RIT's newest and largest college was named for its founding donor, B. Thomas Golisano, chairman and chief executive officer of Paychex, Inc., located in Rochester. Golisano started the company in 1971 to provide payroll services to smaller companies.

Mr. Golisano is committed to the Rochester region and has been very generous to many local projects that now carry his name, including the Golisano Center for Emergency and Diagnostic Medicine and Golisano Children's Hospital in Rochester. His generous gift in February 2001 to RIT provided the funds to launch the new college.

The B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences was officially established on July 1, 2001.