Institute Peak is located 18 miles (29 km) north of Paxson in the Delta Mountains which are a subrange of the Alaska Range.

[3] Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of the Delta River.

[5] The first winter ascent was made in February 1960 by Gene Wescott, Chuck Deehr, and Moonok Sunwoo.

The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1969 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

[8] Weather systems are forced upwards by the Delta Mountains (orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall.