Welcome to Burton-Conner!

As your housemasters, we want to welcome you to Burton-Conner and we look forward to meeting and interacting with you.  We hope you will enjoy being a part of B-C's talented, multi-dimensional living group.

Housemasters are faculty members and spouses who live in the residence halls and provide assistance to individual students and their groups as they sort their way through the opportunities and challenges of the undergraduate years.  We make ourselves available to those who need us and play an active role along with the house governments in how the residences run.

At Burton-Conner we try to support the community, both on the individual floors and in the house itself.  To that end, we cooperate with student-run activities and sponsor other functions to bring residents closer together.  These may include an overnight ski trip, a day of whitewater rafting, a visit to a local museum, or a relaxing evening on a dinner cruise in Boston Harbor. We also host a variety of informal social gatherings in our apartment, such as Sunday night suppers and refreshment-filled study breaks.  Whatever the event, our goal is to help make the community stronger and build connections.

While we are there to assist you and your Graduate Resident Tutors, we both have careers outside the housemaster role.  Roe is the Cutten Professor of the History of Technology at MIT and former director of the Program in Science, Technology and Society.  He also holds joint appointments in the History Faculty and the Center for International Studies.  This is his 27th year at MIT.   Bronwyn is a professional historical editor who is also active in campus ministry support groups.

Your years at Burton-Conner promise to be among the most memorable and valued aspects of your MIT education.  We will do our best to make sure that happens!  Make the most of it!

Regards,

Merritt Roe Smith and Bronwyn M. Mellquist