Corporation names members of Presidential Search Committee

Twelve members of the MIT Corporation and 10 faculty members have been named to a Presidential Search Committee tasked with identifying a successor to President Susan Hockfield. Additionally, three undergraduate and three graduate students have been named to a Student Advisory Committee that will assist in the search.

On Feb. 16, Hockfield announced her intention to step down as president following more than seven years of service. She will remain as president until a successor takes office.

“I am pleased that we have quickly formed this Presidential Search Committee and that we are moving ahead with this search,” says John S. Reed ’61, SM ’65, chairman of the MIT Corporation. “We have gathered an impressive and insightful team of individuals — with diverse opinions, positions and experiences.”

Today also marks the launch of a website with information on the Presidential Search Committee, Student Advisory Committee, and the search process. The site is designed to solicit input on the search from the MIT community and beyond.

“We encourage members of the MIT community to use the site to offer their thoughts on the traits, skills and background we should seek in the Institute’s next president,” says James A. Champy ’63, SM ’65, who will chair the Presidential Search Committee. “We also welcome recommendations of people who might serve as president.”

Champy, a Boston business consultant and author, will be assisted in his leadership of the search by Vice President and Secretary of the Corporation Kirk D. Kolenbrander.

In addition to Reed, Champy and Kolenbrander, other members of the MIT Corporation who will serve on the Presidential Search Committee are:

• Raja H.R. Bobbili ’08, J.D./M.B.A. student, Harvard University
• Gururaj Deshpande, chairman, Sparta Group LLC
• Paul E. Gray ’54, SM ’55, ScD ’60, professor of electrical engineering, president emeritus and former chairman of the MIT Corporation
• Alan G. Spoon ’73, general partner, Polaris Venture Partners
• Henri A. Termeer, former chairman, president and CEO, Genzyme Corporation
• John A. Thain ’77, chairman and CEO, CIT Group, Inc.
• Kenneth Wang ’71, president, US Summit Company
• Susan E. Whitehead, vice chairman, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
• Barrie R. Zesiger, founding partner and managing director, Zesiger Capital Group LLC

“The MIT faculty, and all of the Institute’s schools, will be well represented in this presidential search process,” says Samuel Miller Allen ’71, PhD ’75, chair of the faculty and POSCO Professor of Physical Metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

In addition to Allen, MIT faculty who will serve on the Presidential Search Committee are:

• Xavier de Souza Briggs, associate professor of sociology and planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning
• Peter H. Fisher, professor of physics and division head, Particle and Nuclear Experimental Physics, Department of Physics
• Ann M. Graybiel PhD ’71, Institute Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute for Brain Research
• Paula T. Hammond ’84, PhD ’93, David H. Koch Professor in Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Thomas A. Kochan, George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management, professor of work and employment research and engineering systems, and co-director, MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research, Sloan School of Management
• Richard M. Locke PhD ’89, Class of 1922 Professor of Political Science and Management and department head, Department of Political Science
• Susan S. Silbey, Leon and Anne Goldberg Professor of Humanities and professor of sociology and anthropology, Anthropology Program
• Timothy M. Swager, John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry
• Patrick H. Winston ’65, MS ’67, PhD ’70, Ford Professor of Engineering and MacVicar Fellow, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Members of the Student Advisory Committee are:

• Amanda C. David ’13,
 Management
• Alex J. Evans G,
 Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
• Patrick A. Hulin ’14,
 Mathematics
• Bryan D. Owens G,
 Biological Engineering
• Kimberly M. Sparling ’12,
 Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Ellan F. Spero G,
 Science, Technology and Society

More information on the Presidential Search Committee, Student Advisory Committee, and the search process can be found at http://web.mit.edu/president/search/.