Mission & History
We empower students to use data, technology, and human-centered thinking to drive real-world impact. With a bold, interdisciplinary approach, the iSchool blends innovation, leadership, and hands-on learning—preparing future thinkers and doers to thrive in today’s digital world.
Our Mission.
The mission of the iSchool is to expand human capabilities by connecting people, information, and technology. The faculty and staff of the iSchool are committed to preparing students to be leaders in the information field, advancing knowledge and using information to solve problems faced by individuals and organizations. Together, the faculty, staff and students of the iSchool impact research and the information profession through our scholarship, rigorous education opportunities, and commitment to service that advances science, improves professional practice, and contributes both to communities in which we live and more broadly to society.
iSchool of One.
We are a unified school. The faculty, staff, and students work together, not as individuals or groups who represent a specific area in which they work or affiliate. We challenge ourselves to benefit from the paradox of a single information field that is manifested in many professional expressions.
History of the iSchool
1896
Syracuse University offers the first library courses in the von Ranke Library.
1915
Syracuse University establishes the School of Library Science as its eighth degree-granting entity.
1974
The School of Library Science becomes the School of Information Studies. We become the first library school to embrace the broader field of information.
1980
The School of Information Studies offers a Master of Science in Information Resources Management (IRM) – the first of its kind.
1987
We start offering a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Management and Technology.
1993
We offer our first distance learning master’s in Library and Information Science.
1999
The iSchool establishes its first research centers. The pioneering research helps develop innovations of the next century.
2008
We hold a celebration for the official opening of our new home: Hinds Hall.
2009
The iSchool starts to support student entrepreneurs with its own incubator. It becomes a hub for student-run small businesses to develop and compete for seed funding.
2010
The iSchool runs their first immersion trips to New York City and San Francisco. Immersion trips that will become a hallmark of the iSchool.
2013
The iSchool develops SU’s first massive open course “An Introduction to Data Science.” The ICE Box event space opens in Hinds Hall.
2017
The iSchool launches a new master’s program in Applied Data Science.
2022
The iSchool launches two new undergraduate majors – Applied Data Analytics and Innovation, Society and Technology.