News

Expanding higher education for incarcerated students

September 11, 2023

Since its inception in 2018, The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) has been a trailblazer in implementing innovative and transformative educational experiences for incarcerated students as well as students at universities, including MIT. Now, TEJI has played a formative role in efforts to expand access to higher education in New England prisons through a partnership with […]

Making life friendlier with personal robots

September 10, 2023

“As a child, I wished for a robot that would explain others’ emotions to me” says Sharifa Alghowinem, a research scientist in the Media Lab’s Personal Robots Group (PRG). Growing up in Saudi Arabia, Alghowinem says she dreamed of coming to MIT one day to develop Arabic-based technologies, and of creating a robot that could […]

Jackson Jewett wants to design buildings that use less concrete

September 8, 2023

After three years leading biking tours through U.S. National Parks, Jackson Jewett decided it was time for a change. “It was a lot of fun, but I realized I missed buildings,” says Jewett. “I really wanted to be a part of that industry, learn more about it, and reconnect with my roots in the built […]

School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences welcomes 10 new faculty

September 7, 2023

Dean Agustín Rayo and the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences recently welcomed 10 new professors to the MIT community. They arrive with diverse backgrounds and vast knowledge in their areas of research. Isaiah Andrews PhD ’14 joins MIT as a professor in the Department of Economics. Andrews is an econometrician who develops reliable and […]

Elsa Olivetti appointed associate dean of engineering

September 5, 2023

Elsa Olivetti, the Jerry McAfee (1940) Professor in Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has been appointed as associate dean of engineering, effective Sept. 1. As associate dean, Olivetti will oversee a number of strategically important programs and initiatives across MIT’s School of Engineering. She will help lead and shape school-wide efforts […]

Kimberly Rose Bennett awarded HHMI Gilliam Fellowship

August 31, 2023

Kimberly Rose Bennett, a PhD candidate in the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics (MEMP) program within the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST), has been selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to be one of the 50 Gilliam Fellows for 2023. Bennett is the first HST student to receive this prestigious fellowship. The […]

Apekshya Prasai: Up in arms

August 30, 2023

Although women’s wartime roles and agency tend to be neglected in conventional discourses on conflict, there are times when women not only take up arms but also shape the practices and policies of insurgent groups they fight for. Apekshya Prasai, a PhD candidate in MIT’s Department of Political Science, studies how rebel groups subvert entrenched […]

Ms. Nuclear Energy is winning over nuclear skeptics

August 29, 2023

First-year MIT nuclear science and engineering (NSE) doctoral student Kaylee Cunningham is not the first person to notice that nuclear energy has a public relations problem. But her commitment to dispel myths about the alternative power source has earned her the moniker “Ms. Nuclear Energy” on TikTok and a devoted fan base on the social […]

Denzil Streete named senior associate dean and director of the Office of Graduate Education

August 25, 2023

After a national search, the MIT Office of the Vice Chancellor has named Denzil A. Streete senior associate dean and director of the Office of Graduate Education (OGE). Streete succeeds Blanche Staton, who retired this summer after serving for more than 25 years at MIT. He will begin his role at MIT on Sept. 12. […]

Q&A: Three Tata Fellows on the program’s impact on themselves and the world

August 25, 2023

The Tata Fellowship at MIT gives graduate students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary research and work with real-world applications in developing countries. Part of the MIT Tata Center for Technology and Design, this fellowship contributes to the center’s goal of designing appropriate, practical solutions for resource-constrained communities. Three Tata Fellows — Serena Patel, Rameen Hayat […]