The women of Margaret Morrison, also known as Maggie Murphs, started taking classes in Porter Hall until their new building was completed in 1907.

Originally, the school offered only vocational courses that trained women to be librarians, secretaries, seamstresses, and bookkeepers.

However, it didn’t take long for the curriculum to evolve in response to female student demand.

At a time when American women still didn’t have the right to vote, these changes were a harbinger for the way in which a woman’s role would transform in society over the next century.

In 1928, a letter was written to Professor Keeble from Westinghouse Electric Corporation requesting that an Industrial Design course should be formed saying: “The demand for the course in the fine art of design as applied to electrical machinery is one which we must meet within the next year .. .

I hope that you and your faculty members will bear it in mind so that material may be selected and plans developed.

Donald Dohner, ‘The Father of Industrial Design Education in America’ and faculty member at CIT until 1935, was the main person responsible for the program's curriculum.

[4] The school, in 2004, helped launch the Service Design Network (with Koln International School of Design, Linkopings Universitet, Politecnico di Milano and Domus Academy) and its faculty have contributed to a growing body of research in this area.