The California Institute of Technology was founded as Throop University in 1891 in Pasadena, California, and took its present name in 1920. It describes itself as an independent, privately supported institution with a 124-acre campus in Pasadena. It manages the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA.
Caltech is organised in six academic divisions: Biology and Biological Engineering; Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Engineering and Applied Science; Geological and Planetary Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. Its fact sheet, last updated on 29 September 2026, lists 971 undergraduates, 1,398 graduate students, 323 professorial faculty and 558 postdoctoral scholars. Caltech employs 2,500 people and JPL 4,600. Ray Jayawardhana is the 10th president.