The Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) is a postgraduate institution and provider of professional and continuing education for the United States Armed Forces. It was founded in 1919 and is located at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. AFIT is part of the United States Air Force's Air University and has been granting degrees since 1956. Its primary purpose is to provide specialized education to select officer and enlisted U.S. military personnel and civilian employees. In 2012, AFIT appointed its first civilian director and chancellor, Todd Stewart, who served with the U.S. Air Force for 34 years and retired in 2002 at the rank of major general.