Students

MIT has been named one of the top universities in the country for educating students that go on to found venture-capital-backed startups, according to PitchBook’s annual rankings, reports Steph Solis for Axios.

Duke Provost Sally Kornbluth has been named the next president of MIT, reports Paul Basken for Times Higher Education. “MIT’s announcement credited Professor Kornbluth with prioritizing investments in faculty, especially from under-represented groups, and strengthening interdisciplinary research and education,” writes Basken.

The hosts of Bloomberg Radio’s Baystate Business discussed the announcement that Sally Kornbluth has been named the 18^th president of MIT.  "[Kornbluth] said that she was excited for those 'global challenges,' and that is something that has been really the mantle of MIT: solving the world’s problems with technology,” reports Janet Wu. “It sounded like she wanted to be part of that.”

Forbes contributor Michael T. Nietzel spotlights how Sally Kornbluth, the provost of Duke University, has been selected as the 18^th President-elect of MIT. “A highly accomplished researcher, Kornbluth is currently the Jo Rae Wright University Professor of Biology at Duke where she has been a member of the faculty since 1994, first in the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at the Duke University School of Medicine and then as a member of the Department of Biology in the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences,” writes Nietzel.

President-elect Sally Kornbluth discusses her hopes and aspirations for her tenure as MIT’s president with Katie Mogg of The Boston Globe. “I just want to continue the excellence of MIT,” she said. “I hope when I turn my head back down the road some years from now that this will have been viewed as a period of continued excellence, but also of the discovery, innovation, and invention of things that continue to really have a huge impact on the world stage.”

New York Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis writes that Sally Kornbluth, the 18^th President-elect of MIT, will be the “second female president of the university, and will join a long list of women in its top leadership ranks. The provost, chancellor, dean of science and chair of the M.I.T. Corporation, the school’s governing body, are all women.”

Sally Kornbluth has been named the next president of MIT, reports the Associated Press. “Maybe above all, I was drawn here because this is a moment when humanity faces huge global problems, problems that urgently demand the world’s most skillful minds and hands,” said Kornbluth. “In short, I believe this is MIT’s moment. I could not imagine a greater privilege than helping the people of MIT seize its full potential.”

During his senior year of high school, MIT first-year student Daniel Larsen successfully proved a key theorem about Carmichael numbers, entities that mimic prime numbers, writes Jordana Cepelewicz for Quanta Magazine. “His proof is really quite advanced,” says Dartmouth Prof. Carl Pomerance. “It would be a paper that any mathematician would be really proud to have written.”  

Graduate student Reilly John Nuckel, a captain in the New Jersey Air National Guard, talks with Reserve and National Guard Magazine about the importance of building community and the meaningful role the Student Veterans of America chapter plays on campus. Nuckel says he often encourages veterans who are nervous about going back to school: “You have the skills, you have the knowledge. You deserve to be in the classroom with everybody else because of the steps you took to be there.”

Fast Company reporter Nate Berg spotlights the work of Liminal, a non-profit research group developed by students from MIT and Harvard that is focused on sustainable development in small towns. “Liminal brought 18 architecture and urbanism students from MIT to Abruzzo for a three-week immersion in the region,” writes Berg, “to learn about local priorities and develop design visions for the future of its small towns.”

The MIT Spokes bike team, a group of six students, has embarked on a 3,800-mile, cross-country bike trip that features frequent stops to offer STEM workshops to middle school students, reports Lexi Schweinert for News 40.  “I think it’s exciting to be doing science,” says fourth year student Simone Lassar. “We’ve tried to make our workshops super hands on so you’re either doing something with your hands or you’re bringing something home with you. So we’ve just tried to make the workshops as interactive as possible.”

Incoming first-year student Robbie Khazan founded Kiddo Byte, an organization that offers coding classes for kids, which is now branching out to help young Ukrainian refugees, reports Jim Morelli for Boston 25 News. “It [coding] really gets the mind going,” says Khazan. “It gets critical thinking going, which is a super important skill nowadays. The more coders that they have in Ukraine, the better suited they’ll be to rebuild.”

MIT celebrated the Classes of 2020 and 2021 during a special ceremony on May 28 that featured an address by Kealoha Wong ’99, Hawaii’s first poet laureate, reports Laura Crimaldi for The Boston Globe. “We may make some esoteric discovery or some small contribution to our industries, but most likely, our most significant impact will be in our communities and in our families,” Kealoha said. “Our impact will be felt in the way that we treat others and the way that we treat ourselves.”

Next spring, the Stratton Student Center is set to undergo significant renovations, which will include “refreshing the physical space inside and outside the building, launching the Wellbeing Lab, updating dining options, and upgrading the existing infrastructure,” reports Andrea Jaba for The Tech. “This project is all about putting MIT’s students at the center of our student center,” said Chancellor Melissa Nobles. 

Graduate student and violinist Lily Tsai recently performed in a benefit concert for the Newton Food Pantry and Community Freedge, raising over $1,000, reports Charlotte Howard for The Boston Globe. “Everywhere you go there are going to be people who love to play and give back to the community and bring joy through music,” Tsai said.