List of institute professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Institute professor is the highest title that can be awarded to a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is analogous to the titles of distinguished professor, university professor, or regents professor used at other universities in recognition of a professor's extraordinary research achievements and dedication to the school. At MIT, institute professors are granted a unique level of freedom and flexibility to pursue their research and teaching interests without regular departmental or school responsibilities; they report only to the provost.[1] Usually no more than twelve professors hold this distinction at any one time.[1]
The title of Institute professor is an honor bestowed by the Faculty and Administration of MIT on a faculty colleague who has demonstrated exceptional distinction by a combination of leadership, accomplishment, and service in the scholarly, educational, and general intellectual life of the Institute or wider academic community.[1]
— MIT Policies and Procedures: Special Professorial Appointments, Institute Professor
Institute professors are initially nominated by leaders representing either a department or school. The chair of the faculty then consults with the Academic Council and jointly appoints with the president an ad-hoc committee from various departments and non-MIT members to evaluate the qualifications and make a documented recommendation to the president. The final determination is made based upon recommendations from professionals in the nominee's field. The case is then reviewed again by the Academic Council and approved by the executive committee of the MIT Corporation.[1] The position was created by President James R. Killian in 1951, and John C. Slater was the first to hold the position.[2]
List of institute professors
Current
Name | Department | Elected | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Daron Acemoglu | Economics | 2019 | Author of Why Nations Fail, John Bates Clark Medal (2005) | [3] |
Suzanne Berger | Political Science | 2019 | Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, chevalier of France's Légion d'Honneur | [4] |
Sallie W. Chisholm | Civil and Environmental Engineering | 2015 | Discovery and biology of the Prochlorococcus marine cyanobacteria | [5] |
Ann Graybiel | Brain and Cognitive Sciences | 2008 | Basal ganglia; National Medal of Science (2001) | [6][7] |
John Harbison | Music and Theater Arts | 1995 | Composer; Pulitzer Prize (1987) for Flight into Egypt; MacArthur Fellow (1989) | [8] |
Robert S. Langer | Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering | 2005 | Drug delivery and tissue engineering; youngest person to be elected to three American academies; Lemelson-MIT Prize (1998), Draper Prize (2002), National Medal of Science (2007), Millennium Technology Prize (2008) | [9] |
Thomas Magnanti | Mechanical Engineering | 1997 | Operations research; dean of engineering (1999–2007) | [10] |
Ron Rivest | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | 2015 | Co-inventor of the RSA (cryptosystem) algorithm; founder of Verisign, RSA Security | [5] |
Phillip Sharp | Biology | 1999 | RNA interference and splicing; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1993) | [11] |
Marcus Thompson | Music and Theater Arts | 2015 | Violist; artistic director of Boston Chamber Music Society | [5] |
Former
Name | MIT department | Current institution | Elected | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
David Baltimore | Biology | Caltech | 1995 | Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1975) | [8] |
Emeritus
Name | Department | Elected | Notability | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
Emilio Bizzi | Brain and Cognitive Sciences | 2002 | Motor control; President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006–2009) | [12] |
Noam Chomsky | Linguistics and Philosophy | 1976 | Generative grammar; Kyoto Prize (1988); political activist; one of the most widely-cited scholars alive[13][14] | [15] |
John M. Deutch | Chemistry | 1990 | Deputy Secretary of Defense (1994–1995); Director of Central Intelligence (1995–1996); Provost of MIT (1985–1990) | [16][17] |
Peter A. Diamond | Economics | 1997 | Social Security reform; Nobel Prize in Economics (2010) | [10] |
Jerome I. Friedman | Physics | 1991 | Quantum chromodynamics; Nobel Prize in Physics (1990) | [18] |
Barbara Liskov | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | 2008 | Turing Award (2008), John von Neumann Medal (2004), contributions to data abstraction and programming languages | [19] |
John D.C. Little | Management | Little's law; marketing; e-commerce; Branch and bound | [20] | |
Joel Moses | Electrical Engineering and Computer Science | 1999 | Algebraic manipulation algorithms; MACSYMA; Provost of MIT (1995–1998); Dean of Engineering (1991–1995) | [21] |
Isadore Singer | Mathematics | 1987 | Atiyah–Singer index theorem; Abel Prize (2004) | [22] |
Robert M. Solow | Economics | 1973 | National Medal of Science (1999); John Bates Clark Medal (1961); Nobel Prize in Economics (1987) | [23] |
Sheila Widnall | Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering | 1998 | Secretary of the Air Force (1993–1997); first MIT alumna appointed to MIT engineering faculty; first woman to chair the MIT faculty | [24] |
Deceased
References
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- "According to a recent survey by the Institute for Scientific Information, only Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, and Freud are cited more often in academic journals than Chomsky, who edges out Hegel and Cicero." Samuel Hughes, The Pennsylvania Gazette Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, July/August, 2001
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- Longtime Engineering Authority Eden Mourned, at NIH record, October 2, 2020
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- Azaroff, L. V. J. Appl. Cryst. (1986) 19, 205-207.
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- P.L. Thibaut Brian. "Memorial Tributes: National Academy of Engineering, Volume 1 (1979)". National Academies Press. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
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