Nominations are open for the Doherty Professorship in Ocean Utilization. All nontenured MIT faculty members from any department are eligible.
Endowed by the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation, the two-year chair allows promising nontenured professors to undertake marine-related research that will advance innovative uses of the ocean's resources. There are no restrictions on the area of research, and any aspect of marine use and/or management may be addressed, whether social, political, environmental, economic or technical.
Chair appointees receive $25,000 per year for two years beginning July 1, 2003. Incumbent Alexandra Techet, assistant professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering, was awarded a Doherty chair in 2002 to develop and test a lightweight, portable shear stress sensor that can be mounted on the hull of marine vehicles. Such sensors are critical for marine structures, and in particular, for the improved locomotion of underwater vehicles.
Department heads may submit one nomination every year. The deadline for applications is Oct. 30. Final selection will be made by a committee that includes the vice president and dean for research, the dean of engineering, dean of science, chairman of the Sea Grant Committee and the director of the MIT Sea Grant College Program, following a review and recommendation from the full Sea Grant Committee. The vice president and dean for research will announce the new Doherty Professor in early 2003. While serving as the Doherty Assistant or Associate Professor of Ocean Utilization, the incumbent cannot hold another MIT-funded chair.
Anyone wishing to be nominated should contact his or her department head for procedures and selection criteria. Contact ReRe Quinn for more information: Room E38-300, 253-9305, rere@mit.edu.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 2, 2002.
