Janet Rankin, Associate Director for Teaching Initiatives
jrankin@mit.edu

As part of the TLL team, Dr. Rankin works with faculty and departments to integrate efforts to promote better learning at MIT with departmental needs and constraints.

Janet Rankin received her Sc.B. in Engineering from Brown University in 1983, and her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1989. From 1989 until 1991, she was a staff scientist at Oak Ridge National Lab, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Dr. Rankin was a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe College during the 1991-92 academic year. She received a Visiting Professorship for Women Award from the National Science Foundation which funded her research at Brown during the 1993-1995 academic years. Her current research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Rankin worked in the Dean of the College Office at Brown, as Coordinator of the ExSEL Program (a program to support and encourage the participation of traditionally under-represented minorities in math and science disciplines).

Dr. Rankin teaches a variety of Materials Science courses as well as general courses in the Engineering Core at Brown University. She is interested in project-based learning methods, improving learning in large-classes, and interdisciplinary learning and teaching.