Massachusetts Institute of Technology#DMSE

{{Main|History of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{blockquote|text=[...] a school of industrial science aiding the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce [...]{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/about-corporation/charter/ |title=Charter of the MIT Corporation |access-date=1 April 2025}}

|author=Massachusetts General Court

|title=Acts of 1861, Chapter 183

}}

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.{{cite web |last=Kneeland |first=Samuel |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/house260.pdf |title=Committee Report: Conservatory of Art and Science |publisher=Massachusetts House of Representatives, House No. 260 |date=March 1859 |access-date=June 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612090711/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/house260.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=MIT Timeline |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/mit-timeline/ |work=MIT History |publisher=MIT Institute Archives |access-date=April 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219203038/http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/mit-timeline/ |archive-date=February 19, 2013 |url-status=dead}} A charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed by William Barton Rogers, was signed by John Albion Andrew, the governor of Massachusetts, on April 10, 1861.{{cite web |title=Acts and Resolves of the General Court Relating to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/1861%20Charter.pdf |work=MIT History |publisher=MIT Institute Archives |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701055022/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/1861%20Charter.pdf |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |url-status=dead}}

Rogers, a geologist who had recently arrived in Boston from the University of Virginia,{{Cite web |title=Collection: William Barton Rogers papers {{!}} MIT ArchivesSpace |url=https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/586 |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=MIT Libraries ArchiveSpace}} wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances.{{cite web |title=MIT Facts 2012: Origins and Leadership |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/origins.html |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 29, 2012}}{{cite web |last=Rogers |first=William |publisher=The Committee of Associated Institutions of Science and Arts |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/objects-plan.pdf |title=Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology: including a Society of Arts, a Museum of Arts, and a School of Industrial Science; proposed to be established in Boston |year=1861 |access-date=June 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612092224/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/objects-plan.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=dead}} He did not wish to found a professional school, but a combination with elements of both professional and liberal education,Lewis 1949, p. 8. 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.{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/timeline/letter1846.html |title=Letter from William Barton Rogers to His Brother Henry |date=March 13, 1846 |access-date=October 2, 2010 |publisher=Institute Archives, MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105859/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/timeline/letter1846.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite book |last=Angulo |first=A.J. |title=William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT |date=January 26, 2009 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155 155–156] |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-9033-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Geiger |editor1-first=Roger L. |last=Angulo |first=A.J. |chapter=The Initial Reception of MIT, 1860s–1880s |title=Perspectives on the History of Higher Education |pages=1–28}}

File:Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rogers Building, Boston, ca. 1901.jpg in Back Bay, Boston, {{Circa|1901}}]]

Two days after MIT was chartered, the first battle of the Civil War broke out. After a long delay through the war years, MIT's first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865.{{cite web |last1=Andrews |first1=Elizabeth |first2=Nora |last2=Murphy |first3=Tom |last3=Rosko |year=2000 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/wbr-visionary/ |publisher=MIT |title=William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder |access-date=March 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512091317/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/wbr-visionary/ |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |url-status=dead}} The new institute was founded as part of the Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act to fund institutions "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes" and was a land-grant school.{{cite book |last1=Stratton |first1=Julius Adams |last2=Mannix |first2=Loretta H. |title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |url=https://archive.org/details/mindhandbirthmit00stra |url-access=limited |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mindhandbirthmit00stra/page/n271 251]–276 |chapter=The Land-Grant Act of 1862 |isbn=0-262-19524-0 |publisher=MIT Press |year=2005}}{{cite news |title=Morrill Act:Primary Documents of American History |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Morrill.html |access-date=February 10, 2016 |work=Library of Congress |date=2016}} In 1863 under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the Massachusetts Agricultural College, which developed as the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1866, the proceeds from land sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay.{{cite book |title=When MIT Was "Boston Tech", 1861–1916 |last=Prescott |first=Samuel C |year=1954 |publisher=MIT Press}}

File:MIT dynamo room_Boston campus c1895 cropped.png

MIT was informally called "Boston Tech". The institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President Francis Amasa Walker.{{cite journal |last=Dunbar |first=Charles F. |title=The Career of Francis Amasa Walker |journal=Quarterly Journal of Economics |date=July 1897 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=446–447 |jstor=1880719 |doi=10.2307/1880719 |issn=0033-5533}} Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/tea-party/ |title=Explore campus, visit Boston, and find out if MIT fits you to a tea |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=December 16, 2006}}{{cite book |first=James P. |last=Munroe |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |year=1923 |title=A Life of Francis Amasa Walker |location=New York |pages=233, 382}} new buildings were built, and the size of the student body increased to more than one thousand.

The curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science.Lewis 1949, p. 12. The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership. During these "Boston Tech" years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffed Harvard University president (and former MIT faculty) Charles W. Eliot's repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard College's Lawrence Scientific School.{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/harvard-mit/index.html |title=Alumni Petition Opposing MIT-Harvard Merger, 1904–05 |publisher=Institute Archives, MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722160408/https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/harvard-mit/index.html |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead}} There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard.{{cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Philip N. |title=MIT-Harvard Rivalry Timeline |url=http://mta.scripts.mit.edu/CES/mit-harvard-rivalry-timeline/ |website=MIT Music and Theater Arts News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=July 7, 2014 |archive-date=2014-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714173624/http://mta.scripts.mit.edu/CES/mit-harvard-rivalry-timeline/ |url-status=dead }} In its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving a desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually, the MIT Corporation approved a formal agreement to merge with Harvard and move to Allston, over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students, and alumni. The merger plan collapsed in 1905 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that MIT could not sell its Back Bay land.{{cite magazine| last=Budari |first=Robert |title=How MIT ended up on Memorial Drive |magazine=MIT Tech Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/29/1053303/how-mit-ended-up-on-memorial-drive/ |date=29 June 2022 |access-date=28 September 2024}}

File:Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus aerial all buildings 1921 US Army cropped.png campus, completed in 1916.]]

In 1912, MIT acquired its current campus by purchasing a one-mile (1.6 km) tract of filled lands along the Cambridge side of the Charles River.{{cite web |title=Souvenir Program, Dedication of Cambridge Campus, 1916 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/pageant/index.html |work=Object of the Month |publisher=MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510124840/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/pageant/index.html |archive-date=May 10, 2012 |url-status=dead}}{{cite map |publisher=J. B. Shields |title=Middlesex Canal (Massachusetts) map, 1852 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1852_Middlesex_Canal_(Massachusetts)_map.jpg |year=1852 |access-date=September 17, 2010}} The neoclassical "New Technology" campus was designed by William W. Bosworth{{cite web |title=Freeman's 1912 Design for the "New Technology" |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/freeman/index.html |work=Object of the Month |publisher=MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527195219/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/freeman/index.html |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}} and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious "Mr. Smith", starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialist George Eastman, an inventor of film production methods and founder of Eastman Kodak. Between 1912 and 1920, Eastman donated $20 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20|1920|2023|r=1}}}} million in 2024 dollars) in cash and Kodak stock to MIT.{{cite web |last=Lindsay |first=David |year=2000 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eastman/peopleevents/pande15.html |publisher=PBS-WGBH |title=Eastman Becomes a Mystery Donor to MIT}} In 1916, with the first academic buildings complete, the MIT administration and the MIT charter crossed the Charles River on the ceremonial barge Bucentaur built for the occasion.{{cite web |url=http://museum.mit.edu/nom150/entries/546 |title=MIT150 Exhibition Nomination |website=museum.mit.edu |access-date=2016-01-03 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305232529/http://museum.mit.edu/nom150/entries/546 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://webmuseum.mit.edu/media.php?module=subjects&type=popular&kv=9&media=20 |title=MIT Museum |website=webmuseum.mit.edu}}

Needing funds to match Eastman's gift and cover retreating state support, President Richard MacLaurin launched an industry funding model known as the "Technology Plan" in 1920.{{cite book |last=Lécuyer |first=Christophe |chapter=Patrons and Plan |title=Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision |year=2010 |pages=59–80 |publisher=MIT Press}}{{cite book |first=Roger L. |last=Geiger |title=To advance knowledge: the growth of American research universities, 1900–1940 |url=https://archive.org/details/toadvanceknowled00geig |url-access=limited |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/toadvanceknowled00geig/page/n23 13]–15, 179–9 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-503803-7}}{{cite web |last=Gilliam |first=Eric |title=A Progress Studies History of Early MIT— Part 2: An Industrial Research Powerhouse |date=8 July 2022 |url=https://www.freaktakes.com/p/a-progress-studies-history-of-early-001 |access-date=13 November 2024}} As MIT grew under the Tech Plan, it built new postgraduate programs that stressed laboratory work on industry problems, including a new program in electrical engineering. Gerard Swope, MIT's chairman and head of General Electric, believed talented engineers needed scientific research training. In 1930, he recruited Karl Taylor Compton to helm MIT's transformation as a "technological" research university and to build more autonomy from private industry.

{{blockquote|text=... a special type of educational institution which can be defined as a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts. We might call it a university limited in its objectives but unlimited in the breadth and the thoroughness with which it pursues these objectives.{{cite web |last=Killian |first=James Rhyne |title=The Obligations and Ideals of an Institute of Technology |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/inaugurations/killian.html |work=The Inaugural Address |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=August 10, 2013 |date=April 2, 1949 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003061248/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/inaugurations/killian.html |archive-date=October 3, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

|author=MIT president James Rhyne Killian

|title=Inaugural Address (1949)

}}

In the 1930s, President Karl Taylor Compton and Vice-President (effectively Provost) Vannevar Bush emphasized the importance of pure sciences like physics and chemistry and reduced the vocational practice required in shops and drafting studios.{{cite journal |last=Lecuyer |first=Christophe |title=The making of a science based technological university: Karl Compton, James Killian, and the reform of MIT, 1930–1957 |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |volume=23 |issue=1 |year=1992 |pages=153–180 |doi=10.2307/27757693 |jstor=27757693}} The Compton reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of the Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering".Lewis 1949, p. 13. Unlike Ivy League schools, MIT catered more to middle-class families, and depended more on tuition than on endowments or grants for its funding.

Still, as late as 1949, the Lewis Committee lamented in its report on the state of education at MIT that "the Institute is widely conceived as basically a vocational school", a "partly unjustified" perception the committee sought to change. The report comprehensively reviewed the undergraduate curriculum, recommended offering a broader education, and warned against letting engineering and government-sponsored research detract from the sciences and humanities.Lewis 1949, p. 113.Bourzac, Katherine, [http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=18345 "Rethinking an MIT Education: The faculty reconsiders the General Institute Requirements"], Technology Review, Monday, March 12, 2007 The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the MIT Sloan School of Management were formed in 1950 to compete with the powerful Schools of Science and Engineering. Previously marginalized faculties in the areas of economics, management, political science, and linguistics emerged into cohesive and assertive departments by attracting respected professors and launching competitive graduate programs.{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/histories-offices/sch-hum.html |title=History: School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311064018/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/histories-offices/sch-hum.html |archive-date=March 11, 2010 |publisher=MIT Archives |access-date=July 25, 2008}}{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/histories-offices/sch-sloan.html |title=History: Sloan School of Management |access-date=July 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100621002719/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/histories-offices/sch-sloan.html |archive-date=June 21, 2010 |publisher=MIT Archives}} Humanities and social science programs continued to develop under the successive terms of the more humanistically oriented presidents Howard W. Johnson and Jerome Wiesner between 1966 and 1980.{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Howard Wesley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9qpmDJQPEZEC |title=Holding the Center: Memoirs of a Life in Higher Education |publisher=MIT Press |year=2001 |isbn=0-262-60044-7}}

File:VeteransDayMIT.jpg students celebrate Veterans Day at MIT in 2019.]]

MIT's involvement in military research projects surged during World War II. In 1941, Vannevar Bush was appointed head of the federal Office of Scientific Research and Development and directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT.{{cite book |last=Zachary |first=Gregg |title=Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century |publisher=Free Press |year=1997 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/endlessfrontierv00zach/page/248 248–249] |isbn=0-684-82821-9}} Engineers and scientists from across the country gathered at MIT's Radiation Laboratory, established in 1940 to assist the British military in developing microwave radar. The work done there significantly affected both the war and subsequent research in the area.{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/MIT_Rad_Lab |title=MIT's Rad Lab |publisher=IEEE Global History Network |access-date=July 25, 2008 |archive-date=2010-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707101603/http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/MIT_Rad_Lab |url-status=dead}} Other defense projects included gyroscope-based and other complex control systems for gunsight, bombsight, and inertial navigation under Charles Stark Draper's Instrumentation Laboratory;{{cite web |title=Doc Draper & His Lab |url=http://www.draper.com/doc_draper.html |work=History |publisher=The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. |access-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527165103/http://www.draper.com/doc_draper.html |archive-date=May 27, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Charles Draper: Gyroscopic Apparatus |url=http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/draper.html |work=Inventor of the Week |publisher=MIT School of Engineering |access-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418051730/http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/draper.html |archive-date=April 18, 2012}} the development of a digital computer for flight simulations under Project Whirlwind;{{cite web |title=Project Whirlwind |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/project-whirlwind/index.html |work=Object of the Month |publisher=MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections |access-date=May 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530075248/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/project-whirlwind/index.html |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=dead}} and high-speed and high-altitude photography under Harold Edgerton.{{cite web |url=http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/docs-life/wartime-strobe |access-date=November 28, 2009 |title=Wartime Strobe: 1939–1945 – Harold "Doc" Edgerton (Doc's Life) |archive-date=2010-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210111947/http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/docs-life/wartime-strobe |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Bedi |first=Joyce |title=MIT and World War II: Ingredients for a Hot Spot of Invention |url=http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/e-prototype_may10.pdf |access-date=May 30, 2012 |newspaper=Prototype |date=May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524014558/http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/e-prototype_may10.pdf |archive-date=May 24, 2012}} By the end of the war, MIT became the nation's largest wartime R&D contractor (attracting some criticism of Bush), employing nearly 4000 in the Radiation Laboratory alone and receiving in excess of $100 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|0.1|1946|2015|r=1}}}} billion in 2015 dollars) before 1946. Work on defense projects continued even after then. Post-war government-sponsored research at MIT included SAGE and guidance systems for ballistic missiles and Project Apollo.{{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Stuart |title=The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1993 |isbn=0-231-07959-1}}

These activities affected MIT profoundly. A 1949 report noted the lack of "any great slackening in the pace of life at the Institute" to match the return to peacetime, remembering the "academic tranquility of the prewar years", though acknowledging the significant contributions of military research to the increased emphasis on graduate education and rapid growth of personnel and facilities.Lewis 1949, p. 49. The faculty doubled and the graduate student body quintupled during the presidential terms of Karl Taylor Compton (1930–1948), James Rhyne Killian (1948–1957), and chancellor Julius Adams Stratton (1952–1957), whose institution-building strategies shaped the expanding university. By the 1950s, MIT no longer simply benefited the industries with which it had worked for three decades, and it had developed closer working relationships with new patrons, philanthropic foundations and the federal government.Lecuyer, 1992

In late 1960s and early 1970s, student and faculty activists protested against the Vietnam War and MIT's defense research.{{cite news |title=The 'Ins' and 'Outs' at MIT |work=The New York Times |date=May 18, 1969 |last=Todd |first=Richard}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900700,00.html |title=A Policy of Protest |date=February 28, 1969 |access-date=August 13, 2008 |magazine=Time |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214153106/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900700,00.html |archive-date=December 14, 2008}} In this period MIT's various departments were researching helicopters, smart bombs and counterinsurgency techniques for the war in Vietnam as well as guidance systems for nuclear missiles.[http://mitscienceforthepeople.weebly.com/uploads/4/0/9/8/40982869/review_panel_on_speciallaboratories_-_final_report_-_oct_1969.pdf MIT Review Panel on Special Laboratories Final Report]; S.Leslie, The Cold War and American Science. The military-industrial complex at MITand Stanford; [https://books.google.com/books?id=x3ertj1IcaAC M.Albert, Remembering Tomorrow], pp. 97–99; [http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N21.pdf 'MIT may be dangerous to the world'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117064035/http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N21.pdf |date=2017-01-17 }}, The Tech, 28/4/72, p. 5; [http://scienceandrevolution.org/blog/2016/7/8/why-smash-mit-1969-article-from-radical-student-magazine-the-old-mole 'Why Smash MIT?'] in I. Wallerstein, University Crisis Reader, vol. 2, pp. 240–3; The Technology Review, December 1969. The Union of Concerned Scientists was founded on March 4, 1969 during a meeting of faculty members and students seeking to shift the emphasis on military research toward environmental and social problems.{{cite web |url=http://www.ucsusa.org/ucs/about/founding-document-1968-mit-faculty-statement.html |title=Founding Document: 1968 MIT Faculty Statement |access-date=August 12, 2008 |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists, USA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115200053/http://www.ucsusa.org/ucs/about/founding-document-1968-mit-faculty-statement.html |archive-date=January 15, 2008}} MIT ultimately divested itself from the Instrumentation Laboratory and moved all classified research off-campus to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory facility in 1973 in response to the protests.{{cite news |title=Tension Over Issue of Defense Research |first=Fred |last=Hechinger |author-link=Fred Hechinger |date=November 9, 1969 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |title=MIT Curb on Secret Projects Reflects Growing Antimilitary Feeling Among Universities' Researchers |first=William |last=Stevens |date=May 5, 1969 |work=The New York Times}} The student body, faculty, and administration remained comparatively unpolarized during what was a tumultuous time for many other universities. Johnson was seen to be highly successful in leading his institution to "greater strength and unity" after these times of turmoil.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1999/johnson-0609.html |title=A tribute to MIT's Howard Johnson |first=David |last=Warsh |work=The Boston Globe |date=June 1, 1999 |access-date=April 4, 2007 |quote=At a critical time in the late 1960s, Johnson stood up to the forces of campus rebellion at MIT. Many university presidents were destroyed by the troubles. Only Edward Levi, University of Chicago president, had comparable success guiding his institution to a position of greater strength and unity after the turmoil.}} However six MIT students were sentenced to prison terms at this time and some former student leaders, such as Michael Albert and George Katsiaficas, are still indignant about MIT's role in military research and its suppression of these protests.[http://tech.mit.edu/V91/PDF/V91-N55.pdf 'Battering Ram: The occupation of the president's office', The Tech, 14/12/71 p. 4] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321165602/http://tech.mit.edu/V91/PDF/V91-N55.pdf |date=2022-03-21 }} and [http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N28.pdf The Tech, 4/8/72] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323060739/http://tech.mit.edu/V92/PDF/V92-N28.pdf |date=2023-03-23 }}; [https://books.google.com/books?id=x3ertj1IcaAC M.Albert, Remembering Tomorrow] pp. 9, 97–99; [http://www.democracynow.org/2007/4/17/from_sds_to_life_after_capitalism 'Michael Albert interview', 17/4/07]; G.Katsiaficas, [http://www.eroseffect.com/articles/holdingthecenter.pdf 'Review of Howard Johnson's Holding the Center] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117064154/http://www.eroseffect.com/articles/holdingthecenter.pdf |date=2017-01-17 }}; S.Shalom, [http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue23/shalom23.htm 'A flawed political biography'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808085048/http://nova.wpunj.edu/newpolitics/issue23/shalom23.htm |date=August 8, 2016 }}, New Politics, Issue 23. (Richard Leacock's film, November Actions, records some of these tumultuous events.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD4QZFubjaY November Actions YouTube extract]. See also: [https://webmuseum.mit.edu/detail.php?module=subjects&type=browse&id=10&term=Activism&page=1&kv=3&record=0&module=subjects MIT Museum photos of student activism, 1960s/1970s].)

In the 1980s, there was more controversy at MIT over its involvement in SDI (space weaponry) and CBW (chemical and biological warfare) research.The Tech, [https://web.archive.org/web/20140825200321/http://tech.mit.edu/V108/PDF/V108-N26.pdf May 27, 1988, pp. 2, 11] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20160801050627/http://tech.mit.edu/V109/N6/glenn.06o.html February 24, 1989, p. 5] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20140826010402/http://tech.mit.edu/V109/PDF/V109-N9.pdf March 7, 1989, 2, 16]; The Thistle, [http://web.mit.edu/activities/thistle/v9/9.07/tv9.07.html Vol. 9 No. 7]; Science for the People, Vol. 20 [http://science-for-the-people.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SftPv20n1s.pdf January/February 1988, pp. 17–25, 41–2] and [http://science-for-the-people.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/SftPv20n2s.pdf March/April 1988, p. 6]. More recently, MIT's research for the military has included work on robots, drones and 'battle suits'.MIT News, [https://news.mit.edu/2015/cheetah-robot-lands-running-jump-0529 'MIT cheetah robot lands the running jump'] (2015) and [https://news.mit.edu/2012/boredom-and-unmanned-aerial-vehicles-1114 'Driving drones can be a drag'] (2012); [https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1044811/department-of-defense-announces-successful-micro-drone-demonstration 'Department of Defense Announces Successful Micro-Drone Demonstration'] (2017); MIT Technology Review, [https://www.technologyreview.com/s/401391/the-soldier-of-tomorrow/ March 20, 2002].

File:MIT Media Lab.jpg houses researchers developing novel uses of computer technology and shown here is the 1985 building, designed by I.M. Pei, with an extension (right of photo) designed by Fumihiko Maki opened in March 2010.]]

MIT has kept pace with and helped to advance the digital age. In addition to developing the predecessors to modern computing and networking technologies,{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=J.A.N. |first2=J. |last2=McCarthy |first3=J.C.R. |last3=Licklider |title=The beginnings at MIT |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |year=1992 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=18–54 |doi=10.1109/85.145317 |s2cid=30631012}}{{cite web |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/ |title=Internet History |publisher=Computer History Museum |access-date=August 13, 2008}} students, staff, and faculty members at Project MAC, the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and the Tech Model Railroad Club wrote some of the earliest interactive computer video games like Spacewar! and created much of modern hacker slang and culture.{{cite web |url=http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/hacker-history/ar01s02.html |title=A Brief History of Hackerdom |first=Eric S. |last=Raymond |access-date=August 11, 2008 |archive-date=2008-10-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010145931/http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/hacker-history/ar01s02.html |url-status=dead}} Several major computer-related organizations have originated at MIT since the 1980s: Richard Stallman's GNU Project and the subsequent Free Software Foundation were founded in the mid-1980s at the AI Lab; the MIT Media Lab was founded in 1985 by Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner to promote research into novel uses of computer technology;{{cite web |url=http://www.media.mit.edu/?page_id=16 |title=The Media Lab – Retrospective |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417085247/http://media.mit.edu/?page_id=16 |archive-date=April 17, 2009 |publisher=MIT Media Lab |access-date=August 12, 2008}} the World Wide Web Consortium standards organization was founded at the Laboratory for Computer Science in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee;{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/Consortium/facts#history |title=About W3C: History |access-date=August 11, 2008 |publisher=World Wide Web Consortium}} the OpenCourseWare project has made course materials for over 2,000 MIT classes available online free of charge since 2002;{{cite web |url=http://ocw.mit.edu/ |title=MIT OpenCourseWare |access-date=June 12, 2008 |publisher=MIT}} and the One Laptop per Child initiative to expand computer education and connectivity to children worldwide was launched in 2005.{{cite web |url=http://www.laptop.org/en/vision/mission/ |title=Mission – One Laptop Per Child |publisher=One Laptop Per Child |access-date=August 11, 2008 |archive-date=2008-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813080949/http://laptop.org/en/vision/mission/ |url-status=dead}}

MIT was named a sea-grant college in 1976 to support its programs in oceanography and marine sciences and was named a space-grant college in 1989 to support its aeronautics and astronautics programs.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/masgc/www/index.shtml |title=Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium |access-date=August 26, 2008 |publisher=Massachusetts Space Grant Consortium}}{{cite web |url=http://seagrant.mit.edu/about_us/index.php |title=MIT Sea Grant College Program |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404013114/http://seagrant.mit.edu/about_us/index.php |archive-date=April 4, 2009 |access-date=August 26, 2008 |publisher=MIT Sea Grant College Program}} Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several successful development campaigns to significantly expand the campus: new dormitories and athletics buildings on west campus; the Tang Center for Management Education; several buildings in the northeast corner of campus supporting research into biology, brain and cognitive sciences, genomics, biotechnology, and cancer research; and a number of new "backlot" buildings on Vassar Street including the Stata Center.{{Cite book |last=Simha. |first=O. R. |title=MIT campus planning 1960–2000: An annotated chronology |year=2003 |pages=120–149 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldq-ZgxszzMC&pg=PA120 |isbn=978-0-262-69294-6 |publisher=MIT Press}} Construction on campus in the 2000s included expansions of the Media Lab, the Sloan School's eastern campus, and graduate residences in the northwest.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facilities/construction/ki/index.html |title=MIT Facilities: In Development & Construction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312070340/http://web.mit.edu/facilities/construction/ki/index.html |archive-date=March 12, 2009 |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 22, 2008}}{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/09/14/mit_will_accelerate_its_building_boom/ |title=MIT will accelerate its building boom: $750m expansion to add 4 facilities |last=Bombardieri |first=Marcella |date=September 14, 2006 |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=August 13, 2008}} In 2006, President Hockfield launched the MIT Energy Research Council to investigate the interdisciplinary challenges posed by increasing global energy consumption.{{cite web |title=About MITEI |url=http://web.mit.edu/mitei/about/index.html |publisher=MIT Energy Initiative |access-date=May 31, 2012}}

In 2001, inspired by the open source and open access movements,{{cite news |title=Get it out in the open |last=Attwood |first=Rebecca |date=September 24, 2009 |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=408300 |newspaper=Times Higher Education}} MIT launched OpenCourseWare to make the lecture notes, problem sets, syllabi, exams, and lectures from the great majority of its courses available online for no charge, though without any formal accreditation for coursework completed.{{cite news |last=Goldberg |first=Carey |date=April 4, 2001 |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Auditing Classes at M.I.T., on the Web and Free |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/04/us/auditing-classes-at-mit-on-the-web-and-free.html}} While the cost of supporting and hosting the project is high,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18open-t.html |title=An Open Mind |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 16, 2010 |last=Hafner |first=Katie}} OCW expanded in 2005 to include other universities as a part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, which currently includes more than 250 academic institutions with content available in at least six languages.{{cite news |title=For Exposure, Universities Put Courses on the Web |last=Guttenplan |first=D.D. |date=November 1, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/world/europe/01iht-educLede01.html}} In 2011, MIT announced it would offer formal certification (but not credits or degrees) to online participants completing coursework in its "MITx" program, for a modest fee.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/education/mit-expands-free-online-courses-offering-certificates.html |last=Lewin |first=Tamar |date=December 19, 2011 |newspaper=The New York Times |title=M.I.T. Expands Its Free Online Courses}} The "edX" online platform supporting MITx was initially developed in partnership with Harvard and its analogous "Harvardx" initiative. The courseware platform is open source, and other universities have already joined and added their own course content.{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/edx-faq-050212.html |title=What is edX? |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 2, 2012}} In March 2009 the MIT faculty adopted an open-access policy to make its scholarship publicly accessible online.{{cite journal |url=http://roarmap.eprints.org/486/ |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |journal=ROARMAP: Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies |publisher=University of Southampton |location=UK |access-date= July 24, 2018 |date=December 15, 2014}}

MIT has its own police force. Three days after the Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013, MIT Police patrol officer Sean Collier was fatally shot by the suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, setting off a violent manhunt that shut down the campus and much of the Boston metropolitan area for a day.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/officers-killing-spurred-pursuit-in-boston-attack.html |title=Officer's Killing Spurred Pursuit in Boston Attack |date=April 24, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |last1=Ruderman |first1=Wendy |last2=Kovaleski |first2=Serge |last3=Cooper |first3=Michael}} One week later, Collier's memorial service was attended by more than 10,000 people, in a ceremony hosted by the MIT community with thousands of police officers from the New England region and Canada.{{cite news |last=Bidgood |first=Jess |title=On a Field at M.I.T., 10,000 Remember an Officer Who Was Killed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/boston-marathon-bombings-developments.html?_r=0 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 24, 2013}}{{cite news |last=Faviero |first=Bruno B. F. |title=Thousands attend Sean Collier memorial service |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N21/memorial.html |access-date=January 30, 2014 |newspaper=The Tech |volume=133 |number=21 |date=April 26, 2013 |archive-date=2014-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219121813/http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N21/memorial.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thousands-attend-slain-mit-officers-memorial-service/ |title=Thousands attend slain MIT officer's memorial service |date=April 24, 2013 |work=CBS News}} On November 25, 2013, MIT announced the creation of the Collier Medal, to be awarded annually to "an individual or group that embodies the character and qualities that Officer Collier exhibited as a member of the MIT community and in all aspects of his life". The announcement further stated that "Future recipients of the award will include those whose contributions exceed the boundaries of their profession, those who have contributed to building bridges across the community, and those who consistently and selflessly perform acts of kindness".{{cite news |title=Letter regarding the establishment of the Collier Medal |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/letter-collier-medal-1125.html |access-date=November 26, 2013 |newspaper=MIT News |date=November 25, 2013}}{{cite web |title=Collier Medal |url=http://police.mit.edu/collier-medal |work=MIT Police |publisher=MIT |access-date=November 26, 2013}}{{cite news |last=Rocheleau |first=Matt |title=MIT to establish a Sean Collier award |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/26/mit-establish-annual-award-memory-slain-officer-sean-collier/v3T1hn3Oi7ObLVE9hOm6GP/story.html |access-date=November 26, 2013 |newspaper=The Boston Globe |date=November 26, 2013}}

In September 2017, the school announced the creation of an artificial intelligence research lab called the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. IBM will spend $240 million over the next decade, and the lab will be staffed by MIT and IBM scientists.{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/ibm-mit-partner-artificial-intelligence-research-49670629 |title=IBM and MIT partner on artificial intelligence research |work=ABC News |agency=Associated Press |date=September 7, 2017 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907051713/https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/ibm-mit-partner-artificial-intelligence-research-49670629 |archive-date=September 7, 2017 |df=mdy-all}} In October 2018 MIT announced that it would open a new Schwarzman College of Computing dedicated to the study of artificial intelligence, named after lead donor and The Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman. The focus of the new college is to study not just AI, but interdisciplinary AI education, and how AI can be used in fields as diverse as history and biology. The cost of buildings and new faculty for the new college is expected to be $1 billion upon completion.{{cite news |last=Gershgorn |first=Dave |url=https://qz.com/1424832/mits-billion-dollar-ai-school-isnt-just-for-coders/ |title=MIT is building a billion-dollar college dedicated to AI |work=Quartz |date=October 15, 2018 |access-date=October 16, 2018}}

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) was designed and constructed by a team of scientists from California Institute of Technology, MIT, and industrial contractors, and funded by the National Science Foundation. It was designed to open the field of gravitational-wave astronomy through the detection of gravitational waves predicted by general relativity.{{cite web |title=About LIGO |url=https://space.mit.edu/LIGO/aboutligo.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=8 September 2020}} Gravitational waves were detected for the first time by the LIGO detector in 2015. For contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves, two Caltech physicists, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish, and MIT physicist Rainer Weiss won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2017.{{cite web |title=Rainer Weiss – Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/weiss/facts/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=8 September 2020}} Weiss, who is also an MIT graduate, designed the laser interferometric technique, which served as the essential blueprint for the LIGO.{{cite web |title=MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics |date=October 3, 2017 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-physicist-rainer-weiss-shares-nobel-prize-physics-1003 |publisher=MIT News |access-date=8 September 2020}}

In April 2024, MIT students joined other campuses across the United States in protests and setting up encampments against the Gaza war.{{Cite news |date=2024-04-26 |title=Major Gaza protests at US universities |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68901927 |access-date=2024-09-13 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2024-04-25 |title=Carefully planned and partly improvised: inside the Columbia protest that fueled a national movement |url=https://apnews.com/article/inside-columbia-protest-movement-0b35ff55f18d0bf4b2c8c0a27b1dbe04 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=AP News |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Reports • • |first=Staff |date=2024-04-26 |title=Pro-Palestinian protests continue on college campuses across Boston |url=https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/pro-palestinian-protests-continue-on-college-campuses-across-boston/3350791/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=NBC Boston |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=MSN |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/emerson-mit-tufts-students-camp-out-in-solidarity-with-columbia-pro-palestinian-protest/ar-AA1nsm26 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=www.msn.com}} Student likened their actions to the historic protests against the American invasion of Vietnam and MIT investments in South African apartheid;{{Cite web |date=2024-05-10 |title=After police clear MIT encampment, a day of arrests, rage and protest |url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2024-05-10/police-clear-mit-gaza-encampment-arrest-10 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=GBH |language=en}} they called for ending ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense.{{Cite web |date=2024-05-06 |title=Pro-Palestinian protesters break through barricades to retake MIT encampment |url=https://apnews.com/article/columbia-commencement-protests-gaza-080a42e09d9bac2e37321874ac37a8c1 |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=AP News |language=en}}

{{Main|Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

File:MIT Main Campus aerial.jpg. Left of center is the Great Dome over Killian Court, with the Stata Center behind.]]

File:Great_Dome,_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology,_Aug_2019.jpg

MIT's {{cvt|166|acre|ha|1|adj=on}} campus in the city of Cambridge spans approximately a mile along the north side of the Charles River basin.{{cite web |title=The Campus |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/campus.html |publisher=MIT Facts 2018 |access-date=November 11, 2018}} The campus is divided roughly in half by Massachusetts Avenue, with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. The bridge closest to MIT is the Harvard Bridge, which is known for being marked off in a non-standard unit of length – the smoot.{{cite journal |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/article/20983/ |title=Smoot's Legacy: 50th anniversary of famous feat nears |access-date=August 13, 2008 |journal=Technology Review |last=Durant |first=Elizabeth |archive-date=2012-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111082013/http://www.technologyreview.com/article/20983/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |title=The Measure of This Man Is in the Smoot; MIT's Human Yardstick Honored for Work |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 8, 2005 |last=Fahrenthold |first=David}}

The Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line station is located on the northeastern edge of the campus, in Kendall Square. The Cambridge neighborhoods surrounding MIT are a mixture of high tech companies occupying both modern office and rehabilitated industrial buildings, as well as socio-economically diverse residential neighborhoods.{{cite web |title=Cambridge: Just the Facts (City Facts Brochure) |url=http://www.cambridgema.gov |publisher=City of Cambridge |access-date=May 31, 2012}} In early 2016, MIT presented a development plan for Kendall Square the City of Cambridge, adding high-rise educational, retail, residential, startup incubator, and office space around the MBTA station. The MIT Museum has moved immediately adjacent to a Kendall Square subway entrance, joining the List Visual Arts Center on the eastern end of the campus.{{cite web |title=New MIT Museum Invites Exploration and Discussion |url=https://spectrum.mit.edu/spring-2022/new-mit-museum-in-kendall-square-invites-exploration-and-discussion/ |website=spectrum.mit.edu |publisher=MIT |access-date=March 13, 2023}}

Each building at MIT has a number (possibly preceded by a W, N, E, or NW) designation, and most have a name as well. Typically, academic and office buildings are referred to primarily by number while residence halls are referred to by name. The organization of building numbers roughly corresponds to the order in which the buildings were built and their location relative (north, west, and east) to the original center cluster of Maclaurin buildings.{{cite web |url=http://studentlife.mit.edu/mindandhandbook/campus-life/building-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222150052/http://studentlife.mit.edu/mindandhandbook/campus-life/building-history |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2010 |title=Building History and Numbering System |publisher=Mind and Hand Book, MIT |access-date=August 13, 2008}} Many of the buildings are connected above ground as well as through an extensive network of tunnels, providing protection from the Cambridge weather as well as a venue for roof and tunnel hacking.{{cite web |url=http://mit.edu/facilities/maps/tunnelMap.pdf |title=MIT Campus Subterranean Map |publisher=MIT Department of Facilities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731034447/http://mit.edu/facilities/maps/tunnelMap.pdf |archive-date=July 31, 2010 |access-date=August 13, 2008}}{{cite news |title='Hackers' Skirt Security in Late-Night MIT Treks |newspaper=The Boston Globe |last=Abel |first=David |date=March 30, 2000}}

The campus' primary energy source is natural gas. In connection with capital campaigns to expand the campus, the Institute has also extensively renovated existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency. MIT has also taken steps to reduce its environmental impact by running alternative fuel campus shuttles, subsidizing public transportation passes, constructing solar power offsets, and building a cogeneration plant to power campus electricity, heating, and cooling requirements.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/environment/commitment/conservation.html |title=The Environment at MIT: Conservation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104133307/http://web.mit.edu/environment/commitment/conservation.html |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |publisher=MIT |access-date=August 11, 2008}}{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Don |title= Mass. entities claim solar power on N.C. grid will offset carbon use |newspaper=Carolina Journal |date=26 April 2017 |url=https://www.carolinajournal.com/massachusetts-entities-claim-solar-power-on-n-c-grid-will-offset-carbon-use/ |accessdate=20 August 2024}}

MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap6-nrl.shtml |title=MIT Course Catalogue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104182125/http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap6-nrl.shtml |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 14, 2008}} is one of the most powerful university-based nuclear reactors in the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial,{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/LooseNukes/ |title=Loose Nukes: A Special Report |work=ABC News |access-date=April 14, 2007}} but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/reactor.html |title=MIT Assures Community of Research Reactor Safety |publisher=MIT News Office |date=October 13, 2005 |access-date=October 5, 2006}}

MIT Nano, also known as Building 12, is an interdisciplinary facility for nanoscale research. Its {{cvt|100000|sqft|adj=on}} cleanroom and research space, visible through expansive glass facades, is the largest research facility of its kind in the nation.{{Cite web |url=https://mitnano.mit.edu/research-capabilities |title=Research Capabilities | MIT.nano |website=mitnano.mit.edu}} With a cost of US$400 million, it is also one of the costliest buildings on campus. The facility also provides state-of-the-art nanoimaging capabilities with vibration damped imaging and metrology suites sitting atop a {{cvt|5|e6lb|kg|adj=on}} slab of concrete underground.{{cite news |last1=Chandler |first1=David |title=A big new home for the ultrasmall |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-nano-building-open-0924 |agency=MIT News |date=September 23, 2018}}

Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel for testing aerodynamic research, a towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs, and previously Alcator C-Mod, which was the largest fusion device operated by any university.{{cite news |title=Supersonic Tunnel Open; Naval Laboratory for Aircraft Dedicated at M.I.T. |work=The New York Times |date=December 2, 1949}}{{cite news |title=Ship Test Tank for M.I.T.; Dr. Killian Announces Plant to Cost $500,000 |work=The New York Times |date=February 6, 1949}} MIT's campus-wide wireless network was completed in the fall of 2005 and consists of nearly 3,000 access points covering {{cvt|9.4|e6sqft|m2}} of campus.{{cite web |url=http://senseable.mit.edu/news/on_us/CNN4November2005.htm |title=MIT maps wireless users across campus |date=November 4, 2005 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |publisher=MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905081952/http://senseable.mit.edu/news/on_us/CNN4November2005.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2006}}

File:Stata_Center_(05689p).jpg houses CSAIL, LIDS, and the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy.]]

MIT's School of Architecture, founded in 1865{{Cite book |last=Allaback |first=Sarah |title=The first American women architects |date=2008 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-03321-6 |location=Urbana, Ill. |pages=24}} and now called the School of Architecture and Planning, was the first formal architecture program in the United States,{{cite web |url=http://architecture.mit.edu/welcome.html |title=MIT Architecture: Welcome |access-date=April 4, 2007 |publisher=MIT Department of Architecture |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070323150619/http://architecture.mit.edu/welcome.html |archive-date=March 23, 2007}} and it has a history of commissioning progressive buildings.{{cite news |title=Starchitecture on Campus |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/02/22/starchitecture_on_campus/ |date=February 22, 2004 |access-date=October 24, 2006 |work=The Boston Globe |first=David |last=Dillon}}{{cite news |title=At MIT, Going Boldly Where No Architect Has Gone Before |last=Flint |first=Anthony |date=October 13, 2002 |work=The Boston Globe}} The first buildings constructed on the Cambridge campus, completed in 1916, are sometimes called the "Maclaurin buildings" after Institute president Richard Maclaurin who oversaw their construction. Designed by William Welles Bosworth, these imposing buildings were built of reinforced concrete, a first for a non-industrial – much less university – building in the US.{{Cite book |last=Jarzombek |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Jarzombek |title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech |place=Boston |year=2004 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |pages=50–51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiwRGc3E7Z8C |isbn=978-1-55553-619-0}} Bosworth's design was influenced by the City Beautiful Movement of the early 1900s and features the Pantheon-esque Great Dome housing the Barker Engineering Library. The Great Dome overlooks Killian Court, where graduation ceremonies are held each year. The friezes of the limestone-clad buildings around Killian Court are engraved with the names of important scientists and philosophers.{{refn|The friezes of the marble-clad buildings surrounding Killian Court are carved in large Roman letters with the names of Aristotle, Newton, Pasteur, Lavoisier, Faraday, Archimedes, da Vinci, Darwin, and Copernicus; each of these names is surmounted by a cluster of appropriately related names in smaller letters. Lavoisier, for example, is placed in the company of Boyle, Cavendish, Priestley, Dalton, Gay Lussac, Berzelius, Woehler, Liebig, Bunsen, Mendelejeff {{sic}}, Perkin, and van't Hoff.{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html |title=Names of MIT Buildings |publisher=MIT Archives |access-date=April 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100519104929/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html |archive-date=May 19, 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |title=Names on Institute Buildings Lend Inspiration to Future Scientists |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/the-tech.html |access-date=May 30, 2012 |newspaper=The Tech |volume=XLII |number=70 |date=December 22, 1922 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013722/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/the-tech.html |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=dead}} |group=lower-alpha}} The spacious Building 7 atrium at 77 Massachusetts Avenue is regarded as the entrance to the Infinite Corridor and the rest of the campus.

Alvar Aalto's Baker House (1947), Eero Saarinen's MIT Chapel and Kresge Auditorium (1955), and I.M. Pei's Green, Dreyfus, Landau, and Wiesner buildings represent high forms of post-war modernist architecture.{{cite news |title=Colleges: More Than Ivy-Covered Halls |date=March 2, 1986 |last=Campbell |first=Robert |work=The Boston Globe}}{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889750,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222124045/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889750,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |title=Challenge to the Rectangle |work=Time Magazine |access-date=August 13, 2008 |date=June 29, 1953}}{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869832,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114202627/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869832,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |title=Flagpole in the Square |work=Time Magazine |date=August 22, 1960 |access-date=August 13, 2008}} More recent buildings like Frank Gehry's Stata Center (2004), Steven Holl's Simmons Hall (2002), Charles Correa's Building 46 (2005), and Fumihiko Maki's Media Lab Extension (2009) stand out among the Boston area's classical architecture and serve as examples of contemporary campus "starchitecture".{{Cite news |title=Architecture's Brand Names Come to Town |work=The Boston Globe |date=May 20, 2001 |last=Campbell |first=Robert}} These buildings have not always been well received;{{cite news |title=The Campuses of Cambridge, A City Unto Themselves |last=Paul |first=James |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 9, 1989}}{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112300679_pf.html |title=The Hubris of a Great Artist Can Be a Gift or a Curse |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Lewis |first=Roger K. |date=November 24, 2007 |access-date=August 13, 2008}} in 2010, The Princeton Review included MIT in a list of twenty schools whose campuses are "tiny, unsightly, or both".{{cite web |title=2010 361 Best College Rankings: Quality of Life: Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both |url=http://www.princetonreview.com/schools/college/CollegeRankings.aspx?iid=1023832 |publisher=Princeton Review |year=2010 |access-date=July 6, 2010}}

{{Main|Housing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{See also|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities, sororities, and ILGs}}

File:Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG undergrad dormitory was completed in 2002.]]

Undergraduates are guaranteed four-year housing in one of MIT's 11 undergraduate dormitories.{{cite web |url=https://studentlife.mit.edu/housing/undergraduate-housing/residence-halls |title=Undergraduate Residence Halls |author=MIT Housing Office |access-date=October 1, 2010}} Those living on campus can receive support and mentoring from live-in graduate student tutors, resident advisors, and faculty housemasters.{{cite web |title=Residential Life Live-in Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/reslife/rlp/ra-grt.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320123544/http://web.mit.edu/reslife/rlp/ra-grt.html |archive-date=March 20, 2012}} Because housing assignments are made based on the preferences of the students themselves, diverse social atmospheres can be sustained in different living groups; for example, according to the Yale Daily News staff's The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010, "The split between East Campus and West Campus is a significant characteristic of MIT. East Campus has gained a reputation as a thriving counterculture."{{cite book |title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010 |author=Yale Daily News Staff |year=2009 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=978-0-312-57029-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_5/page/377 377–380] |url=https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_5/page/377}} MIT also has 5 dormitories for single graduate students and 2 apartment buildings on campus for married student families.{{cite web |title=Graduate residences for singles & families |url=http://housing.mit.edu/graduatefamily/residences |access-date=October 1, 2010 |author=MIT Housing Office |publisher=MIT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620170109/http://housing.mit.edu/graduatefamily/residences |archive-date=June 20, 2010}}

MIT has an active Greek and co-op housing system, including thirty-six fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups (FSILGs).{{cite web |title=MIT Facts: Housing |year=2010 |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/housing.html |access-date=October 1, 2010}} {{As of|2015}}, 98% of all undergraduates lived in MIT-affiliated housing; 54% of the men participated in fraternities and 20% of the women were involved in sororities.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2012/cds2012.html |title=Common Data Set |year=2012 |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost, MIT}} Most FSILGs are located across the river in Back Bay near where MIT was founded, and there is also a cluster of fraternities on MIT's West Campus that face the Charles River Basin.{{cite web |title=Undergraduate and Graduate Residence Halls, Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups @ MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/reslife/fsilg/map.pdf |publisher=MIT Residential Life |access-date=June 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508222758/http://web.mit.edu/reslife/fsilg/map.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2012}} After the 1997 alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger, a new pledge at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, MIT required all freshmen to live in the dormitory system starting in 2002.{{Cite news |title=MIT rules freshmen to reside on campus |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 27, 1998 |first=Kate |last=Zernike |page=B1}} Because FSILGs had previously housed as many as 300 freshmen off-campus, the new policy could not be implemented until Simmons Hall opened in that year.{{cite news |title=For First Time, MIT Assigns Freshmen to Campus Dorms |work=The Boston Globe |last=Russell |first=Jenna |date=August 25, 2002}}

In 2013–2014, MIT abruptly closed and then demolished undergrad dorm Bexley Hall, citing extensive water damage that made repairs infeasible. In 2017, MIT shut down Senior House after a century of service as an undergrad dorm. That year, MIT administrators released data showing just 60% of Senior House residents had graduated in four years. Campus-wide, the four-year graduation rate is 84% (the cumulative graduation rate is significantly higher).{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/06/the-fall-of-mits-counter-culture-dorm/532074/ |title=Why Residents of MIT's Counter-Culture Dorm Have to Move Out |last=Glatter |first=Hayley |work=The Atlantic |access-date=November 7, 2017 |language=en-US}}

MIT has substantial commercial real estate holdings in Cambridge on which it pays property taxes, plus an additional voluntary payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) on academic buildings which are legally tax-exempt. {{as of|2017}}, it is the largest taxpayer in the city, contributing approximately 14% of the city's annual revenues.{{cite web |title=MIT Facts 2017: MIT and the Community |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/community.html |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=March 24, 2017}} Holdings include Technology Square, parts of Kendall Square, University Park, and many properties in Cambridgeport and Area 4 neighboring the main campus.{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Maps/Institutions/cddmap_institutions_ownership.pdf |title=Institutional Ownership Map – Cambridge Massachusetts |access-date=2016-09-08 |archive-date=2015-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022201633/https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Maps/Institutions/cddmap_institutions_ownership.pdf |url-status=dead}} The land is held for investment purposes and potential long-term expansion.{{Cite web |last=Yadav |first=Sudhanshu |date=2022-06-22 |title=Discover – MITIMCo |url=https://mitimco.org/discover}}

File:MIT Lobby 7.jpg is regarded as the main entrance to campus.]]

MIT is a state-chartered nonprofit corporation governed by a privately appointed board known as the MIT Corporation.{{cite web |last=Mead |first=Dana G. |title=A Brief History and Workings of the MIT Corporation |date=May 2006 |website=MIT Faculty Newsletter |access-date=19 August 2024 |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/185/mead.html}} The Corporation has 60–80 members at any time, some with fixed terms, some with life appointments, and eight who serve ex officio.{{refn |Life members end their terms at 75 years old. Ex officio members are the Corporation's elected officers—its Chair, President, Treasurer, and Secretary—and the president of the MIT Alumni Association, the Governor of Massachusetts, the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and the Massachusetts Secretary of Education.}}{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/bylaws/bylaws-section-2 |title=Bylaws of the MIT Corporation – Section 2: Members |publisher=The MIT Corporation |access-date=19 August 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/membership/all-members |title=The MIT Corporation: All Members |publisher=The MIT Corporation |access-date=19 August 2024}} The Corporation approves the budget, new programs, degrees and faculty appointments, and elects a president to manage the university and preside over the Institute's faculty.{{cite web |url=https://catalog.mit.edu/mit/overview/administration/ |title=MIT Course Catalogue: Overview |publisher=MIT |access-date=19 August 2024}} The current president is Sally Kornbluth, a cell biologist and former provost at Duke University, who became MIT's eighteenth president in January 2023.{{cite news |last=Bradt |first=Steve |date=October 20, 2022 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2022/sally-kornbluth-named-MIT-president-1020 |title=Sally Kornbluth is named as MIT's 18th president}}

MIT has five schools (Science, Engineering, Architecture and Planning, Management, and Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences) and one college (Schwarzman College of Computing), but no schools of law or medicine.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/academic.shtml |title=MIT Facts: Academic Schools and Departments, Divisions & Sections |year=2010 |access-date=October 1, 2010}}{{refn|The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) offers joint MD, MD-PhD, or Medical Engineering degrees in collaboration with Harvard Medical School.{{cite web |url=http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20030105013857/http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 5, 2003 |title=Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview |access-date=August 5, 2007}}|group=lower-alpha}}{{Cite news |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/faq-mit-stephen-schwarzman-college-of-computing-1015 |title=FAQ on the newly established MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing |work=MIT News |access-date=October 24, 2018}} Faculty committees have control over many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and administrative affairs,{{cite web |last=Bras |first=Rafael L. |author-link=Rafael L. Bras |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres05/17.00.pdf |title=Reports to the President, Report of the Chair of the Faculty |date=2004–2005 |access-date=December 1, 2006 |publisher=MIT}} the chair of each of MIT's academic departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn reports to the Provost under the President.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/orgchart/replist.html |title=Reporting List |publisher=MIT |access-date=September 7, 2010}} Academic departments are also evaluated by "Visiting Committees", specialized bodies of Corporation members and outside experts who review the performance, activities, and needs of each department.

MIT's endowment, real estate, and other financial assets are managed through by the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), a subsidiary of the MIT Corporation created in 2004.{{cite report |last=Humphreys |first=Joshua |title=Educational Endowments and the Financial Crisis: Social Costs and Systemic Risks in the Shadow Banking System |publisher=Center for Social Philanthropy |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/files/Tellusendowmentcrisis.pdf |pages=47–48 |accessdate=19 August 2024}} A minor revenue source for much of the Institute's history, the endowment's role in MIT operations has grown due to strong investment returns since the 1990s, making it one the largest U.S. university endowments.{{cite web |title=The MIT Endowment |url=https://alum.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/brochure-endowment-2023_202403.pdf |date=March 2024 |accessdate=19 August 2024}} Among its holdings are a majority of shares in the audio equipment manufacturer Bose Corporation, as well as a commercial real estate portfolio in Kendall Square.{{cite news |last=Gelles |first=David |title=Bose founder donates lion's share to MIT |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/91cb5cf2-740c-11e0-b788-00144feabdc0 |date=1 May 2011 |accessdate=19 August 2024}}{{cite magazine |last=Blanding |first=Michael |title=The Past and Future of Kendall Square |date=18 August 2015 |magazine=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/08/18/10816/the-past-and-future-of-kendall-square/ |access-date=1 April 2025}}

{{Infobox U.S. college admissions

|year = 2022

|ref = {{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2022-23 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2023 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=30 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930012350/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2023 |url-status=live }}

|change ref = {{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2017-18 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2018 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601171311/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2018 |url-status=live }}

|admit rate = 4.0%

|admit rate change = -3.2

|yield rate = 85.0%

|yield rate change = +9.5

|test optional = no

|SAT Total = 1520⁠–1570

|SAT Total change =

|SAT EBRW =

|SAT EBRW change =

|SAT Math =

|SAT Math change =

|ACT Composite = 35–36

|ACT Composite change =

|top decile =

|top decile change =

|top quarter =

|top quarter change =

|top half =

|top half change =

|GPA =

|GPA change =

|undergrad = yes

}}

MIT is a large, highly residential, research university with a majority of enrollments in graduate and professional programs.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=166683 |publisher=Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching |access-date=June 22, 2012}} The university has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1929.{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=https://cihe.neasc.org/about-our-institutions/roster/massachusetts-institute-technology |website=Roster of Institutions |date=July 26, 2018 |publisher=New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education |access-date=August 3, 2018}} 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 commencing in early February and ceasing in late May.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/calendar/index.html |title=Academic Calendar |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}

MIT students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers or acronyms alone.{{cite web |url=http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/learning/majors_minors/index.shtml |title=Majors & Minors |publisher=MIT Admissions Office |access-date=August 13, 2008 |quote=MIT is organized into academic departments, or Courses, which you will often hear referred to by their Course number or acronym.}} Departments and their corresponding majors are numbered in the approximate order of their foundation; for example, Civil and Environmental Engineering is {{nowrap|Course 1}}, while Linguistics and Philosophy is {{nowrap|Course 24}}.{{cite web |last=Butcher |first=Ev |title=Course Code Designation Key |url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/sandiego/contents_courses.shtml |publisher=MIT Club of San Diego |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725142703/http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/sandiego/contents_courses.shtml |archive-date=July 25, 2011}} 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; for instance, the introductory calculus-based classical mechanics course is simply "8.01" (pronounced eight-oh-one) at MIT.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/degre.intro.html |title=MIT Course Catalogue: Degree Programs |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 16, 2008}}{{refn|Course numbers are sometimes presented in Roman numerals, e.g. "Course XVIII" for mathematics. At least one MIT style guide now discourages this usage.{{cite web |title=Style Sheet {{!}} Report Preparation Guidelines |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/stylesheet.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 6, 2012}} Also, some Course numbers have been re-assigned over time, so that the subject area of a degree may depend on the year it was awarded.|group=lower-alpha}}

The four-year, full-time undergraduate program maintains a balance between professional majors and those in the arts and sciences. In 2010, it was dubbed "most selective" by U.S. News, admitting few transfer students and 4.1% of its applicants in the 2020–2021 admissions cycle.{{cite web |url=https://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats/ |website=mitadmissions.org |access-date=April 12, 2019 |title=Admissions statistics}} It is need-blind for both domestic and international applicants.{{cite web|url=https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/need-blind-admissions/|title=What is need-blind admissions?|publisher=MIT Admissions|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2019-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121052104/https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/need-blind-admissions/|url-status=live}} MIT offers 44 undergraduate degrees across its five schools.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/front.degre.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Degree Charts |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}} In the 2017–2018 academic year, 1,045 Bachelor of Science degrees (abbreviated "SB") were granted, the only type of undergraduate degree MIT now awards.{{update after|2016|10|2}}{{cite web |title=MIT Degrees Awarded |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/students/degrees.html |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost |access-date=June 26, 2012}}{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Academic Programs |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}} In the 2011 fall term, among students who had designated a major, the School of Engineering was the most popular division, enrolling 63% of students in its 19 degree programs, followed by the School of Science (29%), School of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences (3.7%), Sloan School of Management (3.3%), and School of Architecture and Planning (2%).{{update after|2016|10|2}} The largest undergraduate degree programs were in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ({{nowrap|Course 6–2}}), Computer Science and Engineering ({{nowrap|Course 6–3}}), Mechanical Engineering ({{nowrap|Course 2}}), Physics ({{nowrap|Course 8}}), and Mathematics ({{nowrap|Course 18}}).{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/yrpts/index.html |title=Enrollment Statistics |publisher=MIT Office of the Registrar |access-date=June 26, 2012}}

File:Infinitecorridor.jpg is the primary passageway through campus.]]{{anchor|AnchorGIR}}

All undergraduates are required to complete a core curriculum called the General Institute Requirements (GIRs).{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3-gir.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Undergraduate General Institute Requirements |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}} The Science Requirement, generally completed during freshman year as prerequisites for classes in science and engineering majors, comprises two semesters of physics, two semesters of calculus, one semester of chemistry, and one semester of biology. There is a Laboratory Requirement, usually satisfied by an appropriate class in a course major. The Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Requirement consists of eight semesters of classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, including at least one semester from each division as well as the courses required for a designated concentration in a HASS division. Under the Communication Requirement, two of the HASS classes, plus two of the classes taken in the designated major must be "communication-intensive",{{cite web |title=About the Requirement |url=http://web.mit.edu/commreq/index.html |work=Undergraduate Communication Requirement |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 30, 2012}} including "substantial instruction and practice in oral presentation".{{cite web |title=Faculty and Instructors |url=http://web.mit.edu/commreq/faculty.html |work=Undergraduate Communication Requirement |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 30, 2012}} Finally, all students are required to complete a swimming test;{{cite web |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/article/533031/mits-wettest-test/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109054212if_/https://www.technologyreview.com/s/533031/mits-wettest-test/ |title=MIT's Wettest Test |last=Morell |first=Nicole |work=MIT Technology Review |publication-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=November 9, 2018}} non-varsity athletes must also take four quarters of physical education classes.

Most classes rely on a combination of lectures, recitations led by associate professors or graduate students, weekly problem sets ("p-sets"), and periodic quizzes or tests. While the pace and difficulty of MIT coursework has been compared to "drinking from a fire hose",{{Cite news |title=The Boston Globe |date=February 1, 1959 |page=51 |quote='Getting an education at MIT is like drinking from a fire hose' is generally attributed to former President Jerome Wiesner. However, in the 1 February 1959 (p. 51) issue of the Boston Globe, there is the following, "Quoting an MIT student Dr. [Julius] Stratton cited the quickening pace of science and said: 'Getting a technical education today is like getting a drink from a firehose.'"}}{{cite book |title=Leadership and Organizational Culture: New Perspectives on Administrative Theory and Practice |editor=Thomas J. Sergiovanni |editor2=John Edward Corbally |chapter=Leadership as Reflection-in-Action |last=Schön |first=Donald A. |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-252-01347-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfjpFezRhuYC&pg=PA59 |page=59 |quote=[In the sixties] Students spoke of their undergraduate experience as "drinking from a fire hose." |access-date=August 13, 2008}}{{cite book |last=Mattuck |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Mattuck |title=The Torch or the Firehose |year=2009 |publisher=MIT OpenCourseWare |page=1 |url=http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-004-the-torch-or-the-firehose-a-guide-to-section-teaching-spring-2009/online-publication/}} the freshmen retention rate at MIT is similar to other research universities.{{cite magazine |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return |title=Average Freshmen Retention Rates: National Universities |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=September 6, 2010}} The "pass/no-record" grading system relieves some pressure for first-year undergraduates. For each class taken in the fall term, freshmen transcripts will either report only that the class was passed, or otherwise not have any record of it. In the spring term, passing grades (A, B, C) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again not recorded.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3.html#fre |title=MIT Course Catalog: Freshman Year |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}} (Grading had previously been "pass/no record" all freshman year, but was amended for the Class of 2006 to prevent students from gaming the system by completing required major classes in their freshman year.{{cite news |last=Keuss |first=Nancy |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N50/p-nr_-_real.50f.html |title=The Evolution of MIT's Pass/No Record System |newspaper=The Tech |volume=120 |issue=50 |date=October 17, 2000 |access-date=September 6, 2010 |archive-date=2011-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516094101/http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N50/p-nr_-_real.50f.html |url-status=dead }}) Also, freshmen may choose to join alternative learning communities, such as Experimental Study Group, Concourse, or Terrascope.

MIT's curriculum encourages students to apply scientific knowledge in practical domains, an idea summarized in the institute motto of mens et manus or "mind and hand."{{cite book |last1=Stratton |first1=Julius A. |last2=Mannix |first2=Loretta H. |last3=Alexander |first3=Philip |title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, MA |date=2005}}{{cite web |last=Ferriero |first=David S |title=David S. Ferriero at the MIT150 Convocation |date=10 April 2011 |url=https://aotus.blogs.archives.gov/2011/04/15/mens-et-manus-reaching-for-the-future/ |access-date=8 April 2025}} Courses emphasizes uses of engineering knowledge in arenas like product design competitions and control design.{{cite news |last=Marquard |first=Bryan |title=Woodie Flowers, MIT robotics guru who championed 'gracious professionalism,' dies at 75 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/10/23/woodie-flowers-mit-robotics-guru-who-championed-gracious-professionalism-dies/HFNrAHeHobcYqWcmQG3FJP/story.html |date=23 October 2019}}{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Anne |title=For developing designers, there's magic in 2.737 (Mechatronics) |date=3 September 2024 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2024/for-developing-designers-magic-in-mechatronics-0903 |access-date=8 April 2025}} In 1969, Margaret MacVicar founded the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to enable undergraduates to collaborate directly with faculty members and researchers. Students join or initiate research projects ("UROPs") for academic credit, pay, or on a volunteer basis through postings on the UROP website or by contacting faculty members directly.{{cite web |title=MIT UROP: Basic Information |url=http://web.mit.edu/UROP/basicinfo/index.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 21, 2012}} A substantial majority of undergraduates participate.{{cite web |title=MIT Research and Teaching Firsts |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |access-date=October 6, 2006 |publisher=MIT News Office |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915023328/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |archive-date=September 15, 2006}}{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program |url=http://wiki.mitadmissions.org/UROP |publisher=MIT Admissions |access-date=June 21, 2012}} Students often become published, file patent applications, and/or launch start-up companies based upon their experience in UROPs.{{cite news |title=Use of Undergraduates in Research Is Hailed by M.I.T.; Inventions by Students |newspaper=The New York Times |last=Maeroff |first=Gene I. |date=January 11, 1976}}{{cite news |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N47/UROP_turns_30.47f.html |title=An MIT Original, the Oft Replicated UROP Program Reaches 30 Years |last=Palmer |first=Matthew |date=October 5, 1999 |newspaper=The Tech |volume=119 |number=47 |access-date=2009-05-08 |archive-date=2011-05-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516094138/http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N47/UROP_turns_30.47f.html |url-status=dead }} The program has been widely emulated at other U.S. universities.{{cite web |last=Brehm |first=Denise |title=MIT's much-imitated UROP turns 30 |website=MIT News |date=2 February 2000 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2000/urop-0202 |access-date=8 April 2025}}

In 1970, the then-Dean of Institute Relations, Benson R. Snyder, published The Hidden Curriculum, arguing that education at MIT was often slighted in favor of following a set of unwritten expectations and that graduating with good grades was more often the product of figuring out the system rather than a solid education. The successful student, according to Snyder, was the one who was able to discern which of the formal requirements were to be ignored in favor of which unstated norms. For example, organized student groups had compiled "course bibles"—collections of problem-set and examination questions and answers for later students to use as references. This sort of gamesmanship, Snyder argued, hindered development of a creative intellect and contributed to student discontent and unrest.{{cite book |last=Benson |first=Snyder |title=The Hidden Curriculum |year=1970 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-69043-8 |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?tid=4398&ttype=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922160317/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=4398 |archive-date=September 22, 2006}}{{cite journal |last=Mahoney |first=Matt |title=Unwritten Rules |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/mitnews/427509/unwritten-rules/ |access-date=June 21, 2012 |journal=Technology Review |date=May 2012}}

MIT's graduate program has high coexistence with the undergraduate program, and many courses are taken by qualified students at both levels. MIT offers a comprehensive doctoral program with degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields as well as professional degrees, including the Master of Business Administration (MBA). The Institute offers graduate programs leading to academic degrees such as the Master of Science (which is abbreviated as MS at MIT), various Engineer's Degrees, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and Doctor of Science (DSc) and interdisciplinary graduate programs such as the MD-PhD (with Harvard Medical School) and a joint program in oceanography with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap4-gdr.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Graduate Education: General Degree Requirements |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/inter.gradu.html |title=Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}{{cite web |title=Degrees Offered |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/degrees.html |website=MIT Facts 2017 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=September 13, 2017}}{{Cite web |url=https://mit.whoi.edu/ |title=MIT-WHOI Joint Program |language=en-US |access-date=2019-11-10}}

Admission to graduate programs is decentralized; applicants apply directly to the department or degree program. More than 90% of doctoral students are supported by fellowships, research assistantships (RAs), or teaching assistantships (TAs).{{cite web |title=Graduate Education |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/graduate.html |work=MIT Facts 2012 |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 25, 2012}}

{{Infobox US university ranking

| Forbes = 3

| THE_WSJ = 2

| USNWR_NU = 2

| Wamo_NU = 3

| QS_W = 1

| THES_W = 2

| USNWR_W = 2

| ARWU_W = 3

}}

MIT places among the top five in many overall rankings of universities (see table right) and rankings based on students' revealed preferences.{{cite journal |last1=Avery |first1=Christopher |last2=Glickman |first2=Mark E. |last3=Hoxby |first3=Caroline M |last4=Metrick |first4=Andrew |title=A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities|journal= NBER Working Paper No. W10803 |date=December 2005 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |ssrn=601105}}{{cite web |title=2012 Parchment Top Choice College Rankings: All Colleges |url=http://www.parchment.com/c/college/college-rankings.php |publisher=Parchment Inc. |access-date=June 5, 2012}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29086590 |title=What makes a global top 10 university? |last=Coughlan |first=Sean |date=September 15, 2014 |website=BBC News |quote=It's the third year in a row that [MIT] ... has been top of the QS World University Rankings. The biggest single factor in the QS rankings is academic reputation ... calculated by surveying more than 60,000 academics ... Universities with an established name and a strong brand are likely to do better.}} For several years, U.S. News & World Report, the QS World University Rankings, and the Academic Ranking of World Universities have ranked MIT's School of Engineering first, as did the 1995 National Research Council report.{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html |title=NRC Rankings |access-date=October 9, 2008 |archive-date=2008-09-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926121702/http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html |url-status=dead }} In the same lists, MIT's strongest showings apart from in engineering are in computer science, the natural sciences, business, architecture, economics, linguistics, mathematics, and, to a lesser extent, political science and philosophy.{{cite news |title=MIT undergraduate engineering again ranked No. 1 |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/undergraduate-rankings.html |date=August 17, 2010 |publisher=MIT News Office}}

Times Higher Education has recognized MIT as one of the world's "six super brands" on its World Reputation Rankings, along with Berkeley, Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford.{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=John |title=Top Six Universities Dominate THE World Reputation Rankings |date=January 1990 |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011/reputation-ranking/analysis |quote="The rankings suggest that the top six- ... Stanford University and the University of Oxford – form a group of globally recognized "super brands".}} In 2019, it was ranked #3 among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.{{cite web |url=https://www.scimagoir.com/rankings.php?sector=Higher%20educ.&country=all |title=SCImago Institutions Rankings – Higher Education – All Regions and Countries – 2019 – Overall Rank |website=www.scimagoir.com}} In 2017, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings also rated MIT the #2 university for arts and humanities.{{cite web |title=Stanford and MIT lead THE arts and humanities ranking |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/stanford-and-mit-lead-arts-and-humanities-ranking |website=Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings |publisher=Times Higher Education (THE) |access-date=January 26, 2018 |language=en |date=September 13, 2017}}{{cite web |title=MIT SHASS: MIT named No. 2 university worldwide for the Arts and Humanities |url=https://shass.mit.edu/news/mit-named-no-2-university-worldwide-arts-and-humanities |website=shass.mit.edu |access-date=January 26, 2018 |language=en}} MIT was ranked #7 in 2015 and #6 in 2017 of the Nature Index Annual Tables, which measure the largest contributors to papers published in 82 leading journals.{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/ten-institutions-that-dominated-science-in-twentyfifteen |title=Ten institutions that dominated science in 2015 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-date=2016-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424082505/https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/ten-institutions-that-dominated-science-in-twentyfifteen |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/twenty-eighteen-annual-tables-ten-institutions-that-dominated-sciences |title=10 institutions that dominated science in 2017 |date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=May 28, 2019}}{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/faq#introduction1 |title=Introduction to the Nature Index |access-date=May 28, 2019}} Georgetown University researchers ranked MIT #3 in the US for 20-year return on investment.{{cite web |url=https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/roi2022/ |title=Ranking 4,500 Colleges by ROI (2022) |publisher=Georgetown University |author=Center on Education and the Workforce}}

File:MIT Kresge Auditorium.jpg's Kresge Auditorium (1955) is a classic example of post-war architecture.]]

The university historically pioneered research and training collaborations between academia, industry and government.{{cite news |title=A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent |newspaper=The Economist |date=August 8, 1987 |quote=MIT for a long time ... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry.}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mitshapingfuture00mann_0|title=MIT: Shaping the Future |first=Edward B. |last=Roberts |chapter=An Environment for Entrepreneurs |publisher=MIT Press |year=1991 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0262631415 |quote=The war made necessary the formation of new working coalitions ... between these technologists and government officials. These changes were especially noteworthy at MIT.}} In 1946, President Compton, Harvard Business School professor Georges Doriot, and Massachusetts Investor Trust chairman Merrill Grisswold founded American Research and Development Corporation, the first American venture-capital firm.{{cite news |last=Shlaes |first=Amity |title=From the Ponderosa to the Googleplex: How Americans match money to ideas |work=State Department Press Release |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=May 14, 2008 |quote=Griswold, [MIT president] Compton, and various politicians handpicked Doriot to head American Research & Development, a new firm that would invest in [the] small, innovative companies that had been underserved by traditional capital markets.}}{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Jane |url=http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/05/20080512161121jmnamdeirf0.424679.html |title=Route 128: How it developed, and why it's not likely to be duplicated |page=15 |work=New England Business |location=Boston |date=July 1, 1985 |quote=Compton co-founded in 1946 what is believed to be the nation's first venture capital company. ... [He] and a group led by a Harvard professor [Doriot] founded one of the first venture capital companies, American Research & Development Corp.}} In 1948, Compton established the MIT Industrial Liaison Program.{{cite web |title=Industrial Liaison Program: About Us |publisher=MIT |year=2011 |url=http://ilp.mit.edu/about.jsp |quote=Established in 1948, the ILP continues ... making industrial connections for MIT. |access-date=2012-11-25 |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016005821/http://ilp.mit.edu/about.jsp |url-status=dead}} Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, American politicians and business leaders accused MIT and other universities of contributing to a declining economy by transferring taxpayer-funded research and technology to international – especially Japanese – firms that were competing with struggling American businesses.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDB153FF93AA25751C1A966958260&scp=1&sq=M.I.T.+Deal+with+Japan+Stirs+Fear+on+Competition&st=nyt |title=MIT Deal with Japan Stirs Fear on Competition |last=Kolata |first=Gina |date=December 19, 1990 |access-date=June 9, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |title=MIT Criticized for Selling Research to Japanese Firms |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 14, 1989 |first=William |last=Booth}} On the other hand, MIT's extensive collaboration with the federal government on research projects has led to several MIT leaders serving as presidential scientific advisers since 1940.{{refn|Vannevar Bush was the director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development and general advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman, James Rhyne Killian was Special Assistant for Science and Technology for Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Jerome Wiesner advised John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ostpside-0502.html |title=Nearly half of all US Presidential science advisers have had ties to the Institute |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 2, 2001 |access-date=March 18, 2007}}|group=lower-alpha}} MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue effective lobbying for research funding and national science policy.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |title=MIT Washington Office |access-date=March 18, 2007 |publisher=MIT Washington Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207103414/http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |archive-date=February 7, 2007}}{{cite news |date=February 11, 2001 |title=Hunt Intense for Federal Research Funds: Universities Station Lobbyists in Washington}}

The US Justice Department began an investigation in 1989, and in 1991 filed an antitrust suit against MIT, the eight Ivy League colleges, and eleven other institutions for allegedly engaging in price-fixing during their annual "Overlap Meetings", which were held to prevent bidding wars over promising prospective students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DC1E3CF933A2575BC0A96F948260 |title=Price-Fixing Inquiry at 20 Elite Colleges |work=The New York Times |date=August 10, 1989 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |first=David |last=Johnston}}{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DB173DF930A25750C0A967958260 |title=23 College Won't Pool Discal Data |last=Chira |first=Susan |date=March 13, 1991 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |work=The New York Times}} While the Ivy League institutions settled,{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3D81E38F930A15756C0A967958260 |title=Ivy Universities Deny Price-Fixing But Agree to Avoid It in the Future |work=The New York Times |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=May 23, 1991 |access-date=December 16, 2008}} MIT contested the charges, arguing that the practice was not anti-competitive because it ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.{{cite news |title=MIT Ruled Guilty in Anti-Trust Case |work=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1992 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DC1439F930A3575AC0A964958260 |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |access-date=July 16, 2008}}{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DE1E38F935A15755C0A964958260 |title=Price-Fixing or Charity? Trial of M.I.T. Begins |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=June 26, 1992 |access-date=August 13, 2008 |work=The New York Times}} MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department dropped the case in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1994/settlement-0105.html |title=Settlement allows cooperation on awarding financial-aid |publisher=MIT Tech Talk |year=1994 |access-date=March 3, 2007}}{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DC113BF932A15751C1A965958260 |title=MIT Suit Over Aid May Be Settled |first=William |last=Honan |author-link=William Honan |date=December 21, 1993 |access-date=July 16, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}

File:MIT Walker Memorial.jpg.]]

File:MIT 2012-07-18.jpg

MIT's proximityMIT's Building 7 and Harvard's Johnston Gate, the traditional entrances to each school, are {{cvt|1.72|mi|km|2}} apart along Massachusetts Avenue. to Harvard University ("the other school up the river") has led to a substantial number of research collaborations such as the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology and the Broad Institute. In addition, students at the two schools can cross-register for credits toward their own school's degrees without any additional fees. A cross-registration program between MIT and Wellesley College has also existed since 1969, and in 2002 the Cambridge–MIT Institute launched an undergraduate exchange program between MIT and the University of Cambridge.{{cite web |title=MIT Facts: Educational Partnerships |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/partnerships.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104171108/http://web.mit.edu/facts/partnerships.html |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |access-date=September 7, 2010 |year=2010}} MIT also has a long-term partnership with Imperial College London, for both student exchanges and research collaboration.{{Cite news |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/185057/mit-imperial-launch-unparalleled-student-exchange/ |title=MIT and Imperial launch 'unparalleled' student exchange {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News |access-date=March 21, 2018 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-expands-multi-departmental-partnership-imperial-college-london-0222 |title=MIT expands partnership with Imperial College London |work=MIT News |access-date=March 21, 2018}} More modest cross-registration programs have been established with Boston University, Brandeis University, Tufts University, Massachusetts College of Art, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

MIT maintains substantial research and faculty ties with independent research organizations in the Boston area, such as the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Ongoing international research and educational collaborations include the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute),{{cite web|url=http://www.ams-institute.org/partners/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511014305/http://www.ams-institute.org/partners/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-05-11|title=AMSI|access-date=13 July 2024}} Singapore-MIT Alliance, MIT-Politecnico di Milano,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/progettorocca |title=Roberto Rocca Project |access-date=November 19, 2009 |publisher=MIT}} MIT-Zaragoza International Logistics Program, and projects in other countries through the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/misti/ |title=MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives |access-date=March 17, 2007 |publisher=MIT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210111938/http://web.mit.edu/misti/ |archive-date=February 10, 2007}}

The mass-market magazine Technology Review is published by MIT through a subsidiary company, as is a special edition that also serves as an alumni magazine.{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/about/ |work=Technology Review |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 5, 2012}}{{cite web |title=Alumni Benefits |url=http://alum.mit.edu/benefits/AlumniBenefits |publisher=MIT Alumni Association |access-date=June 5, 2012}} The MIT Press is a major university press, publishing over 200 books and 30 journals annually, emphasizing science and technology as well as arts, architecture, new media, current events, and social issues.{{cite web |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/history/default.asp |title=History – The MIT Press |access-date=March 18, 2007 |publisher=MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415034220/http://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/history/default.asp |archive-date=April 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}

MIT Microphotonics Center and PhotonDelta founded the global roadmap for integrated photonics: Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap – International (IPSR-I). The first edition has been published in 2020. The roadmap is an amalgamation of two previously independent roadmaps: the IPSR roadmap of MIT Microphotonics Center and AIM Photonics in the United States, and the WTMF (World Technology Mapping Forum) of PhotonDelta in Europe.{{Cite web |title=About IPSR-I |url=https://photonicsmanufacturing.org/about-ipsr-i |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=Photonicsmanufacturing.org}} In 2022, Open Philanthropy donated $13,277,348 to MIT to study potential risks from AI.{{Cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology — AI Trends and Impacts Research (2022) |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-ai-trends-and-impacts-research-2022/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Open Philanthropy |language=en-us}}

{{See also|Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries|Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Artwork}}

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.{{cite web |last=Geraci |first=Diane |title=Information Resources |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres10/2010.13.00.pdf |work=MIT Reports to the President 2009–2010 |publisher=MIT Reference Publications Office |access-date=June 26, 2012}} Notable collections include the Lewis Music Library with an emphasis on 20th and 21st-century music and electronic music,{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/music/contents.html |title=Lewis Music Library |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707163440/https://libraries.mit.edu/music/contents.html |archive-date=July 7, 2010}} the List Visual Arts Center's rotating exhibitions of contemporary art,{{cite web |url=http://listart.mit.edu/about |title=MIT List Visual Arts Center |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010}} and the Compton Gallery's cross-disciplinary exhibitions.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/compton.html |title=Compton Gallery |publisher=MIT Museum |access-date=October 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806185321/http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/compton.html |archive-date=August 6, 2010}} 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.mit.edu/~lvac/percent/index.html |title=MIT Percent-for-Art Program |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://listart.mit.edu:8080/Prt2*1$15*1943 |title=MIT Public Art Collection |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718110730/http://listart.mit.edu:8080/Prt2%2A1%2415%2A1943 |archive-date=July 18, 2009}}

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".{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/museum/about/mission.html |title=MIT Museum: Mission and History |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 15, 2013}}

MIT was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934 and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity";{{cite web |title=Member Institutions and Years of Admission |url=http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476 |publisher=Association of American Universities |access-date=June 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028050512/http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476 |archive-date=October 28, 2012}} research expenditures totaled $952 million in 2017.{{cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |publisher=National Science Foundation |access-date=July 19, 2020}} The federal government was the largest source of sponsored research, with the Department of Health and Human Services granting $255.9 million, Department of Defense $97.5 million, Department of Energy $65.8 million, National Science Foundation $61.4 million, and NASA $27.4 million.{{cite web |title=Research at MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802071524/http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html |archive-date=August 2, 2010 |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 1, 2012}} MIT employs approximately 1300 researchers in addition to faculty.{{cite web |last=Office of the Provost |title=MIT Faculty and Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/faculty_staff.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}} In 2011, MIT faculty and researchers disclosed 632 inventions, were issued 153 patents, earned $85.4 million in cash income, and received $69.6 million in royalties.{{cite web |title=TLO Statistics for Fiscal Year 2011 |url=http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/about/office_statistics.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521090351/http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/about/office_statistics.html |archive-date=May 21, 2012}} Through programs like the Deshpande Center, MIT faculty leverage their research and discoveries into multi-million-dollar commercial ventures.{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Matthew |title=Innovation for the Real World |url=http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/innovation_for_the_real_world |access-date=June 5, 2012 |newspaper=Philanthropy |date=Spring 2012 |author2=Michael Green |author-link=Matthew Bishop (journalist)}}

In electronics, magnetic-core memory, radar, single-electron transistors, and inertial guidance controls were invented or substantially developed by MIT researchers.{{cite web |url=https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-history.html |title=IEEE History Center: MIT Radiation Laboratory |publisher=IEEE |access-date=June 9, 2008}} Harold Eugene Edgerton was a pioneer in high-speed photography and sonar.{{cite web |last=Edgerton |first=Harold "Doc" |url=http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/high-speed-photography |access-date=November 28, 2009 |title=High Speed Camera |date=November 28, 2009 |archive-date=2010-02-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207035431/http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/high-speed-photography |url-status=dead }}[http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/sonar The Edgerton Digital Collections Project] "When a strobe would not do the trick in murky waters, Edgerton began working on sonar techniques to "see" with sound." Claude E. Shannon developed much of modern information theory and discovered the application of Boolean logic to digital circuit design theory.{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/shannon.html |title=MIT Professor Claude Shannon dies; was founder of digital communications |date=February 27, 2001 |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=October 4, 2010}} In the domain of computer science, MIT faculty and researchers made fundamental contributions to cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer languages, machine learning, robotics, and cryptography.{{cite web |url=http://www.rle.mit.edu/about/about_history.html |title=Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT: History |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515234702/http://www.rle.mit.edu/about/about_history.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008}}{{cite book |last=Guttag |first=John |title=The Electron and the Bit, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, 1902–2002 |year=2003}} At least nine Turing Award laureates and seven recipients of the Draper Prize in engineering have been or are currently associated with MIT.{{cite web |last=Office of the Provost |title=A. M. Turing Award |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/acm-turing.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}Robert N. Noyce, Robert Langer, Bradford W. Parkinson, Ivan A. Getting, Butler W. Lampson, Timothy J. Berners-Lee, Rudolph Kalman

Current and previous physics faculty have won eight Nobel Prizes,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/nobel.html |title=Nobel Prize |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}} four ICTP Dirac Medals,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/dirac.html |title=Dirac Medal |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}} and three Wolf Prizes predominantly for their contributions to subatomic and quantum theory.{{cite web |url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=25&cat_title=PHYSICS |title=Prize in Physics |publisher=Wolf Foundation |access-date=October 4, 2010 |archive-date=2024-05-25 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240525172450/https://www.webcitation.org/65DR3JlSI?url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp%3Fid=25 |url-status=dead}} Members of the chemistry department have been awarded three Nobel Prizes and one Wolf Prize for the discovery of novel syntheses and methods. MIT biologists have been awarded six Nobel Prizes for their contributions to genetics, immunology, oncology, and molecular biology. Professor Eric Lander was one of the principal leaders of the Human Genome Project.{{Cite journal |last1=Lander |first1=Eric |title=Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome |year=2001 |doi=10.1038/35057062 |journal=Nature |volume=409 |pmid=11237011 |last2=Linton |first2=LM |last3=Birren |first3=B |last4=Nusbaum |first4=C |last5=Zody |first5=MC |last6=Baldwin |first6=J |last7=Devon |first7=K |last8=Dewar |first8=K |last9=Doyle |first9=M |display-authors=8 |issue=6822 |pages=860–921 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62798/1/409860a0.pdf |bibcode=2001Natur.409..860L |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |title=Eric S. Lander |url=http://www.broadinstitute.org/about/bios/bio-lander.html |publisher=Broad Institute |access-date=June 9, 2008}} Positronium atoms,{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2002/deutsch.html |title=Martin Deutsch, MIT physicist who discovered positronium, dies at 85 |date=August 20, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2008}} synthetic penicillin,{{cite news |title=Professor John C. Sheehan Dies at 76 |date=April 1, 1992 |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1992/sheehan-0401.html |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=June 12, 2008}} synthetic self-replicating molecules,{{cite web |url=http://w3.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1990/may09/23124.html |title=Self-Reproducing Molecules Reported by MIT Researchers |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 9, 1990 |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516120912/http://w3.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1990/may09/23124.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008}} and the genetic bases for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and Huntington's disease were first discovered at MIT.{{cite web |title=MIT Research and Teaching Firsts |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531233441/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |archive-date=May 31, 2008}} Jerome Lettvin transformed the study of cognitive science with his paper "What the frog's eye tells the frog's brain".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/31/science/last-rites-for-a-plywood-palace-that-was-a-rock-of-science.html |title=Last Rites for a 'Plywood Palace' That Was a Rock of Science |last=Hilts |first=Philip J. |date=March 31, 1998 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=October 4, 2010}} Researchers developed a system to convert MRI scans into 3D printed physical models.{{cite web |last=Hardesty |first=Larry |url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/3-d-printed-heart-models-surgery-0917.html |title=Personalized Heart model |date=September 17, 2015 |access-date=September 21, 2015}}

In the domain of humanities, arts, and social sciences, as of October 2019 MIT economists have been awarded seven Nobel Prizes and nine John Bates Clark Medals.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/clark.html |title=John Bates Clark Medal |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}} Linguists Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle authored seminal texts on generative grammar and phonology.{{cite news |title=A Changed Noam Chomsky Simplifies |last=Fox |first=Margalit |author-link=Margalit Fox |date=December 5, 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EEDB113BF936A35751C1A96E958260 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jan/20/society.politics |title=Conscience of a nation |work=The Guardian |date=January 20, 2001 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |last=Jaggi |first=Maya |author-link=Maya Jaggi |location=London}} The MIT Media Lab, founded in 1985 within the School of Architecture and Planning and known for its unconventional research,{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2002/01/08/0108medialab.html |title=MIT Media Lab Tightens Its Belt |last=Herper |first=Matthew |date=January 8, 2002 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=Forbes}}{{cite news |title=M.I.T. Media Lab at 15: Big Ideas, Big Money |date=April 7, 2009 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/technology/09MITT.html |first=Lisa |last=Guernsey}} has been home to influential researchers such as constructivist educator and Logo creator Seymour Papert.{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/07/12/in_search_of_a_beautiful_mind/ |title=In Search of A Beautiful Mind |last=Matchan |first=Linda |date=July 12, 2008 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=The Boston Globe}}

Spanning many of the above fields, MacArthur Fellowships (the so-called "Genius Grants") have been awarded to 50 people associated with MIT.{{cite web |last=Office of the Provost |title=MacArthur Fellows |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/macarthur.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}} Five Pulitzer Prize–winning writers currently work at or have retired from MIT.{{cite web |last=Office of the Provost |title=Pulitzer Prize |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/pulitzer.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}} Four current or former faculty are members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.{{cite web |last=Office of the Provost |title=American Academy of Arts and Letters |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/artsandletters.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}

Allegations of research misconduct or improprieties have received substantial press coverage. Professor David Baltimore, a Nobel Laureate, became embroiled in a misconduct investigation starting in 1986 that led to Congressional hearings in 1991.{{cite news |title=Journal Cites New Evidence ex-MIT Scientist Faked Data |last=Saltus |first=Richard |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 28, 1990}}{{cite news |title=Nobel Winner Is Caught Up in a Dispute Over Study |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D8133FF931A25757C0A96E948260&scp=22&sq=Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology+misconduct&st=nyt |work=The New York Times |date=April 12, 1988 |last=Boffey |first=Philip}} Professor Ted Postol has accused the MIT administration since 2000 of attempting to whitewash potential research misconduct at the Lincoln Lab facility involving a ballistic missile defense test, though a final investigation into the matter has not been completed.{{cite news |title=MIT Faces Charges of Fraud, Cover-up on Missile Test Study |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 29, 2002 |last=Abel |first=David}}{{cite news |last=Pierce |first=Charles P. |title=Going Postol |work=The Boston Globe |date=October 23, 2005 |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/10/23/going_postol/ |access-date=January 27, 2008}} Associate Professor Luk Van Parijs was dismissed in 2005 following allegations of scientific misconduct and found guilty of the same by the United States Office of Research Integrity in 2009.{{cite web |url=http://ori.hhs.gov/misconduct/cases/VanParijs.shtml |title=Case Summary – Luk Van Parijs |publisher=Office of Research Integrity, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |date=January 23, 2009 |access-date=December 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611090045/http://ori.hhs.gov/misconduct/cases/VanParijs.shtml |archive-date=June 11, 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090203/full/news.2009.74.html |title=Former MIT biologist penalized for falsifying data |publisher=Nature News |date=February 3, 2009 |first=Eugenie |last=Reich}}

In 2019, Clarivate Analytics named 54 members of MIT's faculty to its list of "Highly Cited Researchers". That number places MIT eighth among the world's universities.{{Cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-highly-cited-researchers-2019-list-reveals-top-talent-in-the-sciences-and-social-sciences-300960223.html |title=Global Highly Cited Researchers 2019 list reveals top talent in the sciences and social sciences |last=Analytics |first=Clarivate |website=www.prnewswire.com |language=en |access-date=2020-04-12}}

• Oncogene – Robert Weinberg discovered genetic basis of human cancer.{{Cite journal |last1=Shih |first1=C. |last2=Weinberg |first2=R. A. |year=1982 |title=Isolation of a transforming sequence from a human bladder carcinoma cell line |journal=Cell |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=161–9 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(82)90100-3 |pmid=6286138 |s2cid=12046552}}
• Reverse transcription – David Baltimore independently isolated, in 1970 at MIT, two RNA tumor viruses: R-MLV and again RSV.{{cite journal |author=Baltimore D. |date=June 1970 |title=RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions of RNA tumour viruses |journal=Nature |volume=226 |issue=5252 |pages=1209–11 |doi=10.1038/2261209a0 |pmid=4316300 |bibcode=1970Natur.226.1209B |s2cid=4222378}}
• Thermal death time – Samuel Cate Prescott and William Lyman Underwood from 1895 to 1898. Done for canning of food. Applications later found useful in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.{{Cite book |title=Pioneers in Food Science, Volume 1: Samuel Cate Prescott – M.I.T. Dean and Pioneer Food Technologist |last=Goldblith |first=S.A. |publisher=Food & Nutrition Press |year=1993 |location=Trumball, CT}}
• Electroweak interaction – Steven Weinberg proposed the electroweak unification theory, which gave rise to the modern formulation of the Standard Model, in 1967 at MIT.{{cite journal | last1 = Weinberg | first1 = S | year = 1967 | title = A Model of Leptons | url = http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142352/http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-01-12 | journal = Phys. Rev. Lett. | volume = 19 | issue = 21 | pages = 1264–66 | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.19.1264 | bibcode = 1967PhRvL..19.1264W }}

• Akamai Technologies – Daniel Lewin and Tom Leighton developed a faster content delivery network, now one of the world's largest distributed computing platforms, responsible for serving between 15 and 30 percent of all web traffic.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-akamai-tech-results-idUSKBN0NJ2IV20150428 |title=Strong dollar hurts Akamai's profit forecast, shares fall |date=April 28, 2015 |work=Reuters}}
• Cryptography – MIT researchers Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman developed one of the first practical public-key cryptosystems, the RSA cryptosystem, and started a company, RSA Security.{{Cite web |last=Bristol |first=University of |title=Dr Clifford Cocks CB |url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-degrees/hondeg08/cocks.html |access-date=2022-04-14 |website=www.bristol.ac.uk |language=en-GB}}
• Digital circuits – Claude Shannon, while a master's degree student at MIT, developed the digital circuit design theory which paved the way for modern computers.{{cite book |last=Poundstone |first=William |title=Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street |url=https://archive.org/details/fortunesformulau00poun |url-access= registration |publisher=Hill & Wang |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8090-4599-0}}
• Electronic ink – developed by Joseph Jacobson at MIT Media Lab.{{cite web |url=http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=574 |title=Innovators under 35 |year=1999 |work=MIT Technology Review |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-date=2016-03-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315084817/http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?trid=574 |url-status=dead }}
• Emacs (text editor) – development began during the 1970s at the MIT AI Lab.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Sunil K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eg3EAAAQBAJ&dq=Emacs+(text+editor)+%E2%80%93+development+began+during+the+1970s+at+the+MIT+AI+Lab&pg=PT159 |title=Linux Yourself: Concept and Programming |date=2021-08-31 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-429-82051-9 |language=en}}
• Flight recorder (black box) – Charles Stark Draper developed the black box at MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory. That lab later made the Apollo Moon landings possible through the Apollo Guidance Computer it designed for NASA.{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Eldon C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8Dml1x55r0C&dq=black+box+at+MIT's+Instrumentation+Laboratory&pg=PA37 |title=Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer |date=1996 |publisher=AIAA |isbn=978-1-56347-185-8 |language=en}}
• GNU Project – Richard Stallman formally founded the free software movement in 1983 by launching the GNU Project at MIT.{{Cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html |title=Initial Announcement – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation}}{{cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/specials/mit150/galleries/top_50/ |title=MIT 150: The Top 50 |website=Boston.com}}{{cite web |url=http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/50_things_that_mit_made |title=50 Things (That MIT Made) – MIT Admissions |website=MIT Admissions|date=May 27, 2011 }}
• Julia (programming language) – Development was started in 2009, by Jeff Bezanson, Stefan Karpinski, Viral B. Shah, and Alan Edelman, all at MIT at that time, and continued with the contribution of a dedicated MIT Julia Lab{{Cite book |last1=Nazarathy |first1=Yoni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KidBEAAAQBAJ&dq=Julia+Development+2009+mit+Bezanson++Karpinski+++Shah++Alan+Edelman&pg=PA4 |title=Statistics with Julia: Fundamentals for Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence |last2=Klok |first2=Hayden |date=2021-09-04 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-70901-3 |language=en}}
• Lisp (programming language) – John McCarthy invented Lisp at MIT in 1958.{{cite web |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/recursive.html |title=Recursive Functions of Symbolic Expressions and Their Computation by Machine, Part I |author=John McCarthy |access-date=October 13, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215327/http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/recursive.html |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}
• Lithium-ion battery efficiencies – Yet-Ming Chiang and his group at MIT showed a substantial improvement in the performance of lithium batteries by boosting the material's conductivity by doping it{{Cite journal |last1=Chung |first1=S. Y. |last2=Bloking |first2=J. T. |last3=Chiang |first3=Y. M. |year=2002 |title=Electronically conductive phospho-olivines as lithium storage electrodes |journal=Nature Materials |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=123–128 |doi=10.1038/nmat732 |pmid=12618828 |bibcode=2002NatMa...1..123C |s2cid=2741069}} with aluminium, niobium and zirconium.{{Cite journal |last1=Boesenberg |first1=Ulrike |last2=Henriksen |first2=Christian |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Kaare Lund |last4=Chiang |first4=Yet-Ming |last5=Garrevoet |first5=Jan |last6=Ravnsbæk |first6=Dorthe B. |date=2022-04-25 |title=State of LiFePO 4 Li-Ion Battery Electrodes after 6533 Deep-Discharge Cycles Characterized by Combined Micro-XRF and Micro-XRD |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.1c03966 |journal=ACS Applied Energy Materials |language=en |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=4358–4368 |doi=10.1021/acsaem.1c03966 |s2cid=248249666 |issn=2574-0962}}{{Citation |last1=Qiao |first1=H. |title=10 - Functional nanofibers in lithium-ion batteries |date=2012-01-01 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780857090690500100 |work=Functional Nanofibers and their Applications |pages=197–208 |editor-last=Wei |editor-first=Qufu |series=Woodhead Publishing Series in Textiles |publisher=Woodhead Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1533/9780857095640.2.197 |isbn=978-0-85709-069-0 |access-date=2022-05-04 |last2=Wei |first2=Q.}}
• Macsyma, one of the oldest general-purpose computer algebra systems; the GPL-licensed version Maxima remains in wide use.{{cite web |url=http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/moses/Macsyma.pdf |title=Macsyma: A Personal History |first=Joel |last=Moses |publisher=Milestones in Computer Algebra |date=May 2008}}. See also {{citation |author=Joel Moses |title=Macsyma: A personal history |journal=Journal of Symbolic Computation |volume=47 |year=2012 |issue=2 |pages=123–130 |doi=10.1016/j.jsc.2010.08.018 |doi-access=free}}
• MIT OpenCourseWare – the OpenCourseWare movement started in 1999 when the University of Tübingen in Germany published videos of lectures online for its timms initiative (Tübinger Internet Multimedia Server).{{Cite web |url=http://timms.uni-tuebingen.de/archive/sose99.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930065906/http://timms.uni-tuebingen.de/archive/sose99.aspx |url-status=dead |title=Tübinger Internet Multimedia Server |archive-date=September 30, 2009}} The OCW movement only took off, however, with the launch of MIT OpenCourseWare and the Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University{{cite web |url=http://oli.cmu.edu/get-to-know-oli/learn-more-about-oli/ |title=Learn More About OLI |work=cmu.edu}} in October 2002. The movement was soon reinforced by the launch of similar projects at Yale, Utah State University, the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley.{{Cite book |last1=Jacobs |first1=Lynn F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFUI2ZC7nwsC&dq=MIT+OpenCourseWare+utah+yale&pg=PT113 |title=The Secrets of College Success |last2=Hyman |first2=Jeremy S. |date=2013-04-10 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-57515-4 |language=en}}
• Perdix micro-drone – autonomous drone that uses artificial intelligence to swarm with many other Perdix drones.{{Cite web |url=https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Releases/Release/Article/1044811/department-of-defense-announces-successful-micro-drone-demonstration/ |title=Department of Defense Announces Successful Micro-Drone Demonstration |website=U.S. Department of Defense}}
• Project MAC – groundbreaking research in operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the theory of computation. DARPA funded project.{{Cite book |last1=Bonvillian |first1=William B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvpFDwAAQBAJ&dq=Project+MAC+DARPA&pg=PA32 |title=Advanced Manufacturing: The New American Innovation Policies |last2=Singer |first2=Peter L. |date=2018-01-12 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-34340-4 |language=en}}
• Radar – developed at MIT's Radiation Laboratory during World War II.{{Cite web |title=MIT Radiation Laboratory {{!}} MIT Lincoln Laboratory |url=https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history/mit-radiation-laboratory |access-date=2021-10-15 |website=www.ll.mit.edu}}
• SKETCHPAD – invented by Ivan Sutherland at MIT (presented in his PhD thesis). It pioneered the way for human–computer interaction (HCI).{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8TPF_O385AC&pg=PA5 |title=The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications, Second Edition |last1=Sears |first1=Andrew |last2=Jacko |first2=Julie A. |date=September 19, 2007 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4106-1586-2 |page=5 |access-date=March 1, 2013}} Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of modern computer-aided design (CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in the development of computer graphics in general.{{Cite book |last1=Ko |first1=Joy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0z1MDwAAQBAJ&dq=SKETCHPAD+ancestor+of+modern+computer-aided+design&pg=PT63 |title=Geometric Computation: Foundations for Design |last2=Steinfeld |first2=Kyle |date=2018-02-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-65907-5 |language=en}}
• VisiCalc – first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the Apple II by VisiCorp. MIT alumni Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston rented time sharing at night on an MIT mainframe computer (that cost $1/hr for use).{{Cite journal |date=2011-05-17 |title=Boston Globe Highlights 150 MIT Ideas, Innovators |url=https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/boston-globe-highlights-150-mit-ideas-innovators/ |journal=MIT Sloan Management Review |language=en-US}}
• World Wide Web Consortium – founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee, (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/Consortium/ |title=World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) About the Consortium |publisher=W3C |date=September 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009}}
• X Window System – pioneering architecture-independent system for graphical user interfaces that has been widely used for Unix and Linux systems.{{Cite book |last=Noite.pl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbxVDwAAQBAJ&dq=X+Window+System+MIT&pg=PP6 |title=The X Window System: Linux Services. AL3-123 |publisher=NOITE S.C. |language=pl}}

MIT alumni and faculty have founded numerous companies, some of which are shown below:{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/entrepreneurship.html |title=MIT Facts 2017: Entrepreneurship and Innovation |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=November 18, 2017}}{{Cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/compaines-founded-by-mit-grads-2014-8# |title=17 Companies You Didn't Know Were Founded By MIT Grads |work=Business Insider |access-date=November 18, 2017 |language=en}}

• Analog Devices, 1965, co-founders Ray Stata, (SB, SM) and Matthew Lorber (SB)
• BlackRock, 1988, co-founder Bennett Golub, (SB, SM, PhD)
• Bose Corporation, 1964, founder Amar Bose (SB, PhD)
• Boston Dynamics, 1992, founder Marc Raibert (PhD)
• Buzzfeed, 2006, co-founder Jonah Peretti (SM)
• Dropbox, 2007, founders Drew Houston (SB) and Arash Ferdowsi (drop-out)
• Hewlett-Packard, 1939, co-founder William R. Hewlett (SM)
• HuffPost, 2005, co-founder Jonah Peretti (SM)
• Intel, 1968, co-founder Robert Noyce (PhD)
• Khan Academy, 2008, founder Salman Khan (SB, SM){{Cite web |last= |first= |date= June 2, 2022|title=What is the history of Khan Academy? |url=https://support.khanacademy.org/hc/en-us/articles/202483180-What-is-the-history-of-Khan-Academy- |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=Khan Academy Help Center}}
• Koch Industries, 1940, founder Fred C. Koch (SB), sons William (SB, PhD), David (SB)
• Qualcomm, 1985, co-founders Irwin M. Jacobs (SM, PhD) and Andrew Viterbi (SB, SM)
• Raytheon, 1922, co-founder Vannevar Bush (DEng, Professor)
• Renaissance Technologies, 1982, founder James Simons (SB)
• Scale AI, 2016, founder Alexandr Wang (drop-out)
• Texas Instruments, 1930, founder Cecil Howard Green (SB, SM)
• TSMC, 1987, founder Morris Chang (SB, SM)
• VMware, 1998, co-founder Diane Greene (SM)

{{Main|Traditions and student activities at MIT|MIT class ring}}

The faculty and student body place a high value on meritocracy and on technical proficiency.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/admissions/pdf/MITinstructions.pdf |title=MIT freshman application & financial aid information |first=Marilee |last=Jones |author-link= Marilee Jones |access-date= January 2, 2007 |publisher=MIT Admissions Office |quote=We are a meritocracy. We judge each other by our ideas, our creativity and our accomplishments, not by who our families are. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107035149/http://web.mit.edu/admissions/pdf/MITinstructions.pdf |archive-date=November 7, 2006}}{{cite web |last=Bernanke |first=Ben S. |date=June 9, 2006 |title=2006 Commencement Speech at MIT |url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boardDocs/speeches/2006/20060609/default.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007204443/http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2006/20060609/default.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2006 |access-date=January 2, 2007 |quote=Mathematical approaches to economics have at times been criticized as lacking in practical value. Yet the MIT Economics Department has trained many economists who have played leading roles in government and in the private sector, including the current heads of four central banks: those of Chile, Israel, Italy, and, I might add, the United States.}} MIT has never awarded an honorary degree,{{cite web |date=June 8, 2001 |title=No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/commdegrees.html |access-date=May 7, 2006 |publisher=MIT News Office |quote=MIT's founder, William Barton Rogers, regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as 'literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity ... '}} nor does it award athletic scholarships,{{Cite web |title=Does MIT provide any academic or athletic scholarships? |url=https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/scholarships/ |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=MIT Admissions |quote=MIT provides financial aid on the basis of financial need only. We don’t award money based on any measure of merit—academic, athletic, artistic, or anything else.}} ad eundem degrees,{{Citation needed|reason=This claim was added in revision 5747543. I am unable to find any sources that mention MIT and ad eundem degrees in connection to each other, that aren't just copying Wikipedia.|date=February 2023}} or Latin honors{{Cite web |last=B. |first=Mollie |date=July 16, 2006 |title=Standing out |url=https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/standing_out/ |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=MIT Admissions |quote=MIT doesn’t rank, and nobody graduates with Latin honors or anything foofy like that.}} upon graduation. However, MIT has twice awarded honorary professorships: to Winston Churchill in 1949 and Salman Rushdie in 1993.{{cite news |first=Daniel C. |last=Stevenson |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html |title=Rushdie Stuns Audience 26–100 |volume=113 |number=61 |newspaper=The Tech |access-date=2009-05-08 |archive-date=2010-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725052034/http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html |url-status=dead }}

Many upperclass students and alumni wear a large, heavy, distinctive class ring known as the "Brass Rat".{{cite book |title=Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff |publisher=Globe Pequot |year=2004 |isbn=0-7627-3070-6 |last=Gellerman |first=Bruce |author2=Erik Sherman |pages=[https://archive.org/details/massachusettscur00bruc/page/65 65–66] |url=https://archive.org/details/massachusettscur00bruc/page/65}}{{cite news |last=Pourian |first=Jessica J. |title=2013's Brass Rat unveiled |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N5/ringpremiere.html |access-date=June 12, 2011 |newspaper=The Tech |volume=131 |number=5 |date=February 15, 2011 |archive-date=2011-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026153320/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N5/ringpremiere.html |url-status=dead }} Originally created in 1929, the ring's official name is the "Standard Technology Ring".{{cite web |url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |title=Ring History ('93 class webpage) |access-date=December 26, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214164648/http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |archive-date=December 14, 2006}} The undergraduate ring design (a separate graduate student version exists as well) varies slightly from year to year to reflect the unique character of the MIT experience for that class, but always features a three-piece design, with the MIT seal and the class year each appearing on a separate face, flanking a large rectangular bezel bearing an image of a beaver. The initialism IHTFP, representing the informal school motto "I Hate This Fucking Place" and jocularly euphemized as "I Have Truly Found Paradise", "Institute Has The Finest Professors", "Institute of Hacks, TomFoolery and Pranks", "It's Hard to Fondle Penguins", and other variations, has occasionally been featured on the ring given its historical prominence in student culture.{{cite web |last=Bauer |first=M.J. |title=IHTFP |url=https://www.mit.edu/people/mjbauer/ihtfp.html |access-date=November 23, 2005}}

{{Main|Caltech–MIT rivalry}}

MIT also shares a well-known rivalry with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), stemming from both institutions' reputations as two of the highest ranked and most highly recognized science and engineering schools in the world.{{Cite web |title=World University Rankings |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking |access-date=2022-02-27 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |date=August 25, 2021 |language=en}} The rivalry is an unusual college rivalry given its focus on academics and pranks instead of sports, and due to the geographic distance between the two (their campuses are separated by about 2580 miles and are on opposite coasts of the United States). In 2005, Caltech students pranked MIT's Campus Preview Weekend by distributing t-shirts that read "MIT" on the front, and "...because not everyone can go to Caltech" on the back.{{cite web |title=Caltech vs MIT |url=http://www.caltechvsmit.com/ |access-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060308151838/http://www.caltechvsmit.com/ |archive-date=March 8, 2006}}{{cite news |last=Seigel |first=Alex |title=Tales from the Snow-Covered Trenches: A Techer's Account of Card-Readers, Campus Cops, and Courage |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20101102-084118157 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=April 11, 2005 |page=2}}{{cite news |last=Wang |first=Hanhan |title=Caltech Pranks CPW; MIT Hackers Reply |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V125/PDF/N19.pdf |access-date=September 23, 2012 |newspaper=The Tech |date=April 12, 2005 |page=1 |archive-date=2010-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712213326/http://tech.mit.edu/V125/PDF/N19.pdf |url-status=dead }} Additionally, the word Massachusetts in the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" engraving on the exterior of the Lobby 7 dome was covered with a banner so that it read "That Other Institute of Technology". In 2006, MIT retaliated by posing as contractors and stealing the 1.7-ton, 130-year-old Fleming cannon, a Caltech landmark. The cannon was relocated to Cambridge, where it was displayed in front of the Green Building during the 2006 Campus Preview Weekend.{{cite web |title=Caltech Pranked by MIT Today |url=http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/12826 |publisher=California Institute of Technology |access-date=September 23, 2012 |date=April 6, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919014724/http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/12826 |archive-date=September 19, 2012}}{{cite news |last=McNamara |first=John |title=MIT Students and Prefrosh Discover the Cannon |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20101101-161812927 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=10 April 2006 |page=1}} In September 2010, MIT students unsuccessfully tried to place a life-sized model of the TARDIS time machine from the Doctor Who (1963–present) television series on top of Baxter Hall at Caltech. A few months later, Caltech students collaborated to help MIT students place the TARDIS on top of their originally planned destination.{{cite news |last=Marzen |first=Sarah |title=Caltech Security Halts MIT Prank |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110216-082822045 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=27 September 2010 |page=1}} The rivalry has continued, most recently in 2014, when a group of Caltech students gave out mugs sporting the MIT logo on the front and the words "The Institute of Technology" on the back. When heated, the mugs turned orange and read, "Caltech, The Hotter Institute of Technology".{{cite news |last1=Lawler |first1=Liz |title=Caltech Prank Club pranks MIT Campus Preview Weekend |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20140414-230220681 |access-date=11 June 2014 |work=The California Tech |date=14 April 2014 |page=1}}

{{Main|Traditions and student activities at MIT}}

{{See also|Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{See also|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities and sororities}}

File:Huntbeginsinlobby7.jpg in 2007]]

MIT has over 500 recognized student activity groups,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/group-list.html |title=Student Group List |website=MIT |access-date=November 25, 2015}} including a campus radio station, The Tech student newspaper, an annual entrepreneurship competition, a crime club, and weekly screenings of popular films by the Lecture Series Committee. Less traditional activities include the "world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction" in English, a model railroad club, and a vibrant folk dance scene. Students, faculty, and staff are involved in over 50 educational outreach and public service programs through the MIT Museum, Edgerton Center, and MIT Public Service Center.{{cite web |title=MIT Outreach Database |url=http://mitpsc.mit.edu/outreach/home/search |access-date=September 7, 2010 |publisher=MIT |archive-date=2011-05-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511132424/http://mitpsc.mit.edu/outreach/home/search |url-status=dead }}

Fraternities and sororities provide a base of activities in addition to housing. Approximately 1,000 undergrads, 48% of men and 30% of women, participate in one of several dozen Greek Life men's, women's and co-ed chapters on the campus.[http://www.mitifc.com/faqs Current statistics from the 2020 FSILG office annual report] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621043722/http://www.mitifc.com/faqs |date=2020-06-21 }}, accessed 22 Jun 2020.

The Independent Activities Period is a four-week-long "term" offering hundreds of optional classes, lectures, demonstrations, and other activities throughout the month of January between the Fall and Spring semesters. Some of the most popular recurring IAP activities are Autonomous Robot Design (course 6.270), Robocraft Programming (6.370), and MasLab competitions,{{cite news |url=http://discovermagazine.com/2005/jun/mit-nerds/ |first=Claudia Glenn |last=Dowling |title=MIT Nerds |date=June 5, 2005 |access-date=August 17, 2007 |work=Discover Magazine}} the annual "mystery hunt",{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/01/23/her_mystery_achievement_to_boldly_scavenge_at_mit/ |last=Bridges |first=Mary |work=The Boston Globe |title=Her Mystery achievement: to boldly scavenge at MIT |date=January 23, 2005 |access-date=January 16, 2007}} and Charm School.{{cite web |title=Charm School |url=http://studentlife.mit.edu/sao/charm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426004454/http://studentlife.mit.edu/sao/charm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 26, 2011 |work=MIT Student Activities Office |publisher=MIT Division of Student Life |access-date=July 3, 2011}}{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E7D8113EF935A35751C0A9679C8B63 |title=What, Geeks at M.I.T.? Not With This Class |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |date=February 6, 2001 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=The New York Times}} More than 250 students pursue externships annually at companies in the US and abroad.{{Cite news |last=Kirkpatrick |first=J. |year=2011 |title=Students head off to varied externships |newspaper=The Tech |volume=131 |issue=59 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N59/externship.html |access-date=2012-07-05 |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016005821/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N59/externship.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last=Kirkpatrick |first=J. |year=2011 |title=Record 294 participate in MIT Externship Program |newspaper=The Tech |volume=131 |issue=57 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N57/externship.html |access-date=2012-07-05 |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016202823/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N57/externship.html |url-status=dead }}

Many MIT students also engage in "hacking", which encompasses both the physical exploration of areas that are generally off-limits (such as rooftops and steam tunnels), as well as elaborate practical jokes.{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=T.F. |title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-66137-9 |year=2003 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nightworkhistory0000pete}}{{cite news |title=These Are Not Your Ordinary College Pranks |work=The Boston Globe |date=April 1, 2003 |last=Biskup |first=Agnieska}} Examples of high-profile hacks have included the abduction of Caltech's cannon,{{cite web |url=http://www.mitcannon.com/ |title=Howe & Ser Moving Co |access-date=April 4, 2007}} reconstructing a Wright Flyer atop the Great Dome,{{cite news |title=MIT Pranksters Wing It For Wright Celebration |work=The Boston Globe |date=December 18, 2003 |first=Marcella |last=Bombadieri |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/cgi-bin/ngate/BG?ext_docid=0FF8A4DEBA245CA5&ext_hed=MIT%20PRANKSTERS%20WING%20IT%20FOR%20WRIGHT%20CELEBRATION&ext_theme=bg&pubcode=BG}} and adorning the John Harvard statue with the Master Chief's Mjölnir Helmet.{{cite web |title=MIT Hackers & Halo 3 |newspaper=The Tech |volume=127 |number=41 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N41/graphics/halo3.html |access-date=September 25, 2007 |archive-date=2010-04-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429210757/http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N41/graphics/halo3.html |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|MIT Engineers}}

File:MIT Z Center.jpg houses a two-story fitness center as well as swimming and diving pools.]]

MIT sponsors 31 varsity sports and has one of the three broadest NCAA Division III athletic programs.{{cite web |author=Kathryn Krtnick, Asst. Dir. of Communications |title=Re: NCAA Media Inquiry |publisher=Natl. Collegiate Athletic Assn |date=November 28, 2012 |url=http://mitcrimeclub.org/ncaa121128.pdf |quote=List of institutions that sponsor the most sports: Bowdoin College and Williams College – 32; MIT – 31.}}{{cite web |author=Dept. of Athletics |title=2012–13 Quick Facts |publisher=MIT |date=August 2012 |url=http://mit.edu/athletics/www/department/DAPERQuickFacts09.pdf |quote=Intercollegiate Athletics: 33 varsity sports.}} MIT participates in the NCAA's Division III, and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference. It also participates in NCAA's Division I Patriot League for women's crew, and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) for Men's Water Polo. Men's crew competes outside the NCAA in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC).

MIT's intercollegiate sports teams, called the Engineers, won 22 Team National Championships and 42 Individual National Championships. MIT is the all-time Division III leader in producing Academic All-Americas (302) and ranks second across all NCAA Divisions, behind only the University of Nebraska.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/CoSIDA_AcademicAllAmerica |title=CoSIDA Academic All-America All-Time Recipients |website=MIT |language=en |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=2019-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080803/https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/CoSIDA_AcademicAllAmerica |url-status=dead}} MIT Athletes won 13 Elite 90 awards and ranks first among NCAA Division III programs, and third among all divisions.{{Cite web |url=https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/Elite90 |title=NCAA Elite 90 Award All-Time Recipients |website=MIT |language=en |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=2019-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080824/https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/Elite90 |url-status=dead}} In April 2009, budget cuts led to MIT eliminating eight of its 41 sports, including the mixed men's and women's teams in alpine skiing and pistol; separate teams for men and women in ice hockey and gymnastics; and men's programs in golf and wrestling.{{cite news |url=http://www.youniversitytv.com/news-sports/3655-mit-the-no-1-jock-school-you-re-kidding-right |title=MIT the No. 1 jock school? You're kidding, right? |first=Rachel |last=Cohen |agency=Associated Press |date=May 18, 2010 |access-date=June 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912090653/http://www.youniversitytv.com/news-sports/3655-mit-the-no-1-jock-school-you-re-kidding-right |archive-date=September 12, 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2009/04/24/mit_forced_to_cut_8_varsity_sports/ |title=MIT forced to cut 8 varsity sports |date=April 24, 2009 |first=John |last=Powers |work=The Boston Globe}}

{{Further|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

MIT enrolled 4,602 undergraduates and 6,972 graduate students in 2018–2019.{{Cite web |url=https://registrar.mit.edu/stats-reports/enrollment-statistics-year/all |title=Enrollment statistics {{!}} MIT Registrar |website=registrar.mit.edu |language=en |access-date=November 2, 2018}} Undergraduate and graduate students came from all 50 US states as well as from 115 foreign countries.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/geo/index.html |title=Geographic Distribution of Students |year=2009–2010 |publisher=Office of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010}}

MIT received 33,240 applications for admission to the undergraduate Class of 2025: it admitted 1,365 (4.1 percent).{{Cite web |title=MIT Admission Statistics |url=https://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats/ |access-date=2020-11-18 |website=MIT Admissions |language=en-US}} In 2019, 29,114 applications were received for graduate and advanced degree programs across all departments; 3,670 were admitted (12.6 percent) and 2,312 enrolled (63 percent).{{cite journal |date=January 2019 |title=MIT facts: Admission to MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/admission.html |journal=MIT Bulletin |volume=144 |issue=4}} In August 2024, after the U.S. Supreme Court overruled race-based affirmative action in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), the university reported that for the class of 2028, Black and Latino student enrollment decreased from previous averages to 5 and 11 percent, respectively, while Asian American enrollment increased to 47 percent.{{Cite news |last1=Hartocollis |first1=Anemona |last2=Saul |first2=Stephanie |date=2024-08-21 |title=At M.I.T., Black and Latino Enrollment Drops Sharply After Affirmative Action Ban |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/us/mit-black-latino-enrollment-affirmative-action.html |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last1=Maglione |first1=Francesca |last2=Lorin |first2=Janet |date=2024-08-21 |title=MIT's Drop in Black Students Shows Fallout From Top Court Ruling |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-21/mit-reports-drop-in-black-student-enrollment-for-incoming-class |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=Bloomberg News |language=en}}

Undergraduate tuition and fees for 2019–2020 was $53,790 for nine months. 59% of students were awarded a need-based MIT scholarship. Graduate tuition and fees for 2019–2020 was also $53,790 for nine months, and summer tuition was $17,800. Financial support for graduate students are provided in large part by individual departments. They include fellowships, traineeships, teaching and research assistantships, and loans.{{cite web |title=Tuition and financial aid |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/tuition.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=15 September 2020}} The annual increase in expenses had led to a student tradition (dating back to the 1960s) of tongue-in-cheek "tuition riots".{{cite news |newspaper=The Tech |title=Tuition hike provokes student riot |date=January 14, 1966 |last=Bolotin |first=Mark |volume=85 |issue=32 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V85/PDF/N32.pdf |access-date=2010-08-26 |archive-date=2012-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925064936/http://tech.mit.edu/V85/PDF/N32.pdf |url-status=dead }}

MIT has been nominally co-educational since admitting Ellen Swallow Richards in 1870. Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing in sanitary chemistry.{{cite book |last1=Bowden |first1=Mary Ellen |title=Chemical achievers: the human face of the chemical sciences |date=1997 |publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation |location=Philadelphia, PA |isbn=9780941901123 |pages=156–158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCg5MgI2S54C&pg=PA156}}{{cite web |title=Ellen H. Swallow Richards |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/ellen-h-swallow-richards |website=Science History Institute |access-date=November 18, 2016 |date=June 2016}} Female students remained a small minority prior to the completion of the first wing of a women's dormitory, McCormick Hall, in 1963.{{cite web |url=http://mccormick.scripts.mit.edu/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FactSheet.pdf |title=McCormick Fact Sheet |url-status=dead |access-date=February 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220002345/http://mccormick.scripts.mit.edu/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FactSheet.pdf |archive-date=February 20, 2015}}{{Cite book |last=Simha |first=O. R. |title=MIT campus planning 1960–2000: An annotated chronology |year=2003 |pages=32–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldq-ZgxszzMC&pg=PA32 |isbn=978-0-262-69294-6 |quote=In 1959, 158 women were enrolled at MIT. |publisher=MIT Press}}{{Cite book |last=Stratton |first=J. A. |title=The president's report 1960 |year=1960 |page=49 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/presidents-reports/1960.pdf |quote=Registration: In 1959–60 ... [o]ne hundred and fifty-five women were enrolled, [2.5 percent of student body]. ... |access-date=2009-11-12 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121656/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/presidents-reports/1960.pdf |url-status=dead }} Between 1993 and 2009 the proportion of women rose from 34 percent to 45 percent of undergraduates and from 20 percent to 31 percent of graduate students.{{cite web |url=http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/hal/women-enrollment-comm/final-report-ch1.html |title=Chapter 1: Male/Female enrollment patterns in EECS at MIT and other schools |date=January 3, 1995 |access-date=December 8, 2006 |author=EECS Women Undergraduate Enrollment Committee |work=Women Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT}} {{as of|2009}}, women outnumbered men in Biology, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Architecture, Urban Planning, and Biological Engineering.{{cite book |last=MIT, Office of the Registrar. |title=Enrollment statistics: Women students, Fall term 2009–2010 |date=October 9, 2009 |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/gender/index.html}}

{{Main|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}{{Update section|date=January 2022}}{{More citations needed section|date=July 2021}}File:Ford-MIT Nobel Laureate Lecture Series 2000-09-18.jpg, Paul Samuelson, and Robert Solow]]

{{As of|2025}}, MIT had 1,090 faculty members.{{cite web |title=Faculty and Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/faculty.html |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date= March 21, 2025}} Faculty are responsible for lecturing classes, for advising both graduate and undergraduate students, and for sitting on academic committees, as well as for conducting original research. Between 1964 and 2009 a total of seventeen faculty and staff members affiliated with MIT won Nobel Prizes (thirteen of them in the latter 25 years).{{cite book |last=Nobel Foundation |title=Nobel laureates and universities |year=2009 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html |access-date= April 1, 2015}} As of October 2020, 37 MIT faculty members, past or present, have won Nobel Prizes, the majority in Economics or Physics.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/nobel.html |title=Awards and Honors |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost |access-date= October 18, 2011}}

{{As of|2013|October}}, current faculty and teaching staff included 67 Guggenheim Fellows, 6 Fulbright Scholars, and 22 MacArthur Fellows. Faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to their research field as well as the MIT community are granted appointments as Institute Professors for the remainder of their tenures. Susan Hockfield, a molecular neurobiologist, served as MIT's president from 2004 to 2012. She was the first woman to hold the post.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/hockfield/biography.html |title=Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Biography |publisher=MIT |access-date=September 19, 2008}}

MIT faculty members have often been recruited to lead other colleges and universities. Founding faculty-member Charles W. Eliot became president of Harvard University in 1869, a post he would hold for 40 years, during which he wielded considerable influence both on American higher education and on secondary education. MIT alumnus and faculty member George Ellery Hale played a central role in the development of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and other faculty members have been key founders of Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in nearby Needham, Massachusetts.

{{As of|2014}} former provost Robert A. Brown served as president of Boston University; former provost Mark Wrighton is chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis; former associate provost Alice Gast is president of Lehigh University; and former professor Suh Nam-pyo is president of KAIST. Former dean of the School of Science Robert J. Birgeneau was the chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley (2004–2013); former professor John Maeda was president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, 2008–2013); former professor David Baltimore was president of Caltech (1997–2006); and MIT alumnus and former assistant professor Hans Mark served as chancellor of the University of Texas system (1984–1992).

In addition, faculty members have been recruited to lead governmental agencies; for example, former professor Marcia McNutt is president of the National Academy of Sciences,{{cite press release |url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/feb-16-2016-NASelection.html |title=Marcia McNutt Elected 22nd NAS President; New Treasurer, Council Members Chosen |date=February 16, 2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=February 23, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221111144/http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/feb-16-2016-NASelection.html |archive-date=February 21, 2016 |df=mdy-all}} urban studies professor Xavier de Souza Briggs served as the associate director of the White House Office of Management and Budget,{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/briggs-0120.html |title=DUSP's Briggs joins Obama administration |publisher=MIT News Office |date=January 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106002228/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/briggs-0120.html |archive-date=November 6, 2013}} and biology professor Eric Lander was a co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/lander-pcast-1222.html |title=Lander named to Obama's science team |date=December 22, 2008 |publisher=MIT News Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106003252/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/lander-pcast-1222.html |archive-date=November 6, 2013}} In 2013, faculty member Ernest Moniz was nominated by President Obama and later confirmed as United States Secretary of Energy.{{cite news |last1=Calmes |first1=Jackie |last2=Broder |first2=John |title=Obama Announces 3 Cabinet Nominations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/us/politics/obama-to-nominate-new-heads-for-energy-department-and-epa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp |access-date=March 4, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 4, 2013}}{{cite news |last=Rampton |first=Roberta |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/02/06/exclusive-microsoft-and-symantec-disrupt-cyber-crime-ring/ |title=Exclusive: Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary – sources |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=February 6, 2013 |access-date=February 24, 2013}} Former professor Hans Mark served as Secretary of the Air Force from 1979 to 1981. Alumna and Institute Professor Sheila Widnall served as Secretary of the Air Force between 1993 and 1997, making her the first female Secretary of the Air Force and first woman to lead an entire branch of the US military in the Department of Defense. A 1999 report, met by promises of change by President Charles Vest, found that senior female faculty in the School of Science were often marginalized, and in return for equal professional accomplishments received reduced "salary, space, awards, resources, and response to outside offers".{{cite journal |author1=First and Second Committees on Women Faculty in the School of Science |title=A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT |journal=The MIT Faculty Newsletter |date=March 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508212213/http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/Fnlwomen.htm |archive-date=8 May 1999 |volume=11 |issue=4 |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/Fnlwomen.htm |publisher=MIT}}

{{As of|2017}}, MIT was the second-largest employer in the city of Cambridge. Based on feedback from employees, MIT was ranked No. 7 as a place to work, among US colleges and universities {{as of|2013|3|lc=y}}.{{cite web |title=Glassdoor's Top 25 Universities To Work For |url=http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/top-25-universities-work-2013/ |work=Glassdoor |date=September 20, 2013 |publisher=Glassdoor, Inc. |access-date=March 11, 2014}} Surveys cited a "smart", "creative", "friendly" environment, noting that the work-life balance tilts towards a "strong work ethic" but complaining about "low pay" compared to an industry position.

{{cite web |title=MIT Reviews |url=http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/MIT-Company-Reviews-E2889_P5.htm |work=Glassdoor |publisher=Glassdoor, Inc. |access-date=March 11, 2014}}

{{Main list|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology

}}

{{More citations needed section|date=July 2021}}

Many of MIT's over 120,000 alumni have achieved considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and business. {{As of|2020|October|df=US}}, 41 MIT alumni have won Nobel Prizes, 48 have been selected as Rhodes Scholars,{{cite web |url=http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/2019%20RS_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution.pdf |title=Rhodes Scholarships: Number of Winners by Institution, U.S. Rhodes Scholars (1904–2019) |website=The Rhodes Trust |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215642/http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/2019%20RS_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution.pdf |archive-date= 2019-02-15}} 61 have been selected as Marshall Scholars,{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/index.html |title=Awards and Honors |author=MIT Office of Institutional Research |access-date= March 11, 2014}} and 3 have been selected as Mitchell Scholars.{{Cite web |last=Mongo |first=Julia |date=November 24, 2020 |title=Meghan Davis named 2022 Mitchell Scholar |url=https://news.mit.edu/2020/meghan-davis-named-2022-mitchell-scholar-1124 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |website=MIT News}}

Alumni in United States politics and public service include former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, former MA-1 Representative John Olver, former CA-13 Representative Pete Stark, KY-4 Representative Thomas Massie, California Senator Alex Padilla, former National Economic Council chairman Lawrence H. Summers,{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae (Lawrence H. Summers) |url=https://apps.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/cv/LawrenceSummers.pdf |publisher=Harvard University |access-date= 8 September 2020}} and former Council of Economic Advisers chairman Christina Romer. MIT alumni in international politics include Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi, Education Minister of Nepal Sumana Shrestha, President of Colombia Virgilio Barco Vargas, former President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Raghuram Rajan, former British Foreign Minister David Miliband, former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, former Minister of Education and Culture of The Republic of Indonesia Yahya Muhaimin, former Jordanian Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research and former Jordanian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaled Toukan.

Alumni in sports have included Olympic fencing champion Johan Harmenberg.

MIT alumni founded or co-founded many notable companies, such as Intel, McDonnell Douglas, Texas Instruments, 3Com, Qualcomm, Bose, Raytheon, Apotex, Koch Industries, Rockwell International, Genentech, Dropbox, and Campbell Soup. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, "a survey of living MIT alumni found that they have formed 25,800 companies, employing more than three million people including about a quarter of the workforce of Silicon Valley. Those firms collectively generate global revenues of about $1.9 trillion (£1.2 trillion) a year". If the companies founded by MIT alumni were a country, they would have the 11th-highest GDP of any country in the world.{{cite journal |url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217327 |title=Gurus and Grads |journal=Entrepreneur |date=September 20, 2010 |author1=Ericka Chickowski}}{{cite news |title=Kauffman Foundation study finds MIT alumni companies generate billions for regional economies |publisher=MIT News Office |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/kauffman-study-0217.html |date=February 17, 2009 |access-date= February 25, 2009}}{{cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |title=The MIT factor: celebrating 150 years of maverick genius |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/may/18/mit-massachusetts-150-years-genius |newspaper=The Guardian |date=May 18, 2011 |access-date= May 25, 2011}}

MIT alumni have founded or co-founded many successful nonprofit organizations, such as Khan Academy.

MIT alumni have led prominent institutions of higher education, including the University of California system, Harvard University, the New York Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, Tufts University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tel Aviv University, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Purdue University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Quaid-e-Azam University. Berklee College of Music, the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world, was founded and led by MIT alumnus Lawrence Berk for more than three decades.

More than one third of the United States' crewed spaceflights have included MIT-educated astronauts, a contribution exceeding that of any university excluding the United States service academies.{{cite web |url=http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/notable_alumni/ |title=Notable Alumni |access-date= November 4, 2006 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061127113157/http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/notable_alumni/ |archive-date= November 27, 2006}} Of the 12 people who have set foot on the Moon {{as of|2019|lc=on}}, four graduated from MIT (among them Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin). Alumnus and former faculty member Qian Xuesen led the Chinese nuclear-weapons program and became instrumental in Chinese rocket-program.{{in lang|zh}} [http://scitech.people.com.cn/GB/10294899.html 钱学森：历尽险阻报效祖国 火箭之王淡泊名誉] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191921/http://scitech.people.com.cn/GB/10294899.html |date=2016-03-03 }}，人民网，2009年10月31日.Accessed October 31, 2009; {{in lang|zh}} [http://news.163.com/09/1031/17/5MVIKNT90001124J.html 美国航空周刊2008年度人物:钱学森]．网易探索(广州)（2009年10月31日. Accessed November 11, 2009.

MIT alumni played a significant role in the creation of the Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Energy. Carroll Wilson (a student and professor at MIT) served as the first General Manager of the Atomic Energy Commission. John Deutch served as Under Secretary of Energy for President Carter; William F. Martin served as Deputy Secretary of Energy for Ronald Reagan and Ernest Moniz served as Secretary of Energy for President Obama. Indeed, modern post World War II history has been influenced by MIT and its alumni in the fields of nuclear energy and high energy physics.

Noted alumni in non-scientific fields include children's book author Hugh Lofting,{{cite book |title=Children's Books and Their Creators |first=Anita |last=Silvey |isbn=0-395-65380-0 |year=1995 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=415 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzV5M07MZigC&pg=RA4-PA415}} sculptor Daniel Chester French, guitarist Tom Scholz of the band Boston, the British BBC and ITN correspondent and political advisor David Walter, The New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, The Bell Curve author Charles Murray, United States Supreme Court building architect Cass Gilbert,

{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11376/ |title=Study for Woolworth Building, New York |website=World Digital Library |date=December 10, 1910 |access-date=July 25, 2013}}

Pritzker Prize-winning architects I.M. Pei and Gordon Bunshaft.

Buzz Aldrin.jpg|Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, ScD 1963

Kofi Annan.jpg|UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, SM 1972

President Virgilio Barco.png|President of Colombia Virgilio Barco Vargas, SB 1943

Ben Bernanke official portrait.jpg|Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke, PhD 1979

Esther Duflo - Pop!Tech 2009 - 001 (cropped).jpg|Economics Nobel laureate Esther Duflo,{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae (Esther Duflo) |url=https://economics.mit.edu/files/14455 |publisher=MIT |access-date=13 October 2020 |archive-date=2018-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809223646/http://economics.mit.edu/files/14455 |url-status=dead }} PhD 1999

Richard Feynman Nobel.jpg|Physics Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, SB 1939{{cite web |title=Richard P. Feynman – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1965/feynman/biographical/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=12 September 2020}}

Edward Michael Fincke.jpg|NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, SB 1989, SB 1989

Bridgit Mendler 2013 (Straighten Crop).jpg|Actress, Entrepreneur Bridgit Mendler, SM 2020

Paul Krugman-press conference Dec 07th, 2008-8.jpg|Economics Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, PhD 1977

Ronald mcnair.jpg|Space Shuttle Challenger astronaut Ronald McNair, PhD 1976

File:Brewster_Kahle_(cropped).jpg|Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle, SB 1982

I.M. Pei.JPG|Architect I. M. Pei, BArch 1940

ClaudeShannon MFO3807.jpg|"Father of the Information Age", Claude Shannon, PhD 1940

Alfred P Sloan Bachrach portrait.png|General Motors CEO Alfred P. Sloan, SB 1895

TomScholz.JPG|"Boston" guitarist Tom Scholz, SB 1969, SM 1970

File:John_Deutch,_Undersecretary_of_Defense,_1993_official_photo.JPEG|CIA Director John M. Deutch, PhD 1966

Bill Ford 2012-02-27 002 (cropped).jpg|Ford Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr., SM 1984

Robert Woodward Nobel.jpg|Chemistry Nobel laureate Robert Burns Woodward, SB 1936, PhD 1937{{cite web |title=Robert B. Woodward – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1965/woodward/biographical/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=4 October 2020}}

Lawrence Summers 2012.jpg|Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, SB 1984

Mario Draghi in 2021 crop.jpg|Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi, PhD 1977

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering
• Whitehead Institute
• Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
• Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
• The Coop, campus bookstore

{{clear right}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

: Also see the [http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/bibliography/ bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222043839/http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/bibliography/ |date=2012-02-22 }} maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections] and Written Works in MIT in popular culture.

{{refbegin}}

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• {{cite journal |last1=Angulo |first1=A. J. |year=2007 |title=The Initial Reception of MIT, 1860s–1880s |journal=History of Higher Education Annual |volume=26 |pages=1–28}}
• {{cite book |last=Bridger |first=Sarah |year=2015 |title=Scientists at War, The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674736825}}
• {{cite book |last=Etzkowitz |first=Henry |title=MIT and the Rise of Entrepreneurial Science |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9780415435055}}
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• {{cite book |last=Jarzombek |first=Mark |title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech |year=2004 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston, Mass. |isbn=9781555536190}}
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• {{cite journal |last1=Lecuyer |first1=Christophe |year=1992 |title=The Making of a Science Based Technological University: Karl Compton, James Killian, and the Reform of MIT, 1930–1957 |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=153–180 |doi=10.2307/27757693 |jstor=27757693}}
• {{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Stuart W. |title=The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford |year=1993 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231079587}}
• {{cite book |title=Report of the Committee on Educational Survey (Lewis Report) |year=1949 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |last1=Lewis |first1=Warren K. |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |access-date=May 28, 2012 |first2=Ronald H. |last2=Robnett |first3=C. Richard |last3=Soderberg |first4=Julius A. |last4=Stratton |first5=John R. |last5=Loofbourow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507000129/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |archive-date=May 7, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
• {{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=William J. |title=Imagining MIT: Designing a Campus for the Twenty-first Century |year=2007 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262134798}}
• Nelkin, Dorothy. (1972). The University and Military Research: Moral politics at MIT (science, technology and society). New York: Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|0-8014-0711-7}}.
• {{cite book |last=Peterson |first=T. F. |title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT |year=2003 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262661379 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nightworkhistory0000pete}}
• {{cite book |last=Prescott |first=Samuel C. |title=When MIT was "Boston Tech", 1861–1916 |year=1954 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=9780262661393 |edition=Reprint.}}
• [http://reidplaza.com/MIT68 Postle, Denis. (1965). How to be First. BBC documentary on MIT available at reidplaza.com]
• Renehan, Colm. (2007). [https://www.proquest.com/docview/3048968063 Peace Activism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1975 to 2001: A case study], PhD thesis, Boston: Boston College.
• {{cite journal |last=Servos |first=John W. |author-link=John Servos |date=December 1980 |title=The Industrial Relations of Science: Chemical Engineering at MIT, 1900–1939 |journal=Isis |volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=531–549 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society |jstor=230499 |doi=10.1086/352591 |s2cid=145327416}}
• {{cite book |last=Shrock |first=Robert Rakes |title=Geology at MIT 1865–1965: A History of the First Hundred Years of Geology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology |year=1982 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262192118}}
• {{cite book |last=Simha |first=O. Robert |title=MIT Campus Planning, 1960–2000: An Annotated Chronology |year=2003 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262692946}}
• {{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Benson R. |title=The Hidden Curriculum |year=1971 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262690430}}
• {{cite book |last=Stratton |first=Julius A. |title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |year=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262195249}}
• {{cite book |last=Vest |first=Charles M. |title=Pursuing the Endless Frontier: Essays on MIT and the Role of Research Universities |year=2004 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262220729 |url=https://archive.org/details/pursuingendlessf00vest}}
• {{cite book |last1=Wildes |first1=Karl L. |title=A Century of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, 1882–1982 |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofelectri0000wild |url-access=registration |year=1985 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262231190 |last2=Lindgren |first2=Nilo A.}}

{{refend}}

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• {{Cite PSM |last=Swain |first=George Fillmore |author-link=George Fillmore Swain |wstitle=Technical Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |volume=57|month-and-year=July 1900 |noicon=x}}

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