President L. Rafael Reif

MIT has launched a number of new initiatives “to expand and research digital and online education for learners of all ages,” reports Inside Higher Ed. 

Bryanna Cappadona reports for Boston.com that Matt Damon will be MIT’s 2016 commencement speaker. “Damon joins a long list of notable MIT commencement speakers, including U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith in 2015, DuPont CEO Ellen Kullman in 2014, and Dropbox co-founder and CEO Drew Houston in 2013,” writes Cappadona.

Actor and Cambridge native Matt Damon will speak at MIT’s 2016 commencement, writes Steve Annear for The Boston Globe. In addition to his success in Hollywood, Annear writes that Damon “is one of the founders of Water.org, a non-profit dedicated to delivering access to clean drinking water in developing countries.”

Academy Award-winning actor, filmmaker and social activist Matt Damon will deliver the 2016 commencement address at MIT, reports the Associated Press. 

Writing for The Boston Globe, Karen Weintraub spotlights Prof. Rosalind Picard’s work examining college stress. Research scientist Akane Sano explains that they have been using machine learning techniques to identify the differences in “behaviors between high-stress and low-stress people.”

In an article for Scientific American, Katherine Hamilton writes about the fourth annual Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Symposium (C3E), which highlighted the increasing role women are playing in clean energy. The symposium was started by the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with the MIT Energy Initiative. 

In a letter to The Boston Globe, Lisa Arrowood, president of the Boston Bar Association, commends MIT’s decision “to speak out in favor of race-conscious admissions policies in higher education.” Arrowood writes that these policies help foster diversity in higher education.

NBC News reporter Keith Wagstaff writes that MIT will open a new “Innovation Node” in Hong Kong next summer. Wagstaff explains that the goal of the Innovation Node is to help students learn how to bring ideas from lab to market. 

Wall Street Journal reporters Wei Gu and Anjanu Trivedi write that MIT will launch an “Innovation Node” in Hong Kong. “Universities in Hong Kong are very strong and the city has significant business expertise,” explains President L. Rafael Reif. “We are here for what Hong Kong has to offer.”

In an article for The Tech, Vivian Zhong writes about progress on MIT.nano. Prof. Vladimir Bulovic and Travis Wanat, senior project manager, explain that MIT.nano will make MIT “a much more effective place for all of us to be more productive … meeting the needs of the social structure of the campus that engages … our everyday research.”

Matthew Nisbet, a professor at Northeastern University who focuses on climate change communication, writes for The Conversation about MIT’s Climate Action Plan. Nisbet writes that MIT’s plan can “serve as a model for how major research universities can accelerate effective societal actions on climate change by collaborating with a diversity of industry members.”

Fortune reporter Claire Zillman writes that MIT is starting an “‘inverted admissions’ program in which students who excel in a series of free online courses—and a subsequent examination—will have better chances of being accepted into the school’s full master’s program.”

“That makes MIT’s approach seem pretty noble: finally, a more affordable way to get the same high-caliber degree, no matter your academic record, so long as you can prove your mettle,’” writes Christian Science Monitor reporter Molly Jackson of MIT’s new path to a master’s degree. 

Drew Bent writes for The Tech about MIT’s new pilot program, through which students will be selected to enter the Supply Chain Management master’s program based on their performance in online courses. “The hybrid model allows for both types of learning to take place while also letting more students receive an MIT education,” writes Bent. 

AP reporter Collin Binkley writes about MIT’s “MicroMaster’s” credential and the new path to an MIT master’s degree in Supply Chain Management. "Anyone who wants to be here now has a shot to be here," explains MIT President L. Rafael Reif.