From MIT President Emeritus Charles M. Vest

A collection of Dr. Vest's speeches, interviews and other communications, provided by the President's Office of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Profile of Dr. Vest
Timeline of the Vest Years


Ponder the Unthinkable, Create What Could Be: Dr. Vest's charge to the graduates at MIT's 138th Commencement, June 4, 2004.; Dr. Charles M. Vest's annual report for the academic years 2002-2004.
Challenges Past, Present, and Future: Excerpts from Dr. Charles M. Vest's remarks at MIT's 30th annual celebration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., February 5, 2004.
Openness and Security: Problems, Progress, and Opportunity: Dr. Charles M. Vest's remarks at the Annual Luncheon of the Council of Presidents, Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, New Orleans, November 17, 2003.
A Message from Dr. Vest, March 20, 2003: An open letter from Dr. Vest to the MIT community on issues affecting the Institute in a time of armed conflict: emergency preparedness; the importance of a supportive, caring community; and the right to freedom of expression.
Response and Responsibility: Balancing Security and Openness in Research and Education: Dr. Charles M. Vest's annual report for the academic year 2001-02, which examines the balance that must be struck if the United States is to remain secure against terrorism while maintaining the openness necessary for research and education. This report is also available in pdf format.
Education for a New Era: Dr. Charles M. Vest's remarks on the occasion of the award of the Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education, London, February 14, 2001.
Building Program Update: A Special Report from the Office of the President: This special report, issued as a supplement to the May 31, 2000, issue of MIT Tech Talk, reviews plans for the most ambitious effort to improve and enhance the physical campus and infrastructure of the Institute in more than 30 years. (This report is in pdf format.)
Not What We Think: What We Haven't Thought Of: Dr. Vest's keynote address at the Jerome B. Wiesner Symposium on the Future of the Government/University Partnership, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, February 26, 1996.
Higher Education—A Key Economic Asset: Dr. Vest's address to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, January 1996.
U.S. Engineering Education in Transition: Dr. Vest's address to the annual meeting of the National Academy of Engineering, September 28, 1995.
Reflections on Institutional and Individual Leadership: Address to the Alumni/ae Leadership Conference, Cambridge, Massachusetts, September 16, 1995.
In Search of Mediocrity: Is America Losing its Will To Excel?: A speech delivered to the National Press Club, Washington, D.C., July 18, 1995.
The Importance of Diversity in the MIT Community: This statement was first published in Tech Talk, January 12, 1994, and reissued in March 22, 1995.
Learning in a Research University: A letter to the parents of MIT undergraduates, published in MIT Parents News, Spring 1994.
The Arts and Creativity at MIT: This interview was first published in Tech Talk, February 10, 1993. (Links to a site maintained by the MIT Office of the Arts.)
The Inaugural Address: Delivered at Charles Vest's inauguration as the 15th President of MIT, May 10, 1991.

Annual Reports of the President

Addressed by Dr. Vest to the Institute community, these reports are prepared for publication in conjunction with the annual reports submitted to the President by the academic and administrative units of the Institute.

Academic Years 2002-04: "Moving On" (This report is in pdf format.)
Academic Year 2001-02: "Response and Responsibility: Balancing Security and Opennes in Research and Education" (Also available in pdf format)
Academic Year 2000-01: "Disturbing the Educational Universe: Universities in a Digital Age—Dinosaurs or Prometheans?"
Academic Year 1999-2000: No separate report from the President.
Academic Year 1998-99: "Three Questions in Search of Answers"
Academic Year 1997-98: "MIT—The Path to Our Future"
Academic Year 1996-97: "Stewards of the Future: The Evolving Roles of Academia, Industry, and Government"
Academic Year 1995-96: "Bold Ventures and Opportunity for All?"
Academic Year 1994-95: "What We Don't Know"
Academic Year 1993-94: "Higher Education and the Challenges of a New Era"
Academic Year 1992-93: "Embracing Complexity, Moving Toward Coherence"
Academic Year 1991-92: "Excellence in an Era of Change and Constraint"
Academic Year 1990-91: "From the First Year: MIT in National and International Context"

Photo by Donna Coveney.

Updated May 2005.

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