On February 20, 1865, four years after approval of its founding charter, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened its doors to admit the first class of 15 students. The event marked the culmination of an effort by William Barton Rogers, MIT's founder and first president, to create a new kind of educational institution relevant to the times and to the nation's need, where students would be educated in the application as well as the acquisition of knowledge. A distinguished natural scientist, Rogers stressed the importance of basic research and believed that professional competence was best fostered by the coupling of teaching and research and attention to real-world problems.
Teaching and research—with relevance to the practical world as a guiding principle—continue to be MIT's primary purpose. The Institute is independent, coeducational, and privately endowed. Its five schools—architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts, and social sciences; management; and science—and college of health sciences and technology encompass numerous academic departments, divisions, and degree-granting programs, as well as interdisciplinary research centers, laboratories, and programs whose work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries.
The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
The Institute is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge, and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. MIT is dedicated to providing its students with an education that combines rigorous academic study and the excitement of discovery with the support and intellectual stimulation of a diverse campus community. We seek to develop in each member of the MIT community the ability and passion to work wisely, creatively, and effectively for the betterment of humankind.
The 1998 Task Force on Student Life and Learning described MIT's educational goals in these terms: An MIT education should prepare students for life through an integrated educational program composed of academics, research, and community. Academics establish a place for rigorous study of the fundamentals of science, engineering, social science, and the humanities, as well as a format for developing problem-solving skills, familiarity with quantitative and qualitative analysis, historical and literary insight, and an understanding of the scientific method. Participation in research provides a foundation for professional competence and opportunities for learning-by-doing. Community interaction enables students to become familiar with their responsibilities, hone their leadership and communication skills, and gain self-mastery. Although each of the three components forms a distinct area of a student's education, the contribution of each reinforces and adds to that of the others. To provide a uniquely excellent education, MIT brings students and faculty together to learn from one another through academics, research, and community.
As recommended by the Task Force, MIT recently embarked on one of the most ambitious building initiatives in its history, aimed at creating a stronger campus community through enhanced residential options and the provision of advanced educational and research facilities. Upon completion, this initiative will have added nearly one million square feet of new facilities to the campus—smart residence halls and common spaces to inspire innovative collaborations, cutting-edge laboratories to support the emergence of new technologies, and visionary architecture to reinforce the intensity, curiosity, and excitement that are a defining value of the Institute, and of an MIT education.
The Institute has also moved to renovate and enhance its existing physical plant and infrastructure. Most institutional structures require renovation about every 30 years, with MIT buildings dating from the 1960s and 1970s in line for revitalization today. One recent example is the award-winning renovation of the Dreyfus Chemistry Building, a creation of I. M. Pei (MArch, 1940) that was dedicated in 1970. The building now contains state-of-the art chemistry labs, enhanced safety and environmental systems, and a flexible space format that allows for reconfiguration as needs evolve. Another area of dramatic change is the ongoing transformation of the Vassar Streetscape, turning a nondescript urban byway into a central campus boulevard unifying the physical and aesthetic connections among MIT's buildings and public spaces.
MIT's building program, both in its broad outlines and specific details, reflects the Institute's commitment to removing boundaries between life and learning, inspiring freedom of imagination, and reinventing the substance of education in the 21st century.
MIT enrolled 10,206 students in 2006–2007, including 4,127 undergraduates and 6,126 graduate students. These MIT students came from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, three territories, and 113 foreign countries. Eight percent of the undergraduates and 36 percent of the graduate students were international.
In the same year, there were 998 faculty members in MIT’s professorial ranks, including 188 women. The total teaching staff numbered 1,671. Most faculty members at MIT teach both undergraduate and graduate students. Undergraduates frequently register for graduate classes, and many undergraduates and graduate students participate, often together, in advanced research.
The confluence of ages, disciplines, and nationalities so characteristic of MIT brings together students and teachers, biologists and architects, humanists and engineers, young and old, and deeply influences the life and experience of every member of the academic community. The result is an academic environment with a strong focus on excellence and a diverse range of interests.
MIT's 168-acre campus extends for more than a mile along the Cambridge side of the Charles River Basin facing historic Beacon Hill and the central sections of Boston. Most academic activities occur within a group of interconnected buildings designed to permit maximum flexibility and easy communication among the departments and schools. The extensive athletic plant and playing fields are an integral part of the campus, as are the recreational buildings, dormitories, and dining halls. This arrangement contributes greatly to the sense of unity and community involvement that characterizes the Institute.
At the eastern end of the campus are the Alfred P. Sloan Building and the Grover M. Hermann Building, which house activities in management, economics, international studies, and political science. Adjacent to them is Eastgate, a 29-story student family apartment tower. The building at 70 Memorial Drive, along the riverfront, currently contains classrooms and office space for the MIT Sloan School of Management; the Program in Science, Technology, and Society; and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Now under construction is a 215,000-square-foot building that is scheduled to open in fall 2010. As the new home of the MIT Sloan School of Management, this building will create a new eastern gateway to the campus from Main Street.
Also located on the east end of the campus are buildings housing the Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology and MIT Medical's Health Services Center. The Whitaker College building includes research laboratories, classrooms, and the college headquarters. The Health Services Center provides a pharmacy, infirmary, and facilities for medical, dental, surgical, and other specialties.
The Wiesner Building, home of MIT's Media Lab and List Visual Arts Center. Photo by Stuart Darsch.
Adjacent to Whitaker College is I. M. Pei's Wiesner Building, housing the Media Laboratory, the Office of the Arts, and the Albert and Vera List Visual Arts Center, comprising three exhibition galleries and a film/video theater. A team headed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Fumihiko Maki and executive architects Leers Weinzapfel Associates has designed a 163,000-square-foot addition that will nearly double the size of the existing facility. When completed, the Media Arts and Sciences Building will link to the Wiesner Building through a multi-tiered central atrium flanked by nine fully visible laboratories.
A commanding feature of the East Campus is McDermott Court, featuring a great sculpture by Alexander Calder that rises in bold contrast to the facade of the 20-story Center for Earth Sciences (Cecil and Ida Green Building). Besides the Calder, MIT's outstanding collection of contemporary environmental sculpture includes works by Henry Moore, Louise Nevelson, Pablo Picasso, and Tony Smith.
The Institute's main buildings, enclosing Killian Court, were designed by Welles Bosworth (Class of 1899) and dedicated in 1916. Banked by rhododendrons and lined with tall shade trees, Killian Court opens to a wide view of the Charles River, the low brick buildings of old Boston, and the concrete and glass towers that rise above them.
The most significant expansion of the main group of campus buildings since the 1930s has just been completed. The cornerstone of the project is the Green Center, named for Cecil and Ida Green, whose leadership gift for Physics initiated a major renovation of the historic Bosworth Buildings by providing significant infrastructure renewal and modernization.
Interconnected with these central buildings are the Center for Life Sciences (the Dorrance and the Whitaker buildings), the Karl Taylor Compton Laboratories (for electronics and nuclear science), the EG&G Education Center (with lecture and laboratory facilities for the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science), the Center for Materials Science and Engineering (the Vannevar Bush Building), the Sloan Laboratory, the Guggenheim Laboratory, and the Center for Advanced Engineering Study.
The information revolution's new home at MIT, the Ray and Maria Stata Center
for Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences, was dedicated in May 2004.
Photo by Patsy Sampson.
The Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences, designed by Frank O. Gehry, is a cluster of irregular shapes wrapped around a central meeting area. The Stata Center was created to foster the kinds of creative collaboration that can arise when curious, talented individuals and teams are brought together in the right environment. It is the home of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, and the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.
Across the street from the Stata Center are new facilities for the brain and cognitive sciences. Dedicated in fall 2005, the 411,000-square-foot complex provides state-of-the-art laboratories, classrooms, and offices for the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.
Across Massachusetts Avenue is the West Campus, anchored by the Stratton Student Center with social rooms, cafeterias, student activity offices, music rooms, a spacious reading room, and recreational and commercial facilities. The Student Center Plaza is bounded on the west by Kresge Auditorium and on the east by the MIT Chapel. Both buildings were designed by Eero Saarinen. The auditorium contains a large concert hall, seating 1,200, a small theater, offices, and rehearsal rooms. The chapel is used regularly for religious services by all faiths and is open throughout the day for meditation. The chapel's unusual design includes an exterior moat that reflects light in ever-changing patterns on the interior walls.
Also located on the West Campus are the duPont Athletic Center and playing fields for soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, touch football, rugby, cricket, track, and tennis. The Howard W. Johnson Athletics Center includes an indoor ice rink and field house, and Rockwell Cage accommodates varsity and intramural basketball, volleyball, and badminton. MIT's Steinbrenner Stadium includes a six-lane, 400-meter, all-weather running track, the first of its kind in North America. The stadium also includes facilities for the steeplechase and other field events, with a game field inside the track oval for intercollegiate football, soccer, lacrosse, and field hockey.
These athletic facilities are complemented by the stunning Albert and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center, designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo & Associates, and Sasaki Associates. This luminous complex contains an Olympic-class 50-meter pool, seating for 450 spectators, a training pool, an 11,000-square-foot fitness center, and six squash courts built to international competition standards.
The Charles River Basin—two miles long and a third of a mile wide—is a major feature of MIT's physical environment. The Pierce Boathouse and the Walter C. Wood Sailing Pavilion provide centers for extensive activity in crew and in sailing.
Lining Memorial Drive and facing the Charles River are additional student residences, among them the serpentine Baker House, designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and internationally recognized as a masterpiece of modernism. Recently renovated in conjunction with its fiftieth anniversary, Baker House is one of the most popular dormitories at the Institute, in part because of the extraordinary residential experience it provides. Down the road from Baker House at the end of Amherst Alley is the Westgate apartment complex for students with families and the Tang Residence Hall for graduate students.
The shimmering exterior of Simmons Hall is wrapped in windows connected by
a grid of anodized aluminum. As a result, the building reflects light during
the day and glows with interior light after dark. Photo by Andy Ryan.
A new undergraduate dormitory on Vassar Street, Simmons Hall, was created by architect Steven Holl in collaboration with Perry Dean Rogers and Partners and acclaimed for the inventive ways it opens to the community. The Warehouse, a residential complex developed from a renovated industrial warehouse built in 1890, offers graduate students an attractive alternative to off-campus housing. The Sidney-Pacific Street graduate residence offers recreational and retail services at street level, giving the building a lively neighborhood presence. Currently being added to the graduate community is a 275,000-square-foot complex that will include 550 beds. Located next to Sidney-Pacific, it is scheduled to open in fall 2008.
The Infinite Corridor, one of the main thoroughfares at the Institute, runs a distance of 825 feet, or 251 meters, between Building 7 (the Massachusetts Avenue entrance to MIT) and Building 8, opening onto Eastman Court. Nearly the length of three football fields, the corridor is 9 feet wide and 16 feet high along its principal length.
MIThenge. Photo by Matt T. Yourst.
This layout allows the corridor to capture the setting sun at a particular moment, creating a solar phenomenon sometimes called "MIThenge." As viewed from a stationary point on the earth, the path of the sun through the sky traces a circle (roughly) that moves north and south as the seasons go by. In mid-November and in late January every year, the circular path crosses the axis of the Infinite Corridor. When this occurs, given favorable weather conditions, a shaft of sunlight is thrown the entire length of the corridor. This event will be visible November 11–14, 2007, starting at 4:18 pm, and January 28–30, 2008, starting at 4:48 pm. The best viewing of the phenomenon occurs at the third-floor level, which has fewer obstructions and less traffic. For more information, see the "Infinite Corridor Astronomy" at http://web.mit.edu/mithenge/.
MIT is in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the north bank of the Charles River, facing the city of Boston. The city of Cambridge, well known as the residence of MIT and Harvard, is home to many students and professionals. More than one-fourth of its residents are students, and one out of every six jobs is in higher education.
Cambridge is a city of 13 neighborhoods, ranging from approximately 700 to 15,000 residents. Only five cities in the United States with a population over 75,000 are more densely populated. The city's diverse ethnicity is reflected in its black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and white residents.
Within a two-mile radius of MIT are Boston's Museum of Science and Museum of Fine Arts, the Gardner Museum, the New England Conservatory of Music, Symphony Hall, the New England Aquarium, and the Boston Public Library, as well as Fenway Park and Banknorth Garden for professional baseball, basketball, and concerts. Students can also travel easily to Boston's theater district, where Broadway plays are previewed and local productions are staged.
Among the cultural organizations enriching life in the area are the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Boston Ballet Company, the Opera Company of Boston, the Boston Center for the Arts, Boston University's Huntington Theatre Company, the Loeb Drama Center, and the American Repertory Theatre.
MIT is one of more than 50 schools located in the Boston area, including Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Harvard University, Lesley University, Northeastern University, Simmons College, Tufts University, Wellesley College, and many specialized professional art and music schools. The concentration of academic, cultural, and intellectual activity in this area is one of the most significant in the country.
An hour or two away from MIT by car are the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire, the ocean beaches of Cape Cod, the lakes and rivers of Maine, the small clusters of fishing towns along the New England coast, and many places of historical interest in Massachusetts alone—Salem, Sturbridge, Lexington, Concord, and Plymouth. With its varied landscapes and four distinct seasons, New England offers unlimited possibilities for recreation—skiing, mountain climbing, hiking, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, swimming, and camping.
The purpose of the academic program at MIT is to give students a solid command of basic principles, a versatility of insight and perspective concerning natural and social phenomena, the habit of continued learning, and the power that comes from a thorough and systematic approach to learning. From these attributes comes the best assurance for continued professional and personal growth, especially in today's rapidly changing world.
Each of the academic departments, divisions, and programs listed below offers one or more degree-granting programs, as described in Part 2 of this Bulletin. More detailed information can be obtained from the program and department offices.
School of Architecture and Planning
Architecture
Media Arts and Sciences
Urban Studies and Planning
School of Engineering
Aeronautics and Astronautics
Biological Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Computational and Systems Biology
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Engineering Systems
Materials Science and Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear Science and Engineering
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Anthropology
Comparative Media Studies
Economics
Foreign Languages and Literatures
History
Humanities
Linguistics and Philosophy
Literature
Music and Theater Arts
Political Science
Science, Technology, and Society
Writing and Humanistic Studies
MIT Sloan School of Management
Management
School of Science
Biology
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Chemistry
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Mathematics
Physics
Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Joint Program with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The undergraduate academic program is based on a core of General Institute Requirements and on the specific curricula offered by departments for undergraduate majors. Within the requirements and elective choices, each student, in collaboration with a faculty advisor, may develop an individual program to suit his or her interests and preparation. Graduate students may take advantage of a number of standing interdisciplinary programs (as described under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs ) or develop individually tailored programs in consultation with the faculty.
Undergraduate courses at MIT all lead to the Bachelor of Science (SB) degree. Graduate degrees include Master of Architecture (MArch), Master of Science (SM), Master of Engineering (MEng), Master in City Planning (MCP), Master of Business Administration (MBA), Engineer, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and Doctor of Science (ScD).
Engineer degrees include Civil Engineer (CE), Electrical Engineer (EE), Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics (EAA), Engineer in Computer Science (ECS), Environmental Engineer (EnvE), Materials Engineer (MatE), Mechanical Engineer (MechE), Metallurgical Engineer (MetE), Naval Engineer (NavE), Nuclear Engineer (NuclE), and Ocean Engineer (OceanE).
For most undergraduates, degree-granting programs, including those that provide periods of on-the-job experience off campus, require four years of full-time study for the Bachelor of Science.
MIT is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Inc., through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.
Inquiries regarding MIT's accreditation status should be directed to the Office of the Vice President for Institute Affairs and Secretary of the Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Individuals may also contact:
Commission on Institutions of Higher Education
New England Association of Schools and Colleges
209 Burlington Road, Suite 201 Bedford, MA 01730-1433
telephone 781-271-0022
email cihe@neasc.org.
Many degree programs at MIT are accredited by specialized professional accrediting bodies, including the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Computer Science Accreditation Board, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the Planning Accreditation Board. Academic departments can provide information on the accreditation of the specific degree programs they offer.
The Institute's board of trustees is known as the Corporation, led by its chairman. Its membership includes approximately 75 distinguished leaders in science, engineering, industry, education, and public service, and (as ex officio members) the chairman, president, treasurer, and secretary of the Corporation. Between quarterly meetings, the Corporation functions through its officers and executive committee. For more information, visit the website at http://web.mit.edu/corporation/.
The Corporation appoints visiting committees for each department and for certain of the other major activities at the Institute. These committees, whose members are leaders in their respective professions, make recommendations to the Corporation concerning departmental activities and in turn provide counsel to the departments.
The Institute's chief executive officer is the president. Senior academic and administrative officers of the Institute include the chancellor, provost, executive vice president, associate provosts, deans of the schools, vice presidents, dean for graduate students, dean for undergraduate education, dean for student life, and director of the MIT Libraries.
The Institute's academic departments and divisions—each under the leadership of a head, director, or associate dean—are organized within the five schools and Whitaker College. In addition, numerous interdisciplinary laboratories and centers have been organized to facilitate research in fields that extend across traditional boundaries; administration of each laboratory or center is the responsibility of the faculty member who serves as its director. Research projects sponsored by government, industry, or foundations are administered through the Office of Sponsored Programs.
Educational policy for the Institute is determined by the MIT Faculty (referring to those members of the faculty and administration who have voting privileges as designated by the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty). The Faculty meets monthly during the academic year and conducts much of its business through a number of elected standing committees. The Faculty Policy Committee (FPC), which includes student members, maintains a broad overview of the Institute's academic programs, deals with a wide range of policy issues of concern to the Faculty, and coordinates the work of the Faculty committees. The chair of the Faculty chairs the FPC.
Communication and exchange within and between the faculty and the administration are facilitated through four Institute-wide councils. Senior officers responsible for the overall administration of the Institute plus the chair of the Faculty meet regularly as the Academic Council to confer on matters of Institute policy. Department heads and directors of major laboratories and centers join them to form the Faculty Council, which meets as needed. The Administrative Council, comprised of the heads of the major administrative sections of the Institute, meets regularly during the academic year. The Creative Arts Council, chaired by an associate provost, consists of deans, department heads, directors in the arts, and campus-wide faculty representatives, and meets to confer on issues concerning arts programs and policy.
For a detailed view of MIT's organizational structure, see the online organization chart at http://web.mit.edu/orgchart/.
The MIT Alumni Association, founded by alumni in 1875, provides ways for the Institute's 117,000 former students to stay in touch with one another and maintain their MIT connections. Under the direction of a volunteer alumni board, the Association staff helps members organize events, communicate with one another, and raise funds for MIT.
In addition to programs such as regional clubs and reunions, the Association offers an opportunity for alumni to make a virtual "infinite connection" to the MIT community at http://alum.mit.edu/. More than 70,000 alumni members have made that connection and are using Email Forwarding for Life, the online alumni directory, alumni email lists, online mentoring services, events registration, and online Alumni Fund giving. More than 8,000 alumni volunteer their services for MIT each year, with many serving as class and club officers, educational counselors, and members of the MIT Corporation and its visiting committees. Other popular alumni programs include MIT On the Road, Tech Reunions, and the Enterprise Forum of MIT.
In fiscal year 2006, the Alumni Fund reported $35.9 million in gifts, contributed by more than 31,545 alumni donors.