Faculty At MIT
There are 983 faculty members, or professors, at MIT. The Student to Faculty Ratio (as defined by the Common Data Set, a collaborative effort of The College Board, Peterson's, U.S. News & World Report) is 7.5 to 1.
MIT students are given the ability to work closely with MIT's outstanding faculty at every turn. Students do research in the labs of their faculty mentors. All upperclassmen choose a faculty advisor, who assists students with course selection each semester as well as with graduate school applications, job searches, and even non-academic topics. On the home front, each dormitory has a live-in Housemaster, usually a senior tenured faculty member, who is available as a source of advice and free food for his or her residential community. Students also sit on Institute committees and decide MIT educational and social policies with faculty members.
With rare exceptions, every class at MIT is taught by a professor - and in most departments, the majority of professors teach undergraduates every year. Professors for each class schedule office hours when they will be regularly available to discuss class matters with students. Professors are happy to meet with students outside scheduled office hours, and a quick email is usually all that is required to schedule a conference.
With only 4000 undergrads in 30 degree-granting programs, MIT is a small world; the potential for connections between a student and faculty members is limited only by his or her willingness to approach them. The faculty at MIT consists of many of the most respected researchers in the world. Luckily for MIT undergraduates, they are also committed to educating and mentoring the next generation of superstars.
Institute Professors
The title of Institute Professor is the highest honor awarded by the faculty and administration at MIT. The current Institute Professors are:
- Emilio Bizzi, Brain & Cognitive Science
- John M. Deutch, Chemistry
- Peter Diamond, Economics
- Mildred S. Dresselhaus, Electrical Engineering and Physics
- Jerome I. Friedman, Physics
- John Harbison, Music
- Robert Langer, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering
- John D. C. Little, Management Science
- Thomas Magnanti, Management Science and Electrical Engineering
- Mario J. Molina, Chemistry and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
- Joel Moses, Computer Science & Engineering
- Phillip Sharp, Biology
- Isadore Manual Singer, Mathematics
- Daniel I. C. Wang, Chemical Engineering
- Sheila Widnall, Aeronautics & Astronautics
Teaching
MIT honors its world-class teachers by selecting them as Margaret MacVicar Faculty Fellows for a ten-year period. Together the Fellows form a small academy of scholars committed to fine teaching and innovation in education.
Current MacVicar Faculty Fellows:
- Rohan Abeyaratne, Mechanical Engineering
- John Belcher, Physics
- Samuel Bowring, Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences
- Mary Boyce, Mechanical Engineering
- Sylvia Ceyer, Chemistry
- Peter Child, Music and Theater Arts
- Ernest Cravalho, Mechanical Engineering
- David Darmofal , Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Isabelle De Courtivron, Foreign Languages and Literatures
- Jesus A. Del Alamo, Electrical Engineering
- John Essigmann, Chemistry
- Dennis Freeman, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Alan H. Guth, Physics
- Steven R. Hall, Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Kip V. Hodges, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
- Barbara Imperiali, Chemistry
- Jean Jackson, Anthropology
- Robert Jaffe, Physics
- David Jerison, Mathematics
- Chris Kaiser, Biology
- Nancy G. Kanwisher, Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- Steven Leeb, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Lowell Lindgren, Music and Theater Arts
- Anne Mayes, Materials and Science Engineering
- Anne McCants, History
- Haynes Miller, Mathematics
- David Mindell, Science, Technology & Society
- Heidi Nepf, Civil Engineering
- Dava Newman, Aeronautics & Astronautics
- Leslie Norford, Architecture
- Alan Oppenheim, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Ruth Perry, Literature
- David Pesetsky, Linguistics & Philosophy
- Alex Slocum, Mechanical Engineering
- Janet Sonenberg, Music & Theater Arts
- David Thorburn, Literature
- Larry Vale, Urban Studies & Planning
- J. Kim Vandiver, Ocean Engineering
- Ian A. Waitz, Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Jacquelyn Yanch, Nuclear Engineering
Research
Seven current faculty members are Nobel laureates:
- H. Robert Horvitz, Physiology/Medicine 2002
- Wolfgang Ketterle, Physics 2001
- Phillip A. Sharp, Physiology or Medicine 1993
- Richard Schrock, Chemistry 2005
- Samuel C. C. Ting, Physics 1976
- Susumu Tonegawa, Physiology/Medicine 1987
- Frank Wilczek, Physics 2004
Five emeritus faculty members are Nobel laureates:
- Jerome I. Friedman, Physics 1990
- H. Gobind Khorana, Medicine/Physiology 1968
- Mario Molina, Chemistry, 1995
- Paul A. Samuelson, Economics 1970
- Robert M. Solow, Economics 1987
There are 20 MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellows among current MIT faculty and staff:
- Angela Belcher, Materials Science & Engineering
- Tim Berners-Lee, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab
- Erik Demaine, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science
- Linda G. Griffith, Biological Engineering
- John Harbison, Music
- Evelyn Fox Keller, History and Philosophy of Science
- Eric Lander, Biology
- Harlan Lane, Research Laboratory of Electronics
- Heather N. Lechtman, Archaeology & Ancient Technology
- Vamsi Mootha, Broad Institute
- David C. Page, Biology
- Michael J. Piore, Economics
- Daniela L. Rus, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab
- Peter Shor, Mathematics
- Amy Smith, Edgerton Center
- Richard M. Stallman, Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab
- Alar Toomre, Applied Mathematics
- Frank Wilczek, Physics
- Jack Wisdom, Planetary Science
- George Zweig, Research Laboratory of Electronics
Also, 73 faculty and staff members belong to the National Academy of Engineering, 72 to the National Academy of Sciences, 27 to the Institute of Medicine, and 139 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
