President Susan Hockfield today announced the formation of the new MIT Energy Council, which will serve as an executive group charged with implementing MIT's plans to meet the energy needs of the nation and the world. The council is a key organizational element of the Institute-wide MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) led by Professors Ernest J. Moniz and Robert C. Armstrong, who serve as Director and Associate Director of MITEI, respectively.
The members of the new council are:
- Professor Angela M. Belcher, materials science and engineering and biological engineering
- Institute Professor John M. Deutch, chemistry
- Professor Leon R. Glicksman, architecture and mechanical engineering
- Professor Rebecca M. Henderson, MIT Sloan School of Management
- Professor Paul L. Joskow, economics
- Professor Emanuel M. Sachs, mechanical engineering
President Hockfield thanked the members of the new council for their willingness to play a leading role in MIT's response to one of our era's great challenges. "The success of our new energy initiative will depend on the active involvement of our faculty, students and staff. The members of the Energy Council will help us catalyze bold new ventures while coordinating the myriad activities already under way."
One of the council's priorities will be to engage additional faculty, students and staff in MITEI. Among its first tasks, the council will establish a number of task forces that will be charged with developing major institutional research agendas with respect to specific energy challenges. Two additional task forces will focus on education and campus energy management. Faculty from across the Institute, as well as students and staff in some cases, will serve on the task forces. The new council will also address a wide range of other issues, including faculty recruitment, industrial and institutional partnerships, and campus programs and events.
An External Advisory Committee of leaders from industry, government and the academy will also be named soon and will provide guidance, advice, and direction to MITEI leadership and to Vice President for Research and Associate Provost Claude R. Canizares, to whom MITEI reports.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on November 15, 2006 (download PDF).
