Bear continues leadership at Picower Institute

Accepts additional two-year appointment as director

May 5, 2008

Picower Professor of Neuroscience Mark F. Bear has committed to continuing as director of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory through June 2010. Bear began his leadership of the institute in 2007.

"Mark's leadership has been instrumental to the progress of the Picower Institute. His complete devotion to the institute's mission has been an essential component of its continued success both in terms of the innovative discoveries and continued private support," said Marc A. Kastner, dean of the School of Science and Donner Professor of Physics. "I am deeply grateful for Mark's excellent work, and I look forward to continuing to work with him and the Picower Institute community during the coming years."

The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory is an independent research entity within MIT's School of Science, with faculty members holding academic appointments in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the Department of Biology, or both.

"We are pleased that Mark Bear has agreed to continue as the director of The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. In addition to being an excellent and forward thinking scientist, over the past several years he has demonstrated his ability to effectively lead a diverse group of world class scientists while continuing to make important discoveries in the world of neuroscience. We are confident that his expertise, vision and leadership will lead The Picower to meet its mission of excellence and help make the Institute the premier institution for neuroscience discoveries," said Barbara Picower, president and trustee of The Picower Foundation.

Bear is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and an expert on how the brain changes in response to experience. Prior to joining MIT, Bear served on the faculty of Brown University's School of Medicine for 17 years. Bear is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Earl K. Miller, Picower Professor of Neuroscience, will continue as associate director.

Founded in 1994 and renamed in 2002 following a $50 million gift from The Picower Foundation, the Picower Institute's researchers are focused on unraveling the mechanisms that drive learning and memory and understanding how these go awry in diseases ranging from autism to schizophrenia.