CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Charles M. Vest, the 15th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has shaped his 13-year presidency into a campaign of determined advocacy for research, science, and diversity and openness in education and research, announced today at the quarterly meeting of MIT's board of trustees his intention to step down from that post.
Vest, 62, who has led one of the most intense periods of change at MIT since the post-World War II years, said he was stepping down because "the time is fast approaching when MIT should benefit from the renewal that comes with selecting a new president and developing the next stage of its vision and programs."
His resignation as president of one of the nation's premier research universities becomes effective next fall or as soon as a successor is appointed to head the 142-year old Cambridge institution.
Dana Mead, chairman of the MIT Corporation (MIT's board of trustees), praised Vest for a distinguished presidency marked by "vision, courage, integrity and an extraordinary sense of service to MIT and to the nation. He has had a transforming influence on the Institute and is a powerful champion of the importance to our country and the world of science, technology and research."
An engineer and former university provost, Vest was appointed MIT president in 1990. In the past 100 years, only Karl Taylor Compton (1930-1948) has served longer as president of MIT, which was founded in the mid-19th century by William Barton Rogers.
Vest's tenure ranks him sixth in seniority among the 62 presidents in the Association of American Universities, only one of whom has served his current institution longer than Vest.
In a letter announcing his decision to faculty and staff, Vest wrote: "Becky and I are privileged beyond measure to live and work at MIT--an extraordinary community comprising distinguished faculty who blaze new trails of knowledge, Nobel laureates, dedicated teachers, the people who create and maintain our facilities, those who do the administrative work that makes it possible for our faculty and students to realize their dreams, those who look after our safety and health, and above all, the wonderful young men and women who study here."
MAJOR MILESTONES
During the Vest presidency, MIT has undertaken major innovations in education and research, developed strong ties with other academic, governmental and industrial organizations both in the United States and overseas, strengthened the diversity of its people and programs, and transformed its campus. During this time, MIT's endowment has grown from $1.4 billion to $5.1 billion, and $1.72 billion has been raised towards MIT's $2 billion capital campaign. Eighteen of the 25 largest gifts from individuals in MIT's history have been received during the Vest presidency.
More than half of the current MIT faculty has been hired since 1990 and since then has developed many new or expanded fields of research and scholarship, such as brain and cognitive sciences (including the establishment of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Picower Center for Learning and Memory); nanotechnology (including the creation of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies); biological engineering; genomic medicine (the Broad Institute); engineering systems; and new media.
Vest also spurred a major examination of student life and learning and pursued what he termed "an enhanced learning community." Among the resulting programs were:
* introduction of modern cell and molecular biology as a core requirement for all undergraduates;
* establishment of the prestigious MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program to recognize and reward great MIT teachers;
* development of new pedagogies for teaching everything from first-year physics to communications and design;
* major changes in engineering education, including a five-year combined Bachelor/Master of Engineering program;
* a restructured housing policy that creates a stronger student community and includes a common first-year campus experience; and
* creation of three new student residences and a major sports and fitness center, all designed to enhance interaction among students and faculty.
Vest also fostered MIT's engagement on the world stage through a variety of large-scale, innovative ventures, often with other institutions. Among them were:
* MIT OpenCourseWare--the publication of the teaching materials for up to 2,000 MIT courses on the Internet, free and available to teachers and learners anywhere in the world;
* the Cambridge-MIT Institute--an alliance of MIT and Cambridge University to foster innovation and entrepreneurship through collaborative educational and research programs and student exchanges;
* the Singapore-MIT Alliance--an innovative collaboration to promote global engineering education and research using state-of-the-art synchronous distance teaching technologies; and
* the Alliance for Global Sustainability with the University of Tokyo, the Swiss Institutes of Technology and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden--to develop new technologies and identify policy directions that encourage global economic development while preserving and enhancing the environment.
Vest's belief that MIT could best address certain important educational and research challenges by working with others also took form in the innovative collaborations with industry that he helped foster. Among these have been partnerships with Amgen (biology, brain and cognitive sciences); Ford (engineering design, environmental studies); Merrill Lynch (financial technology); Microsoft (educational technology); Merck (biology, bioengineering); Hewlett-Packard (digital information); Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (telecommunications); and DuPont (biotech materials, management).
ON THE NATIONAL STAGE
Vest's broad but measured interpretation of the role of president of the Institute made its mark on national policy as well. On assuming the presidency, he went about rebuilding public understanding and support of higher education and research. He continues to be a regular presence in the halls of Congress and the executive offices where he champions the cause of research, science, higher education and innovative partnerships among universities, government and industry.
In the post-9/11 era, Vest has been a national spokesperson for the centrality of higher education and research to the nation's well-being at a time when some national security policies appeared to conflict with the concept of open research and education. "Knowledge creation thrives in openness and suffers in isolation," he wrote in his annual report for 2001-02, which concluded with a set of recommendations designed to provide both national security and the openness necessary for research and education. He has carried a similar message to the national arena through meetings with high-ranking federal officials, publications, and speeches, including an address last month to the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
Vest has logged more than 100 visits to Washington, D.C., to confer with as many as 250 different government officials in more than 450 individual conversations. This is in addition to more than 80 trips to Washington for service on various national councils, task forces and advisory boards.
He serves as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and chaired the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board's Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the Department of Energy, which recently completed its work. In 1993, at the request of President Clinton, he chaired the Committee on the Redesign of the International Space Station, which revitalized the space station at a time when its future was in question.
He is vice chair of the Council on Competitiveness and former chair of the Association of American Universities.
CAMPUS REVITALIZATION
Vest has perhaps made an even larger stamp on MIT's Cambridge campus itself. For example, square footage through new construction during his term is greater than the size of the entire MIT campus when the university moved from Boston to Cambridge in 1916. Moreover, significantly updated landscaping and renovation of academic and residential facilities has brought new vitality to the appearance and functionality of the campus.
With the completion of the building projects currently under construction, approximately 25 percent of the MIT campus will have been constructed since 1990, when Vest became president. In this building program he championed the use of world-class architects to design major facilities such as:
* the Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences (Frank Gehry);
* Simmons Hall, an undergraduate residence (Stephen Holl);
* the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center (Kevin Roche, John Dinkeloo & Associates);
* the brain and cognitive sciences project (Charles Correa, and Goody Clancy Associates); and
* the Media Arts and Sciences building (Fumihiko Maki).
Commenting on the quality of the architecture, Vest said, "I believe that the buildings at this extraordinary university should be as diverse, forward-thinking and audacious as the community they serve. They should stand as a metaphor for the ingenuity at work inside them."
FAIRNESS AND DIVERSITY
Throughout his presidency, Vest has made many efforts to increase the diversity of both the MIT student body and its faculty. Underrepresented minority undergraduates have increased from 14 percent to 20 percent of undergraduates, and underrepresented minority graduate students from 3 percent to 5 percent. Over the past decade, the number of women undergraduates increased from 34 percent to 42 percent. Women now outnumber men in 10 undergraduate majors at MIT. The proportion of women graduate students has increased from 20 percent to 29 percent.
In 1998, Vest forthrightly acknowledged problems cited by senior women faculty in the School of Science and supported efforts toward corrective measures. The published report on the study--and his leadership with other university presidents on this issue--received national and international recognition, stimulating reexamination of these equity issues at other universities across the country. More than two-thirds of MIT's women faculty have been hired since 1990.
During Vest's presidency, MIT appointed its first woman department head in the School of Science, its first two minority department heads in the School of Engineering, and its first five women vice presidents. MIT's current chancellor is African-American.
Vest has also been a staunch supporter of the principle of financial aid based solely on need. In 1992, MIT went to trial to fight the U.S. Justice Department's contention that antitrust statutes were violated when Ivy League schools, MIT and others shared information about the financial need of students who had been admitted to more than one school. A lengthy court battle ensued, which ultimately resulted in the establishment of the "MIT Standards of Conduct" that enable many colleges committed to need-based financial aid to exchange certain post-award data, and also led to legislation that permits colleges to adopt a common methodology for measuring need.
Prior to assuming the MIT presidency in 1990, Vest was provost and vice president for academic affairs of the University of Michigan, where he previously served as dean of engineering.
Charles Marstiller Vest was born on Sept. 9, 1941 in Morgantown, W.Va. He earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University and both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Optical Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the recipient of five honorary degrees and serves as a member of the board of directors of IBM and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. He and his wife, Rebecca, have two children.
