California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology, a university in Pasadena, California. It is a privately endowed institution with the following divisions: biology; chemistry and chemical engineering; engineering and applied science; geological and planetary science; humanities and social sciences; and physics, mathematics, and astronomy. Caltech, as the school is popularly called, operates the Palomar Observatory and maintains several research laboratories, notably the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is operated by Caltech for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The institute was founded in 1891.