List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty

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This list of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty includes current, emeritus, former, and deceased professors, lecturers, and researchers. Faculty members who have become Institute Professors, Nobel Laureates, MacArthur Fellows, National Medal of Science recipients, or have earned other significant awards and made significant contributions are listed below.

Contents 1 Institute Professors 2 Nobel Laureates 2.1 Current faculty 2.2 Emeritus faculty 2.3 Deceased faculty 2.4 Former faculty 2.5 Former and/or retired research staff 3 MacArthur Fellows 3.1 Current faculty 3.2 Research staff 3.3 Former faculty 4 National Medal of Science 4.1 Current faculty 4.2 Emeritus faculty 4.3 Deceased faculty 4.4 Former faculty 4.5 Former and/or retired research staff 5 Other prominent faculty and researchers 6 References

Institute Professors

A few distinguished members of the faculty have held the title of Institute Professor in recognition of their extraordinary records of achievement and dedication to the MIT community.

Nobel Laureates

Current faculty

Name	Department	Year	Award	Citation	Notes
Peter Diamond	Economics	2010	Economics	"for their analysis of markets with search frictions"
H. Robert Horvitz	Biology	2002	Medicine/Physiology	"for their discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'"
Wolfgang Ketterle	Physics	2001	Physics	"for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates"
Richard R. Schrock	Chemistry	2005	Chemistry	"for the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis"
Phillip A. Sharp	Biology	1993	Medicine/Physiology	"for their discoveries of split genes"	[1]
Samuel Ting	Physics	1976	Physics	"for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind"
Susumu Tonegawa	Brain and Cognitive Sciences	1987	Medicine/Physiology	"for his discovery of the genetic principle for generation of antibody diversity"
Frank Wilczek	Physics	2004	Physics	"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"	[2]
Robert C. Merton	Economics	1997	Economics	"for a new method to determine the value of derivatives"	[1]

Emeritus faculty

Name	Department	Year	Award	Citation	Notes
Jerome I. Friedman	Physics	1990	Physics	"for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics"
Mario Molina	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science	1995	Chemistry	"for their work in atmospheric chemistry, particularly concerning the formation and decomposition of ozone"
Robert M. Solow	Economics	1987	Economics	"for his contributions to the theory of economic growth"	[1]

Deceased faculty

Name	Department	Year	Award	Citation	Notes
Henry W. Kendall	Physics	1990	Physics	"for their pioneering investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics"
H. Gobind Khorana	Biology	1968	Medicine/Physiology	"for their interpretation of the genetic code and its function in protein synthesis"	[1]
Salvador E. Luria	Biology	1969	Medicine/Physiology	"for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses"	[1]
Franco Modigliani	Economics	1985	Economics	"for his pioneering analyses of saving and of financial markets"
Paul A. Samuelson	Economics	1970	Economics	"for the scientific work through which he has developed static and dynamic economic theory and actively contributed to raising the level of analysis in economic science"	[1]
Clifford G. Shull	Physics	1994	Physics	"for the development of the neutron diffraction technique"

Former faculty

Name	Department	Year	Award	Citation	Notes
David Baltimore	Biology	1975	Medicine/Physiology	"for their discoveries concerning the interaction between tumour viruses and the genetic material of the cell"	[1]
Robert Engle	Economics	2003	Economics	"for methods of analyzing economic time series with time-varying volatility (ARCH)"
Daniel L. McFadden	Economics	2000	Economics	"for his development of theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice"
John Forbes Nash Jr.	Economics	1994	Economics	"for [his] pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games"
Myron S. Scholes	Economics	1997	Economics	"for a new method to determine the value of derivatives"
K. Barry Sharpless	Chemistry	2001	Chemistry	"for his work on chirally catalysed oxidation reactions"
Charles H. Townes	Physics	1964	Physics	"for fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which has led to the construction of oscillators and amplifiers based on the maser-laser principle"	[1]
Steven Weinberg	Physics	1979	Physics	"for their contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles, including, inter alia, the prediction of the weak neutral current"

Former and/or retired research staff

Name	Laboratory	Year	Award	Citation	Notes
Thomas R. Cech	Post-doc, Department of Chemistry (1975–1978)	1989	Chemistry	"for their discovery of catalytic properties of RNA"	[1]
Aaron Ciechanover		2004	Chemistry	"for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation"
Horst L. Störmer	Researcher, Francis Bitter High Magnetic Field Lab	1998	Physics	"for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations"
E. Donnall Thomas	Post-doc (1949–1950)	1990	Medicine/Physiology	"for their discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease"	[1]
Daniel C. Tsui	Researcher, Francis Bitter High Magnetic Field Lab	1998	Physics	"for their discovery of a new form of quantum fluid with fractionally charged excitations"
Geoffrey Wilkinson	Research Associate, Department of Chemistry (1950–1951)	1973	Chemistry	"for their pioneering work, performed independently, on the chemistry of the organometallic, so called sandwich compounds"

MacArthur Fellows

Current faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
Esther Duflo	Economics	2009	"exploring the social and economic forces perpetuating the cycle of poverty for the poorest peoples in South Asia and Africa."
Angela Belcher	Materials Science and Engineering	2004	"developing new techniques for manipulating systems that straddle the boundary of organic and inorganic chemistry at the molecular scale."
Erik Demaine	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	2003
Linda G. Griffith	Biological Engineering	2006	"extending the limits of biomedical engineering and its applications for diagnosing disease and regenerating damaged organs."
John Harbison	Music and Theater Arts	1989
Evelyn Fox Keller	History & Science, Technology, and Society	1992
Eric Lander	Biology	1987
Heather N. Lechtman	Material Science and Engineering	1984
Nergis Mavalvala	Physics	2010
David C. Page	Biology	1986
Michael J. Piore	Economics	1984
Daniela L. Rus	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	2002
Peter Shor	Mathematics	1999
Alar Toomre	Mathematics	1984
Frank Wilczek	Physics	1982		[3]
Jack Wisdom	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	1994

Research staff

Name	Laboratory	Year	Citation	Notes
Amy Smith	Edgerton Center	2004	"designing life-enhancing solutions and labor-saving technologies for people at the far end of dirt roads in the world's most remote societies"
Tim Berners-Lee	Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab	1998		[4]
Harlan Lane	Research Laboratory of Electronics	1991
Richard M. Stallman	Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab	1990
George Zweig	Research Laboratory of Electronics	1981
Vamsi Mootha	Broad Institute	2004	"creating powerful, adaptable computational strategies for mining data collected in laboratories throughout the world, providing an efficient means to hunt down gene interactions that lead to a wide variety of diseases."

Former faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
Jed Z. Buchwald	History	1995
Michael Kremer	Economics	1997
Sendhil Mullainathan	Economics	2002
Richard C. Mulligan	Biology	1981
Charles Sabel	Science, Technology, Society	1982
Charles Steidel	Physics	2002
Mark S. Wrighton	Chemistry	1983

National Medal of Science

Current faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
Mildred S. Dresselhaus	Physics & EECS	1990	Engineering - "For her studies of the electronic properties of metals and semimetals, and for her service to the Nation in establishing a prominent place for women in physics and engineering."	[5],[6]
Ann M. Graybiel	Biology	2001	Biological Sciences - "For her pioneering contributions to the understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the brain, including the structure, chemistry, and function of the pathways subserving thought and movement."	[7]
Stephen J. Lippard	Chemistry	2004	Chemistry - "For pioneering research in bioinorganic chemistry, which enriched our understanding of how metal compounds interact with DNA, provided important synthetic models for the active sites of metalloproteins, and elucidated key structural and mechanistic features of methane monooxygenase."	[8]
Alexander Rich	Biology	1995	Biological Sciences - "For his numerous fundamental contributions to our knowledge of the structure and function of DNA and RNA, the central information carriers in living systems."	[9]
Philip A. Sharp	Biology	2004	Biological sciences - "For his contributions to understanding the biochemical pathway of RNA interference phenomena and for his use of RNA interference techniques to perform genetic analyses in mammalian cells."	[3],[5],[10]
Isadore M. Singer	Mathematics	1983	Mathematics & Computer Science - "For his inspired revival of differential geometry and its connections to analysis; for his contribution to the discovery and applications of the index theorem for differential operators; and for his leadership in using geometric and topological methods in connection with theoretical physics."	[5],[11]
Kenneth N. Stevens	EECS	1999	Engineering - "For his leadership and pioneering contributions to the theory of acoustics of speech production and perception, development of mathematical methods of analysis and modeling to study the acoustics of speech production, and establishing the contemporary foundations of speech science."	[12]
Robert A. Weinberg	Biology	1997	Biological Sciences - "For his contribution to the identification of cellular oncogenes and their role in cancer, which led to a better understanding of the molecular basis for cancer and its diagnosis and therapy."	[13]

Emeritus faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
H. Gobind Khorana	Biology	1987	Biological Sciences - "For his innovative contributions that significantly contributed to our understanding of gene structure, membrane function and vision and for the work stimulated by his research which has had a major impact on the biological and chemical sciences."	[3],[14]
Robert M. Solow	Economics	1999	Behavioral & Social Science - "For his creation of the modern framework for analyzing the effects of investment and technological progress on economic growth, greatly influencing economics and economic policy worldwide."	[3],[5],[15]

Deceased faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
Manson Benedict	Nuclear Engineering	1975	Engineering - "For inspired and ingenious leadership in the development of gaseous diffision plants for uranium isotope separation, and for his role in creating the discipline of nuclear engineering."	[5],[16]
Vannevar Bush	"Electrical Engineering"	1963	Engineering - "For his distinguished achievements in electrical engineering, in the technology of computing machines, in the effective coupling of the physical and life sciences; and in his mobilizing science, engineering and education in enduring ways in the service of the Nation."	[17]
Morris Cohen	"Metallurgy"	1976	Engineering - "For original research and advancement of knowledge of the physical and mechanical metallurgy of iron and steel, and especially for his work on the martensitic transformation in the hardening of steel."	[5],[18]
Charles Stark Draper	Aeronautics and Astronautics	1964	Behavioral & Social Science - "For [his] innumerable imaginative engineering achievements which met urgent National needs of instrumentation, control, and guidance in aeronautics and astronautics."	[19]
Harold E. Edgerton	"Electrical Engineering"	1973	Engineering - "For his vision and creativity in pioneering the field of stroboscopic photography and for his many inventions of instruments for exploring the great depths of the oceans."	[5],[20]
Herman Feshbach	Physics	1986	Physical Sciences - "For his distinguished contributions to science as a nationally acclaimed leader in physics education by virtue of his extraordinary interest in teaching and his total commitment to scientific excellence."	[5],[21]
Hermann A. Haus	EECS	1995	Engineering - "For his fundamental and seminal research contributions to the field of quantum electronics, noise and ultra-fast optics; and for his service to the engineering profession through teaching."	[5],[22]
Edwin H. Land		1967	Engineering - "For many discoveries and inventions in the field of polarized light, rapid photography, including quick processing of the final photograph, for the development of a unique theory of color vision, and for contributions to national defense."	[23]
Warren K. Lewis	Chemical Engineering	1965	Engineering - "For contributions as a scientist, teacher, and inventor who as the leader of modern chemical engineering has made the American chemical industry preeminent in the world."	[24]
Salvador E. Luria	Biology	1991	Biological Sciences - "For a lifetime devoted to applying genetics to viruses and bacteria, and for guiding the development of generations of students who have helped create the modern power of molecular biology."	[3],[25]
Bruno B. Rossi	Physics	1983	Physical Sciences - "For fundamental contributions to physics and astronomy through his investigations into the nature and origin of cosmic rays and his initiatives that led to the direct detection of the solar wind and to the discovery of extrasolar x-ray sources."	[26]
Paul A. Samuelson	Economics	1996	Behavioral & Social Science - "For fundamental contributions to economic science, specifically general equilibrium theory and macroeconomics, and to economic education and policy over a period fo nearly 60 years."	[3],[5],[27]
Claude E. Shannon	EECS	1966	Engineering - "For brilliant contributions to the mathematical theories of communications and information processing and for his early and continuing impact on the development of these disciplines."	[3],[28]
John G. Trump	Nuclear Engineering	1983	Engineering - "For his introduction of new machines and methods for the widespread beneficial application of ionizing radiation to medicine, industry and atomic physics."	[29]
Victor F. Weisskopf	Physics	1979	Physical Sciences - "For important contributions to our understanding of nuclear matter and nuclear reactions, and early fundamental contributions to our understanding of elementary particles."	[30]
Norbert Wiener	Mathematics & EECS	1963	Mathematics & Computer Science - "For his marvellously versatile contributions, profoundly original, ranging within pure and applied mathematics, and penetrating boldly into the engineering and biological sciences."	[31]

Former faculty

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
David Baltimore	Biology	1999	Biological Sciences - "For his fundamental discoveries in virology, tumor biology and immunology, notably the discovery of how tumor-causing viruses multiply; for his devotion to building excellence in scientific institutions; and for his statesmanship in fostering communication between scientists and the general public."	[3],[32]
John W. Cahn	Chemistry	1998	Chemistry - "For his pioneering work on thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transitions and diffusion, on interfacial phenomena, and for his contributions to the understanding of periodic and quasi-periodic structures."	[33]
Charles H. Townes	Physics	1982	Physical Sciences - "For fundamental contributions to the understanding of matter through its interaction with electromagnetic radiations and the application of this knowledge to the service of mankind, most notably in the invention of the maser and laser."	[3],[34]
Steven Weinberg	Physics	1991	Physical Sciences - "For his contributions to the discovery of the structure of the fundamental forces of nature; the development of the standard model, and the unification of the weak and electromagnetic forces."	[35]
George M. Whitesides	Chemistry	1998	Chemistry - "For innovative and far-ranging research in chemistry, biology, biochemistry and material science, pioneering work of technological interest and his extensive involvement with teaching, government and industry."	[36]

Former and/or retired research staff

Name	Department	Year	Citation	Notes
Thomas R. Cech	Chemistry	1995	Chemistry - "For his discoveries regarding RNA catalysis that have added new dimensions to the understanding of the role of RNA in living systems."	[37]
E. Donnall Thomas	Biology	1990	Biological Sciences - "For his pioneering work in the science and application of transplantation biology to successful bone marrow transplantation in man for the treatment of cancer and related conditions."	[38]

Other prominent faculty and researchers

Name	Department	Description	Notes
Hal Abelson	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Leo Beranek	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Co-founder of the pioneering telecommunications and Internet company Bolt, Beranek and Newman
Adam J. Berinsky	Political Science	professor and author
Richard P. Binzel	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science	Inventor of the Torino Scale
Brice Brenneman	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	cofounder of the pioneering telecommunications and Internet company Bolt, Beranek and Newman
Rodney Brooks	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	behavioural roboticist
Richard Bolt	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
George Boolos	Mathematician	philosopher and mathematical logician
Amar G. Bose	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Audio entrepreneur, founder of Bose Corporation
James D. Bruce	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Vice President for Information Systems, Professor of Electrical Engineering
Iain Cheeseman	Biology	Assistant Professor of Biology
Noam Chomsky	Linguistics	Institute Professor and professor emeritus; notable linguist, philosopher and political activist
B.D. Colen		journalist, photographer
John Ernest Cook	Institute Organist	Prolific composer and organist.
David D. Clark	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Brison D. Gooch	History (1950s)	Specialist in history of France, Belgium, Napoleon III, Revolutions of 1848, and the Crimean War	[39]
J.P. Den Hartog	Mechanical Engineering	Winner of a Timoshenko Medal
John J. Donovan	Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Management	Professor of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Management. Founder of Cambridge Technology Partners
John W. Dower	History	Historian of Japan, winner of a Pulitzer Prize
James L. Elliot	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	planetary occultations
Kerry Emanuel	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	hurricanes
Jay W. Forrester	Management	System Dynamics
Ivan Getting	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	co-inventor with Bradford Parkinson of the Global Positioning System
Alan Grodzinsky	Electrical, Mechanical, and Biological Engineering	cartilage biomechanics, electromechanics, and tissue engineering applied to osteoarthritis research
Alan Guth	Physics	proposed the idea of cosmic inflation.
John R. Hauser	Management
Eric von Hippel	Economics	Behavioral theorist
Jim Hines	Management	System Dynamics
Thomas H. Jordan	Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences	Former department head of EAPS and current director of the Southern California Earthquake Center.
Thomas Levenson	Writing and Humanistic Studies	Science writer and film-maker
Walter Lewin	Physics	Star of popular Walter Lewin Lectures on Physics.
J. C. R. Licklider		leader of the IPTO
Alan Lightman	Physics	writer, physicist
Andrew B. Lippman	Media Lab	Media Lab pioneer
Edward Lorenz	Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences	developed the Butterfly Effect theory
John Maeda	Media Lab	artist, graphic designer, computer scientist
Thomas H. D. Mahoney	History and Political Science	Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs from 1979 to 1983.
Allan McCollum	Visual Arts Program	artist, writer, creator of The Shapes Project
William J. Mitchell	Media Laboratory	architect, writer, media guru
Marvin Minsky	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Media Laboratory	Artificial intelligence
Ernest Moniz	MIT Energy Initiative group (MITEI)	Energy policy advisor, National security policy
Arthur Mutambara		Robotics & mechatronics, politician
Nicholas Negroponte	Media Lab	OLPC project leader
Seymour Papert	Media Lab	education & computers
Cecil Peabody		mechanical engineering and writer
Alex (Sandy) Pentland	Media Laboratory	Human-computer interaction and social networks
Theodore Postol	Science, Technology, and Society	nuclear weapons expert and prominent critic of current ballistic missile defense systems
Nelson Repenning	Management	System Dynamics
Ellen Swallow Richards	Chemistry	The first woman in America accepted to any school of science and technology, first female instructor at MIT, first American woman to earn a degree in chemistry, foremost female industrial and environmental chemist in the United States in the 1800s
Gian-Carlo Rota	Mathematics	mathematician & philosopher
Ron Rivest	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Cryptographer, co-inventor of RSA, inventor of RC5, MD5 and several other cryptographic algorithms, Turing Award
Douglas T. Ross	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	CAD pioneer
Frederick P. Salvucci	Civil and Environmental Engineering	civil engineer, former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation, and principal planner of the Big Dig
Edgar Schein	Brain and Cognitive Sciences	organizational psychologist
George P. Shultz	Management	United States Secretary of State, Treasury, and Labor. Former Professor at both the MIT Department of Economics and the MIT Sloan School of Management. Earned a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1949.
Peter Senge	Management	Learning Organizations
David Simchi-Levi	Systems Engineering	Supply Chain Management
Peter Shor	Mathematics	mathematician, inventor of Shor's algorithm
Robert Stalnaker		philosopher, linguist
John Sterman		System Dynamics
Dirk Jan Struik	Mathematics	mathematician and historian of mathematics
Gerald Sussman	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	Co-inventor of Scheme, research in artificial intelligence, computer languages, and orbital mechanics
Sherry Turkle	Science, Technology, and Society	clinical psychologist and sociologist
Evan Ziporyn	Music and Theater Arts	Composer, Clarinetist, Bang on a Can All-Stars

References

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