Stefanie Mueller
Immigrant members of the MIT community
Photo courtesy of Daniel Jackson
I’m from Germany and moved to the U.S. two months ago to start at MIT as a new assistant professor. One of the great things about working in a research environment is that you are surrounded by so many people from different countries. You hear all their stories, the good and the not so good, which is a daily reminder for me of what a privileged situation I’m in, having a German passport. It's something that many of my friends who stay in Germany all their lives will never be able to appreciate, as they don’t know that life can be infinitely more stressful and filled with anxiety if you have a different nationality. And although one would think it should be obvious that everyone deserves the same treatment, we are far from providing everyone with the same experience and rights. I’m glad I can be here at MIT and help grow the international community by putting together a diverse research team.
Stefanie Mueller is an Assistant Professor in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, joint with Mechanical Engineering.
Editor's note: Tech Transfers is a photo series by Professor Daniel Jackson that features immigrant members of MIT.