Formerly named the Kaohsiung Polytechnic Institute (KPI), I-Shou University focused mainly on engineering disciplines followed by management disciplines upon its establishment and aspired to cultivate professionals in engineering and management for southern Taiwan. In the autumn of 1997, we were renamed the I-Shou University with the approval of the Ministry of Education.

With the steady development of the university, we have set up ten colleges, which are the College of Intelligent Science & Technology, College of Engineering, College of Management, College of Communication & Design, International College, College of Tourism & Hospitality, College of Language Arts, College of Medicine, College of Medical & Science Technology and College of Indigenous Studies. The College of Engineering currently includes four departments - the Department of Mechanical & Automation Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, and Department of Materials Science & Engineering, as well as Ph.D. and master’s programs in materials science & engineering, Ph.D. and master’s programs in biotechnology & chemical engineering, master’s programs in mechanical & automation engineering, and master’s programs in civil engineering.

Dr. Shen-Li Fu, the former president of the University, served concurrently as the first dean of the College and was succeeded by Professor Hang-Chin Lai of the Dept. of Applied Mathematics in the autumn of 1998. Due to the compulsory retirement of Professor Lai, the College then invited Dr. Hao Ku, an expert in biotechnology, to become the third dean in the academic year 2001 to take charge of the establishment of biotechnology-related departments. In the academic year 2002, Dr. Ku was assigned to take charge of the establishment of the College of Medicine, and therefore Dr. Yuan-Chuan Lee, an expert in engineering management, succeeded Dr. Ku as the fourth dean.

To comply with the main purposes and principles of establishing the university, we have been keeping on exploring the new territories of basic infrastructure and appliance technologies in different stages. In the second semester of the academic year 2003, Dr. Ku was again appointed as the college dean to accelerate the progress in affairs related to teaching, research, and counseling & service. Professor Jau-Yann Wu of the Department of Chemical Engineering succeeded Dr. Ku as the sixth dean in the academic year 2007. However, in the academic year 2008, Dr. Wu was temporarily transferred to Shu-Zen College of Medicine and Management, and Professor Yuh-Wern Wu of Dept. of Chemical Engineering was appointed as the seventh dean in the academic year 2008 and the eighth dean in the academic year 2011. Professor Chih-Sheng Ku of the Department of Civil & Ecological Engineering was appointed as the ninth dean in the academic year 2014 and the tenth dean in the academic year 2017. Professor Kuo-Liang Lin was appointed as the eleventh dean in the academic year 2020.