Message from the President
MIT has a distinctive mission and history that set us apart from other universities. When the Institute was established almost 150 years ago, science had essentially no impact on the curriculum that was followed by most American university students. Our first President, William Barton Rogers, envisioned a new kind of academic institution-one that could, as he put it, "serve the times and the nation's needs."
Those principles have served us well, and today our work - in engineering, the natural and social sciences, the humanities and the arts - reaches people the world over. The Institute community extends far beyond campus, embracing international partners and more than 100,000 alumni around the globe.
I believe the world has never needed MIT as much as it does now. The major challenges of our age are increasingly shaped by science and technology, and by daunting problems of quantitative analysis and complex synthesis. With MIT's expertise in interdisciplinary problem-solving, the Institute has a unique opportunity, and a deep obligation, to make a critical difference - by creating the innovations, fueling the economy, and educating the leaders the world needs now.
In addressing these needs, we draw on an unwavering drive toward excellence, a spirit of innovation, a culture of collaboration, and a commitment to making an MIT education accessible to all who have the talents and ambition to benefit from our programs.
Susan Hockfield
16th President of MIT