For several years, courses on creativity and innovation have been taught as isolated entities within the following departments: psychology, educational psychology, management, and architecture for several years. In the spring of 2000, a retired executive from Conoco who was interested in a center being established at a university, met with people from Texas A&M to discuss the possibility of developing a center for applied creativity and innovation. The Department of Educational Psychology organized and hosted this meeting. There was a high level of interest and support from the people involved in that meeting. This network of people continued to stay in contact and began the initial planning for collaborative research and coursework at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

     The core planning group consisted of: Franz Ehrhardt, Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology. Rodney Hill, Professor in the College of Architecture. Joyce Juntune, Ph.D., Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology. Steve Smith, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Psychology. Jane Conoley, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Education, and Susan Gulig, Director of Development, College of Education.

     In the summer of 2002, the Board of Regents officially established the Institute for Applied Creativity.