Difference between revisions of "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" - New World Encyclopedia

From New World Encyclopedia
Line 30: Line 30:
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
The '''Massachusetts Institute of Technology''' ('''MIT''') is a [[private university|private]], [[coeducation]]al [[research university]] located in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]]. MIT has five schools and one college, containing 32 academic departments,<ref>{{cite web
+
The '''Massachusetts Institute of Technology''' ('''MIT''') is a [[private university|private]], [[coeducation]]al [[research university]] located in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]]. MIT has five schools and one college, containing 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. MIT is one of two private [[land-grant university|land-grant universities]] as well as a [[Sea-grant university|sea-grant]] and [[space-grant university]].
−
|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/academic.shtml
 
−
|title=MIT Facts 2007: Academic Schools and Departments, Divisions & Sections
 
−
|accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref> with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. MIT is one of two private [[land-grant university|land-grant universities]] as well as a [[Sea-grant university|sea-grant]] and [[space-grant university]].
 
  
 +
MIT is one of the foremost centers of science in the United States and the world, producing leaders in all aspects of science and technology with strong relationships in academia, government, and industry.
 +
 +
==Mission & Reputation==
 
MIT was founded by [[William Barton Rogers]] in 1861 in response to the increasing [[Technological and industrial history of the United States|industrialization of the United States]]. Although based upon German and French polytechnic models of an [[institute of technology]], MIT's founding philosophy of "learning by doing" made it an early pioneer in the use of laboratory instruction,<ref>1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 4, p. 292: "[MIT] was a pioneer in introducing as a feature of its original plans laboratory instruction in physics, mechanics, and mining."</ref> undergraduate research, and progressive architectural styles. As a [[federally funded research and development center]] during [[World War II]], MIT scientists developed defense-related technologies that would later become integral to [[Project Whirlwind|computers]], [[radar]], and [[inertial guidance]]. After the war, MIT's reputation expanded beyond its core competencies in science and engineering into the social sciences including [[economics]], [[linguistics]], [[political science]], and [[management]]. MIT's endowment and annual research expenditures are among the largest of any American university.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thecenter.ufl.edu/research_data.html |title=TheCenter Research University Data |date=2005 |accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>
 
MIT was founded by [[William Barton Rogers]] in 1861 in response to the increasing [[Technological and industrial history of the United States|industrialization of the United States]]. Although based upon German and French polytechnic models of an [[institute of technology]], MIT's founding philosophy of "learning by doing" made it an early pioneer in the use of laboratory instruction,<ref>1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 4, p. 292: "[MIT] was a pioneer in introducing as a feature of its original plans laboratory instruction in physics, mechanics, and mining."</ref> undergraduate research, and progressive architectural styles. As a [[federally funded research and development center]] during [[World War II]], MIT scientists developed defense-related technologies that would later become integral to [[Project Whirlwind|computers]], [[radar]], and [[inertial guidance]]. After the war, MIT's reputation expanded beyond its core competencies in science and engineering into the social sciences including [[economics]], [[linguistics]], [[political science]], and [[management]]. MIT's endowment and annual research expenditures are among the largest of any American university.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thecenter.ufl.edu/research_data.html |title=TheCenter Research University Data |date=2005 |accessdate=2006-12-15}}</ref>
  
Line 43: Line 43:
 
|author=[[Bank of Boston]] Economics Department
 
|author=[[Bank of Boston]] Economics Department
 
|accessdate=2006-10-04}}</ref> and irreverence (the popular practice of constructing elaborate pranks, or [[MIT hacks|hacking]], often has anti-authoritarian overtones).
 
|accessdate=2006-10-04}}</ref> and irreverence (the popular practice of constructing elaborate pranks, or [[MIT hacks|hacking]], often has anti-authoritarian overtones).
 +
 +
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
−
{{main|History of MIT}}
+
===Founding===
−
===Initial years and vision===
 
 
[[Image:MIT c1901 LOC cph 3g09599.jpg|thumb|right|250 px|The Rogers Building, Boston, in existence from 1866 to 1938, the first building on MIT campus.]]
 
[[Image:MIT c1901 LOC cph 3g09599.jpg|thumb|right|250 px|The Rogers Building, Boston, in existence from 1866 to 1938, the first building on MIT campus.]]
−
{{rquote|left|...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''}}
 
 
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 [[liberal arts college|classic institutions]] were ill-prepared to deal.<ref>{{cite web  
 
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 [[liberal arts college|classic institutions]] were ill-prepared to deal.<ref>{{cite web  
 
|title=MIT Facts 2007: Mission and Origins  
 
|title=MIT Facts 2007: Mission and Origins  
Line 77: Line 77:
 
===Expansion===
 
===Expansion===
 
[[Image:MIT-eastman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A plaque of [[George Eastman]], founder of [[Kodak]], in Building 6.  His nose is rubbed by students for good luck.]]
 
[[Image:MIT-eastman.jpg|thumb|right|200px|A plaque of [[George Eastman]], founder of [[Kodak]], in Building 6.  His nose is rubbed by students for good luck.]]
−
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>[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf Report of the Committee on Educational Survey], page 13</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>[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf Report of the Committee on Educational Survey], page 13. Retrieved November 6, 2007.</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.
  
 
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>  
Line 83: Line 83:
 
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.
 
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.
  
−
===Challenges and controversies===
+
==Facilities==
−
[[Image:Ellen S Richards.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Ellen Swallow Richards, first female student and professor at MIT.]]
 
−
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
 
−
|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, however, remained a tiny 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%).<ref>{{cite web
 
−
|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>
 
−
 
 
−
In 1998, MIT became the first major research university to acknowledge the existence of a [[systematic bias]] against female faculty in its School of Science and supported efforts toward corrective measures 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> A 2003 MIT news release cites various statistics suggesting that the status of women improved during the latter years of President Vest's tenure.<ref>"Over the past decade, the number of women undergraduates increased from 34 percent to 42 percent. Women now outnumber men in 10 undergraduate majors at MIT. The proportion of women graduate students has increased from 20 percent to 29 percent."<p>
 
−
"During Vest's presidency, MIT appointed its first woman department head in the School of Science, its first two minority department heads in the School of Engineering, and its first five women vice presidents."<br/>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/cmv.html |title=Charles Vest to step down from MIT presidency, ''Has been staunch national advocate for education and research'' |date=2003-12-05 |accessdate=2006-06-28 |publisher=MIT News Office}}</ref>
 
−
[[Susan Hockfield]], a molecular [[neuroscience|neurobiologist]], became MIT's 16th president on December 6, 2004 and is the first woman to hold the post. While the [[MIT#Student body|student body]] has become more balanced in recent years, women are still a [[MIT#Faculty and research|distinct minority among faculty]].
 
−
 
 
−
The 1984 dismissal of [[David F. Noble]], a historian of technology, became a [[cause celebre]] about the extent to which academics are granted "[[freedom of speech]]" after he published several books and papers critical of MIT's and other research universities' reliance upon financial support from corporations and the military.<ref>
 
−
{{cite web
 
−
|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DF1130F933A2575AC0A960948260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fM%2fMassachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology
 
−
|title=Professor Sues M.I.T. Over Refusal of Tenure
 
−
|publisher= New York Times
 
−
|year=1986-09-10
 
−
|accessdate=2006-10-03
 
−
}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
In 1986, Professor [[David Baltimore]], a [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Laureate]], became embroiled in an investigation of [[research misconduct]] that led to Congressional hearings in 1991.
 
−
 
 
−
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many 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>
 
−
 
 
−
In 1991, the [[Justice Department]] filed an [[Sherman Antitrust Act|antitrust suit]] against MIT and the eight [[Ivy League]] colleges 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. 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>
 
−
 
 
−
In 2000, Professor [[Ted Postol]] accused the MIT administration 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.
 
−
 
 
−
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a number of student deaths resulted in considerable media attention to MIT's culture and student life.<ref>{{cite web
 
−
|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
 
−
|year=1998-10-06
 
−
|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 web
 
−
|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= 2000-09-15
 
−
|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> "Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been far more likely to [commit suicide] over the past decade compared to those at 11 other universities with elite science and engineering programs&mdash;38 percent more often than the next school, Harvard, and four times more than campuses with the lowest rate.
 
−
<p>
 
−
"Madelyn Gould, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, said these patterns showed a 'suicide contagion' at MIT - victim begetting victim in the same small community. 'It appears there's a culture at MIT that has reinforced suicide and jumping as a means of escaping,' said Gould, an authority on suicide and contagion. 'Somehow they've normalized that jumping out a window is OK.'"<br/>{{cite news
 
−
|last=Healy
 
−
|first=Patrick
 
−
|title=11 years, 11 suicides&mdash;Critics Say Spate of MIT Jumping Deaths Show a 'Contagion'
 
−
|publisher=The Boston Globe
 
−
|date=2001-02-05
 
−
|pages=A1}}
 
−
</ref><ref> "There is considerable debate as to whether a school's selectivity increases the likelihood of student suicide. The latest round of the debate is being played out in Cambridge, Mass., where Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is in the midst of a $27 million wrongful death suit over the death of a troubled sophomore in April 2000. Media reports have painted a portrait of an institution in the midst of a suicide epidemic. In fact, MIT's suicide rate is below the national average if one adjusts figures for the school's overwhelmingly male student body (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2002)"<br/>{{cite web|
 
−
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 web
 
−
|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= 2001-11-14
 
−
|accessdate= 2006-06-25}}
 
−
</ref>
 
−
were implemented, including expanding staff and operating hours at the mental health center.<ref>
 
−
{{cite web
 
−
|url= http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/mhtf-1128.html
 
−
|publisher= MIT News Office
 
−
|title= Clay endorses Mental Health Task Force Recommendations
 
−
|date= 2001-11-28
 
−
|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?
 
−
|date= 2002-04-28
 
−
|accessdate= 2006-10-07
 
−
}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
In April 2007, Dean of Admissions [[Marilee Jones]] resigned 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>
 
−
 
 
−
==Organization==
 
−
{{see also|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology departments and laboratories}}
 
−
 
 
−
MIT is "a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts."<ref>
 
−
{{cite web
 
−
|url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/inaugurations/killian.html
 
−
|author=James R. Killian
 
−
|title=The Inaugural Address
 
−
|date=1949-04-02
 
−
|accessdate=2006-06-02}}
 
−
</ref> MIT has five schools ([[MIT School of Science|Science]], [[MIT School of Engineering|Engineering]], [[MIT School of Architecture and Planning|Architecture and Planning]], [[MIT Sloan School of Management|Management]], and [[MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences|Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences]]) and one college ([[Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology]]), but no schools of law or medicine.<ref>The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technonolgy (HST) offers joint MD, MD-PhD, or Medical Engineering degrees in collaboration with [[Harvard Medical School]].<br/>{{cite web|url=http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |title=Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview |accessdate=2007-08-05}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
MIT is governed by a 78-member [[board of trustees]] known as the MIT Corporation<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/ |title=MIT Corporation |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> which approve the budget, degrees, and faculty appointments as well as electing the President.<ref> {{cite web |title=A Brief History and Workings of the Corporation |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/185/mead.html |accessdate=2006-11-02}}</ref> MIT's [[financial endowment|endowment]] and [[pension|other financial assets]] are managed through a subsidiary MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mitimco.org/ |title=MIT Investment Management Company |accessdate=2007-01-08}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres05/17.00.pdf |author=Rafael L. Bras |title=Reports to the President, Report of the Chair of the Faculty |date=2004-2005 |accessdate=2006-12-01}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
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.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://mit.edu/education/ |title=MIT Education |accessdate=2006-12-03}}</ref> 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 number to identify their subjects; the course which many American universities would designate as "Physics 101" is, at MIT, simply "8.01."<ref> 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.</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
==Campus==
 
−
{{main article|Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}
 
 
MIT's {{convert|168|acre|sqkm|1|sing=on}} Cambridge campus spans approximately a mile of the [[Charles River]] front. The campus is divided roughly in half by [[Massachusetts Avenue (Cambridge)|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 the fanciful unit &ndash; the [[Smoot]]. The [[Kendall/MIT Station (MBTA)|Kendall]] [[Red Line (MBTA)|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.
 
MIT's {{convert|168|acre|sqkm|1|sing=on}} Cambridge campus spans approximately a mile of the [[Charles River]] front. The campus is divided roughly in half by [[Massachusetts Avenue (Cambridge)|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 the fanciful unit &ndash; the [[Smoot]]. The [[Kendall/MIT Station (MBTA)|Kendall]] [[Red Line (MBTA)|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.
  
Line 230: Line 108:
 
[[Alvar Aalto]]'s Baker House (1947), [[Eero Saarinen]]'s Chapel and Auditorium (1955), and [[I.M. Pei]]'s Green, Dreyfus, Landau, and Weisner 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<ref>"Boston isn’t yet fully embracing contemporary architecture... it’s far riskier to put an unapologetically modern building in the historic Back Bay, not far from the neighborhood’s Victorian town houses and Gothic Revival columns."{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/02/11/stained_glass/ |title=Stained Glass? |date=February 11, 2007 |accessdate=2007-04-04 |author=Rachel Strutt}}</ref> and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture."<ref name="Starchitecture"/> 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." <ref>{{cite web|title=2007 361 Best College Rankings: Quality of Life: Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both|url=http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?CategoryID=6&TopicID=50"|publisher=Princeton Review|year=2006|accessdate=2006-10-09}} It should be noted in this regard that the size of the campus is considerable.</ref>
 
[[Alvar Aalto]]'s Baker House (1947), [[Eero Saarinen]]'s Chapel and Auditorium (1955), and [[I.M. Pei]]'s Green, Dreyfus, Landau, and Weisner 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<ref>"Boston isn’t yet fully embracing contemporary architecture... it’s far riskier to put an unapologetically modern building in the historic Back Bay, not far from the neighborhood’s Victorian town houses and Gothic Revival columns."{{cite web|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2007/02/11/stained_glass/ |title=Stained Glass? |date=February 11, 2007 |accessdate=2007-04-04 |author=Rachel Strutt}}</ref> and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture."<ref name="Starchitecture"/> 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." <ref>{{cite web|title=2007 361 Best College Rankings: Quality of Life: Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both|url=http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingDetails.asp?CategoryID=6&TopicID=50"|publisher=Princeton Review|year=2006|accessdate=2006-10-09}} It should be noted in this regard that the size of the campus is considerable.</ref>
  
−
==Academics==
+
==Organization==
−
===Student demographics===
+
MIT is "a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts."<ref>
−
{| style="text-align:center; float: right; margin-left: 2em;" align="center" class="wikitable"
+
{{cite web
−
|+ ''Minority representation in MIT student body''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/enrollment.shtml |title=MIT Facts 2007: Enrollments 2006-2007 |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/international.shtml |title=MIT Facts 2007: International Students and Scholars |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref>  
+
|url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/inaugurations/killian.html
−
! !! Undergraduate !! Graduate!!U.S. Census<ref>See [[Demographics of the United States]] for references.</ref>
+
|author=James R. Killian
−
|-
+
|title=The Inaugural Address
−
! [[African-American]]
+
|date=1949-04-02
−
| 6.3% || 1.8% || 12.1%
+
|accessdate=2006-06-02}}
−
|-
+
</ref> MIT has five schools ([[MIT School of Science|Science]], [[MIT School of Engineering|Engineering]], [[MIT School of Architecture and Planning|Architecture and Planning]], [[MIT Sloan School of Management|Management]], and [[MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences|Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences]]) and one college ([[Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology]]), but no schools of law or medicine.<ref>The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technonolgy (HST) offers joint MD, MD-PhD, or Medical Engineering degrees in collaboration with [[Harvard Medical School]].<br/>{{cite web|url=http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |title=Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview |accessdate=2007-08-05}}</ref>
−
! [[Asian-American]]
 
−
| 26.4% || 11.7% || 4.3%
 
−
|-
 
−
! [[Hispanics in the United States|Hispanic-American]]
 
−
| 11.6% || 2.9% || 14.5%
 
−
|-
 
−
! [[Native Americans in the United States|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 2006, women constituted 44 percent of all undergraduates and 30 percent of graduate students. The same year, MIT students represented all 50 states, the [[District of Columbia]], three [[Incorporated territory#Classification of current U.S. territories|U.S. Territories]], and 113 foreign countries.
+
MIT is governed by a 78-member [[board of trustees]] known as the MIT Corporation<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/corporation/ |title=MIT Corporation |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> which approve the budget, degrees, and faculty appointments as well as electing the President.<ref> {{cite web |title=A Brief History and Workings of the Corporation |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/185/mead.html |accessdate=2006-11-02}}</ref> MIT's [[financial endowment|endowment]] and [[pension|other financial assets]] are managed through a subsidiary MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mitimco.org/ |title=MIT Investment Management Company |accessdate=2007-01-08}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres05/17.00.pdf |author=Rafael L. Bras |title=Reports to the President, Report of the Chair of the Faculty |date=2004-2005 |accessdate=2006-12-01}}</ref>
  
−
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.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/admission.shtml |title=MIT Facts 2007: Admission to MIT |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref>  
+
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.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://mit.edu/education/ |title=MIT Education |accessdate=2006-12-03}}</ref> 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 number to identify their subjects; the course which many American universities would designate as "Physics 101" is, at MIT, simply "8.01."<ref> 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.</ref>
−
 
 
−
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/graduate.html |title=MIT Facts 2007: Graduate Education |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/tuition.html |title=MIT Facts 2007: Tuition and Financial Aid}}</ref>
 
  
 
===Classes===
 
===Classes===
 
[[Image:Infinitecorridor.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The [[Infinite Corridor]] is the primary passageway through campus.]]
 
[[Image:Infinitecorridor.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The [[Infinite Corridor]] is the primary passageway through campus.]]
  
−
MIT has an extensive core curriculum required of all undergraduates 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 [[electricity and magnetism|E&M]], two semesters of math covering [[calculus|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.<ref>{{cite web | title=Proposed Revisions to GIRs Are Unveiled | url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V126/N25/25gir.html | accessmonthday=28 June | accessyear=2006}}</ref>
+
MIT has an extensive core curriculum required of all undergraduates 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 [[electricity and magnetism|E&M]], two semesters of math covering [[calculus|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.  
−
 
 
−
Although the difficulty of MIT coursework has been characterized as "drinking from a fire hose,"<ref>
 
−
{{cite book|title=Leadership and Organizational Culture: New Perspectives on Administrative Theory and Practice|editors=
 
−
Thomas J. Sergiovanni, John Edward Corbally|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=1986|id=ISBN 0-252-01347-6}} [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0252013476&id=wfjpFezRhuYC&pg=PA59&lpg=PA59&sig=wQV34XQrsLxQh-qzkwXtFTud3Hs p. 59]: "In the sixties... Students spoke of their undergraduate experiences as 'drinking from a fire hose.'"</ref> the failure rate and freshmen retention rate at MIT are similar to other large research universities.<ref>{{cite web | title=Common Data Set, Enrollment and Persistence | url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2006/b.html| accessdate=2006-10-06 }}</ref> 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."
 
−
 
 
−
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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/concourse/www/ |title=Concourse Program at MIT |accessdate=2007-02-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/terrascope/www/ |title=Terrascope home page |accessdate=2007-01-08}}</ref>  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===
 
===Collaborations===
−
 
 
[[Image:Building 7 entrance.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Building 7 (also 77 Massachusetts Avenue) is regarded as the entrance to campus.]]
 
[[Image:Building 7 entrance.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Building 7 (also 77 Massachusetts Avenue) is regarded as the entrance to campus.]]
 
MIT historically pioneered research collaborations between industry and government.<ref>"MIT for a long time... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry." <br/> {{cite journal |title = A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent |journal=The Economist |date=August 8, 1987}}</ref><ref>"The war made necessary the formation of new working coalitions... between these technologists and government officials. These changes were especially noteworthy at MIT." <br/> {{cite book|title=MIT: Shaping the Future |author=Edward B. Roberts |chapter=An Environment for Entrepreneurs |publisher=The MIT Press |year=1991 |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=0262631451}}</ref> 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 [[technology transfer|license research]] and consult with MIT faculty and researchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilp-www.mit.edu/display_page.a4d?key=P2a |title=MIT ILP - About the ILP |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> As [[Vannevar Bush|several]] [[James Rhyne Killian|MIT]] [[Jerome Wiesner|leaders]] served as [[President's Science Advisory Committee|Presidential scientific advisers]] since 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ostpside-0502.html |title=Nearly half of all US Presidential science advisors have had ties to the Institute |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 2, 2001 |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue to [[lobbying|lobby]] for research funding and national [[science policy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |title=MIT Washington Office |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref>
 
MIT historically pioneered research collaborations between industry and government.<ref>"MIT for a long time... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry." <br/> {{cite journal |title = A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent |journal=The Economist |date=August 8, 1987}}</ref><ref>"The war made necessary the formation of new working coalitions... between these technologists and government officials. These changes were especially noteworthy at MIT." <br/> {{cite book|title=MIT: Shaping the Future |author=Edward B. Roberts |chapter=An Environment for Entrepreneurs |publisher=The MIT Press |year=1991 |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=0262631451}}</ref> 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 [[technology transfer|license research]] and consult with MIT faculty and researchers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ilp-www.mit.edu/display_page.a4d?key=P2a |title=MIT ILP - About the ILP |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> As [[Vannevar Bush|several]] [[James Rhyne Killian|MIT]] [[Jerome Wiesner|leaders]] served as [[President's Science Advisory Committee|Presidential scientific advisers]] since 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ostpside-0502.html |title=Nearly half of all US Presidential science advisors have had ties to the Institute |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 2, 2001 |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref> MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue to [[lobbying|lobby]] for research funding and national [[science policy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |title=MIT Washington Office |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref>
  
−
MIT's proximity<ref>MIT's Building 7 and Harvard's Johnston Gate, the traditional entrances to each school, are {{convert|1.72|mi|km|2}} apart along Massachusetts Avenue.</ref> to [[Harvard University]] has created both a quasi-friendly rivalry ("the other school up the [[Charles River|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.<ref>{{cite web |quote=The US has the world’s top two universities by our reckoning—Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, neighbours on the Charles River. |url=http://www.thes.co.uk/worldrankings/ |title=Times Higher Education Supplement World Rankings 2005 |accessdate=2006-10-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hmdc.harvard.edu/ |title=Harvard-MIT Data Center |accessdate=2007-01-08}}</ref> In addition, students at the two schools can [[cross-registration|cross-register]] without any additional fees, for credits toward their own school's degrees. 
+
==Traditions==
−
 
 
−
MIT has a long-standing cross-registration program with [[Wellesley College]] as well as an undergraduate exchange program with the [[University of Cambridge]] known as the [[Cambridge-MIT Institute]].<ref name="EdPart">{{Cite web |title=MIT Facts 2007: Educational Partnerships |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/partnerships.shtml |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="EdPart"/>
 
−
 
 
−
MIT maintains substantial research and faculty ties with independent research organizations in the Boston-area like the [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory]], [[Whitehead Institute|Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research]], and [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]] as well as international research and educational collaborations through the [[Singapore-MIT Alliance]], MIT-[[University of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]] International Logistics Program,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/zlc/ |title=MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> MIT-[[Catholic University of Portugal|Portugal]] program <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mitportugal.org/ |title=MIT-Portugal |accessdate=2007-08-29}}</ref> and MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/misti/ |title=MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
MIT students, faculty, and staff are involved in over 50 educational outreach and public service programs through the [[MIT Museum]], Edgerton Center,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/edgerton/ |title=MIT Edgerton Center |accessdate=2007-03-17}}</ref> and MIT Public Service Center.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/mitpsc/ |title=MIT Public Service Center |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Outreach Database |url=http://ideas.mit.edu/~pscadmin/browsehome.php |accessdate=2006-10-07}}</ref> Summer programs like [[MITES]]<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/mites/www/ Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science Program]</ref> and the Research Science Institute<ref>[http://www.cee.org/rsi/ Research Science Institute]</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/ome/programs-services/interphase/ |title=Project Interphase |accessdate=2007-07-23}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/history/default.asp |title=History - The MIT Press |accessdate=2007-03-18}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
===Rankings===
 
−
<!-- ALL RANKINGS ARE POV. Please do not make changes to this section without first proposing or justifying them in the Discussion. —>
 
−
[[Image:MIT-barker.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Barker Library, inside the Great Dome]]
 
−
In the 2008 [[US News and World Report]] (USNWR) rankings of national universities, MIT's undergraduate program was #7.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php |title=America's Best Colleges 2007: National Universities |accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/topprogs_brief.php |title=America's Best Colleges 2007: Best Undergraduate Business Programs |publisher=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/mba/brief/mbarank_brief.php |title=America's Best Graduate Schools 2008: Top Business Schools |accessdate=2007-05-18 |publisher=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref> 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 programs since the magazine first released the results of its survey in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/phdsci/phdsciindex_brief.php |title=USNWR's Best Graduate Programs in the Sciences |accessdate=2006-12-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/eng/engindex.php |title=USNWR's Best Graduate Programs in Engineering |accessdate=2006-12-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=MIT grad programs rank highly | url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2003/usnews.html | accessday= July 30 | accessyear = 2006}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
Among other outlets in the world university rankings, MIT is ranked #1 in the Globe by [[Webometrics]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webometrics.info/top3000.asp |title=Webometrics Top 3000 World Universities |accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> #4 (tied with [[Yale University|Yale]]) among world universities  by the ''[[THES - QS World University Rankings]]'',<ref>Wikipedia's summaries: [[The Times Higher Education Supplement#Top universities overall (worldwide)|Top universities overall (worldwide)]]; [[The Times Higher Education Supplement#Top universities worldwide for technology|Top universities worldwide for technology]]; [[The Times Higher Education Supplement#Top universities worldwide for technology|Top universities worldwide for science]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/ |title=2006 ''The Times'' Higher Educational Supplement ranking of world’s research universities |accessdate=2007-08-05}}</ref> in the top tier of national research universities by TheCenter for Measuring University Performance,<ref>{{cite web | title=The Top American Research Universities: 2006 Annual Report |publisher=TheCenter for Measuring University Performance |url=http://mup.asu.edu/research2006.pdf |accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> #5 among world universities by [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University]]'s 2006 ''Annual Rankings of World Universities'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2006/ARWU2006_Top100.htm |title=Academic Ranking of World Universities 2006 |accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> and #1 by [[The Washington Monthly]]'s rankings of social mobility and national service in 2005 and 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.national.html |title=The Washington Monthly College Rankings: National Universities |accessdate=2007-05-18}}</ref> The [[United States National Research Council|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."<ref>Diamond, Nancy and Hugh Davis Graham (1995), [http://www.physics.northwestern.edu/graduate/Graham_Diamond.html How should we rate research universities?]</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
==Faculty and research ==
 
−
{{main article|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology laboratories}}
 
−
[[Image:MITKismet.jpg|200px|right|thumb|[[Kismet (robot)]] was developed to simulate human emotions.]]
 
−
MIT has 998 faculty members, of whom 188 are women and 165 are minorities.<ref>{{cite web|title=MIT Facts 2007: Faculty and Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/faculty.shtml |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref> 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 [[Nobel Prize laureates by university affiliation|MIT faculty members]] have won the [[Nobel Prize]].<ref> {{cite web|title=61 MIT-related Nobel Prize winners include faculty, researchers, alumni and staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/nobels.html}}</ref>  Among current and former faculty members, there are 51 [[National Medal of Science]] and [[National Medal of Technology|Technology]] recipients,<ref name="National Medal of Science"/> 80 [[Guggenheim Fellow]]s, 6 [[Fulbright Scholar]]s, 29 [[MacArthur Fellow]]s, and 4 [[Kyoto Prize]] winners.<ref>{{cite web | title=MIT Facts 2007: Faculty and Staff | url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/faculty.shtml|accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref> Faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to their research field as well as the MIT community are granted appointments as [[Institute Professor]]s for the remainder of their tenures.
 
−
 
 
−
For fiscal year 2006, MIT spent $587.5 million on on-campus research.<ref name="BrownBook"> {{cite web |title=Brown Book (Annual Report of Sponsored Research) |url=http://controllers.mit.edu/site/reports_publications/brown_book_annual_report_of_sponsored_research/2006 |accessdate=2006-10-07}}</ref> The federal government was the largest source of sponsored research, with the [[Department of Health and Human Services]] granting $180.6 million, [[Department of Defense]] $86 million, [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] $69.9 million, [[National Science Foundation]] $66.7 million, and [[NASA]] $32.1 million.<ref name="BrownBook"/> MIT employs approximately 3,500 researchers in addition to faculty. In the 2006 academic year, MIT faculty and researchers disclosed 523 inventions, filed 321 patent applications, received 121 patents, and earned $42.3 million in royalties.<ref>{{cite web |title= TLO Statistics for Fiscal Year 2006 |url=http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/about/office_statistics.html |accessdate=2006-10-07}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
===Research accomplishments===
 
−
[[Image:Shockwave.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Strobe photograph taken by an MIT undergraduate in Edgerton's laboratory]]
 
−
In electronics, [[magnetic core memory]], [[radar]], [[single electron transistor]]s, and [[inertial guidance]] controls were invented or substantially developed by MIT researchers. [[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.
 
−
 
 
−
[[Image:Heckert GNU white.svg|right|thumb|150px|The [[GNU project]] and [[free software movement]] originated at MIT]]
 
−
In the domain of computer science, MIT faculty and researchers made fundamental contributions to [[Norbert Wiener|cybernetics]], [[Marvin Minsky|artificial intelligence]], [[Joseph Weizenbaum|computer language]]s, [[Patrick Winston|machine learning]], [[Rodney Brooks|robotics]], and [[Ronald Rivest|public-key cryptography]]. [[Richard Stallman]] founded the [[GNU Project]] while at the [[MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|AI lab]] (now [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|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 (protocol)|Kerberos]], [[Zephyr protocol|Zephyr]], and [[Hesiod (name service)|Hesiod]] were created for [[Project Athena]] in the 1980s.
 
−
 
 
−
MIT physicists have been instrumental in describing subatomic and quantum phenomena like [[Samuel C. C. Ting|elementary particles]], [[Steven Weinberg|electroweak force]], [[Wolfgang Ketterle|Bose-Einstein condensate]]s, [[BCS theory|superconductivity]], [[fractional quantum Hall effect]], and [[Frank Wilczek|asymptotic freedom]] as well as [[cosmology|cosmological]] phenomena like [[Alan Guth|cosmic inflation]].
 
−
 
 
−
MIT chemists have discovered number syntheses like [[Richard R. Schrock|metathesis]], [[K. Barry Sharpless|stereoselective oxidation reactions]], [[Julius Rebek|synthetic self-replicating molecules]], and [[Mario J. Molina|CFC-ozone reactions]]. [[Penicillin]] and [[Vitamin A]] were also first synthesized at MIT.
 
−
 
 
−
MIT biologists have been recognized for their discoveries and advances in [[RNA]], [[Har Gobind Khorana|protein synthesis]], [[H. Robert Horvitz|apoptosis]], [[Phillip Allen Sharp|gene splicing and introns]], [[Susumu Tonegawa|antibody diversity]], [[David Baltimore|reverse transcriptase]], [[Robert Weinberg|oncogenes]], [[Salvador Luria|phage resistance]], and [[Jerome Lettvin|neurophysiology]]. MIT researchers discovered the genetic bases for [[Lou Gehrig's disease]] and [[Huntington's disease]]. [[Eric Lander]] was one of the principal leaders of the [[Human Genome Project]].
 
−
 
 
−
MIT economists have contributed to the fields of [[Jay W. Forrester|system dynamics]], [[Robert C. Merton|financial engineering]], [[Robert Solow|neo-classical growth model]]s, and [[Paul Samuelson|welfare economics]] and developed fundamental financial models like the [[Franco Modigliani|Modigliani-Miller theorem]] and [[Myron Scholes|Black-Scholes]] equation.
 
−
 
 
−
Professors [[Noam Chomsky]] and [[Morris Halle]] are both noted linguists, Professor [[Henry Jenkins]] is prominent in the field of [[media studies]], and Professor [[John Harbison]] has won a [[Pulitzer Prize]] and [[MacArthur Fellowship]] for his operatic scores.
 
−
 
 
−
===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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/UROP/ |title=UROP homepage |accessdate=2007-08-05}}</ref> Over 2,800 undergraduates, 70% of the student body, participate every year for academic credit, pay, or on a volunteer basis.<ref>{{cite web|title=MIT Research and Teaching Firsts |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |accessdate=2006-10-06}}</ref> Students often become [[scientific journal|published]], file [[patent application]]s, and/or launch [[startup company|start-up companies]] based upon their experience in UROPs.
 
−
 
 
−
===Current Initiatives===
 
−
In 2001, MIT announced that it planned to put all of its course materials online as part of its [[MIT OpenCourseWare|OpenCourseWare]] project by 2007. 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]].<ref> {{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/erc/ |title=Energy Research Council homepage |accessdate=2006-10-24}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
==Traditions and student activities==
 
−
{{main article|Traditions and student activities at MIT|MIT class ring}}
 
 
[[Image:Brass Rat 2007 Finger.jpg|thumb|left|A typical "[[Brass Rat]]." The design variation pictured is from the Class of 2007.]]
 
[[Image:Brass Rat 2007 Finger.jpg|thumb|left|A typical "[[Brass Rat]]." The design variation pictured is from the Class of 2007.]]
  
−
MIT faculty and students value highly [[meritocracy]] and technical proficiency.<ref>"We are a meritocracy. We judge each other by our ideas, our creativity and our accomplishments, not by who our families are." {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/admissions/pdf/MITinstructions.pdf |title=MIT freshman application & financial aid information |author=Marilee Jones, former Dean of Admissions |accessdate=2007-01-02}}</ref><ref>"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."<br/>{{cite web|url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boardDocs/speeches/2006/20060609/default.htm |title=2006 Commencement Speech at MIT |author=Ben S. Bernanke |date=2006-06-09 |accessdate=2007-01-02}}</ref> MIT has never awarded an [[honorary degree]] nor does it award athletic scholarships, [[ad eundem degree]]s, or [[Latin honors]] upon graduation.<ref>"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&mdash;'No big time athletics. No medical school. No honorary degrees.'"<br/>{{cite web | author =  | publishyear = 2001 | url = http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/commdegrees.html | title = No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson | format =  | work =  | publisher = MIT News Office | date = 2001-06-08 | year = 2001 | accessdate =2006-05-07}}</ref> It does, on rare occasions, award honorary professorships; [[Winston Churchill]] was so honored in 1949 and [[Salman Rushdie]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite news|first=Daniel C.|last=Stevenson
+
MIT faculty and students value highly [[meritocracy]] and technical proficiency. MIT has never awarded an [[honorary degree]] nor does it award athletic scholarships, [[ad eundem degree]]s, or [[Latin honors]] upon graduation. It does, on rare occasions, award honorary professorships; [[Winston Churchill]] was so honored in 1949 and [[Salman Rushdie]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite news|first=Daniel C.|last=Stevenson
 
|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html  
 
|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html  
 
|title=Rushdie Stuns Audience 26-100
 
|title=Rushdie Stuns Audience 26-100
Line 334: Line 143:
 
|pages=1}}</ref>  
 
|pages=1}}</ref>  
  
−
MIT students' passion for their subjects is balanced by the perception that their classes are more rigorous than their "grade inflated" peer institutions<ref>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 {{cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5626583/site/newsweek/ |title=Grade Deflation |date=August 2004 |accessdate=2007-01-02}}</ref>—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.).<ref>{{cite web
+
===Brass Rat===
−
|last=Bauer |first=M.J.
 
−
|title=IHTFP |url=http://www.mit.edu/people/mjbauer/ihtfp.html
 
−
|accessdate=2005-11-23}}</ref>
 
−
 
 
 
Many MIT students and graduates wear a large, heavy, distinctive class ring known as the "Brass Rat." 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 [[American Beaver|beaver]].
 
Many MIT students and graduates wear a large, heavy, distinctive class ring known as the "Brass Rat." 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 [[American Beaver|beaver]].
  
 +
==Student Life==
 
===Activities===
 
===Activities===
−
{{main article|Student activities at MIT}}
 
−
{{see also|MIT hacks}}
 
 
[[Image:MIT firetruck hack.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A fire truck was placed on the Great Dome by hackers on September 11, 2006.]]
 
[[Image:MIT firetruck hack.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A fire truck was placed on the Great Dome by hackers on September 11, 2006.]]
 
MIT has over 380 recognized student activity groups,<ref>{{cite web|title=MIT Association of Student Activities |url=http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/group-list.html |accessdate=2006-11-01}}</ref> including a [[WMBR|campus radio station]], ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]'' student newspaper, the "world's largest open-shelf [[MIT Science Fiction Society|collection of science fiction]]" in English, [[TMRC|model railroad club]], a vibrant [[Tech Squares|folk dance]] scene, weekly screenings of popular films by the [[Student life and culture at MIT#Lecture Series Committee|Lecture Series Committee]], and an annual [[MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition|entrepreneurship competition]].
 
MIT has over 380 recognized student activity groups,<ref>{{cite web|title=MIT Association of Student Activities |url=http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/group-list.html |accessdate=2006-11-01}}</ref> including a [[WMBR|campus radio station]], ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]'' student newspaper, the "world's largest open-shelf [[MIT Science Fiction Society|collection of science fiction]]" in English, [[TMRC|model railroad club]], a vibrant [[Tech Squares|folk dance]] scene, weekly screenings of popular films by the [[Student life and culture at MIT#Lecture Series Committee|Lecture Series Committee]], and an annual [[MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition|entrepreneurship competition]].
Line 359: Line 163:
 
|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/athletics.shtml  
 
|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/athletics.shtml  
 
|accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/fofdaper/docs/Varsity-sports-facts.html |title=Varisty Sports fact sheets |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref>
 
|accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/fofdaper/docs/Varsity-sports-facts.html |title=Varisty Sports fact sheets |accessdate=2007-01-06}}</ref>
−
They participate in the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|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 [[College rowing (United States)#Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges|Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC)]] for crew. They fielded several dominant intercollegiate [[Tiddlywinks]] teams through 1980, winning national and world championships.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT's World Champions  
+
They participate in the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|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 [[College rowing (United States)#Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges|Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC)]] for crew. They fielded several dominant intercollegiate [[Tiddlywinks]] teams through 1980s, winning national and world championships.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT's World Champions  
 
|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_092/TECH_V092_S0210_P007.pdf |date=1972-04-25 |pages=7 |volume=92 |first=Fred |last=Shapiro |publisher=The Tech |accessdate=2006-10-04}}</ref>  
 
|url=http://www-tech.mit.edu/archives/VOL_092/TECH_V092_S0210_P007.pdf |date=1972-04-25 |pages=7 |volume=92 |first=Fred |last=Shapiro |publisher=The Tech |accessdate=2006-10-04}}</ref>  
 
MIT teams 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 [[All-America|Academic All-Americans]], the third largest membership in the country for any division and the highest number of members for Division III.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/athletics.html |title=MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreations |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref>
 
MIT teams 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 [[All-America|Academic All-Americans]], the third largest membership in the country for any division and the highest number of members for Division III.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/athletics.html |title=MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreations |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref>
  
 
The Institute's sports teams are called the Engineers, their [[mascot]] since 1914 being a [[American Beaver|beaver]], "nature's engineer." Lester Gardner, a member of the Class of 1898, provided the following justification: {{cquote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |title=MIT '93 Brass Rat |accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref> }}
 
The Institute's sports teams are called the Engineers, their [[mascot]] since 1914 being a [[American Beaver|beaver]], "nature's engineer." Lester Gardner, a member of the Class of 1898, provided the following justification: {{cquote|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |title=MIT '93 Brass Rat |accessdate=2007-03-23}}</ref> }}
−
 
−
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 {{convert|124000|sqft|sqm|-2|sing=on}} facility features an Olympic-class swimming pool, international-scale squash courts, and a two-story fitness center.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/athletics.html |title=MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreation |accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref>
 
−
 
−
===Housing===
 
−
{{main article|Housing at MIT}}
 
−
[[Image:Baker House, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Detail of Baker House façade onto the [[Charles River]].]]
 
−
MIT guarantees four-year, [[List of MIT dormitories|dormitory]] housing for all undergraduates<ref>{{cite web
 
−
|url=http://web.mit.edu/housing/undergrad/faqs.html#Eligibility
 
−
|title=MIT Undergraduate Housing FAQ:19 Frequently Asked Questions
 
−
|author=MIT Housing Office
 
−
|accessdate=2006-10-04
 
−
|date=2005-08-25}}</ref> and 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 [[counterculture|countercultural]] activities. MIT also has six graduate student dormitories, which house about one-third of the graduate student population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Graduate Housing Guide - Quick Facts |url=http://web.mit.edu/housing/grad/ghg/quick.html |accessmdate=10-08-2006}}</ref>
 
−
 
−
MIT has a very active Greek and co-op system. Approximately one-half of MIT male undergraduates and one-third of female undergraduates<ref>{{cite web|url=http://people.csail.mit.edu/phw/fsilg/jelke.pdf |title=Consultation Report to Dean Rogers |date=2003-05-23 |accessdate=2006-12-01}}</ref> are affiliated with one of MIT's 36 fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs).<ref>{{cite web
 
−
|title=MIT Facts 2007: Housing
 
−
|url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/housing.html
 
−
|accessdate=2007-02-14}}</ref> 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.
 
  
 
==Noted alumni==
 
==Noted alumni==
−
{{main article|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni}}
 
−
 
 
Many of MIT's over 110,000 alumni and alumnae have had considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and business. 27 MIT alumni have [[List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni#Alumni Nobel laureates|won the Nobel Prize]] and 37 have been selected as [[Rhodes Scholar]]s.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/index.html |title=Awards and Honors |author=MIT Office of Institutional Research |accessdate=2006-11-05}}</ref>
 
Many of MIT's over 110,000 alumni and alumnae have had considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and business. 27 MIT alumni have [[List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni#Alumni Nobel laureates|won the Nobel Prize]] and 37 have been selected as [[Rhodes Scholar]]s.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/index.html |title=Awards and Honors |author=MIT Office of Institutional Research |accessdate=2006-11-05}}</ref>
  
−
Alumni currently in American politics and public service include [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]] [[Ben Bernanke]], [[List of United States Senators from New Hampshire|New Hampshire Senator]] [[John E. Sununu]], U.S. [[Secretary of Energy]] [[Samuel Bodman]], [[Massachusetts's 1st congressional district|MA-1]] Representative [[John Olver]], [[California's 13th congressional district|CA-13]] Representative [[Pete Stark]]. MIT alumni in international politics include British [[Foreign Minister]] [[David Miliband]], former [[U.N. Secretary General]] [[Kofi Annan]], former [[Iraq]]i Deputy Prime Minister [[Ahmed Chalabi]], and former [[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]].
+
Alumni in American politics and public service include [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]] [[Ben Bernanke]], [[List of United States Senators from New Hampshire|New Hampshire Senator]] [[John E. Sununu]], U.S. [[Secretary of Energy]] [[Samuel Bodman]], [[Massachusetts's 1st congressional district|MA-1]] Representative [[John Olver]], [[California's 13th congressional district|CA-13]] Representative [[Pete Stark]]. MIT alumni in international politics include British [[Foreign Minister]] [[David Miliband]], former [[U.N. Secretary General]] [[Kofi Annan]], former [[Iraq]]i Deputy Prime Minister [[Ahmed Chalabi]], and former [[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]].
  
 
MIT alumni founded or co-founded many notable companies, such as [[Robert Noyce|Intel]], [[James Smith McDonnell|McDonnell]] [[Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.|Douglas]], [[Cecil Howard Green|Texas Instruments]], [[Robert Metcalfe|3Com]], [[Andrew Viterbi|Qualcomm]], [[Amar Bose|Bose]], [[Vannevar Bush|Raytheon]], [[Fred C. Koch|Koch Industries]], [[Willard Rockwell|Rockwell International]], [[Robert A. Swanson|Genentech]], and [[John Thompson Dorrance|Campbell Soup]].
 
MIT alumni founded or co-founded many notable companies, such as [[Robert Noyce|Intel]], [[James Smith McDonnell|McDonnell]] [[Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.|Douglas]], [[Cecil Howard Green|Texas Instruments]], [[Robert Metcalfe|3Com]], [[Andrew Viterbi|Qualcomm]], [[Amar Bose|Bose]], [[Vannevar Bush|Raytheon]], [[Fred C. Koch|Koch Industries]], [[Willard Rockwell|Rockwell International]], [[Robert A. Swanson|Genentech]], and [[John Thompson Dorrance|Campbell Soup]].
Line 407: Line 192:
 
==Further reading==
 
==Further reading==
 
:''See the [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/bibliographies/mithistory-sources/index.html bibliography] maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections]
 
:''See the [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/bibliographies/mithistory-sources/index.html bibliography] maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections]
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=Stuart W.| last=Leslie| title=The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford | year=1994| publisher=Columbia University Press | id=ISBN 0-231-07959-1}}
 
*{{cite book | first=Stuart W.| last=Leslie| title=The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford | year=1994| publisher=Columbia University Press | id=ISBN 0-231-07959-1}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=William J.| last=Mitchell| title=Imagining MIT: Designing a Campus for the Twenty-First Century | year=2007 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-13479-8}}
 
*{{cite book | first=William J.| last=Mitchell| title=Imagining MIT: Designing a Campus for the Twenty-First Century | year=2007 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-13479-8}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=Benson R. | last=Snyder| title=The Hidden Curriculum | year=1973 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-69043-0}}
 
*{{cite book | first=Benson R. | last=Snyder| title=The Hidden Curriculum | year=1973 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-69043-0}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=T. F. | last=Peterson| title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT | year=2003 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-66137-9}}
 
*{{cite book | first=T. F. | last=Peterson| title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT | year=2003 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-66137-9}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=Julius Adams|last=Stratton| authorlink=Julius Adams Stratton|coauthors=Loretta H. Mannix|title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |  year=2005| publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-19524-9}}
 
*{{cite book | first=Julius Adams|last=Stratton| authorlink=Julius Adams Stratton|coauthors=Loretta H. Mannix|title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |  year=2005| publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-19524-9}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=Samuel C.|last=Prescott| authorlink=Samuel Cate Prescott|title=When M.I.T. Was "Boston Tech," 1861-1916 | year=1954| publisher=Technology Press | id=ISBN 978-0-262-66139-3}}
 
*{{cite book | first=Samuel C.|last=Prescott| authorlink=Samuel Cate Prescott|title=When M.I.T. Was "Boston Tech," 1861-1916 | year=1954| publisher=Technology Press | id=ISBN 978-0-262-66139-3}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=Mark  | last=Jarzombek| authorlink=Mark Jarzombek|title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech | year=2003 | publisher=Northeastern University Press | id=ISBN 1-55553-619-0}}
 
*{{cite book | first=Mark  | last=Jarzombek| authorlink=Mark Jarzombek|title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech | year=2003 | publisher=Northeastern University Press | id=ISBN 1-55553-619-0}}
−
 
 
*{{cite book | first=O. Robert| last=Simha| title=MIT Campus Planning,: An Annotated Chronology| year=2003 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-69294-6}}
 
*{{cite book | first=O. Robert| last=Simha| title=MIT Campus Planning,: An Annotated Chronology| year=2003 | publisher=[[The MIT Press]] | id=ISBN 978-0-262-69294-6}}
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
−
 
 
* [http://web.mit.edu/ MIT], official web site
 
* [http://web.mit.edu/ MIT], official web site
 
* [http://my.mit.edu/ MyMIT], admissions web site
 
* [http://my.mit.edu/ MyMIT], admissions web site
 
* [http://alum.mit.edu/ MIT Alumni Association]
 
* [http://alum.mit.edu/ MIT Alumni Association]
−
 
−
===Publications===
 
 
* [http://ocw.mit.edu/ MIT OpenCourseWare], Free online publication of nearly all MIT course materials
 
* [http://ocw.mit.edu/ MIT OpenCourseWare], Free online publication of nearly all MIT course materials
 
*[http://www-tech.mit.edu/ The Tech], student newspaper, the world's first newspaper on the web
 
*[http://www-tech.mit.edu/ The Tech], student newspaper, the world's first newspaper on the web
Line 437: Line 211:
 
*[http://mitpress.mit.edu/ MIT Press], university press & publisher
 
*[http://mitpress.mit.edu/ MIT Press], university press & publisher
 
*[http://mitworld.mit.edu/ MIT World] video streams of public lectures and symposia
 
*[http://mitworld.mit.edu/ MIT World] video streams of public lectures and symposia
−
 
−
===Maps===
 
 
*[http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg MIT Maps]
 
*[http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg MIT Maps]
 
*[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/maps/ Early Maps of both the Boston and Cambridge Campuses] maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections]{{Geolinks-US-streetscale|42.35982|-71.09211}}
 
*[http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/maps/ Early Maps of both the Boston and Cambridge Campuses] maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections]{{Geolinks-US-streetscale|42.35982|-71.09211}}

Revision as of 02:32, 6 November 2007


Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Killian Court.JPG
Motto "Mens et Manus" (Latin for "Mind and Hand")
Established 1861 (opened 1865)
Type Private
Location Cambridge, Mass. USA
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 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological research. MIT is one of two private land-grant universities as well as a sea-grant and space-grant university.

MIT is one of the foremost centers of science in the United States and the world, producing leaders in all aspects of science and technology with strong relationships in academia, government, and industry.

Mission & Reputation

MIT was founded by William Barton Rogers in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States. Although based upon German and French polytechnic models of an institute of technology, MIT's founding philosophy of "learning by doing" made it an early pioneer in the use of laboratory instruction,[1] undergraduate research, and progressive architectural styles. As a federally funded research and development center during World War II, MIT scientists developed defense-related technologies that would later become integral to computers, radar, and inertial guidance. After the war, MIT's reputation expanded beyond its core competencies in science and engineering into the social sciences including economics, linguistics, political science, and management. MIT's endowment and annual research expenditures are among the largest of any American university.[2]

MIT graduates and faculty are noted for their technical acumen (64 Nobel Laureates, 47 National Medal of Science recipients, and 29 MacArthur Fellows),[3][4] entrepreneurial spirit (a 1997 report claimed that the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT affiliates would make it the twenty-fourth largest economy in the world),[5] and irreverence (the popular practice of constructing elaborate pranks, or hacking, often has anti-authoritarian overtones).


History

Founding

The Rogers Building, Boston, in existence from 1866 to 1938, the first building on MIT campus.

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.[6] 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.[7][8]

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.[9] 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[10] with other proposals in 1900 and 1914 ultimately being defeated.[11][12][13][14]

Expansion

A plaque of George Eastman, founder of Kodak, in Building 6. His nose is rubbed by students for good luck.

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.[15] 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."[16] 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.[17][18] 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.[19]

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.[20][21] However, by the late 1960s and early 1970s, intense protests by student and faculty activists (an era now known as "the troubles")[22] against the Vietnam War and MIT's 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.

Facilities

MIT's 168-acre (0.7 km²) Cambridge campus spans approximately a mile of the Charles River front. 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 the fanciful unit – the Smoot. 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.

Northward view of MIT's campus along the Charles River. Undergraduate dormitories MacGregor House, Burton-Connor House, Baker House, and McCormick Hall, as well as graduate dormitory Ashdown House, can be seen to the west of the Harvard Bridge and Massachusetts Avenue. The Maclaurin buildings and Killian Court can be seen at the center of the image. The Green Building, Walker Memorial, Media Lab, and high-rise offices and laboratories in Kendall Square can be seen to the east.
Northward view of MIT's campus along the Charles River. Undergraduate dormitories MacGregor House, Burton-Connor House, Baker House, and McCormick Hall, as well as graduate dormitory Ashdown House, can be seen to the west of the Harvard Bridge and Massachusetts Avenue. The Maclaurin buildings and Killian Court can be seen at the center of the image. The Green Building, Walker Memorial, Media Lab, and high-rise offices and laboratories in Kendall Square can be seen to the east.

MIT buildings all have a number (or a number and a letter) designation and most have a name as well.[23] 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 the second largest university-based nuclear reactor in the United States. The high visibility of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has caused some controversy,[24] but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.[25] 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 (873,288.6 m²) of campus.[26]

Architecture

The Stata Center houses CSAIL, LIDS, and the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Frieze on Building 2 dedicated to Newton

As MIT's school of architecture was the first in the United States,[27] it has a history of commissioning progressive, if stylistically inconsistent, buildings.[28] 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.[29] 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 Weisner 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[30] and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture."[28] 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." [31]

Organization

MIT is "a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts."[32] 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.[33]

MIT is governed by a 78-member board of trustees known as the MIT Corporation[34] which approve the budget, degrees, and faculty appointments as well as electing the President.[35] MIT's endowment and other financial assets are managed through a subsidiary MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo).[36] 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.[37]

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.[38] 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 number to identify their subjects; the course which many American universities would designate as "Physics 101" is, at MIT, simply "8.01."[39]

Classes

The Infinite Corridor is the primary passageway through campus.

MIT has an extensive core curriculum required of all undergraduates 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.

Collaborations

Building 7 (also 77 Massachusetts Avenue) is regarded as the entrance to campus.

MIT historically pioneered research collaborations between industry and government.[40][41] 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.[42] As several MIT leaders served as Presidential scientific advisers since 1940,[43] MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue to lobby for research funding and national science policy.[44]

Traditions

A typical "Brass Rat." The design variation pictured is from the Class of 2007.

MIT faculty and students value highly meritocracy and technical proficiency. MIT has never awarded an honorary degree nor does it award athletic scholarships, ad eundem degrees, or Latin honors upon graduation. It does, on rare occasions, award honorary professorships; Winston Churchill was so honored in 1949 and Salman Rushdie in 1993.[45]

Brass Rat

Many MIT students and graduates wear a large, heavy, distinctive class ring known as the "Brass Rat." 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.

Student Life

Activities

A fire truck was placed on the Great Dome by hackers on September 11, 2006.

MIT has over 380 recognized student activity groups,[46] 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.

MIT's 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,[47] reconstructing a Wright Flyer atop the Great Dome,[48] and adorning the John Harvard statue with the Master Chief's Spartan Helmet.[49]

Athletics

MIT Sailing Dinghies on the Charles River
200px

MIT's student athletics program offers 41 varsity-level sports, the largest program in the nation.[50][51] They participate 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. They fielded several dominant intercollegiate Tiddlywinks teams through 1980s, winning national and world championships.[52] MIT teams 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.[53]

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.[54] ”

Noted alumni

Many of MIT's over 110,000 alumni and alumnae have had considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and business. 27 MIT alumni have won the Nobel Prize and 37 have been selected as Rhodes Scholars.[55]

Alumni 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, 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.[56]

  • Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, ScD XVI'63

  • Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, MS XV'72

  • Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke, PhD XIV'79

  • Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, BS IV'76, MS XV'78

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 4, p. 292: "[MIT] was a pioneer in introducing as a feature of its original plans laboratory instruction in physics, mechanics, and mining."
  2. ↑ TheCenter Research University Data (2005). Retrieved 2006-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Three from MIT win top U.S. science, technology honors", MIT News Office, July 19, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  4. ↑ MIT Office of Provost, Institutional Research. MIT MacArthur Fellows. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  5. ↑ Bank of Boston Economics Department (March 1997). MIT: The Impact of Innovation. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
  6. ↑ MIT Facts 2007: Mission and Origins. Retrieved 2006-07-18.
  7. ↑ Lewis, Warren K. and Ronald H. Rornett, C. Richard Soderberg, Julius A. Stratton, John R. Loofbourow, et al (December 1949). Report of the Committee on Educational Survey (Lewis Report). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p. 8. Retrieved 2006-10-04. 
  8. ↑ Barton's philosophy for the institute was for "the teaching, not of the manipulations done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of all the scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them;" The Founding of MIT, cites (1) Letter, William Barton Rogers to Henry Darwin Rogers, March 13, 1846, William Barton Rogers Papers (MC 1), Institute Archives & Special Collections, MIT Libraries.
  9. ↑ Andrews, Elizabeth, Nora Murphy, and Tom Rosko(2004), William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder (Charter, laboratory instruction, first classes in Mercantile building)
  10. ↑ The history montage at the Kendall/MIT T-stop
  11. ↑ National Selection Committee Ballot - Power of the NSC. Retrieved 23 November, 2005.
  12. ↑ "Tech Alumni Holds Reunion. Record attendance, novel features. Cooperative plan with Harvard announced by Pres. Maclaurin. Gov. Walsh Brings Best Wishes of the State.", Boston Daily Globe, 1914-01-11, p. 117.
    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."
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ Canceled by a 1917 State Judicial Court decision.Harvard Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
  15. ↑ The "New Tech" (2006-09-08). Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  16. ↑ Report of the Committee on Educational Survey, page 13. Retrieved November 6, 2007.
  17. ↑ Leslie, Stuart (2004-04-15). The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-07959-1. 
  18. ↑ Zachary, Gregg (1997-09-03). Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century. Free Press. ISBN 0-684-82821-9. 
  19. ↑ Report of the Committee on Educational Survey, page 13
  20. ↑ More Emphasis on Science Vitally Needed to Educate Man for A Confused Civilization (1958-02-14). Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  21. ↑ Iron Birds Caged in Building 7 Lobby: Missiles on Display Here (1958-02-25). Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  22. ↑ "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." David Warsh (June 1, 1999). A tribute to MIT's Howard Johnson. Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  23. ↑ MIT Whereis. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  24. ↑ ABC News. Loose Nukes: A Special Report. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
  25. ↑ MIT News Office (2005-10-13). MIT Assures Community of Research Reactor Safety. Retrieved 2006-10-05.
  26. ↑ MIT maps wireless users across campus (2005-11-04). Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  27. ↑ MIT Architecture: Welcome. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Starchitecture on Campus (2004-02-22). Retrieved 2006-10-24.
  29. ↑ {{{Last}}}, {{{First}}} ({{{Year}}})
  30. ↑ "Boston isn’t yet fully embracing contemporary architecture... it’s far riskier to put an unapologetically modern building in the historic Back Bay, not far from the neighborhood’s Victorian town houses and Gothic Revival columns."Rachel Strutt (February 11, 2007). Stained Glass?. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  31. ↑ " 2007 361 Best College Rankings: Quality of Life: Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both. Princeton Review (2006). Retrieved 2006-10-09. It should be noted in this regard that the size of the campus is considerable.
  32. ↑ James R. Killian (1949-04-02). The Inaugural Address. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
  33. ↑ The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technonolgy (HST) offers joint MD, MD-PhD, or Medical Engineering degrees in collaboration with Harvard Medical School.
    Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview. Retrieved 2007-08-05.
  34. ↑ MIT Corporation. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  35. ↑ A Brief History and Workings of the Corporation. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
  36. ↑ MIT Investment Management Company. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
  37. ↑ Rafael L. Bras (2004-2005). Reports to the President, Report of the Chair of the Faculty. Retrieved 2006-12-01.
  38. ↑ MIT Education. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
  39. ↑ 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.
  40. ↑ "MIT for a long time... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry."
    (August 8, 1987) A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent. The Economist.
  41. ↑ "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. 
  42. ↑ MIT ILP - About the ILP. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  43. ↑ Nearly half of all US Presidential science advisors have had ties to the Institute. MIT News Office (May 2, 2001). Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  44. ↑ MIT Washington Office. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
  45. ↑ Stevenson, Daniel C., "Rushdie Stuns Audience 26-100", MIT Tech, 1993-11-30, pp. 1.
  46. ↑ MIT Association of Student Activities. Retrieved 2006-11-01.
  47. ↑ Howe & Ser Moving Co.. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  48. ↑ MARCELLA BOMBARDIERI. "Mit Pranksters Wing It For Wright Celebration", Boston Globe, December 18, 2003.
  49. ↑ MIT Hackers & Halo 3. The Tech. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
  50. ↑ MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreation. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  51. ↑ Varisty Sports fact sheets. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
  52. ↑ Shapiro, Fred (1972-04-25). MIT's World Champions pp. 7. The Tech. Retrieved 2006-10-04.
  53. ↑ MIT Facts 2007: Athletics and Recreations. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  54. ↑ MIT '93 Brass Rat. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  55. ↑ MIT Office of Institutional Research. Awards and Honors. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  56. ↑ 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 and Loretta H. Mannix (2005). Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-19524-9. 
  • 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


Association of American Universities
Public

Arizona • Buffalo (SUNY) • UC Berkeley • UC Davis • UC Irvine • UCLA • UC San Diego • UC Santa Barbara • Colorado • Florida • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Iowa State • Kansas • Maryland • Michigan • Michigan State • Minnesota • Missouri • Nebraska • North Carolina • Ohio State • Oregon • Penn State • Pittsburgh • Purdue • Rutgers • Stony Brook (SUNY) • Texas • Texas A&M • Virginia • Washington • Wisconsin

Private

Brandeis • Brown • Caltech • Carnegie Mellon • Case Western Reserve • Chicago • Columbia • Cornell • Duke • Emory • Harvard • Johns Hopkins • MIT • Northwestern • NYU • Penn • Princeton • Rice • Rochester • USC • Stanford • Syracuse • Tulane • Vanderbilt • Washington • Yale

Canadian

McGill • Toronto


Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.

Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology&oldid=543256

Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.
Copyright Logo
Powered by MediaWiki