From the editor
MIT entered 2013 expecting to face federal funding cuts for research due to the sequester, and high-level MIT officials searched for ways to keep our research thriving, saying we could handle the cuts better than other affected institutions. The difficulties we could not have anticipated, however, shook our community at many levels as we navigated through an especially turbulent 2013.
Institute’s top brass are shuffled around
MIT’s senior leadership saw sweeping changes in 2013. Dennis Freeman PhD ’86 became the new dean of undergraduate education (DUE), Chris A. Kaiser PhD ’87 stepped down as provost, and Eric Grimson PhD ’80 announced his plans to leave Chancellorship in order to head a capital fundraising campaign. In total, nine of the twenty-six total positions in the senior administration changed or will change.
Hurdle cleared for Kendall portal to MIT
Will the most innovation square mile on the planet get a mini-golf course?
NEWS BRIEFS
Yesterday, Adèle Naudé Santos, dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) announced her intention to step down and return to faculty, effective at the end of the Spring semester. Santos is a professor in both the Department of Architecture and the Department of Urban Studies (DUSP), as well as a practicing architect with her own architecture studio in San-Francisco, Santos Prescott and Associates.
The life of Prof. Robert A. Alberty
Robert A. Alberty, professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and former dean of MIT’s School of Science — whose seminal contributions to the thermodynamics and kinetics of biochemical reactions are still at the forefront of chemistry — passed away on Saturday, Jan. 18, at the age of 92.
3.091 to return to traditional lecture format
3.091 is reverting back to its original format of lecture/recitation as the semester-long experiment comes to an end. Findings from the experiment are not yet conclusive, 3.091 Professor Michael J. Cima stressed in an email to The Tech; the full report to the Committee on the Undergraduate Program is due at the end of February.
CPW events restricted to before 1 a.m.
Prefrosh at this year’s Campus Preview Weekend (CPW) will be the first to experience a new policy restricting late night events: CPW events must now end by 1 a.m. and can begin again at 6 a.m. Spontaneous events, such as an impromptu movie showing, can still take place, but will not be listed in the booklet. For the past couple of years, the rule has been that all events with an end time past 3 a.m. must have a safety plan to get prefrosh home, but there had been no set end time.
Mystery Hunt coin found in Courtyard
This year’s MIT Mystery Hunt — themed “Alice in Wonderland” — began Friday with a Kresge Kickoff at noon and officially ended Monday afternoon after a wrap-up ceremony in 26-100. The team “One Fish, Two Fish, Random Fish, Blue Fish” of Random Hall won at 2:30 a.m. Sunday after about 38 hours of searching.
NEWS BRIEFS
MIT's capital campaign, expected to raise billions of dollars, will probably stay in its "quiet phase" for several more months. Only 6 percent of registrants on edX are getting certificates, but researchers say that's not a sign that online courses are failing.
Europe’s bonds back in vogue, analysts warn of risk
LONDON — When Ireland recently made its first offering of new debt since leaving its bailout program, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny was already focused on where the money would come from next.
MIT scientists benefit from US budget deal
Massachusetts fishermen and MIT scientists are among the winners in a $1.012 trillion spending deal released Monday night by Congress.
MIT Medical adds new portal system
On Jan. 1, 2014, MIT Medical fully converted to a new healthcare portal called Follow My Health, replacing an older portal called Patient Online. Follow My Health will support features absent from Patient Online, such as the ability for patients to view lab results. Like Patient Online, Follow My Health has the right to sell aggregate data, but will not compromise any patient privacy in the process.
NEWS BRIEFS
On Jan. 1, John Charles became the new vice president for information systems and technology (IS&T). He succeeds Marilyn T. Smith, who stepped down February last year. “It’s an extraordinary honor and opportunity for me to serve MIT and its talented IS&T organization in this leadership capacity,” he told the MIT News Office.
James Roberge, MIT faculty since 1967, dies at 75
James K. Roberge, a professor of electrical engineering and a member of the MIT faculty since 1967, died Friday, Jan. 10, at age 75. Roberge continued teaching in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) through last semester.
Boris Magasanik, professor emeritus, dies at 94
Boris Magasanik, the Jacques Monod Professor Emeritus of Microbiology, passed away on Dec. 25 at his home in Cambridge. He was 94.
MIT’s Ludwig Center receives $90 million for cancer research
MIT’s Ludwig Center for Molecular Oncology, housed within the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, has received a gift of $90 million from Ludwig Cancer Research to study metastasis, the spread of cancer from a primary tumor to other parts of the body. In FY2013, MIT received $58 million research funds from non-profits, according to the treasurer’s report.