Purdue University Department of Computer and Information Technology records

In 1968, the computer technology program offered at the Purdue regional campuses through the Department of Construction Technology was established as the Department of Computer Technology with D. Dorsey appointed as acting head. Louis F. Boness was appointed as department head in 1969. The Department of Computer Technology degrees and courses were only offered at the regional campuses.

On July 1, 1978, the Department of Computer Technology was created for the Purdue West Lafayette campus. Thomas I. M. Ho was appointed as the new department head. The Business Data Process program within the Department of Computer Science was transferred to the new department. The department quickly grew and by 1981 the enrollment was capped due to space and staff limitations. The opening of the Maurice G. Knoy Hall of Technology in 1985 and the Hoffer Laboratory (Margaret R. Taber Microcomputer Laboratory) in 1987 helped alleviate some of these limitations.

Jeffery L. Whitten was appointed interim head in 1986, while Thomas Ho was on special assignment with the Indiana State Government. In 1988, Whitten succeeded Ho as head of the department. In 2004, Lonnie D. Bently became the department head. On June 30, 2005, the department was renamed the Department of Computer and Information Technology.

The department heads are listed as follows: Thomas I. M. Ho (1978-1986), Jeffery L. Whitten (Interim 1986-1988), Jeffery L. Whitten (1988-2004), Lonnie D. Bentley (2004-2011), Fatma Mili (2011-2013), Marcus Rogers (2014-2019), Thomas Hacker (2019-2024), Eric J. Dietz (2024-2025)

Some of the student organizations associated with the department have included: Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), Data Processing Management Association (DPMA): Sagamore Chapter, Connectivity Club, Women in Technology (WIT), Health Information Technology Club, Network Professional Association (NPA).

On June 6, 2025, the Board of Trustees approved the creation of the School of Applied and Creative Computing within the Polytechnic Institute. The school was formed by combining the Departments of Computer Graphics Technology and the Department of Computer Information Technology.