WIYN Consortium consists of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (W), Indiana University (I), Yale University (Y), and the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (N). The consortium operates two telescopes of 3.5m and 0.9m diameters.
The universities financed the construction of the WIYN Observatory at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) in 1994.
In 2001, the WIYN Consortium took over control of the KPNO 36-inch (910 mm) telescope, built in 1960, and rechristened it as the WIYN 0.9m Telescope. This small but popular telescope was in danger of being mothballed for budgetary reasons.