The
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research
university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1861 in response to
the increasing industrialization of the United States, MIT adopted a
European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory
instruction in applied science and engineering. Researchers worked on
computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II and the Cold
War. Post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of
the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre (68.0
ha) campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile (1.6 km) along the
northern bank of the Charles River basin.
MIT,
with five schools and one college which contain a total of 32
departments, is often cited as among the world's top universities. The
Institute is traditionally known for its research and education in the
physical sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology,
economics, linguistics, and management as well. The "Engineers" sponsor
31 sports, most teams of which compete in the NCAA Division III's New
England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference; the Division I rowing
programs compete as part of the EARC and EAWRC.
As
of 2015, 84 Nobel laureates, 52 National Medal of Science recipients,
65 Marshall Scholars, 45 Rhodes Scholars, 38 MacArthur Fellows, 34
astronauts, and 2 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT. The
school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues
of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest
economy in the world.
History
A
school of industrial science aiding the advancement, development and
practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture,
manufactures, and commerce. ” Act to Incorporate the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Acts of 1861, Chapter 183 Stereo graphic card showing an MIT mechanical drafting studio, 19th century (photo by E.L. Allen, left/right inverted)
Original Rogers Building, Back Bay, Boston, 19th century:
In
1859, a proposal was submitted to the Massachusetts General Court to
use newly filled lands in Back Bay, Boston for a "Conservatory of Art
and Science", but the proposal failed. A proposal by William Barton
Rogers a charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, signed by the governor of Massachusetts on April 10, 1861.
Rogers,
a professor from the University of Virginia, wanted to establish an
institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances. He
did not wish to found a professional school, but a combination with
elements of both professional and liberal education, proposing that:
The
true and only practicable object of a polytechnic school is, as I
conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of
the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of
those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of
them, and along with this, a full and methodical review of all their
leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws. The
Rogers Plan reflected the German research university model, emphasizing
an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction
oriented around seminars and laboratories.
Organization and administration
Lobby 7 (at 77 Massachusetts Avenue) is regarded as the main entrance to campus. MIT
is chartered as a non-profit organization and is owned and governed by a
privately appointed board of trustees known as the MIT Corporation. The
current board consists of 43 members elected to five-year terms, 25
life members who vote until their 75th birthday, 3 elected officers
(President, Treasurer, and Secretary), and 4 ex officio members (the
president of the alumni association, the Governor of Massachusetts, the
Massachusetts Secretary of Education, and the Chief Justice of the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court). The board is chaired by Robert
Millard, a co-founder of L-3 Communications Holdings.The Corporation
approves the budget, new programs, degrees and faculty appointments, and
elects the President to serve as the chief executive officer of the
university and preside over the Institute's faculty. MIT's endowment and
other financial assets are managed through a subsidiary called MIT
Investment Management Company (MITIMCo). Valued at $9.7 billion in 2011,
MIT's endowment is the sixth-largest among American colleges and
universities.
MIT
has five schools (Science, Engineering, Architecture and Planning,
Management, and Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) and one college
(Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology), but no schools of
law or medicine. While faculty committees assert substantial control
over many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and
administrative affairs, the chair of each of MIT's 32 academic
departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn
reports to the Provost under the President. The current president is L.
Rafael Reif, who formerly served as provost under President Susan
Hockfield, the first woman to hold the post.
Academics
MIT
is a large, highly residential, research university with a majority of
enrollments in graduate and professional programs. The university has
been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges
since 1929. MIT operates on a 4–1–4 academic calendar with the fall
semester beginning after Labor Day and ending in mid-December, a 4-week
"Independent Activities Period" in the month of January, and the spring
semester beginning in early February and ending in late May.
MIT
students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers or
acronyms alone. Departments and their corresponding majors are numbered
in the approximate order of their foundation; for example, Civil and
Environmental Engineering is Course 1, while Linguistics and Philosophy
is Course 24. Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer
Science (EECS), the most popular department, collectively identify
themselves as "Course 6". MIT students use a combination of the
department's course number and the number assigned to the class to
identify their subjects; the introductory calculus-based classical
mechanics course is simply "8.01" at MIT.
Libraries, collections and museums
The
MIT library system consists of five subject libraries: Barker
(Engineering), Dewey (Economics), Hayden (Humanities and Science), Lewis
(Music), and Rotch (Arts and Architecture). There are also various
specialized libraries and archives. The libraries contain more than 2.9
million printed volumes, 2.4 million microforms, 49,000 print or
electronic journal subscriptions, and 670 reference databases. The past
decade has seen a trend of increased focus on digital over print
resources in the libraries. Notable collections include the Lewis Music
Library with an emphasis on 20th and 21st-century music and electronic
music, the List Visual Arts Center's rotating exhibitions of
contemporary art, and the Compton Gallery's cross-disciplinary
exhibitions. MIT allocates a percentage of the budget for all new
construction and renovation to commission and support its extensive
public art and outdoor sculpture collection.
The
MIT Museum was founded in 1971 and collects, preserves, and exhibits
artifacts significant to the culture and history of MIT. The Museum now
engages in significant educational outreach programs for the general
public, including the annual Cambridge Science Festival, the first
celebration of this kind in the United States. Since 2005, its official
mission has been, "to engage the wider community with MIT's science,
technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve
the nation and the world in the 21st century".