The Office of the Vice Provost for International Activities expands “The World at MIT” video series
The video series features 20 faculty members born outside the U.S.
Photo courtesy of Gladys Ainoo/Bearwalk Cinema
In late September, the Office of the Vice Provost for International Activities expanded its video series called “The World at MIT,” which features 20 faculty members born outside the U.S. who shared experiences of making MIT their “professional home.” The series first released 10 videos in 2024, adding 10 more this year.
Faculty members in the video series include Dean of Science Nergis Mavalvala PhD ’97 and Chancellor for Academic Advancement Eric Grimson PhD ’80. According to Global MIT, nearly half of the Institute’s faculty are born outside of the U.S. Furthermore, a third of MIT’s 104 Nobel Laureates were born abroad, including 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics recipient Daron Acemoglu and 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awardee Moungi Bawendi.
For the 2025-2026 academic year, MIT has 3,432 international students, 529 of whom are undergrads and 2,903 of whom are graduate students. 11.6% of the undergrad population is international, while 40.7% of the graduate population is international. In 2024, 43% of graduating seniors reported participating in an international experience at MIT. Although the recent college compact requests universities to restrict international enrollment for undergraduates to 15%, MIT caps enrollment at around 10%, according to President Kornbluth’s letter on Oct. 10. In 2024-2025, international students made up approximately 12% of the undergraduate population.
The newly expanded “World at MIT” video series comes at a time of uncertainty for many international students and professionals. On Aug. 28, the Department of Homeland Security announced new restrictions that impose a four-year period limit on the F and J student visas. In late May, the State Department paused the scheduling of visa interviews for foreign students, which resumed three weeks later in mid June with heightened measures for social media screening. More recently in mid-September, President Trump signed a proclamation stating that new H-1B visa petitions submitted on or after Sept. 21 would require a $100,000 payment.
These tightened restrictions and new rules have lowered international student enrollment in universities across the country. According to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office, the number of international student arrivals to the U.S. decreased by 19% from August 2024 to August 2025 — a drop of 73,802 students.
In an interview with The Tech, Vice Provost for International Activities Duane Boning ’84, SM ’86, PhD ’91 stated that the purpose of the video series is to “highlight and celebrate the importance” of the international community at MIT and the Institute’s international engagements. Although “The World at MIT” started before the 2024 election, Boning noted that the timing of the video series’ recent expansion is pertinent, given that new federal policies have targeted international students and professionals.
In regard to choosing features for the second round released in 2025, Boning wanted to feature faculty members from different disciplines, schools, and regions of the world that would “mesh with and complement with the first set of ten.” Those featured in the newly expanded series include Professor of Physics Pablo Jarillo-Herrero from Spain and Professor of Biology Yukiko Yamashita from Japan.
Despite changes in the federal landscape that have affected the United States’ global image and international student enrollment, Boning shared that global partners, from foreign universities to international philanthropists, continue their interest in working with MIT. Furthermore, Boning expects that the number of delegation visits this academic year will be similar to the previous year, which hosted 50 high-level delegations from 28 different countries.
“MIT is a national treasure, but it’s an international [one] as well,” Boning said. “Many of the problems that we face are bigger than [what] MIT even alone can do.”
The professors in the video series also echo Boning’s sentiment, sharing that they value MIT’s diverse and global community. “MIT is a very special place,” Professor of Computer Science Regina Barzilay from Israel and Moldova said. “The more time is spent here, the more you see it, because there are so many brilliant people around you.”