MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XXIX No. 3, January/February 2017 · Vol. XXIX No. 3 January/February 2017 *Aron Bernstein Physics Robert Berwick Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

in this issue we offer several views on the new administration inWashington (below, pages 3-7); a brief history of MIT’s Institutional Research(below, pages 12-15); a piece on the one-year anniversary of MITili (page 8);and an introduction to MyLife Services (page 10).

MITFacultyNewsletter

Vol. XXIX No. 3January/February 2017

http://web.mit.edu/fnl

MassachusettsInstitute ofTechnology

continued on page 7

30 Years ofInstitutionalResearch at MIT

Redevelopment ofVolpe Site OffersMIT RareOpportunity

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TH E M U LTI PLE E D ITOR IAL VOICE S

in this issue of the Faculty Newsletterreflect some of the heightened concernsbeing expressed by faculty membersresponding to the new administration inWashington. Many of our colleagues per-ceive serious threats to strongly held dem-ocratic values, programs, and policies.Four pieces follow: Voices from the rallyin Copley Square; Call from more than 40faculty, “Do We Act Now?”; Statement bythe HASTS steering committee; and“Destabilization from ModernizingNuclear Weapons Capabilities?”

“I first learned about the planned CopleySquare rally of January 29 the previousafternoon, as the immediate enforcementand chaos of the executive order wasbecoming clear. I had already been plan-ning on going. The morning of January 29

EditorialFaculty Voices fromthe Resistance

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At the Boston Rally for Science

Frederick P. Salvucci

T H I S PA S T O CTO B E R , theInstitutional Research group celebrated30 years of research, data collection,analysis, and service to the MIT commu-nity. What was originally a group con-ceived as a branch within the PlanningOffice to provide accurate data andsupport to the academic budget processand the physical planning activities atMIT, Institutional Research (IR) is now afoundational and instrumental asset forstaff, faculty, and students alike, with areach far exceeding its initial purposes.

A core activity of InstitutionalResearch is the compilation of MIT datacommonly characterized as people,money, and space. Institutional Researchworks with the data custodians to identifysources and definitions of data. Chartsbased on this historical dataset are oftenseen in the M.I.T. Numbers section of the

Kristen Bulger

T H E A N N O U N C E M E N T T H AT M I T

has been designated to redevelop the JohnA. Volpe National Transportation SystemsCenter site is very good news. That is, ifthe MIT administration realizes that theInstitute has been given the rarest of giftsin life – a second chance to correct amajor mistake – and revises the plans forthe Kendall Square area in a manner thatprioritizes the academic mission of MITover the narrow investment priorities ofthe MIT Investment ManagementCompany (MITIMCo). With the avail-ability of the huge and valuable Volpe site,there should be plenty of room to priori-tize the land on the MIT West side ofKendall Square for academic uses, espe-cially graduate student housing.

Let’s review the largest flaws in thecurrent MIT Kendall plan:

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Vol. XXIX No. 3 January/February 2017

*Aron BernsteinPhysics

Robert BerwickElectrical Engineering & Computer Science

Manduhai BuyandelgerAnthropology

*Nazli ChoucriPolitical Science

Christopher CumminsChemistry

Woodie FlowersMechanical Engineering

Ernst G. FrankelMechanical Engineering

*Jonathan King (Chair) Biology

Helen Elaine LeeWriting and Humanistic Studies

Stephen J. Lippard (Treasurer)Chemistry

Seth LloydMechanical Engineering

Fred MoavenzadehCivil & Environmental Engineering/Engineering Systems

Ruth Perry (Vice Chair)Literature Section

Nasser RabbatArchitecture

Patrick Henry WinstonElectrical Engineering & Computer Science

David LewisManaging Editor

*Editorial Subcommittee for this issue

AddressMIT Faculty NewsletterBldg. 10-335Cambridge, MA 02139

Websitehttp://web.mit.edu/fnl

Telephone 617-253-7303Fax 617-253-0458E-mail [email protected]

Subscriptions$15/year on campus$25/year off campus

01 Redevelopment of Volpe Site Offers MIT Rare Opportunity Frederick P. Salvucci

01 30 Years of Institutional Research at MITKristen Bulger

Editorial 01 Faculty Voices from the Resistance

Editorial 03 Do We Act Now?

Editorial 05 Statement by the Steering Committee of HASTS

Editorial 06 Destabilization From Modernizing Nuclear Weapons Capabilities?

08 MIT Integrated Learning InitiativeCelebrates One-Year AnniversaryJohn Gabrieli, Parag Pathak

10 MyLife Services Offers Unique Supportto Institute PersonnelSandy Alexandre

M.I.T. Numbers 13 Profile of MIT Faculty (AY 2017)

M.I.T. Numbers 14 MIT Faculty By Gender (AY 2017)

M.I.T. Numbers 15 MIT Faculty By Age Distribution (AY 2017)

Numbers 16 Status of World Nuclear Forces

contentsThe MIT FacultyNewsletterEditorial Board

Photo credits: Page1: Aron Bernstein; Page 9: top, Jeff Dieffenbach; bottom, Stephen Nelson

MIT Faculty NewsletterJanuary/February 2017

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I learned of the noontime MIT rally inLobby 7 via Krishna Rajagopal’s email tothe entire faculty of the Institute. I camefor that rally and walked with everyone toCopley Square. This was among the mostmoving rallies I have attended in recentmemory. I was close enough to hear themoving and inspiring speeches given byseveral of our political leaders, includingSenators Elizabeth Warren and EdMarkey, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, andMIT alum/Cambridge City CouncilorNadeem Mazen. The event gave me inspi-ration and hope for the work ahead of usof defending our values in the weeks,months, and years to come.”

Roger LevyAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Brain and CognitiveSciences

“I headed towards Copley Square filledwith anger at the racist, xenophobic,misogynist, islamophobic, transphobic,ableist, anti-Black, anti-science positionsand policies of this administration. I wasglad that a protest response was organizedso quickly, but to be honest, after the hugeturnout for the Women’s March the previ-ous weekend, I was secretly skepticalabout whether non-Muslim Bostonians

would turn out en masse. As I walkedthrough the Boston Common, though, Inoticed more and more people carryingsigns, obviously headed to the protest aswell. My rage began to shift towards ashared sense of collective strength andpower in solidarity, best expressed by oneof the day’s protest chants: ‘Immigrantrights are under attack! You’ve got myback? (We’ve got your back!)’ Copley wasfull, and the political speeches from thechurch steps were nice, but the highlightfor me took place elsewhere: on the edgeof Copley Square near the fountain, agroup of a thousand people led by high-school age immigrant youth sang,chanted, and danced. When the officialrally was done, these youth shouted out‘Whose Streets?’ and the crowd roared‘Our Streets!’ Then, several hundred of usmarched into the street, up towards thecommon, in an unpermitted street protestled by immigrant youth. We ended at theState House, where one after anotheryoung people directly affected by differentaspects of this administration spoke out.To see young people angry, ready toprotest, but also full of love and solidarityfor one another across lines of difference,left me feeling like the future is in goodhands.”

Sasha Costanza-ChockMitsui Career Development AssociateProfessorComparative Media Studies/Writing

“I went to the January 29 Copley SquareImmigration rally. I was not initially plan-ning to cross the bridge with the group ofstudents who departed from MIT, only tooffer my support at their gathering inBuilding 7 at noon. But I’m glad I did.There are few things as energizing as acrowd coming together for a peacefulpublic protest and a good cause.”

Paloma DunongAssistant Professor of Latin AmericanStudiesGlobal Studies and Languages

“I was alarmed and disturbed by thePresident’s travel ban, so I very muchwanted to register my protest against it.Thanks to social media and the emailsfrom the MIT administration I heardabout the rally at Copley Square, andjoined thousands of others there. It washeartening to see so many people turn outat such short notice, just a week after theWomen’s March.”

Edward FlemingAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Linguistics andPhilosophy

Faculty Voices from the Resistancecontinued from page 1

FOR MANY M IT FACU LTY, staff, andstudents, the election and inauguration ofDonald Trump as the 45th President of theUnited States is cause for alarm. The wordsand actions of the President have for usanimated a real fear: that this administra-tion may undo the gains that have pressedthe United States to become an increas-ingly just and equitable society for every-one, regardless of race, ethnicity, identity,gender, sexuality, religion, ability, or class.Many of us are afraid that normalizing theactions of this administration will erode

concern for the suffering of others andundermine aspirational American com-mitments to human rights and dignity forall people. As MIT faculty, we are particu-larly troubled by this President’s blatantdisregard for the scientific method and byhis administration’s attempts to gaslightthe American public with the presentationof “alternative facts,” a dangerous absurd-ity that threatens the tenets of empiricism,the rigor of rational argument, and thejudgments that might follow from rea-soned debate. Democracy and the rule of

law depend upon facts. We cannot cedethese.

Protests, petitions, and calls to actionhere on campus as well as around theworld have demonstrated that there iswide worry about the direction in whichPresident Trump seeks to lead the nation.We believe that collective acts of resistanceare necessary.

For us as members of the faculty ofMIT it is not enough to add our individ-ual voices in protest. We need to harness

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Do We Act Now?

MIT Faculty NewsletterVol. XXIX No. 3

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the power of our identity as faculty ofMIT to meet the challenge we face. Thefirst step is clearly to name the situationbefore us. Many of us believe that Trumpis moving toward authoritarianism, andwe believe that this represents an attack ondemocracy. Those of us who have studiedthe history of fascism believe Trump’sadministration represents a significantstep in this direction.

We have seen in American history thefailure of academics to actively opposeand resist the continuing oppression ofAfrican Americans – after Reconstruction,in the days of civil rights, and today in theera of Black Lives Matter. We have seenour male colleagues accept the exclusionof women from advancement within theacademy and without. We have heard thesilence of academics during the McCarthyperiod, when many intellectuals were tar-geted in an anti-Communist witch hunt.

We understand that naming what ishappening now as the first steps toward

authoritarian government or even fascismdoes not sit well with many of our col-leagues. Many faculty will consider such acharacterization to be premature orextreme. But the history of the rise offascism in Italy, in Germany, in Spain, andin Romania shows us the peril of refusingto recognize fascism in its infancy. It isperhaps better to err on the side of over-statement now, than to try to temper ourconcerns for too long.

Indeed, as academics we are oftenmore comfortable creating the conditionsto individually debate back and forth thancollectively to act. This is particularly truegiven our dedication to having theacademy be a place for the free and openexchange of ideas. And as journalistRachel Shabi wrote in a recent Al JazeeraOp-Ed:

“. . . we are caught somewhere between notwanting to belittle history, nor makeinaccurate comparisons – but also notwanting to underplay current realitieseither. We struggle to find a useful spacebetween normalization and alarmism.”

Trump presents us not with business asusual. We need to prepare for effectiveresponses – every day, short and long term –to any steps taken by the Trump administra-tion that would undermine the democraticprocesses, or that would slow progresstowards a more just and equitable society inAmerica. We must insist on facts not propa-ganda. We must oppose the disseminationof lies. Propaganda is a primary tool ofundemocratic regimes. We can best preparetogether if we are clear that we are a collec-tive of faculty united in our commitment.

Let us call ourselves Faculty forDemocracy and at the same time putforth before the MIT faculty a resolutionrecognizing the danger of the rise of anauthoritarian regime in America anddeclaring our dedication to collectivelyfight, as faculty of MIT, and with faculty ofother institutions of higher education, toensure that the root of fascism does nottake hold in this country.

Editor’s Note: For an up-to-date list ofsignees or to add your name to the list, see:faculty4democracy.org.

Do We Act Now?continued from preceding page

Cherie Miot AbbanatLecturer Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Abhijit BanerjeeFord International Professor of EconomicsDepartment of Economics

Eran Ben-JosephProfessor/HeadDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Colin Carew (PI Media Lab)Director, Media Lab Code(2)bMedia Laboratory

Gabriella Y. Carolini, PhDFord Career Development AssistantProfessor of International Developmentand Urban PlanningDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Sasha Costanza-ChockMitsui Career Development AssociateProfessorComparative Media Studies/Writing

Noam ChomskyProfessor of LinguisticsDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Dayna CunninghamExecutive Director, CoLabDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Michel DeGraffProfessor of LinguisticsDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Paloma DuongAssistant Professor of Latin AmericanStudiesGlobal Studies and Languages

Michael M. J. FischerProfessor of Anthropology & Science TechStudiesProgram in Science, Technology, andSociety

Daniel FoxProfessorDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Wendy GilbertAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Biology

Ezra Haber GlennLecturerDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Jeffrey C. GrossmanProfessorDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

James HarrisProfessor of Spanish/Linguistics, EmeritusDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Wesley L. HarrisCharles Stark Draper Professor ofAeronautics and AstronauticsDepartment of Aeronautics andAstronautics

Sally HaslangerProfessorDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy


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O N J A N UA RY 27, 2 0 17, PresidentDonald Trump issued an executive orderof extraordinary breadth restrictinglegally recognized refugees and thenationals of seven majority-Muslimcountries (including U.S. legal permanentresidents) from entry into the UnitedStates. As a university community, MITdepends on the open exchange of ideasacross borders and has a large number of

students who are foreign nationals. TheSteering Committee of the HASTS doc-toral program therefore finds our basicresearch and educational mission imper-iled by this executive order. We emphati-cally affirm our support for the membersof our HASTS community, and for allMIT faculty, students, and staff, affectedby the executive order.

As of January 29, 2017, at least five

federal courts – in New York, Virginia,Washington, California, and Massachusetts– have temporarily enjoined enforcementof key parts of the executive order on thegrounds that they likely violate due processand equal protection. These injunctionssuggest that the President’s directive isbeing recognized for what it is: a religious

Statement by the Steering Committee of the MIT Doctoral Program in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS) on the 27 January 2017

Executive Order Restricting Immigration to the United States of America

Dorothy HoslerProfessor of Archaeology & AncientTechnologyDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

David HsuAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Jean E. JacksonProfessor of Anthropology EmeritusAnthropology Program

Erica C. JamesAssociate ProfessorAnthropology Program

Rafael JaramilloAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

Louis Kampf Professor Emeritus of HumanitiesLiterature Section

Nancy KanwisherWalter A. Rosenblith ProfessorDepartment of Brain and CognitiveSciences

Jonathan Alan KingProfessorDepartment of Biology

Melvin KingSenior Lecturer EmeritusDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Heather LechtmanProfessor of Archaeology & AncientTechnologyDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

Helen Elaine LeeDirector of Women’s and Gender StudiesComparative Media Studies/Writing

Ceasar McDowellProfessor of the PracticeDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Wayne O’NeilProfessor of LinguisticsDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Julia H. OrtonyAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

Ruth Perry Ann Fetter Friedlaender Professor of theHumanities Literature Faculty

Carlo RattiProfessor of the PracticeDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Jeffrey S. RavelProfessor/Head History SectionHistory Section

Tamar SchapiroAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

Anne Whiston SpirnProfessorDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

C. Cem TasanAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Materials Science andEngineering

J. Phillip Thompson Associate ProfessorDepartment of Urban Studies and Planning

Gediminas UrbonasProfessorProgram in Art, Culture and Technology

Christine WalleyProfessorAnthropology Program

Ivan WerningProfessorDepartment of Economics

Clarence G. Williams, PhD Adjunct Professor of Urban Studies,Emeritus Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Elizabeth A WoodProfessorHistory Section

Stephen YabloDavid W. Skinner Professor of PhilosophyDepartment of Linguistics and Philosophy

continued on next page


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AMONG THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL

pronouncements of President Trump hasbeen his call that “The United States mustgreatly strengthen and expand its nuclearcapability until such time as the worldcomes to its senses regarding nukes.” –Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)December 22, 2016. It seems to us verymore likely that if the U.S. embarks on anextensive and enormously expensivemodernization of its nuclear weaponstriad, this will provoke a similar responsefrom Russia and China, and possibly leadto more nuclear weapons proliferation.

The U.S. currently maintains morethan 4,500 active nuclear weapons, includ-ing some 900 nuclear warheads on highalert, ready to be launched on PresidentTrump’s command within 30 minutes ofwarning. Over half of these warheads aremounted atop long-range missiles in14relatively invulnerable Ohio-class sub-marines. Keeping within the limits of theNew Start Treaty, one submarine canlaunch 90 independently targeted nuclearwarheads (MIRVs), each many times morepowerful than the Hiroshima or Nagasakiatomic bombs. The destructive power ofmissiles launched by one nuclear subma-rine could obliterate many major cities. Ifthe submarine were Russian they couldobliterate all the cities of the Eastern U.S.The total explosive power of a single sub-

marine exceeds all the bombs delivered bythe Allies in World War II.

In addition to the damage in the tar-geted country, a single submarine couldpossibly cause worldwide climaticchanges due to the release of largeamounts of soot. It has been shown, usingcurrent atmospheric models, that there isa significant probability of a decrease inglobal temperatures that could lower agri-cultural output to levels resulting in wide-spread worldwide famine. The Navytypically has six-to-eight of the 14 sub-marines at sea, each of which couldunleash a similar bombardment. Thecomparable firepower of our silo-basedmissiles and nuclear-armed bombersgreatly increase the overkill capacity andrepresent a fundamental danger to theEarth and its inhabitants. A full-scalenuclear war would lead to worldwidenuclear winter for over a decade [Toon et al.,Phys. Today, Dec. 2008].

We are not alone in our overkill capac-ity. Russia also has about 900 nuclearweapons on high alert. A number ofexperts assess that Russia’s early warningsystem is insufficiently robust, increasingthe danger that a mistaken signal of a U.S.attack could precipitate a massive “pre-ventive strike” from Russia. (Numeroussuch erroneous attack signals are docu-mented in Eric Schlosser’s excellent book,

Command and Control. In one case, apotential disaster was averted only by theprudence of the Russian officer on duty.)

Current modernization plans are tospend a trillion dollars over the next 30years on upgrades to all three nuclearweapons delivery systems as well as theassociated nuclear weapons. These plansrepresent enormous long-term expendi-tures from the federal budget. AFebruary Congressional Budget Officereport estimated that the program wouldcost $400 billion in taxpayers’ dollarsfrom 2017 to 2026. With the administra-tion intent on cutting taxes and limitinggrowth of the deficit, the likely result willbe to cut civilian programs in environ-mental protection, education, basicresearch, housing, and transportation. Itis unlikely that the NIH and NSF budgetswill be protected, deeply damaging allU.S. research universities.

President Trump, in view of thepresent overkill capability of both the U.S.and Russia, it certainly is time that “theworld comes to its senses regardingnukes.” The U.S. should lead the way. Wewould all be safer if you propose toPresident Putin to start negotiations toreduce this terrifying arsenal as yourhighest priority.

Editorial Subcommittee

Destabilization From Modernizing Nuclear Weapons Capabilities?

test for admission to the United States for thenationals of the seven majority-Muslimnations affected, with a thinly veiled excep-tion for Christians written into the very lan-guage of the order. Such a policy recalls someof the most troubling episodes of nine-teenth- and twentieth-century U.S. immi-gration law, including the Chinese ExclusionAct of 1882 and the National Origins Act andAsian Exclusion Act of 1924.

The court orders were preceded andaccompanied by major public demonstra-tions at international airports around thecountry, most notably at JFK in New York,

as well as rallies in major public spacessuch as Copley Square in Boston. The out-pouring of public support for Muslimimmigrants and refugees evokes the bestaspects of our nation’s tradition as a havenfor those of all races, religions, and back-grounds seeking protection and a new life.It is consistent with the commitment ofthe HASTS program and MIT to create adiverse community united in its goal toimprove our world through research andeducation.

Stefan HelmreichHead, Anthropology Program Elting E. Morison ChairProfessor of Anthropology

Jennifer S. LightDepartment Head, Program in STSProfessor of Science, Technology, andSocietyProfessor of Urban Planning

Jeffrey S. RavelHead, History FacultyProfessor of History

Christine J. WalleyProfessor of AnthropologyDirector of Graduate Studies, HASTS

Steering Committee Statementcontinued from preceding page


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First, MIT originally acquired theKendall land when it was inexpensive andin the process of being abandoned by theearlier industrial users. MIT committed touse that land for academic purposes, notjust in news releases, but also in legalagreements with the City of Cambridgeand the U.S. Department of Housing andUrban Development (HUD). It may,unfortunately, be accepted practiceamong real estate developers to changepublic benefit commitments when it isfinancially convenient, but one wouldhope that a prestigious university wouldhold itself to a higher standard than, “if wecan get away with it, it must be ok.”

Second, as was documented by theMIT Graduate Student Council a fewyears ago, there is a severe shortage ofaffordable graduate student housing on ornear campus at MIT. At least 4000 gradu-ate students and postdocs, who are essen-tial to the educational and researchmission of MIT, are being dumped intothe fiercely expensive rental housingmarket in Cambridge, Somerville, andBoston. This is clearly to the detriment ofthe students, who are spending too muchmoney on rent, too much energy dealingwith unscrupulous landlords trying togame an overheated market, and toomuch time commuting; as well as to thedetriment of the communities which areexperiencing very significant gentrifica-tion pressures. The MIT land near Kendallis a perfect place to serve part of this need– essentially on campus, but also near anexciting growing urban hot spot thatwould be an exciting place to live for grad-uate students and potentially juniorfaculty.

Third, there may well be other aca-demic uses that ought to be considered forsome of this land. But because MIT hasoutsourced its planning function toMITIMCo, which acts like a private devel-oper, there is not a coherent long-rangeplan documenting the need for labora-tory, library, and classroom space over thenext several decades, now that it is clear

that MIT is located in an area of verylimited additional land. There ought to bea planning function that looks to securethe physical development needs of theacademic institution over the next severaldecades, that would prioritize the use ofInstitute land for academic purposes –which is not the dominant driver ofMITIMCo decision-making.

The current MITIMCo plan includes aparking garage for over 1000 cars within ahalf-block of the Kendall Square T station,costing over $100 million (based on therecent experience with the Sloan School

underground parking). It is hard tobelieve that, adjacent to the center offederal research on innovative transporta-tion technology, guidance from leadingexperts on automobile technology andpolicy to “stop building new parking”(https://www.planetizen.com/node/91147)given the emerging capabilities and dis-ruptive potential of autonomous vehicles,would be disregarded.

The current plan also proposes tolocate a commercial office building and acommercial laboratory on MIT land adja-cent to Main Street and the Kendall-MITT stop, presumably for real estate profitmotives. But these are activities thatwould be much more appropriate on thenewly available Volpe site, leaving theMain Street sites available for academicpurposes such as graduate student andjunior faculty housing.

Private companies such as Google andMicrosoft, names that are suggested aspossible tenants for the proposedMITIMCo plan, have an extremely differ-ent culture than is appropriate for an aca-demic campus. They prioritizeproprietary ownership of ideas and non-

disclosure, while the academic spirit ofopen inquiry in the interest of society isthe priority of the Institute.

Recently, with the new administrationin the White House, we have been proudof the principled stance taken byPresident Reif and other MIT leadershipto protect our community and all itsmembers from the hateful intervention ofthe most powerful government in theworld. This is a reminder of the quintes-sential importance of the balance ofpower among the federal government,the states, the private sector, and espe-

cially academic institutions, and of howacademic institutions must protect thespirit of free and open inquiry. By blur-ring the distinction between the privatesector and academic culture, the currentKendall Square plan erodes the campus’fundamental role in making theInstitute’s spaces a sanctuary for the freeand open exchange of ideas.

The designation of MIT to develop theVolpe site gives the Institute an amazingsecond chance – an opportunity to prior-itize the land originally purchased foracademic purposes near Main Street forthose academic purposes, while placingvalid but culturally inconsistent privateactivities on the Volpe land, along withaffordable housing, to make up for thegentrification pressures that past activi-ties of MIT have imposed on our hostcommunity.

MIT should take advantage of this rareopportunity to secure its academic priori-ties in the rapidly diminishing land avail-able to the Institute.

Redevelopment of Volpe SiteSalvucci, from page 1

The current plan also proposes to locate a commercialoffice building and a commercial laboratory on MIT landadjacent to Main Street and the Kendall-MIT T stop,presumably for real estate profit motives. But these areactivities that would be much more appropriate on thenewly available Volpe site, leaving the Main Street sitesavailable for academic purposes such as graduatestudent and junior faculty housing.

Frederick P. Salvucci is a Senior Lecturer inthe Department of Civil and EnvironmentalEngineering ([email protected]).


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John GabrieliParag Pathak

MIT Integrated Learning InitiativeCelebrates One-Year Anniversary

I N FE B R UARY OF 2016, as reportedby MIT News, MIT President Rafael Reifannounced the creation of the MITIntegrated Learning Initiative (MITili,pronounced “mightily”) to “combineresearch in cognitive psychology, neuro-science, economics, engineering, publicpolicy, and other fields to investigatewhat methods and approaches to educa-tion work best for different people andsubjects.”

Over the course of its first year, MITili’saccomplishments include the following:

• President Reif ’s February 2016announcement and a subsequent MITiliannouncement in May included ourappointments as MITili Director(Gabrieli: Brain and Cognitive Sciences)and Associate Director (Pathak:Economics). The diversity of our workunderscores the interdisciplinary breadthof MITili’s focus, investigating PK-12,higher education, and workplace/lifelonglearners ranging from networks ofneurons via fMRI, EEG, and MEG in asingle brain to hundreds, thousands, oreven millions of learners via randomizedcontrol trials at a city, state, MOOC, ornational level.

• In May of 2016, MITili convened aretreat at MIT’s Endicott House inDedham, MA. Faculty members SanjaySarma (Vice President of Open Learning),Joshua Angrist (Economics), AngelaBelcher (Biological Engineering), IsaacChuang (EECS/Physics), David Pritchard(Physics), Mitch Resnick (Media Lab),and Matt Wilson (Brain and CognitiveSciences), plus key Office of Digital

Learning (ODL) staff joined us to brain-storm generally on paths forward forMITili and to tackle specific issues includ-ing the differences in brain developmentbefore PK-12 students are able to read, thelearner’s socioeconomic status, and edu-cational policy.

• August 2016 saw the hiring of MITili’sfirst two staff members: AssociateDirector Jeff Dieffenbach and ProgramCoordinator Steve Nelson. Jeff and Stevework closely with MITili-associatedfaculty and ODL staff to raise corporate,foundation, and other funding to supportlearning effectiveness research; supporton-campus faculty interactions; and assistin the internal and external disseminationof research-supported best practices.

• In September of 2016, MITili created itsframework for a learning effectivenessconsortium. The consortium, drawing onthose of CSAIL, the Energy Initiative, theInitiative on the Digital Economy, and theMedia Lab, brings together companiesand others to fund and participate intransformational research on academicand workplace learning effectiveness.

• In October of 2016, Professor Sarmadelivered a keynote at the Elliott MasieLearning conference in Orlando. MITiliand ODL staff supported separate ses-sions by Professor Sarma and Brain andCognitive Sciences post-doctoral studentKana Okana. Dr. Okana’s session reportedfindings from work with a leading con-

sulting firm – MITili’s first researchproject – on capturing and measuringattention in a video-based workplacelearning environment.

• MIT’s McGovern Institute hosted aNovember 2016 gathering of 50 ChiefLearning Officers and their designeesfrom 30 companies, government agen-cies, and universities, including AIG,Babson, Fidelity, GE, Google, IBM,McKinsey, Office of PersonnelManagement, and Pepperdine. Themeeting, part of a three-day event co-runby Future Workplace, shared MIT’sthinking on learning and heard from theparticipants about how they create anddeliver learning experiences, about howthey measure those learning experiences,and about the biggest learning challengesthey face.

In February of 2016, as reported by MIT News, MITPresident Rafael Reif announced the creation of the MITIntegrated Learning Initiative (MITili, pronounced“mightily”) to “combine research in cognitive psychology,neuroscience, economics, engineering, public policy, andother fields to investigate what methods and approachesto education work best for different people andsubjects.”


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• November 2016 also kicked off MITili’sseries of faculty conversations on transfor-mational learning effectiveness research.

Professor Gabrieli briefed the group on aresearch effort aimed at improving theability of all students to be reading and

doing math proficiently by the end of thirdgrade. In December, Professor Pathakshared ideas on a universal enrollmentsystem designed to provide access toquality education for all students and fam-ilies. Professor Laura Schulz (Brain andCognitive Science) led the February talkon early childhood cognition.

Across its learning research, MIT’smens et manus motto – mind and hand –guides MITili’s approach to learningresearch. Researchers develop theories,rigorously test them in the lab, then workto see them through to implementation inthe field. With 2017 underway, MITili isexcited to continue its mission topromote, support, and disseminate trans-formational Institute research investigat-ing learning effectiveness.

Dr. Okano explains the workings of the EEG cap to a conference attendee (October 2016)

Dr. Gabrieli addresses participants of the November CLO meeting

John Gabrieli is a Professor in the Departmentof Brain and Cognitive Sciences([email protected]);Parag Pathak is a Professor in the Departmentof Economics ([email protected]).


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Sandy AlexandreMyLife Services Offers Unique Support to Institute Personnel

I T ’ S T H E S TA R T O F a new year.Congratulations to all of us who have theopportunity to participate – in whateverway we ultimately can – in the fresh startthat this annual event tends to symbolize.Some of us will make resolutions. Some ofus have made them already. Some of us donot believe in making them anymore.Some of us never did.

Whatever side of the “to reset or not toreset” question you are on, during thistime of the year, it is probably worthremembering that nothing contributesmore to self-directed change than a com-bination of first knowing that the veryresources you might need are actuallyavailable to you and subsequently usingthose resources to the fullest extent possi-ble. Otherwise, we risk cheating ourselvesof the help, the relief, the information, orthe knowledge that could make ourcomplex lives so much better – that is,more manageable, less stressful, andmaybe even more intelligible. Indeed, datafrom the 2016 MIT Quality of Life Surveyindicate that faculty members at MIT areexperiencing stress in various aspects oftheir lives:

• 78% experience stress due to lack of timefor family and friends (because of workcommitments);

• 47% feel overwhelmed by all they needto do;

• 34% are either not satisfied or neutralabout their ability to balance work andpersonal life.

For these and other reasons, we cer-tainly owe it to ourselves to know aboutand make full use of MIT’s new benefit forall of its employees: MyLife Services(hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/mitmylifeservices),which is a one-stop resource providing allMIT faculty, staff, postdoc associates,postdoc fellows, and their families, withconfidential, free, 24/7 access to a networkof experts who are ready to assist you withvarious life concerns. MyLife Services isprovided by an external vendor, KGA Inc.,and replaces the counseling provided bythe Personal Assistance Program previ-ously administered by MIT Medical.However, graduate and undergraduatestudents should still be referred to MITMedical for counseling assistance.

Knowing about this new benefit cangive you a different perspective on yourpotential to improve your challengingcircumstances and on your ability to getthe assistance you need to achieve a per-sonal goal. MyLife Services is available24/7 and is completely confidential. Onephone call connects you to a licensed,Master’s or PhD-level counselor rightaway. You or a family member can alsoask to see a counselor in person, nearwork or near home, for up to five sessionsper concern at no cost to you. And MyLifeServices will work with you to make surethe counselor is in your insurancenetwork should you wish to continuebeyond the five initial visits.

The suite of benefits available throughMyLife Services includes:

• Legal Assistance: Legal consultation withan attorney, with referrals for most legalissues.

• Financial Consultation: Help with debtmanagement, budgeting, and financialplanning.

• Stress Reduction:Assessment of stress leveland techniques/tips for managing stress.

• Short-term Counseling: Face-to-face,phone, or video sessions to help addressemotional and relationship issues, andproblems with addictions for yourself or afamily member.

• Crisis Counseling: Counseling and con-sultation for individuals, HR, managers,and the community before, during, andafter traumatic events, such as suicide,violence, and natural and human-madedisasters.

• Grief Counseling: Supportive counsel-ing and consultation for individuals andfamilies who have experienced a loss.

• Work-life Resources: Targeted researchand referrals for everything from reloca-tion services to pet care.

• Parenting/Child Care Resources:Personalized guidance, research, andreferrals for a variety of child care needsand parenting questions.

• Sleep Consultation: Tips and tools tohelp you get a good night’s rest.


11

• Career Counseling: Help for you or afamily member with career explorationand job search questions.

• Nutrition Consultation: Support from anutritionist on weight management andother dietary concerns.

Such abundant and readily availableresources might help someone go frommumbling a helpless “I can’t” to a morehopeful “I think I can.” To be sure, the vastarray of services available through MyLifeServices may feel paralyzing initially. Buteach time you access MyLife Services,your specific question or problem will betargeted and a customized solution will bedeveloped for you. In glowing terms, oneuser described his experience in this way:

“What a fantastic improvement to find acounselor. Previously I was sent to the BCBSwebsite, which was totally overwhelming.With this new service, I got the assistance Ineeded. Total game changer. Patrick isawesome, please let him know he trulyhelped. Calm and reassuring. He efficientlyfound a counselor to refer to me.”

And, of course, the more you access thenew benefit, the more navigable and user-friendly MyLife Services will become foryou. In the initial six months (May 1,2016-October 31, 2016) of this MITbenefit, 869 people used MyLife Services.This is an estimated annualized utilizationrate of 13.1%. Approximately 8% ofMIT’s total faculty have used MyLifeServices in that same time frame.Moreover, faculty, staff, and postdocs havecalled from each of MIT’s Schools. This isall very good news!

In a world that often demands we pullourselves up by our own bootstraps andthat appears, very much, to esteem theculture of doing it yourself, using thisresource helps to exercise an importantskill that many of us tend to underutilize:asking for help. I intentionally call “askingfor help” important, and I also call it a skillbecause it is far too often stigmatized as a

sign of weakness. That outlook canchange, and we know at least one memberof our community plans to spread theword on behalf of those who may not yetknow how truly helpful MyLife Servicescan be:

“I’m amazed that such a great service asMyLife Services is available to MIT employ-ees. For five years I’ve been at MIT as agraduate student, then post-doc, and nowemployee; and I’ve never experienced such auseful service as this in all that time. I planon spreading the word about MyLifeServices to all staff in my department.”

It is our sincere hope that this personon a mission will not be alone. Don’tforget to remind your families, your col-leagues, your staff, and your postdocsabout this new and very helpful benefit.

Perhaps it wasn’t during a ritual, reso-lution-making January that MIT resolvedto establish a resource to attend to theholistic needs of its employees. But, so far,the end result of that decision is, indeed,MIT’s overall improvement: employeesare beginning to know that the help theyneed is readily available and that aresource endorsed and paid for by theuniversity actually encourages them to askfor that help. Sometimes the help involvesmaking a difficult decision (“I called andspoke with the lawyer. I did not like any-thing he said to me . . . but he told meexactly what I needed to hear. He was areal help.”) Overall, people who have usedMyLife Services seem immensely gratefulnot only for its very existence, but also forthe quality of care its counselors exhibit in

addressing their needs. For example, onecaller writes: “I am pleased to say I gotoutstanding assistance and follow-upfrom Andrea. I have been struggling witha number of personal issues and shestayed connected to me. She even talkedwith a nurse at my request. I am verythankful.” In all, when Human Resources’Work Life Center added MyLife Servicesto its suite of programs, MIT effectivelyacknowledged the humanity of itsemployees – that we are people with fullpersonal and professional lives whoseeffectiveness, at work and at home, cansuffer if we have nowhere to go for help.MyLife Services is here to change that. It’s

an actual new year, and as a consequenceof this new benefit, it’s also a proverbial“new day!” Let us make seeking andreceiving whatever help we need themethod by which we also make the mostof this fresh start and this new resource.

For more information on MyLifeServices, call: 844-405-LIFE (5433) or visitthe MIT Work-Life Center Website:hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/mitmylifeservices.For more information on other Work-LifeCenter programs, including planning andpaying for college, senior care planning,and children with special learning needs,visit: hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/about-center.Also, the seminar series changes eachsemester. The current offerings are foundhere: hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/seminars.The Work-Life Center staff is always avail-able to support your work-life balance.Call them at 617-253-1592.

Sandy Alexandre is an Associate Professor inthe Literature Section ([email protected]).

In a world that often demands we pull ourselves up byour own bootstraps and that appears, very much, toesteem the culture of doing it yourself, using thisresource helps to exercise an important skill that manyof us tend to underutilize: asking for help.


12

Faculty Newsletter. Other visualizationsare accessible to the community on the IRWebsite: web.mit.edu/ir.

Some of the earliest projects tackled byInstitutional Research, which at the timeconsisted of two people housed inBuilding 12, involved assisting in theassessment and deliberations overInstitute space, including the constructionof the Biology Building as well as workingon a study of the animal care facilities toensure that adequate space was availableto researchers. Another less appreciatedproject was the analysis work IR didwhich resulted in MIT's decision to chargefor parking and subsidize public transitpasses for employees. Over time,Institutional Research provided analysesfor a variety of Institute projects and LydiaSnover, IR’s first and only Director,became an important resource for faculty,senior administrators, and staff.

Early in its existence, the InstitutionalResearch group was given the responsibil-ity for responding to data requests fromexternal organizations, including themany ranking organizations such as USNews and World Report, Times Higher Ed,and QS World University Rankings. As thenumber of rankings has grown, IR hasworked with old and new organizations todefine the range and depth of metricsused by ranking organizations to evaluateuniversities, helping to better articulatewhat is valued in higher education(web.mit.edu/ir/rankings/index.html).

Probably the most visible activity asso-ciated with Institutional Research is theadministration of surveys to the MITcommunity and the dissemination ofanalysis. IR administers a number ofsurveys to MIT students, some in con-junction with peer institutions. Recentsurveys include the biennialTransportation Survey, the Faculty andStaff Quality of Life Survey, biennialSenior Surveys, and the AdmittedGraduate Student Survey. The results ofmany of the central surveys administeredby IR are available online:

web.mit.edu/ir/surveys/index.html. Inaddition to the large institutional survey,IR is a resource for any group that plans torun a survey for research or administra-tive purposes.

In 2000, Institutional Research movedto the Office of the Provost, and theprimary focus became the academic

enterprise. IR provides an array of servicesto the academic Schools and departments,as well as providing data and otherresources to the numerous committees,task forces, and working groups at theInstitute. These committees have includedthe Committee on Women Faculty in theSchool of Science, The Initiative forFaculty Race and Diversity, task forces ongraduate student housing and tuition, theworking group on rankings, the task forceon The Future of Education, and manyothers. The IR staff assist in the variousaccreditation processes, including theAccreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology (ABET) and New EnglandAssociation of Schools and Colleges(NEASC).

Further, 10 years ago, InstitutionalResearch was charged with spearheadingthe production of the MIT BriefingBook, an essential yearly publicationsponsored by the Vice President forResearch and the MIT WashingtonOffice. The Briefing Book, researchedand written by a variety of MIT facultyand staff, particularly members ofInstitutional Research, serves as a com-pilation of information about MIT aswell as MIT’s many research activities,highlighting projects funded by federalagencies, industry, and nonprofit institu-tions (orgchart.mit.edu/node/27/bbook).

Institutional Research is also the offi-cial liaison to the Association of AmericanUniversities Data Exchange (AAUDE) andto the Institutional Research group inConsortium on Financing HigherEducation (COFHE), both organizationsserving highly selective universities. Thegroup is responsible for compiling data on

the faculty hiring process and graduatestudent admissions.

Finally, several years ago the group wastasked with the development and mainte-nance of the Institute-wide ElectronicProfessional Record (ePR). This applica-tion, which originated in the School ofEngineering, was developed as a centralrepository for faculty and staff to compile,in one central location, information oftheir professional activities. In 2014,Institutional Research took on the role oftrustee (gatekeeper) of data collected fromMITx courses, so that it could be used foreducational research.

For Snover, her own vision of the officehas always been a simplistic one: toprovide accurate, unbiased data and analy-ses that support decision-making and doc-ument changes in the Institute over time.By maintaining such a mission, Snover hasensured the relevance and usefulness ofthe Institutional Research function. Inmarking 30 years as head of IR, she puts it:“We are an office that cannot say no.”Certainly, it is a sentiment for which manyat the Institute are grateful.

30 Years of Institutional ResearchBulger, from page 1

Kristen Bulger is an Administrative Assistant IIin the Office of the Provost ([email protected]).

Probably the most visible activity associated withInstitutional Research is the administration of surveys tothe MIT community and the dissemination of analysis. . . .Recent surveys include the biennial TransportationSurvey, the Faculty and Staff Quality of Life Survey,biennial Senior Surveys, and the Admitted GraduateStudent Survey.

Editor’s Note: See pages 13-15 for recentexamples of information generated byInstitutional Research.


13

M.I.T. NumbersProfile of MIT Faculty (AY 2017)

Professor 64%

Associate with

Tenure 11%

Associate No Tenure

9%

Assistant 16%

American Indian or Alaskan Native

0%

Native Hawaiian or

Other Pacific Islander

0%

Black or African

American4%

Hispanic/Latino4%

Asian14%

White78%

84

379

178

270

118

11

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

Architecture & Planning

Engineering

Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences

Science

Sloan School of Management

All Others


14

M.I.T. NumbersMIT Faculty By Gender (AY 2017)

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1983

19

84

1985

19

86

1987

19

88

1989

19

90

1991

19

92

1993

19

94

1995

19

96

1997

19

98

1999

20

00

2001

20

02

2003

20

04

2005

20

06

2007

20

08

2009

20

10

2011

20

12

2013

20

14

2015

20

16

2017

Female Male

9.42% 15.28%

21.92%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1983

19

84

1985

19

86

1987

19

88

1989

19

90

1991

19

92

1993

19

94

1995

19

96

1997

19

98

1999

20

00

2001

20

02

2003

20

04

2005

20

06

2007

20

08

2009

20

10

2011

20

12

2013

20

14

2015

20

16

2017

Percent of Faculty Who Are Women

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Professor Associate with Tenure

Associate No Tenure

Assistant

Female Male


15

M.I.T. NumbersMIT Faculty By Age Distribution (AY 2017)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88

Professor Associate with Tenure Associate No Tenure Assistant

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88

All Others

Architecture & Planning

Sloan School of Management

Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences Science

Source: Office of the Provost/Institutional Research

Age Distribution All Faculty

Age Distribution By School

Sciences


NumbersStatus of World Nuclear Forces

Source: Federation of American Scientists (FAS)

Note:

• Nearly 1,800 U.S., Russian, British, and French warheads are on high alert, ready for use on short notice.

• The approximately seven (7) North Korean weapons are not shown in the above figure.

Documents

MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XXIX No. 3, January/February 2017 · Vol. XXIX No. 3 January/February 2017 *Aron Bernstein Physics Robert Berwick Electrical Engineering & Computer Science