VIT University, established under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956, was founded in 1984 as a self-financing Institution called the Vellore Engineering College. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development conferred University status on Vellore Engineering college in 2001.
The University is headed by its founder and Chancellor, Dr. G. Viswanathan, a former Parliamentarian and Minister in the Tamil Nadu Government. In recognition of his service to India in offering world class education, he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the West Virginia University, USA.
Mr. Sankar Viswanathan, Mr. G.V. Sampath, Mr. Sekar Viswanathan and Mr. G.V. Selvam are the Vice Presidents, Dr. V. Raju, the Vice chancellor, Dr. Anand A. Samuel and Dr. S. Narayanan are the Pro-Vice Chancellors.
Teaching at VIT university is structured around nine schools of study. A student should register in one of the schools, depending on the degree/programme he/she is interested in pursuing.
Research centers are also part of the schools, encouraging inter-departmental collaboration and opportunity for students to participate in exciting research projects.
The university offers 18 Undergraduate and 35 Postgraduate programmes. In addition to full-time/part-time Ph.D., M.S.(BY RESEARCH) Degrees in Engineering and Management Disciplines, Ph.D., M.Phil in Sciences and Languages, Integrated Ph.D. programmes also offered for engineering disciplines in selected schools.