The men’s lacrosse team won its first NCAA Division II championship in 1997. Two more would follow in 2003 and 2005.

practice osteopathic medicine in the United States. To support NYIT’s mission of access to opportunity, NYCOM established a minority and disadvantaged Post Baccalaureate Future Physicians Program in 1994.

NYIT’s School of Engineering made headlines in 1995 when a team of students took first place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Air Road Rally in Los Angeles, Calif. The team spent three years designing and building the high-performance hybrid electric car that beat out 43 other vehicles.

Throughout the 1990s, NYIT professors continued to prove they were forward-thinkers. David Schon (M.B.A. ’96) recalls how his instructors predicted one of the biggest technological revolutions in communications.

“When I started the master’s program in 1994, the Internet was in its infancy,” he says. “All of us subscribed to America Online, Prodigy or CompuServe. Business professors would tell us time and again how the Internet was destined to replace most forms of communications.”

The year 1997 marked another NYIT first as the men’s lacrosse team won the college’s first national championship when it captured the NCAA Division II title.

NYIT has been a pioneer in new technologies and groundbreaking research, reshaping the way we live and work, as well as how we view the world. The college supports a diverse range of applications-based research programs that impact millions of people worldwide. The college’s Office of Sponsored Programs and Research provides a variety of services for these programs, such as helping to identify funding sources, assisting faculty to develop grant proposals, and working with sponsor agencies.

In 1998, NYCOM opened the Adele Smithers Parkinson’s Disease Center. Among its many initiatives, the center provides medical care, promotes community awareness and Parkinson’s disease education, fosters scientific studies and medical research, and helps individual patients achieve and maintain the best quality of life possible while coping with the disease. NYIT’s academic quality landed the college on the U.S. News & World Report list of top higher learning institutions. NYIT, which was cited for its academic programs and campus diversity, was the only Long Island college or university to make the list. Also, the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools acknowledged NYIT’s continued commitment to quality education by renewing the college’s accreditation in 1998. NYIT leaders instituted a strategic

planning process in the late 1990s, looking for ways to better position the school in the 21st century. One goal was to increase the college’s student presence at the New York campuses, as well as online.

Just as crucial was the need to develop strong international programs to augment the school’s reputation and financial footing. Upon careful examination, NYIT leaders realized there were many countries in need of the college’s specialized academic programs.

This plan was put to the test when NYIT opened a program in China in 1998. Seven years later, the college would have programs in Canada and the Middle East as demand continues to grow for an American-style education.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates acknowledged NYIT’s place in the technology marketplace when he delivered a speech at the college in October 1999 titled, “The Challenge and Promise of ‘Generation I.’” The computer visionary also received NYIT’s Presidential Medal for his outstanding contributions to the field of technology. Other recipients have included Eileen Collins, the first female space shuttle pilot; Robert Fri, director of the National Museum of Natural History; and Edwin Catmull, president of Pixar Animation Studios and a 3-D computer animation pioneer at the CGL during the 1970s.

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