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Madcoverboy (talk | contribs) →History: Major revision to MIT history to cut down on undue weight on controversies, new content on ongoing construction |
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==History== |
==History== |
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{{main|History of MIT}} |
{{main|History of MIT}} |
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===Initial years and vision=== |
===Initial years and vision (1861—1915)=== |
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[[Image:MIT Dome night1.jpg|left|thumb|250px|MIT's Great Dome.]] |
[[Image:MIT Dome night1.jpg|left|thumb|250px|MIT's Great Dome.]] |
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{{rquote|right|...a school of industrial science [aiding] the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/charter.html |title=Charter of the MIT Corporation |accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref>|Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ''Acts of 1861, Chapter 183''}} |
{{rquote|right|...a school of industrial science [aiding] the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/charter.html |title=Charter of the MIT Corporation |accessdate=2007-03-22}}</ref>|Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ''Acts of 1861, Chapter 183''}} |
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|page=47}}</ref><ref>Canceled by a 1917 State Judicial Court decision.[[Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences]].</ref> |
|page=47}}</ref><ref>Canceled by a 1917 State Judicial Court decision.[[Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences]].</ref> |
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===Expansion=== |
===Expansion (1916—1973)=== |
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[[Image:MIT-eastman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A plaque of [[George Eastman]], founder of [[Eastman Kodak]], in Building 6. His nose is rubbed by students for good luck.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2002/eastman-0522.html |title="Students hope 'Eastman moment' proves lucky as they head into final exams" |date=2002-05-22 |accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref>]] |
[[Image:MIT-eastman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A plaque of [[George Eastman]], founder of [[Eastman Kodak]], in Building 6. His nose is rubbed by students for good luck.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2002/eastman-0522.html |title="Students hope 'Eastman moment' proves lucky as they head into final exams" |date=2002-05-22 |accessdate=2008-03-12}}</ref>]] |
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The attempted mergers occurred in parallel with MIT's continued expansion beyond the classroom and laboratory space permitted by its Boston campus. President [[Richard Maclaurin]] sought to move the campus to a new location when he took office in 1909.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17435 |title=The "New Tech" |date=2006-09-08 |accessdate=2006-12-01}}</ref> An anonymous donor, later revealed to be [[George Eastman]], donated the funds to build a new campus along a mile-long tract of swamp and industrial land on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. In 1916, MIT moved into its handsome new [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical campus]] designed by the noted architect [[William W. Bosworth]] which it occupies to this date. The new campus triggered some changes in the stagnating undergraduate curriculum, but in the 1930s President [[Karl Taylor Compton]] and Vice-President (effectively [[Provost (education)|Provost]]) [[Vannevar Bush]] drastically reformed the curriculum by re-emphasizing the importance of "pure" sciences like physics and chemistry and reducing the work required in shops and drafting. Despite the difficulties of the [[Great Depression]], the reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |title=Report of the Committee on Educational Survey |pages=13 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> The expansion and reforms thus cemented MIT's academic reputation on the eve of [[World War II]] by attracting scientists and researchers who would later make significant contributions in the [[Radiation Laboratory]], [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory|Instrumentation Laboratory]], and other defense-related research programs. |
The attempted mergers occurred in parallel with MIT's continued expansion beyond the classroom and laboratory space permitted by its Boston campus. President [[Richard Maclaurin]] sought to move the campus to a new location when he took office in 1909.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?id=17435 |title=The "New Tech" |date=2006-09-08 |accessdate=2006-12-01}}</ref> An anonymous donor, later revealed to be [[George Eastman]], donated the funds to build a new campus along a mile-long tract of swamp and industrial land on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. In 1916, MIT moved into its handsome new [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical campus]] designed by the noted architect [[William W. Bosworth]] which it occupies to this date. The new campus triggered some changes in the stagnating undergraduate curriculum, but in the 1930s President [[Karl Taylor Compton]] and Vice-President (effectively [[Provost (education)|Provost]]) [[Vannevar Bush]] drastically reformed the curriculum by re-emphasizing the importance of "pure" sciences like physics and chemistry and reducing the work required in shops and drafting. Despite the difficulties of the [[Great Depression]], the reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |title=Report of the Committee on Educational Survey |pages=13 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> The expansion and reforms thus cemented MIT's academic reputation on the eve of [[World War II]] by attracting scientists and researchers who would later make significant contributions in the [[Radiation Laboratory]], [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory|Instrumentation Laboratory]], and other defense-related research programs. |
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MIT was drastically changed by its involvement in military research during World War II. Bush was appointed head of the enormous [[Office of Scientific Research and Development]] and directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Stuart |title = The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=2004-04-15 |id=ISBN 0-231-07959-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Zachary|first=Gregg |title=Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century |publisher= Free Press |date=1997-09-03 |id = ISBN 0-684-82821-9 }}</ref> During the war and in the post-war years, this [[Research funding|government-sponsored research]] contributed to a fantastic growth in the size of the Institute's research staff and physical plant as well as placing an increased emphasis on graduate education.<ref>[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf Report of the Committee on Educational Survey], page 13</ref> |
MIT was drastically changed by its involvement in military research during World War II. Bush was appointed head of the enormous [[Office of Scientific Research and Development]] and directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Stuart |title = The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford |publisher=Columbia University Press |date=2004-04-15 |id=ISBN 0-231-07959-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Zachary|first=Gregg |title=Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century |publisher= Free Press |date=1997-09-03 |id = ISBN 0-684-82821-9 }}</ref> During the war and in the post-war years, this [[Research funding|government-sponsored research]] contributed to a fantastic growth in the size of the Institute's research staff and physical plant as well as placing an increased emphasis on graduate education.<ref>[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf Report of the Committee on Educational Survey], page 13</ref> |
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As the Cold War and Space Race intensified and concerns about the [[Sputnik crisis|technology gap]] between the U.S. and the Soviet Union grew more pervasive throughout the 1950s and 1960s, MIT's involvement in the [[military-industrial complex]] was a source of pride on campus.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_078/TECH_V078_S0008_P001.pdf |title=More Emphasis on Science Vitally Needed to Educate Man for A Confused Civilization |date=1958-02-14 |accessdate=2006-11-05}} </ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_078/TECH_V078_S0030_P001.pdf |title=Iron Birds Caged in Building 7 Lobby: Missiles on Display Here |date=1958-02-25 |accessdate=2006-11-05}}</ref> However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, intense protests by student and faculty activists (an era now known as "the troubles")<ref>"At a critical time in the late 1960s, Johnson stood up to the forces of campus rebellion at MIT. Many university presidents were destroyed by the troubles. Only Edward Levi, University of Chicago president, had comparable success guiding his institution to a position of greater strength and unity after the turmoil." {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/johnson-0609.html |title=A tribute to MIT's Howard Johnson |author=David Warsh |publisher=Boston Globe |date=June 1, 1999 |accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> against the [[Vietnam War]] and MIT's [[Military funding of science|defense research]] required that the MIT administration to divest itself from what would become the [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory]] and move all classified research off-campus to the [[Lincoln Laboratory]] facility.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tension Over Issue Of Defense Research |first=Fred |last=Hechinger |date=November 9, 1969 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=MIT Curb on Secret Projects Reflects Growing Antimilitary Feeling Among Universities' Researchers |first=William |last=Stevens |date=May 5, 1969 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> |
As the Cold War and Space Race intensified and concerns about the [[Sputnik crisis|technology gap]] between the U.S. and the Soviet Union grew more pervasive throughout the 1950s and 1960s, MIT's involvement in the [[military-industrial complex]] was a source of pride on campus.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_078/TECH_V078_S0008_P001.pdf |title=More Emphasis on Science Vitally Needed to Educate Man for A Confused Civilization |date=1958-02-14 |accessdate=2006-11-05}} </ref><ref> {{cite web|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_078/TECH_V078_S0030_P001.pdf |title=Iron Birds Caged in Building 7 Lobby: Missiles on Display Here |date=1958-02-25 |accessdate=2006-11-05}}</ref> However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, intense protests by student and faculty activists (an era now known as "the troubles")<ref>"At a critical time in the late 1960s, Johnson stood up to the forces of campus rebellion at MIT. Many university presidents were destroyed by the troubles. Only Edward Levi, University of Chicago president, had comparable success guiding his institution to a position of greater strength and unity after the turmoil." {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/johnson-0609.html |title=A tribute to MIT's Howard Johnson |author=David Warsh |publisher=Boston Globe |date=June 1, 1999 |accessdate=2007-04-04}}</ref> against the [[Vietnam War]] and MIT's [[Military funding of science|defense research]] required that the MIT administration to divest itself in 1973 from what would become the [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory]] and move all classified research off-campus to the [[Lincoln Laboratory]] facility.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tension Over Issue Of Defense Research |first=Fred |last=Hechinger |date=November 9, 1969 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=MIT Curb on Secret Projects Reflects Growing Antimilitary Feeling Among Universities' Researchers |first=William |last=Stevens |date=May 5, 1969 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> |
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===Recent history (1974—present)=== |
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===Challenges and controversies=== |
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[[Image:Ellen S Richards.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Ellen Swallow Richards, the first female student and professor at MIT.]] |
[[Image:Ellen S Richards.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Ellen Swallow Richards, the first female student and professor at MIT.]] |
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MIT has been nominally [[coeducation]]al since admitting [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] in 1870. (Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing in [[environmental health|sanitary chemistry]].)<ref>{{cite web |
MIT has been nominally [[coeducation]]al since admitting [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] in 1870. (Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing in [[environmental health|sanitary chemistry]].)<ref>{{cite web |
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|url= http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach/environment/richards.html |author= Chemical Heritage Foundation |title= Ellen Swallow Richards |date= 2005 |work= Chemical Achievers, The Human Face of Chemical Sciences |accessdate= 2006-11-04}}</ref> Female students |
|url= http://www.chemheritage.org/classroom/chemach/environment/richards.html |author= Chemical Heritage Foundation |title= Ellen Swallow Richards |date= 2005 |work= Chemical Achievers, The Human Face of Chemical Sciences |accessdate= 2006-11-04}}</ref> Female students remained a very small minority (numbered in dozens) prior to the completion of the first wing of a women's dormitory, [[Katherine Dexter McCormick|McCormick Hall]], in 1963.<ref>"In 1959, 158 women were enrolled at MIT." {{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=ldq-ZgxszzMC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=%22the+woman+at+mit%22&source=web&ots=K4UDoqD3GR&sig=Xr8xe1_uCGW5-YgbkyVM-vRr3u0 |title=MIT Campus Planning 1960-2000 |author=O. Robert Simha |date=2001 |page=32 |publisher=MIT |accessdate=2007-04-09}}</ref><ref>"When Drake arrived on campus 50 years ago, she was one of only 16 women in a class of 1,000."{{cite web|url=http://alum.mit.edu/ne/noteworthy/news-features/alumnae-ages.html |title=MIT Panel "Alumnae Through the Ages" Reflects on Changes for Women |author=Lauren Clark |accessdate=2007-04-09}}</ref> By 1993, 32% of MIT's undergraduates were female and in 2006, the number had increased to near-parity (47.5%) and women now outnumber men in 10 undergraduate majors although women still remain a [[MIT#Faculty and research|distinct minority among faculty]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/cmv.html |title=Charles Vest to step down from MIT presidency |date=December 5, 2003 |accessdate=2006-06-28 |publisher=MIT News Office}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |
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|url= http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~hal/women-enrollment-comm/final-report-ch1.html |title= Chapter 1: Male/Female enrollment patterns in EECS at MIT and other schools |date= [[January 3]] 1995 |accessdate= 2006-12-08 |author= EECS Women Undergraduate Enrollment Committee |work = Women Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT}}</ref> A 1998 MIT study concluded that a systemic bias against female faculty existed in its college of science,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html |title=A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |date=1999}}</ref> although the study's methods were controversial.<ref>In 1995, faculty member Nancy Hopkins accused MIT of bias against herself and several of her female colleagues. Hopkins, rather than a third party, investigated her own charges and concluded in 1999 concluded there was "subtle yet pervasive" bias against women at MIT, although no instance of intentional discrimination was found. Despite the study's sealed evidence and its lack of peer review, Vest approved "targeted actions" like the creation of 11 committees and 20% salary increases for women faculty.<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.uaf.edu/northern/mitstudy/ |author=Judith Kleinfeld |title=MIT Tarnishes Its Reputation with Gender Junk Science |accessdate=2007-04-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment041001b.shtml |title=Feminist Mythology |author=Kathryn Jean Lopez |date=April 10, 2001 |publisher=National Review |accessdate=2007-04-10 |
|url= http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/~hal/women-enrollment-comm/final-report-ch1.html |title= Chapter 1: Male/Female enrollment patterns in EECS at MIT and other schools |date= [[January 3]] 1995 |accessdate= 2006-12-08 |author= EECS Women Undergraduate Enrollment Committee |work = Women Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT}}</ref> A 1998 MIT study concluded that a systemic bias against female faculty existed in its college of science,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html |title=A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |date=1999}}</ref> although the study's methods were controversial.<ref>In 1995, faculty member Nancy Hopkins accused MIT of bias against herself and several of her female colleagues. Hopkins, rather than a third party, investigated her own charges and concluded in 1999 concluded there was "subtle yet pervasive" bias against women at MIT, although no instance of intentional discrimination was found. Despite the study's sealed evidence and its lack of peer review, Vest approved "targeted actions" like the creation of 11 committees and 20% salary increases for women faculty.<br>{{cite web|url=http://www.uaf.edu/northern/mitstudy/ |author=Judith Kleinfeld |title=MIT Tarnishes Its Reputation with Gender Junk Science |accessdate=2007-04-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalreview.com/nr_comment/nr_comment041001b.shtml |title=Feminist Mythology |author=Kathryn Jean Lopez |date=April 10, 2001 |publisher=National Review |accessdate=2007-04-10}}</ref> [[Susan Hockfield]], a molecular [[neuroscience|neurobiologist]], became MIT's 16th president on [[December 6]], [[2004]] and is the first woman and life scientist to hold the post. |
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Beginning in the late 1980s, several professors' tenure denials prompted allegations of censorship,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DF1130F933A2575AC0A960948260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fM%2fMassachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology |
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|title=Professor Sues M.I.T. Over Refusal of Tenure |publisher= The New York Times |year=September 10, 1986 |accessdate=2006-10-03}}</ref> racism,<ref>{{cite news|title=MCAD supports scholar's claim of bias by MIT; University Offered job, but no tenure |date=October 22, 1997 |publisher=The Boston Globe |last=Dowdy |first=Zachary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/06/professor_accuses_mit_of_racism/|title=Professor accuses MIT of racism |publisher=The Boston Globe |accessdate=2007-12-18}}</ref> and sexism.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-MIT professor who was denied tenure files sex bias suit |publisher=The Boston Globe |last=Vaznis |first=James |date=January 15, 1994}}</ref> Accusations of [[research misconduct]] have also lead to contentious public disputes involving a [[David Baltimore|Nobel Laureate]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Journal Cites New Evidence ex-MIT Scientist Faked Data |last=Saltus |first=Richard |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=September 28, 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Nobel Winner Is Caught Up in a Dispute Over Study |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D8133FF931A25757C0A96E948260&scp=22&sq=Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology+misconduct&st=nyt |publisher=The New York Times |date=April 12, 1988 |last=Boffey |first=Philip}}</ref> and [[ballistic missile defense]] research.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pierce |first=Charles P. |title=Going Postal |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=October 23, 2005 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/10/23/going_postol/ |accessdate=2008-01-27}}</ref> Since the 1990s, MIT has also been separately accused of [[technology transfer|transferring]] taxpayer-funded research and technology to international firms competing with [[Business cycle|struggling]] American businesses,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDB153FF93AA25751C1A966958260&scp=1&sq=M.I.T.+Deal+with+Japan+Stirs+Fear+on+Competition&st=nyt |title=MIT Deal with Japan Stirs Fear on Competition |last=Kolata |first=Gina |date=December 19, 1990 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news||title=MIT Criticized for Selling Research to Japanese Firms |publisher=The Washington Post |Date=June 14, 1989 |first=William |last=Booth |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=How Japan Picks America's Brains|url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/12/21/69996/index.htm |publisher=FORTUNE Magazine |first=Joel |last=Dreyfuss |date=December 21, 1987 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> violating [[environmental law]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/EPA-WATER/2001/May/Day-03/w11123.htm |title=Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |date=May 3, 2001 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=MIT to create three new environmental projects as part of agreement with EPA |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/epa-0425.html |publisher=MIT News Office |date=April 21, 2001 |first=Robert |last=Sales |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> colluding with [[Ivy League]] colleges to [[Sherman Antitrust Act|anti-competitively]] award financial aid,<ref>{{cite news|title=MIT Ruled Guity in Anti-Trust Case |publisher=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1992 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DC1439F930A3575AC0A964958260 |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DC113BF932A15751C1A965958260 |title=MIT Suit Over Aid May Be Settled |first=William |last=Honan |date=December 21, 1993 |accessdate=2008-07-16 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> and negligence after a number of student deaths.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.com/free/v45/i11/11a05701.htm |title= MIT's Inaction Blamed for Contributing to Death of a Freshman |publisher= Chronicle of Higher Education |date=October 6, 1998 |accessdate=2006-10-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EED7113FF93BA15757C0A9649C8B63&sec=health&pagewanted=4 |publisher= New York Times |title= Who Was Responsible for Elizabeth Shin? |date=April 28, 2002 |accessdate= 2006-10-07}}</ref> These various cases have either been settled or dropped without fault to MIT. |
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|title=Professor Sues M.I.T. Over Refusal of Tenure |publisher= The New York Times |year=September 10, 1986 |accessdate=2006-10-03}}</ref> Former materials science professor Gretchen Kalonji sued MIT in 1994 alleging that she was denied tenure because of sexual discrimination.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-MIT professor who was denied tenure files sex bias suit |publisher=The Boston Globe |last=Vaznis |first=James |date=January 15, 1994}}</ref> In 1997, the [[Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination]] issued a probable cause finding supporting James Jennings' allegations that he was not offered reciprocal tenure in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning for a post in MIT's Community Fellow Program after the senior faculty search committee believed that he was not a top black scholar in the country.<ref>{{cite news|title=MCAD supports scholar's claim of bias by MIT; University Offered job, but no tenure |date=October 22, 1997 |publisher=The Boston Globe |last=Dowdy |first=Zachary}}</ref> In 2006-2007, MIT's denial of tenure to African-American biological engineering professor [[James Sherley]] prompted accusations of racism in MIT's tenure process, eventually leading to a protracted public dispute with the administration, a brief [[hunger strike]], and the resignation of Professor [[Frank L. Douglas]] in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/06/professor_accuses_mit_of_racism/|title=Professor accuses MIT of racism |publisher=The Boston Globe |accessdate=2007-12-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/06/04/mit_center_director_resigns_in_protest_of_tenure_decision/|title=MIT center director resigns in protest of tenure decision |publisher=The Boston Globe |accessdate=2007-12-19}}</ref> |
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Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several development campaigns to significantly expanded its campus that have included opening several new dormitories and athletics buildings, the [[MIT Media Lab]], a number of new "backlot" buildings on Vassar Street including the [[Stata Center]], the [[Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Tang Center for Management Education|Tang Center for Management Education]] and an on-going project to expand the Sloan School of Management, and several buidling in the northeast corner of campus to support [[Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Brain and Cognitive Sciences complex|Brain and Cognitive Sciences ]], [[Broad Institute|genetics]], [[Whitehead Institute|biotechnology]], and [[Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Kock Center for Integrative Cancer Research|cancer research]]. Construction on campus continues to expand the Media Lab and graduate residences.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facilities/construction/ki/index.html |title=MIT Facilities: In Development & Construction |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref><ref name="Campus">{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/campus.html |title=MIT Facts 2008: The Campus |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |accessdate=2008-07-22}}</ref> |
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Given the scale and reputation of MIT's [[#Research accomplishments|research accomplishments]], allegations of [[research misconduct]] or improprieties have received substantial press coverage. Professor [[David Baltimore]], a [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Laureate]], became embroiled in an misconduct investigation starting in 1986 that led to Congressional hearings in 1991.<ref>{{cite news|title=Journal Cites New Evidence ex-MIT Scientist Faked Data |last=Saltus |first=Richard |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=September 28, 1990}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Weiss |first=Philip |url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/20/specials/baltimore-mag.html |title=Conduct Unbecoming |publisher=The New York Times |date=October 29, 1989 |accessdate=2008-01-27}}</ref> Professor [[Ted Postol]] has accused the MIT administration since 2000 of attempting to [[Whitewash (censorship)|whitewash]] potential research misconduct at the Lincoln Lab facility involving a [[ballistic missile defense]] test, though a final investigation into the matter has not been completed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pierce |first=Charles P. |title=Going Postal |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=October 23, 2005 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/10/23/going_postol/ |accessdate=2008-01-27}}</ref> Dean of Admissions [[Marilee Jones]] resigned in April 2007 after she "misrepresented her academic degrees" when she applied to an administrative assistant position in 1979 and never corrected the record despite her subsequent promotions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/04/mit_dean_of_adm.html |title=MIT dean of admissions resigns for falsifying resume |date=2007-04-26 |accessdate=2007-04-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/admissions-hastings.html |title=Dean of admissions resigns |publisher=MIT News Office |date=April 26, 2007 |accessdate=2007-04-26}}</ref> |
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The [[Cambridge City Council]] imposed a city-wide moratorium on research into [[recombinant DNA]] in 1976 in response to community concerns that Harvard and MIT researchers may inadvertently release mutant organisms into the ecosystem but the ban was lifted in 1977 after an extensive dialogue between scientists, politicians, and community leaders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/DJ/Views/Exhibit/narrative/regulation.html |title= The Maxine Singer Papers: Risk, Regulation, and Scientific Citizenship: The Controversy over Recombinant DNA Research |publisher=National Library of Medicine |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Council Extends DNA Experiment Ban; Wald, Meselson Debate Gene Research |date=September 30, 1976 |first=Anthony |last=Strike |publisher=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref> Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, American politicians and business leaders [[scapegoat|accused]] MIT and other universities of contributing to a [[Late 1980s recession|declining economy]] by [[technology transfer|transferring]] taxpayer-funded research and technology to international — especially [[Economy of Japan|Japanese]] — firms that were competing with [[Business cycle|struggling]] American businesses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V109/N62/corporate.00n.html |title=MIT corporate ties raise concern |publisher=The Tech |year=1990 |accessdate=2007-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDB153FF93AA25751C1A966958260&scp=1&sq=M.I.T.+Deal+with+Japan+Stirs+Fear+on+Competition&st=nyt |title=MIT Deal with Japan Stirs Fear on Competition |last=Kolata |first=Gina |date=December 19, 1990 |accessdate=2008-06-09 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news||title=MIT Criticized for Selling Research to Japanese Firms |publisher=The Washington Post |Date=June 14, 1989 |first=William |last=Booth |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=How Japan Picks America's Brains|url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1987/12/21/69996/index.htm |publisher=FORTUNE Magazine |first=Joel |last=Dreyfuss |date=December 21, 1987 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> |
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The [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] filed an [[Sherman Antitrust Act|antitrust suit]] against MIT and the eight [[Ivy League]] colleges in 1991 for holding "Overlap Meetings" to prevent bidding wars over promising students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships. While the Ivy League institutions [[consent decree|settled]], MIT contested the charges on the grounds that the practice was not anticompetitive because it ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.<ref>{{cite news|title=MIT Ruled Guity in Anti-Trust Case |publisher=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1992 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DC1439F930A3575AC0A964958260 |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department dropped the case in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1994/settlement-0105.html |title=Settlement allows cooperation on awarding financial-aid |publisher=MIT Tech Talk |year=1994 |accessdate=2007-03-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DC113BF932A15751C1A965958260 |title=MIT Suit Over Aid May Be Settled |first=William |last=Honan |date=December 21, 1993 |accessdate=2008-07-16 |publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> In 2001, the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] sued MIT for violating [[Clean Water Act]] and [[Clean Air Act]] with regard to its [[hazardous waste]] storage and disposal procedures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/EPA-WATER/2001/May/Day-03/w11123.htm |title=Notice of Lodging of Consent Decree Pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Clean Water Act |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |date=May 3, 2001 |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> MIT settled the suit by paying a $155,000 fine and launching three environmental projects.<ref>{{cite news|title=MIT to create three new environmental projects as part of agreement with EPA |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/epa-0425.html |publisher=MIT News Office |date=April 21, 2001 |first=Robert |last=Sales |accessdate=2008-07-16}}</ref> |
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A number of student deaths in the late 1990s and early 2000s resulted in considerable media attention to MIT's culture and student life.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chronicle.com/free/v45/i11/11a05701.htm |title= MIT's Inaction Blamed for Contributing to Death of a Freshman |publisher= Chronicle of Higher Education |
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|date=October 6, 1998 |accessdate=2006-10-07}}</ref> After the alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger in September 1997 as a new member at the [[Phi Gamma Delta]] fraternity, MIT began requiring all freshmen to live in the dormitory system.<ref>{{cite news|title= Institute Will Pay Kruegers $6M for Role in Death |url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V120/N42/42krueger.42n.html |accessdate= 2006-10-04 |date=September 15, 2000 |last= Levine |first= Dana |publisher= The Tech}}</ref> The 2000 suicide of MIT undergraduate [[Elizabeth Shin]] drew attention to suicides at MIT and created a controversy over whether MIT had an unusually high suicide rate.<ref>{{cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick |title=11 years, 11 suicides—Critics Say Spate of MIT Jumping Deaths Show a 'Contagion' |publisher=The Boston Globe |date=February 5, 2001 |pages=A1}}</ref><ref> {{cite news|url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p021001a.html |title= Prevention on Campus |author= Elizabeth Fried Ellen, LICSW |publisher= Psychiatric Times |year= 2002 |accessdate= 2006-06-26}}</ref> In late 2001 a task force's recommended improvements in student [[mental health]] services<ref>{{cite news|year= 2001 |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/mhtf-facts.html |publisher= MIT New Office |title= MIT Mental Health Task Force Fact Sheet |date=November 14, 2001 |accessdate= 2006-06-25}}</ref> were implemented, including expanding staff and operating hours at the mental health center.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/mhtf-1128.html |
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|publisher= MIT News Office |title= Clay endorses Mental Health Task Force Recommendations |date= November 28, 2001 |accessdate= 2006-06-25}}</ref> These and later cases were significant as well because they sought to prove the negligence and liability of university administrators [[in loco parentis]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00EED7113FF93BA15757C0A9649C8B63&sec=health&pagewanted=4 |publisher= New York Times |title= Who Was Responsible for Elizabeth Shin? |
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|date=April 28, 2002 |accessdate= 2006-10-07}}</ref> |
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==Organization== |
==Organization== |
Revision as of 17:39, 22 July 2008
File:MIT Seal.png | |
Motto | Mens et Manus |
---|---|
Motto in English | Mind and Hand[1] |
Type | Private |
Established | 1861 (opened 1865) |
Endowment | US $9.98 billion[2] |
Chancellor | Phillip Clay |
President | Susan Hockfield |
Provost | L. Rafael Reif |
Academic staff | 1008[3] |
Undergraduates | 4,172[4] |
Postgraduates | 6,048[4] |
Location | , , |
Campus | Urban, 168 acres (0.7 km2)[5] |
Nobel Laureates | 72[6] |
Colors | Cardinal Red and Steel Gray[7] |
Affiliations | NEASC, AAU, COFHE |
Mascot | Beaver[8] |
Website | web.mit.edu |
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational, research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments,[9] with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. MIT is one of two private land-grant universities and is also a sea grant and space grant university.
Founded by William Barton Rogers in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, the university adopted the German university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date.[10] Its current 168 acres (0.7 km2) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the northern bank of the Charles River.[5] MIT researchers lead the efforts to develop computers, radar, and inertial guidance in connection with defense research during World War II and the Cold War. In the past 60 years, MIT's educational programs and reputation have expanded beyond the physical sciences and engineering into social sciences like economics, linguistics, political science, and management.
MIT enrolled 4,172 undergraduates, 6,048 postgraduate students, and employed 1,008 faculty members in 2007.[3][4] Its endowment and annual research expenditures are among the largest of any American university.[11][12][13] 72 Nobel Laureates, 47 National Medal of Science recipients, and 31 MacArthur Fellows are currently or have previously been affiliated with the university.[3]Cite error: A <ref>
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The Engineers compete in the NCAA Division III's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference and sponsor 41 sports, the largest varsity program in the United States.[14] While students' irreverence is widely acknowledged due to the traditions of constructing elaborate pranks[15] and engaging in esoteric activities,[16][17] the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT affiliates would make it the twenty-fourth largest economy in the world.[18]
History
Initial years and vision (1861—1915)
...a school of industrial science [aiding] the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce.[19]
— Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Acts of 1861, Chapter 183
As early as 1859, the Massachusetts State Legislature was given a proposal for use of newly opened lands in Back Bay in Boston for a museum and Conservatory of Art and Science.[20] In 1861, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved a charter for the incorporation of the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston Society of Natural History" submitted by William Barton Rogers. Rogers sought to establish a new form of higher education to address the challenges posed by rapid advances in science and technology during the mid-19th century with which classic institutions were ill-prepared to deal.[21][22] The Rogers Plan, as it came to be known, was rooted in three principles: the educational value of useful knowledge, the necessity of “learning by doing”, and integrating a professional and liberal arts education at the undergraduate level.[23][24]
Because open conflict in the Civil War broke out only a few months later, MIT's first classes were held in rented space at the Mercantile Building in downtown Boston in 1865.[25] Construction of the first MIT buildings was completed in Boston's Back Bay in 1866 and MIT would be known as "Boston Tech." During the next half-century, the focus of the science and engineering curriculum drifted towards vocational concerns instead of theoretical programs. Charles William Eliot, the president of Harvard University, repeatedly attempted to merge MIT with Harvard's Lawrence Scientific School over his 30-year tenure: overtures were made as early as 1869[26] with other proposals in 1900 and 1914 ultimately being defeated.[27][28][29][30]
Expansion (1916—1973)
The attempted mergers occurred in parallel with MIT's continued expansion beyond the classroom and laboratory space permitted by its Boston campus. President Richard Maclaurin sought to move the campus to a new location when he took office in 1909.[32] An anonymous donor, later revealed to be George Eastman, donated the funds to build a new campus along a mile-long tract of swamp and industrial land on the Cambridge side of the Charles River. In 1916, MIT moved into its handsome new neoclassical campus designed by the noted architect William W. Bosworth which it occupies to this date. The new campus triggered some changes in the stagnating undergraduate curriculum, but in the 1930s President Karl Taylor Compton and Vice-President (effectively Provost) Vannevar Bush drastically reformed the curriculum by re-emphasizing the importance of "pure" sciences like physics and chemistry and reducing the work required in shops and drafting. Despite the difficulties of the Great Depression, the reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering."[33] The expansion and reforms thus cemented MIT's academic reputation on the eve of World War II by attracting scientists and researchers who would later make significant contributions in the Radiation Laboratory, Instrumentation Laboratory, and other defense-related research programs.
MIT was drastically changed by its involvement in military research during World War II. Bush was appointed head of the enormous Office of Scientific Research and Development and directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT.[34][35] During the war and in the post-war years, this government-sponsored research contributed to a fantastic growth in the size of the Institute's research staff and physical plant as well as placing an increased emphasis on graduate education.[36]
As the Cold War and Space Race intensified and concerns about the technology gap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union grew more pervasive throughout the 1950s and 1960s, MIT's involvement in the military-industrial complex was a source of pride on campus.[37][38] However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, intense protests by student and faculty activists (an era now known as "the troubles")[39] against the Vietnam War and MIT's defense research required that the MIT administration to divest itself in 1973 from what would become the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and move all classified research off-campus to the Lincoln Laboratory facility.[40][41]
Recent history (1974—present)
MIT has been nominally coeducational since admitting Ellen Swallow Richards in 1870. (Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing in sanitary chemistry.)[42] Female students remained a very small minority (numbered in dozens) prior to the completion of the first wing of a women's dormitory, McCormick Hall, in 1963.[43][44] By 1993, 32% of MIT's undergraduates were female and in 2006, the number had increased to near-parity (47.5%) and women now outnumber men in 10 undergraduate majors although women still remain a distinct minority among faculty.[45][46] A 1998 MIT study concluded that a systemic bias against female faculty existed in its college of science,[47] although the study's methods were controversial.[48][49] Susan Hockfield, a molecular neurobiologist, became MIT's 16th president on December 6, 2004 and is the first woman and life scientist to hold the post.
Beginning in the late 1980s, several professors' tenure denials prompted allegations of censorship,[50] racism,[51][52] and sexism.[53] Accusations of research misconduct have also lead to contentious public disputes involving a Nobel Laureate[54][55] and ballistic missile defense research.[56] Since the 1990s, MIT has also been separately accused of transferring taxpayer-funded research and technology to international firms competing with struggling American businesses,[57][58][59] violating environmental laws,[60][61] colluding with Ivy League colleges to anti-competitively award financial aid,[62][63] and negligence after a number of student deaths.[64][65] These various cases have either been settled or dropped without fault to MIT.
Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several development campaigns to significantly expanded its campus that have included opening several new dormitories and athletics buildings, the MIT Media Lab, a number of new "backlot" buildings on Vassar Street including the Stata Center, the Tang Center for Management Education and an on-going project to expand the Sloan School of Management, and several buidling in the northeast corner of campus to support Brain and Cognitive Sciences , genetics, biotechnology, and cancer research. Construction on campus continues to expand the Media Lab and graduate residences.[66][5]
Organization
- See also Labs and Centers and Departments
MIT is "a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts."[67] MIT has five schools (Science, Engineering, Architecture and Planning, Management, and Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) and one college (Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology), but no schools of law or medicine.[68]
MIT is governed by a 78-member board of trustees known as the MIT Corporation[69] which approve the budget, degrees, and faculty appointments as well as electing the President.[70][71] MIT's endowment and other financial assets are managed through a subsidiary MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo).[72] The chair of each of MIT's 32 academic departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn reports to the Provost under the President. However, faculty committees assert substantial control over many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and administrative affairs.[73]
MIT students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers alone. Majors are numbered in the approximate order of when the department was founded; for example, Civil and Environmental Engineering is Course I, while Nuclear Science & Engineering is Course XXII.[74] Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the most popular department, collectively identify themselves as "Course VI." MIT students use a combination of the department's course number and the number assigned to the class to identify their subjects; the course which many American universities would designate as "Physics 101" is, at MIT, simply "8.01."[75]
Campus
MIT's 168-acre (68.0 ha) Cambridge campus spans approximately a mile of the north side of the Charles River basin. The campus is divided roughly in half by Massachusetts Avenue, with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. The bridge closest to MIT is the Harvard Bridge, which is marked off in a non-standard unit of length – the Smoot (named for Oliver R. Smoot, the length of a Smoot is five feet and seven inches, equal exactly to Oliver's height). The Kendall MBTA Red Line station is located on the far northeastern edge of the campus in Kendall Square. The Cambridge neighborhoods surrounding MIT are a mixture of high tech companies occupying both modern office and rehabilitated industrial buildings as well as socio-economically diverse residential neighborhoods.[71]
MIT buildings all have a number (or a number and a letter) designation and most have a name as well.[76] Typically, academic and office buildings are referred to only by number while residence halls are referred to by name. The organization of building numbers roughly corresponds to the order in which the buildings were built and their location relative (north, west, and east) to the original, center cluster of Maclaurin buildings. Many are connected above ground as well as through an extensive network of underground tunnels, providing protection from the Cambridge weather. MIT also owns commercial real estate and research facilities throughout Cambridge and the greater Boston area.
MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor is one of the largest university-based nuclear reactor in the United States.[77] The high visibility of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has occasionally caused controversy,[78][79] but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.[80] Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel, a towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs, and a low-emission cogeneration plant that serves most of the campus electricity and heating requirements. MIT's campus-wide wireless network was completed in the fall of 2005 and consists of nearly 3,000 access points covering 9,400,000 square feet (870,000 m2)* of campus.[81]
Architecture
As MIT's school of architecture was the first in the United States,[82] it has a history of commissioning progressive, if stylistically inconsistent, buildings.[83] The first buildings constructed on the Cambridge campus, completed in 1916, are known officially as the Maclaurin buildings after Institute president Richard Maclaurin who oversaw their construction. Designed by William Welles Bosworth, these imposing buildings were built of concrete, a first for a non-industrial — much less university — building in the U.S.[84] The utopian City Beautiful movement greatly influenced Bosworth's design which features the Pantheon-esque Great Dome, housing the Barker Engineering Library, which overlooks Killian Court, where annual Commencement exercises are held. The friezes of the limestone-clad buildings around Killian Court are engraved with the names of important scientists and philosophers. The imposing Building 7 atrium along Massachusetts Avenue is regarded as the entrance to the Infinite Corridor and the rest of the campus.
Alvar Aalto's Baker House (1947), Eero Saarinen's Chapel and Auditorium (1955), and I.M. Pei's Green, Dreyfus, Landau, and Wiesner buildings represent high forms of post-war modern architecture. More recent buildings like Frank Gehry's Stata Center (2004), Steven Holl's Simmons Hall (2002), and Charles Correa's Building 46 (2005) are distinctive amongst the Boston area's staid architecture[85] and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture."[83] These buildings have not always been popularly accepted; the Princeton Review includes MIT in a list of twenty schools whose campuses are "tiny, unsightly, or both."[86]
Housing
Undergraduates are guaranteed four-year, dormitory housing.[87] On-campus housing provides live-in graduate student tutors and faculty housemasters who have the dual role of both helping students and monitoring them for medical or mental health problems. Students are permitted to select their dorm and floor upon arrival on campus, and as a result diverse communities arise in living groups; the dorms on and east of Massachusetts Avenue are stereotypically more involved in countercultural activities. MIT also has six graduate student dormitories, which house about one-third of the graduate student population.[88]
MIT has a very active Greek and co-op system. Approximately one-half of MIT male undergraduates and one-third of female undergraduates[89] are affiliated with one of MIT's 36 fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs).[90] Most FSILGs are located across the river in the Back Bay owing to MIT's historic location there, but there are also a few fraternities in MIT's West Campus and in Cambridge. Since 2002, all freshmen are required to live in the dormitory system for the first year before moving into an FSILG.
Academics
Student demographics
Undergraduate | Graduate | U.S. Census[93] | |
---|---|---|---|
African American | 6.3% | 1.8% | 12.1% |
Asian American | 26.4% | 11.7% | 4.3% |
Hispanic American | 11.6% | 2.9% | 14.5% |
Native American | 1.3% | 0.3% | 0.9% |
International student | 9.2% | 39.3% | (N/A) |
MIT enrolls more graduate students (approximately 6,000 in total) than undergraduates (approximately 4,000). In 2007, women constituted 44.5 percent of all undergraduates and 30 percent of graduate students. The same year, MIT students represented all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three U.S. Territories, and 113 foreign countries.[94]
The admissions rate for freshmen in 2007 was 11.9% with over 69% of admitted freshmen choosing to enroll. Although graduate admissions are less centralized, they are similarly selective: 19.7% of 16,153 applications were admitted with 61.2% of admitted candidates enrolling.[95]
Undergraduate tuition is $33,400 and graduate tuition is $33,600 per year although 64% of undergraduates receive need-based financial aid and 87% of graduate students are supported by MIT fellowships, research assistantships, or teaching assistantships.[96][97]
Classes
Undergraduates are required to complete an extensive core curriculum called the General Institute Requirements (GIRs). The science requirement, generally completed during freshman year as prerequisites for classes in science and engineering majors, comprises two semesters of physics classes covering Classical Mechanics and E&M, two semesters of math covering single variable calculus and multivariable calculus, one semester of chemistry, and one semester of biology. Undergraduates are required to take a laboratory class in their major, eight Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) classes (at least three in a concentration and another four unrelated subjects), and non-varsity athletes must also take four physical education classes. In May 2006, a faculty task force recommended that the current GIR system be simplified with changes to the science, HASS, and Institute Lab requirements.[98]
Although the difficulty of MIT coursework has been characterized as "drinking from a fire hose,"[99] the failure rate and freshmen retention rate at MIT are similar to other large research universities.[100] Some of the pressure for first-year undergraduates is lessened by the existence of the "pass/no-record" grading system. In the first (fall) term, freshmen transcripts only report if a class was passed while no external record exists if a class was not passed. In the second (spring) term, passing grades (ABC) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again rendered "no-record."[101]
Most classes rely upon a combination of faculty led lectures, graduate student led recitations, weekly problem sets (p-sets), and tests to teach material, though alternative curricula exist, e.g. Experimental Study Group, Concourse, and Terrascope.[102][103] Over time, students compile "bibles," collections of problem set and examination questions and answers used as references for later students. In 1970, the then-Dean of Institute Relations, Benson R. Snyder, published The Hidden Curriculum, arguing that unwritten regulations, like the implicit curricula of the bibles, are often counterproductive; they fool professors into believing that their teaching is effective and students into believing they have learned the material.
Collaborations
The university historically pioneered research collaborations between industry and government.[105][106] Fruitful collaborations with industrialists like Alfred P. Sloan and Thomas Alva Edison led President Compton to establish an Office of Corporate Relations and an Industrial Liaison Program in the 1930s and 1940s that now allows over 600 companies to license research and consult with MIT faculty and researchers.[107] As several MIT leaders served as Presidential scientific advisers since 1940,[108] MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue to lobby for research funding and national science policy.[109]
MIT's proximity[110] to Harvard University has created both a quasi-friendly rivalry ("the other school up the river") as well as a substantial number of research collaborations such as the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Broad Institute, Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Harvard-MIT Data Center.[111][112] In addition, students at the two schools can cross-register without any additional fees, for credits toward their own school's degrees.
A cross-registration program with Wellesley College has existed since 1969 and a significant undergraduate exchange program with the University of Cambridge known as the Cambridge-MIT Institute was also launched in 2002.[113] MIT has limited cross-registration programs with Boston University, Brandeis University, Tufts University, Massachusetts College of Art, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.[113]
MIT maintains substantial research and faculty ties with independent research organizations in the Boston-area like the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as well as international research and educational collaborations through the Singapore-MIT Alliance, MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program,[114] MIT Portugal Program,[115] and MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program.[116]
Students, faculty, and staff are involved in over 50 educational outreach and public service programs through the MIT Museum, Edgerton Center,[117] and MIT Public Service Center.[118][119] Summer programs like MITES[120] and the Research Science Institute[121] encourage minority and high school students to pursue science and engineering in college. Project Interphase accelerates incoming freshman whose educational backgrounds did not fully prepare them for MIT coursework.[122]
The mass-market magazine Technology Review is published by MIT through a subsidiary company, as is a special edition that also serves as the Institute's official alumni magazine. The MIT Press is a major university press, publishing over 200 books and 40 journals annually emphasizing science and technology as well as arts, architecture, new media, current events, and social issues.[123]
Rankings
In the 2008 US News and World Report (USNWR) rankings of national universities, MIT's undergraduate program was #7.[124] The MIT Sloan School of Management is ranked #2 in the nation at the undergraduate level and #4 among MBA programs by USNWR's 2008 rankings.[125][126] MIT has more top-ranked graduate programs than any other university in the 2008 USNWR survey and the School of Engineering has been ranked first among graduate and undergraduate programs since the magazine first released the results of its survey in 1988.[127][128][129]
Among other outlets in the world university rankings, MIT is ranked #1 in the Globe by Webometrics,[130] #1 in technology, #2 in citation, #4 overall, #5 in natural science, and #11 in social science among world universities by the THES - QS World University Rankings,[131][132] in the top tier of national research universities by TheCenter for Measuring University Performance,[133] #5 among world universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University's 2006 Annual Rankings of World Universities,[134] and #1 by The Washington Monthly's rankings of social mobility and national service in 2005 and 2006.[135] The National Research Council, in a 1995 study ranking research universities in the US, ranked MIT #1 in "reputation" and #4 in "citations and faculty awards."[136]
Faculty and research
MIT has 1008 faculty members, of whom 195 are women and 172 are minorities.[137] Faculty are responsible for lecturing classes, advising both graduate and undergraduate students, and sitting on academic committees, as well as conducting original research. Many faculty members also have founded companies, serve as scientific advisers, or sit on the Board of Directors for corporations. 25 MIT faculty members have won the Nobel Prize.[138] Among current and former faculty members, there are 51 National Medal of Science and Technology recipients,[139] 80 Guggenheim Fellows, 6 Fulbright Scholars, 29 MacArthur Fellows, 5 Dirac Medal winners, 5 Wolf Prize winners, and 4 Kyoto Prize winners.[140] Faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to their research field as well as the MIT community are granted appointments as Institute Professors for the remainder of their tenures.
For fiscal year 2007, MIT spent $598.3 million on on-campus research.[141] The federal government was the largest source of sponsored research, with the Department of Health and Human Services granting $201.6 million, Department of Defense $90.6 million, Department of Energy $64.9 million, National Science Foundation $65.1 million, and NASA $27.9 million.<[141] MIT employs approximately 3,500 researchers in addition to faculty. In the 2006 academic year, MIT faculty and researchers disclosed 487 inventions, filed 314 patent applications, received 149 patents, and earned $129.2 million in royalties and other income.[142]
Research accomplishments
In electronics, magnetic core memory, radar, single electron transistors, and inertial guidance controls were invented or substantially developed by MIT researchers.[143][144] Harold Eugene Edgerton was a pioneer in high speed photography. Claude E. Shannon developed much of modern information theory and discovered the application of Boolean logic to digital circuit design theory.
In the domain of computer science, MIT faculty and researchers made fundamental contributions to cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer languages, machine learning, robotics, and public-key cryptography.[144][145] Richard Stallman founded the GNU Project while at the AI lab (now CSAIL). Professors Hal Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman wrote the popular Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs textbook and co-founded the Free Software Foundation with Stallman. Tim Berners-Lee established the W3C at MIT in 1994. David D. Clark made fundamental contributions in developing the Internet. Popular technologies like X Window System, Kerberos, Zephyr, and Hesiod were created for Project Athena in the 1980s. MIT was one of the original collaborators in the development of the Multics operating system, a highly secure predecessor of UNIX.[146]
The physic faculty have been instrumental in describing subatomic and quantum phenomena like elementary particles,[147] electroweak force,[148] Bose-Einstein condensates,[149] fractional quantum Hall effect,[150] positronium,[151] neutron scattering,[152] asymptotic freedom,[153] weak localization,[154] quantum field theory,[155] super gravity,[156] Goldstone bosons,[157] quantum optics,[158] as well as cosmological phenomena like cosmic inflation.[159] Victor Weisskopf, in addition to his contributions to quantum field theory, worked as a researcher on the Manhattan Project and co-founded the Union of Concerned Scientists.[160]
Members of the chemistry department have discovered number syntheses like metathesis,[161] stereoselective oxidation reactions,[162] synthetic self-replicating molecules,[163] CFC-ozone reactions,[164] and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.[165] Penicillin was also first synthesized at MIT.[166]
MIT biologists have been recognized for their discoveries and advances in RNA, protein synthesis,[167] apoptosis,[168] gene splicing and introns,[169] antibody diversity,[170] reverse transcriptase,[171] oncogenes,[172] phage resistance,[173] and neurophysiology.[174] MIT researchers discovered the genetic bases for Lou Gehrig's disease and Huntington's disease.[175] Eric Lander was one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project.[176][177]
Faculty and researchers belonging to the economics and management departments have contributed to the fields of system dynamics,[178] financial engineering,[179] neo-classical growth models,[180] and welfare economics[181] and developed fundamental financial models like the Modigliani-Miller theorem[182] and Black-Scholes equation.[183]
Professors Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle are both noted linguists,[184] Henry Jenkins is prominent in the field of media studies, Professor John Harbison has won a Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur Fellowship for his operatic scores, and former professor Marcia McNutt is one of the world's most influential ocean scientists.[185]
UROP
In 1969, MIT began the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to enable undergraduates to collaborate directly with faculty members and researchers. The program, founded by Margaret MacVicar, builds upon the MIT philosophy of "learning by doing." Students obtain research projects, colloquially called "UROPs," through postings on the UROP website or by contacting faculty members directly.[186] Over 2,800 undergraduates, 70% of the student body, participate every year for academic credit, pay, or on a volunteer basis.[187] Students often become published, file patent applications, and/or launch start-up companies based upon their experience in UROPs.
Current initiatives
As part of its OpenCourseWare project, MIT makes course materials for over 1,800 classes available online without charge.[188] Building upon MIT's leadership in the free software movement, Nicholas Negroponte of the MIT Media Lab started the One Laptop per Child initiative to expand computer education and connectivity to children worldwide. Upon taking office in 2004, President Hockfield launched an Energy Research Council to investigate how MIT can respond to the interdisciplinary challenges of increasing global energy consumption.[189]
Traditions and student activities
Template:Sound sample box align right Template:Multi-listen start Template:Multi-listen item Template:Multi-listen end Template:Sample box end The faculty and students body highly value meritocracy and technical proficiency.[190][191] MIT has never awarded an honorary degree nor does it award athletic scholarships, ad eundem degrees, or Latin honors upon graduation.[192] It does, on rare occasions, award honorary professorships; Winston Churchill was so honored in 1949 and Salman Rushdie in 1993.[193]
Students' passion for their subjects is balanced by the perception that their classes are more rigorous than their "grade inflated" peer institutions[194]— a love-hate relationship embodied by the school's informal motto/initialism IHTFP ("I hate this fucking place," jocularly euphemized as "I have truly found paradise," "Institute has the finest professors," etc.).[195]
Current students and alumni wear a large, heavy, distinctive class ring known as the "Brass Rat."[196] Originally created in 1929, the ring's official name is the "Standard Technology Ring." The undergraduate ring design (a separate graduate student version exists, as well) varies slightly from year to year to reflect the unique character of the MIT experience for that class, but always features a three-piece design, with the MIT seal and the class year each appearing on a separate face, flanking a large rectangular bezel bearing an image of a beaver.
Activities
MIT has over 380 recognized student activity groups,[197] including a campus radio station, The Tech student newspaper, the "world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction" in English, model railroad club, a vibrant folk dance scene, weekly screenings of popular films by the Lecture Series Committee, and an annual entrepreneurship competition.
The Independent Activities Period is a four-week long "term" offering hundreds of optional classes, lectures, demonstrations, and other activities throughout the month of January between the Fall and Spring semesters. Some of the most popular recurring IAP activities are the 6.270, 6.370, and MasLab competitions, the annual "mystery hunt", and Charm School.
Many MIT students also engage in "hacking," which encompasses both the physical exploration of areas that are generally off-limits (such as rooftops and steam tunnels), as well as elaborate practical jokes. Recent hacks have included the theft of Caltech's cannon,[198] reconstructing a Wright Flyer atop the Great Dome,[199] and adorning the John Harvard statue with the Master Chief's Spartan Helmet.[200]
Athletics
The student athletics program offers 41 varsity-level sports, the largest program in the nation.[201][202] MIT participates in the NCAA's Division III, the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, the New England Football Conference, and NCAA's Division I and Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) for crew.
The Institute's sports teams are called the Engineers, their mascot since 1914 being a beaver, "nature's engineer." Lester Gardner, a member of the Class of 1898, provided the following justification:
The beaver not only typifies the Tech, but his habits are particularly our own. The beaver is noted for his engineering and mechanical skills and habits of industry. His habits are nocturnal. He does his best work in the dark.[203]
MIT fielded several dominant intercollegiate Tiddlywinks teams through 1980, winning national and world championships.[204] The Engineers have won or placed highly in national championships in pistol, track and field, swimming and diving, cross country, crew, fencing, and water polo. MIT has produced 128 Academic All-Americans, the third largest membership in the country for any division and the highest number of members for Division III.[205]
The Zesiger sports and fitness center (Z-Center) which opened in 2002, significantly expanded the capacity and quality of MIT's athletics, physical education, and recreation offerings to 10 buildings and 26 acres of playing fields. The 124,000-square-foot (11,500 m2) facility features an Olympic-class swimming pool, international-scale squash courts, and a two-story fitness center.[206]
Noted alumni
Many of MIT's over 110,000 alumni and alumnae have had considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and business. Twenty-six MIT alumni have won the Nobel Prize and 37 have been selected as Rhodes Scholars.[207]
Alumni currently in American politics and public service include Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, New Hampshire Senator John E. Sununu, U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, MA-1 Representative John Olver, CA-13 Representative Pete Stark. MIT alumni in international politics include British Foreign Minister David Miliband, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, and former Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.
MIT alumni founded or co-founded many notable companies, such as Intel, McDonnell Douglas, Texas Instruments, 3Com, Qualcomm, Bose, Raytheon, Koch Industries, Rockwell International, Genentech, and Campbell Soup.
MIT alumni have also led other prominent institutions of higher education, including the University of California system, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, Tufts University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and Purdue University. Although not alumni, former Provost Robert A. Brown is President of Boston University, former Provost Mark Wrighton is Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis, and former Professor David Baltimore was President of Caltech.
More than one third of the United States' manned spaceflights have included MIT-educated astronauts, among them Buzz Aldrin (Sc. D XVI '63), more than any university excluding the United States service academies.[208]
-
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, ScD '63 (Course XVI)
-
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, SM '72 (Course XV)
-
Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, PhD '79 (Course XIV)
-
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, SB '76 (Course IV), SM '78 (Course XV)
References
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{{cite news}}
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- ^ a b c "MIT Facts 2008: Enrollments 2007-2008". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "We examined and discussed many colors. We all desired cardinal red; it has stood for a thousand years on land and sea in England's emblem; it makes one-half of the stripes on America's flag; it has always stirred the heart and mind of man; it stands for 'red blood' and all that 'red blood' stands for in life. But we were not unanimous for the gray; some wanted blue, I recall. But it (the gray) seemed to me to stand for those quiet virtues of modesty and persistency and gentleness, which appealed to my mind as powerful; and I have come to believe, from observation and experience, to really be the most lasting influences in life and history....We recommended 'cardinal and steel gray.'" (Alfred T. Waite, Chairman of School Color Committee, Class of 1879) quoted in "Symbols: Colors". MIT Graphic Identity. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
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{{cite book}}
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- ^ Andrews, Elizabeth (200). "William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder".
{{cite web}}
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{{cite web}}
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Maclaurin quoted: "in future Harvard agrees to carry out all its work in engineering and mining in the buildings of Technology under the executive control of the president of Technology, and, what is of the first importance, to commit all instruction and the laying down of all courses to the faculty of Technology, after that faculty has been enlarged and strengthened by the addition to its existing members of men of eminence from Harvard's Graduate School of Applied Science." - ^ "Harvard-Tech Merger. Duplication of Work to be Avoided in Future. Instructors Who WIll Hereafter be Members of Both Faculties". Boston Daily Globe. 1914-01-25. p. 47.
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- ^ Hechinger, Fred (November 9, 1969). "Tension Over Issue Of Defense Research". The New York Times.
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- ^ "When Drake arrived on campus 50 years ago, she was one of only 16 women in a class of 1,000."Lauren Clark. "MIT Panel "Alumnae Through the Ages" Reflects on Changes for Women". Retrieved 2007-04-09.
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- ^ EECS Women Undergraduate Enrollment Committee (January 3 1995). "Chapter 1: Male/Female enrollment patterns in EECS at MIT and other schools". Women Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. Retrieved 2006-12-08.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1999.
- ^ In 1995, faculty member Nancy Hopkins accused MIT of bias against herself and several of her female colleagues. Hopkins, rather than a third party, investigated her own charges and concluded in 1999 concluded there was "subtle yet pervasive" bias against women at MIT, although no instance of intentional discrimination was found. Despite the study's sealed evidence and its lack of peer review, Vest approved "targeted actions" like the creation of 11 committees and 20% salary increases for women faculty.
Judith Kleinfeld. "MIT Tarnishes Its Reputation with Gender Junk Science". Retrieved 2007-04-10. - ^ Kathryn Jean Lopez (April 10, 2001). "Feminist Mythology". National Review. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
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"Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview". Retrieved 2007-08-05. - ^ "MIT Corporation". Retrieved 2007-03-18.
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{{cite web}}
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- ^ Course numbers are traditionally presented in Roman numerals, e.g. Course XVIII for mathematics. Starting in 2002, the Bulletin (MIT's course catalog) started to use Arabic numerals. Usage outside of the Bulletin varies, both Roman and Arabic numerals being used). This section follows the Bulletin's usage
"MIT Course Catalogue: Degree Programs". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2008-07-16. - ^ "MIT Whereis". Retrieved 2007-08-05.
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- ^ Template:Harvard reference
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{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ "Consultation Report to Dean Rogers" (PDF). 2003-05-23. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
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- ^ "MIT Facts 2007: Enrollments 2006-2007". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
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- ^ See Demographics of the United States for references.
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{{cite book}}
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ignored (|editor=
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- ^ "MIT for a long time... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry."
"A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent". The Economist. August 8, 1987. - ^ "The war made necessary the formation of new working coalitions... between these technologists and government officials. These changes were especially noteworthy at MIT."
Edward B. Roberts (1991). "An Environment for Entrepreneurs". MIT: Shaping the Future. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. ISBN 0262631451.{{cite book}}
: Check|isbn=
value: checksum (help) - ^ "MIT ILP - About the ILP". Retrieved 2007-03-17.
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The US has the world's top two universities by our reckoning — Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, neighbours on the Charles River.
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- ^ "THE 1983/4 WOLF FOUNDATION PRIZE IN CHEMISTRY". Wolf Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Professor John C. Sheehan Dies at 76". MIT News Office. April 1, 1992. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ "1968 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "2002 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "1993 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "1987 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "1975 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "THE 2004 WOLF FOUNDATION PRIZE IN MEDICINE". Wolf Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "1969 Nobel Prize in Medicine". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "An RLE timeline". MIT News Office. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "MIT Research and Teaching Firsts". MIT. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ Lander, Eric (2001), "Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome", Nature, 409: 860, doi:10.1038/35057062
{{citation}}
: Unknown parameter|publication=
ignored (help) - ^ "Eric S. Lander". Broad Institute. Retrieved 2008-06-09.
- ^ "A Science Odyessy". PBS. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1997". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1987". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1970". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1985". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1997". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "The Anatomy of a Revolution in the Social Sciences: Chomsky in 1962 Professor". Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ Adam, John (June 2001). "Piloting through Uncharted Seas". Scientific American. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
- ^ "UROP homepage". Retrieved 2007-08-05.
- ^ "MIT Research and Teaching Firsts". Retrieved 2006-10-06.
- ^ "MIT OpenCourseWare". Retrieved 2008-06-12.
- ^ "Energy Research Council homepage". Retrieved 2006-10-24.
- ^ "We are a meritocracy. We judge each other by our ideas, our creativity and our accomplishments, not by who our families are." Marilee Jones, former Dean of Admissions. "MIT freshman application & financial aid information" (PDF). MIT Admissions. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- ^ "Mathematical approaches to economics have at times been criticized as lacking in practical value. Yet the MIT Economics Department has trained many economists who have played leading roles in government and in the private sector, including the current heads of four central banks: those of Chile, Israel, Italy, and, I might add, the United States."
Ben S. Bernanke (2006-06-09). "2006 Commencement Speech at MIT". Retrieved 2007-01-02. - ^ "MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as 'literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity....' Rogers was a geologist from the University of Virginia who believed in Thomas Jefferson's policy barring honorary degrees at the university, which was founded in 1819.... When Charles M. Vest... was offered the job of president of MIT in 1990, he met with Wiesner, who also had come to MIT from the University of Michigan. Wiesner, in ten words of concise persuasion, cited three worries of university presidents that Vest would not have at MIT—'No big time athletics. No medical school. No honorary degrees.'"
"No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson". MIT News Office. June 8, 2001. Retrieved 2006-05-07.{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Stevenson, Daniel C. "Rushdie Stuns Audience 26-100". The Tech.
- ^ While some statistics suggest that MIT pre-medical or pre-law students have lower average GPAs than graduates from peer schools with the same standardized board scores, a Princeton University study cites MIT granting as many "A"s as Ivy League-level colleges "Grade Deflation". Newsweek. August 2004. Retrieved 2007-01-02.
- ^ Bauer, M.J. "IHTFP". Retrieved 2005-11-23.
- ^ Gellerman, Bruce (2004). Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot. pp. 65–66. ISBN 0762730706.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "MIT Association of Student Activities". Retrieved 2006-11-01.
- ^ "Howe & Ser Moving Co". Retrieved 2007-04-04.
- ^ MARCELLA BOMBARDIERI (December 18, 2003). "Mit Pranksters Wing It For Wright Celebration". Boston Globe.
- ^ "MIT Hackers & Halo 3". The Tech. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ "MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreation". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ "MIT Varsity Sports fact sheet". Retrieved 2007-01-06.
- ^ "MIT '93 Brass Rat". Retrieved 2007-03-23.
- ^ Shapiro, Fred (1972-04-25). "MIT's World Champions" (PDF). The Tech. p. 7. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
- ^ "MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreations". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ "MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreation". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ MIT Office of Institutional Research. "Awards and Honors". Retrieved 2006-11-05.
- ^ "Notable Alumni". Retrieved 2006-11-04.
Further reading
- See the bibliography maintained by MIT's Institute Archives & Special Collections
- Leslie, Stuart W. (1994). The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-07959-1.
- Mitchell, William J. (2007). Imagining MIT: Designing a Campus for the Twenty-First Century. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-13479-8.
- Snyder, Benson R. (1973). The Hidden Curriculum. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-69043-0.
- Peterson, T. F. (2003). Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-66137-9.
- Stratton, Julius Adams (2005). Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19524-9.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help)
- Prescott, Samuel C. (1954). When M.I.T. Was "Boston Tech", 1861-1916. Technology Press. ISBN 978-0-262-66139-3.
- Jarzombek, Mark (2003). Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech. Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-619-0.
- Simha, O. Robert (2003). MIT Campus Planning,: An Annotated Chronology. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-69294-6.
External links
- Official MIT Website
- Undergraduate Admissions Website
- MIT Alumni Association
- MIT Enterprise Forum
- Activities and Clubs at MIT
Publications
- Official List of Campus Media at MIT
- MIT OpenCourseWare - Free online publication of nearly all MIT course materials
- The Tech - student newspaper, the world's first newspaper on the web
- Technique - the Yearbook and Photography Club of MIT
- Tech Talk - MIT's official newspaper
- Technology Review - mass market technology and alumni magazine
- MIT Press - university press & publisher
- MIT World - video streams of public lectures and symposia
- VooDoo - MIT's Journal of Humour since March 1919 (first issue at MIT Libraries)
- Counterpoint - MIT/Wellesley journal
- Tech Engineering News, journal from 1921-1976