Lewis University

Founded in 1932 (read an abbreviated timeline) under the direction of the Chicago Archdiocese and Bishop Bernard J. Sheil, Lewis began as the Holy Name Technical School, a school for boys which opened with 15 students. The school was established on a campus of 170 acres of farmland that was donated to the archdiocese by Michael and Frances Fitzpatrick of Lockport, Illinois. From the beginning, Frank J. Lewis, the noted Chicago philanthropist and industrialist, took an active interest in the school. He assisted with the funding of various buildings that became the nucleus of the University. Brother Hildolph Caspar, FFSC and the German Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross from Springfield, Illinois, served as teachers and administrators during the critical first years of the school’s operation.

During these early days, aviation technology courses were chosen as the special emphasis of instruction, becoming the origin of today’s highly regarded College of Aviation, Science and Technology. The school was incorporated in 1934 under the name Lewis Holy Name Technical School. In 1935, it became Lewis Holy Name School of Aeronautics, a name which is engraved in stone on the building now known as the Oremus Fine Arts Center.