Discovery Partners Institute

Planning for and development of the DPI–IIN project started in 2016 under the leadership of University of Illinois president Tim Killeen and Ed Seidel, vice president for economic development and innovation, with a goal to build an institution where students and faculty from Illinois campuses and other individuals can interact with academic partners and business partners, take classes, do research, intern with private companies, learn entrepreneurship and work with community agencies. In October 2017, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the University of Illinois unveiled plans for the IIN and DPI as drivers for innovation and growth in the knowledge-based economy of Illinois.[2]

In June 2018, Illinois lawmakers approved $500 million for the DPI and other IIN hubs within the state,[3] and in August William Sanders was named as interim director of the DPI.[4] That same month, Illinois Innovation Network hubs were established at the three campuses within the University of Illinois system (in Springfield,[5] Champaign-Urbana[6] and Chicago).[7] In October 2018 a hub was established at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb.[8] These have been joined by hubs at each of the other eight public universities in Illinois, by the Illinois Rural Hub in Rockford, and by the Peoria Innovation Hub in December 2018.[9]

In May 2019 Urbana sociology Professor Phyllis Baker became director of academic affairs for the DPI.[10] In September 2019 Bill Sanders announced his intention to become Dean of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.[11] Search for a new director led to a January 2020 announcement of Bill Jackson, an executive at Johnson Controls,[12] as the DPI director.[13]

Academic partners to DPI include four Chicago-area partner institutions which are not state of Illinois universities (University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology[14] and Argonne National Laboratory)[15] and five international partners: Tel Aviv University,[16] Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Cardiff University,[17] and National Taiwan University. In addition, each of the other 14 Illinois Innovation Network hubs will participate in the functioning of the DPI.

Most of the corporate support received to date is directed toward specific members in the Illinois Innovation Network. The first corporate partner, Peoria-based OSF HealthCare, sponsored interdisciplinary courses to improve health care delivery in Illinois starting in 2018.[18] Additional corporate partners include Deerfield Management,[19] Foxconn Interconnect Technology[20] and The Joyce Foundation.

Release of the state of Illinois funding for the DPI and the other IIN capital projects was delayed[21] until, on February 12, 2020, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker announced release of $500 million funding for capital projects around the state of Illinois, with $235 million to go toward building the DPI facility in Chicago and $265 million to be used for capital projects at the other 14 Illinois Innovation Network hubs.[22] On the same day the University of Illinois announced agreement with Related Midwest for construction of the DPI building within The 78, on land donated by Related Midwest.[23] The release of these capital funds is a major step toward expanding the DPI toward its full potential. Additionally, as stated by Danny Ecker in Crain's Chicago Business: "In an era of companies moving entire headquarters to gain an edge in recruiting top tech talent" knowledge that the University of Illinois will build this facility in Chicago can be a selling point for Related Midwest to attract corporations to The 78.[22]