It is one of the six academic units at the university and named for former two-term Atlanta mayor Ivan Allen Jr., a Georgia Tech alumnus (Commerce, 1933) and advocate for the advancement of civil rights in America.
By 1908, the English Department was also teaching economic theory, general history, political economy, and physical geography.
Georgia Tech's first African American professor, William Peace, was hired in the college's Department of Social Sciences in 1968.
As a result, the Ivan Allen College of Management, Policy, and International Affairs was renamed the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and its mission was redefined as encompassing liberal arts studies at Georgia Tech through the humanities and social sciences.
[7] In 2004, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts established the nation's first doctoral program in Digital Media within the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture.
Jacqueline Royster was named dean of the Ivan Allen College in 2010, becoming the first African-American to hold an academic decanal post at Georgia Tech.
[15] Five of the six schools in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts are housed in buildings on Georgia Tech's Central Campus.
The Skiles Building, which houses the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, sits adjacent to the S. Price Gilbert Library, the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons, and the Fred B. Wenn Student Center.