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Bill Hanson, a founder of MIT Leaders for Global Operations, dies at 80

Mentor to hundreds of alumni was known for asking questions that prompted students to look within themselves.

July 31, 2020

This artist’s rendering shows the NASA’s Perseverance rover in action exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars. With MIT’s help, Perseverance will dig deeper into questions about life on the Red Planet than ever before.

With Perseverance and a little MOXIE, MIT is going to Mars

Led by MIT researchers, one of the experiments aboard the next mission to the Red Planet aims to generate oxygen from Martian air.

July 29, 2020

Research by John Lienhard and Kishor Nayar to understand how the surface tension of seawater changes with temperature and salinity has now become an international standard.

MIT research on seawater surface tension becomes international guideline

Work by Professor John Lienhard and Kishor Nayar SM ’14, PhD ’19 was recently recognized by the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam.

July 9, 2020

A newly-published study co-authored by MIT professor Christopher Palmer shows that quantitative easing helped consumers substantially during the last big economic downturn.

Helping consumers in a crisis

“Quantitative easing” program let households spend more during the last recession. Could it work again?

June 25, 2020

MIT economist Parag Pathak is co-author of a paper offering a new system for assigning ventilators and other medical resources to Covid-19 patients.

Who gets ventilator priority?

Paper co-authored by MIT economist proposes a new way to handle medical shortages during the Covid-19 crisis.

May 13, 2020

Susan Solomon has earned the Killian Award, the MIT faculty’s highest honor, for 2020-21. The award recognizes Solomon’s “leadership in working toward real-world solutions to address the global climate crisis.”

Susan Solomon earns Killian Award, MIT’s highest faculty honor

Atmospheric chemist is recognized for her “leadership in working toward real-world solutions to address the global climate crisis.”

May 13, 2020

Yukio Okamoto “brought to MIT an unparalleled set of experiences on the world stage. A great loss of a great man — and friend of us all,” said Richard Samuels, the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the Center for International Studies.

Yukio Okamoto, Japanese diplomat and MIT research fellow, dies at 74

The former special advisor to two Japanese prime ministers fostered US-Japan relations.

May 11, 2020

MIT literature professor and classicist Stephanie Frampton has become a leading global expert on the interplay between physical forms of writing and the generation of literature and learning in ancient times.

Taking a new look at ancient books

Classicist Stephanie Frampton traverses disciplines to study how the content and form of writing interacted in the ancient world.

April 19, 2020

Of the growing demand for MIT's online education resources, MIT Professor Krishna Rajagopal says, “We are inspired to see students worldwide keep on learning, and indeed to see people everywhere learning something new and advancing their education, during this time of crisis.”

Students and teachers rely on MIT teaching and learning resources now more than ever

Drawing on two decades of experience, MIT offers classes and tools for educators, parents, and students in a suddenly virtual world.

April 16, 2020

2020 John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellows include (left to right) Sabine Iatridou, professor of linguistics; Jonathan Gruber, professor of economics; and Rebecca Saxe, professor of cognitive neuroscience.

Three from MIT awarded 2020 Guggenheim Fellowships

MIT professors Sabine Iatridou, Jonathan Gruber, and Rebecca Saxe have been selected to pursue their work “under the freest possible conditions.”

April 14, 2020

To test the new sensor’s capabilities, the researchers deposited the carbon nanotubes and other sensor components onto a glass slide. They then used it to monitor ethylene production in two types of flowers — red carnations and purple lisianthus.

New sensor could help prevent food waste

Monitoring the plant hormone ethylene could reveal when fruits and vegetables are about to spoil.

March 18, 2020

A study co-authored by MIT economists links the fall in the percentage of gross domestic product going to workers to the gain in market share of large companies that spend more on capital and less on workers.

Why are workers getting smaller pieces of the pie?

Market concentration in the form of “superstar” firms has been lowering labor’s share of GDP in recent decades, a new study finds.

March 10, 2020

The 2020 MacVicar Faculty Fellows are: (clockwise from top left) Polina Anikeeva, Jacob White, William Tisdale, and Mary Fuller.

2020 MacVicar Faculty Fellows named

Anikeeva, Fuller, Tisdale, and White receive MIT's highest honor in undergraduate teaching.

March 9, 2020

Leigh Estabrooks (second from left) stands with South Brunswick High School InvenTeam members at EurekaFest 2015.

Leigh Estabrooks wins Society of Women Engineers WE Local Engaged Advocate Award

Lemelson-MIT Program invention education officer honored for the advancement and advocacy of young women in engineering.

March 2, 2020

MLK Scholar Ben McDonald uses his synthetic chemistry skills set to develop new applications in Tim Swager’s lab.

Answering “Why?”

MLK Visiting Scholar Benjamin McDonald uses synthetic organic chemistry in the Swager lab to answer questions with more questions.