Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
HACKERS HIDE DOORWAY Vest Takes Office As 15th President By Kenneth D. Campbell News Office Dr. Charles M. Vest took office Monday, Oct. 15 as the 15th president of MIT, and was greeted with a friendly student hack. The doorway to his office complex was sealed and hidden by a bulletin board with clippings from "The Tech" headlined, "Vest takes over Monday." The bulletin board, constructed with 2x4s, was moved aside to a place of honor and humor in the hallway. The hack was so successful that a high administrative official thought for a minute he was on the wrong floor. The anonymous student hackers also gave Dr. Vest a bottle of champagne. At a Monday afternoon meeting with MIT's United Way solicitors, Dr. Vest referred to the bulletin board that sealed off his office and said jokingly, "My first major policy is that we're going to keep that. The first time issues get hot on campus, we'll pull it out." President Vest, 49, a native of West Virginia, comes to MIT from the University of Michigan, where he was provost and professor of mechanical engineering. He succeeds Dr. Paul E. Gray, who served as president for ten years from 1980 to 1990 and became chairman of the MIT Corporation on Monday. Dr. David S. Saxon, chairman since 1983 and previously president of the University of California system for eight years, becomes honorary chairman of MIT. The transition in leadership was accomplished without fanfare. President Vest's official inaugural ceremony will take place in Killian Court on May 10. Dr. Vest, in a brief interview, said that in the years ahead, "I am going to work with the faculty of MIT to think in very broad and long- range terms to do our best to identify what areas of science and technology will define the next generationÄand ensure that, as in the past, MIT will be there to play a leadership role." Dr. Vest said he felt privileged and excited "to come to an institution of this stature and one that I believe has such an important role to play in the future of our nation and the world. Within the context of teaching and basic research, we are engaged with the society around usÄ with our work with government, with industry, with the private sector, with invention and management of business. MIT is constantly looking ahead." Commenting on MIT, Dr. Vest said, "What a remarkably warm and welcoming place this has been over the past four months to my family and myself. It has given us a great sense of community which is very meaningful to us and we hope to be able to continue to build on that theme and that spirit, to do all we can to make the community even closer together." Dr. Vest and his wife, Rebecca, plan to move in to the President's House at 111 Memorial Drive on the last weekend of this month. Their daughter and son are away at schoolÄKemper is a graduate student in international affairs at George Washington University, and John is a sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Vest, who was elected MIT president by the Institute's trustees on June 18, served as provost and vice-president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan for two years, functioning in those posts as the university's chief academic officer and chief budget officer. Before that, he was dean of the university's College of Engineering for three years and associate dean for academic affairs for five years. A faculty member in mechanical engineering at Michigan since 1968, Dr. Vest is noted for his use of holographic techniques to make precise engineering measurements. He is the author of Holographic Interferometry, a standard work that has been translated into Russian and Chinese. Born in Morgantown, W. Va., September 9, 1941, he received his BS in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963, his MS from the University of Michigan in 1964, and his PhD in mechanical engineering from Michigan in 1967.