MIT community in 2021: A year in review
Top Institute stories dealt with the return to campus and continued response to Covid-19, MIT’s commitments to climate action, its support of a diverse community, and more.
At MIT, Nobel laureate Frances Arnold describes innovation by evolution
In the Hoyt C. Hottel Lecture, Arnold tells the story of her pathbreaking research to engineer better enzymes for critical applications.
MIT economist Joshua Angrist shares Nobel Prize
Cited for work building the foundations of “natural experiments” in economic research, Angrist is honored along with David Card and Guido Imbens.
David Julius ’77 shares the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
MIT alumnus and one other honored for their discoveries of how the nervous system senses temperature and touch.
Andrea Ghez ’87 wins a share of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics
MIT alumna and two others honored for discoveries in black hole physics.
Professor Emeritus Ulrich Becker, who made major contributions to particle physics, dies at 81
Longtime MIT physicist and mentor created instruments that advanced high-energy physics, including the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the J particle.
Esther Duflo PhD ’99 to speak at 2020 Investiture of Doctoral Hoods and Degree Conferral Ceremony
MIT professor and alumna shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics, which recognized collaborators’ “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.”
MIT economists Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee win Nobel Prize
Professors share prize with Michael Kremer of Harvard University, are cited for breakthrough antipoverty work.
Longtime MIT Lincoln Laboratory researcher John Goodenough wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry
One of three scientists recognized for developing the lithium-ion battery, Goodenough explored the physics of magnetic materials during his career at Lincoln Laboratory.
MIT alumnus William Nordhaus wins Nobel Prize in economic sciences
Scholar shares award for his work on climate economics.
MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics
LIGO inventor and professor emeritus of physics recognized “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves.”
Michael Rosbash PhD ’71 shares Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine
MIT alumnus and two others honored for discovering the molecular mechanisms of circadian rhythms.
King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden visits MIT
Swedish delegation tours Institute, participates in dialogue on innovation.
Economist Bengt Holmström’s Nobel Prize win delights MIT colleagues
Faculty members in SHASS and Sloan cite his transformative work on contract theory.
