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{{Short description|Private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US}}
{{Redirect|MIT}}
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{{Use American English|date=February 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019|cs1-dates=y}}
{{Infobox university
 | name                   = Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 | native_name            = 
 | image                  = MIT Seal.svg
 | image_upright          = .6
 | motto                  = {{lang|la|Mens et Manus}} (Latin)
 | mottoeng               = "Mind and Hand"<ref name="sealList of companies founded by MIT alumni">{{cite web |title=Symbols: Seal |work=MIT Graphic Identity |publisher=MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/graphicidentity/symbols/seal.html |access-date=September 8, 2010}}</ref>
 | established            = {{start date and age|1861|04|10}}
 | type                   = [[Private university|Private]] [[research university]]
 | founder                = [[William Barton Rogers]]
 | academic_affiliations  = {{hlist|[[Association of American Universities|AAU]]|[[Association of Independent Technological Universities|AITU]]|[[National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities|NAICU]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.naicu.edu/member_center/members.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109231238/http://www.naicu.edu/member_center/members.asp |url-status=dead |title=NAICU – Membership |archive-date=November 9, 2015}}</ref>|[[University Affiliated Research Center|UARC]]|[[Universities Research Association|URA]]|[[National Sea Grant College Program|Sea grant]]|[[National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program|Space grant]]}}
 | endowment              = $27.4 billion (2025)<ref>{{As of|2025|6|30}}, {{cite web |url=https://vpf.mit.edu/sites/default/files/downloads/TreasurersReport/MITTreasurersReport2025.pdf |title=Report of the Treasurer |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 14, 2025}}</ref>
 | accreditation          = [[New England Commission of Higher Education|NECHE]]
 | chancellor             = <!-- Do NOT fill this parameter for MIT. "Chancellor" as wikilinked describes the head administrator in European and British Commonwealth universities. At MIT, it describes the university officer for student and academic affairs.-->
 | president              = [[Sally Kornbluth]]
 | provost                = [[Anantha P. Chandrakasan]]
 | students               = 11,816 (Fall 2025)<ref name="Enrollment Statistics">{{cite web |title=Enrollment Statistics by Year |publisher=MIT Registrar's Office |url=https://registrar.mit.edu/statistics-reports/enrollment-statistics-year |access-date=December 30, 2025}}</ref>
 | undergrad              = 4,561 (Fall 2025)<ref name="Enrollment Statistics"/>
 | postgrad               = 7,255 (Fall 2025)<ref name="Enrollment Statistics"/>
 | city                   = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
 | state                  = 
 | country                = United States
 | campus                 = Midsize city<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=massach&s=all&id=166683 |title=College Navigator – Massachusetts Institute of Technology |website=nces.ed.gov}}</ref>
 | campus_size            = {{cvt|166|acre|ha|1}}<ref name="Campus"/>
 | free_label             = Newspaper
 | free                   = ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]''
 | mascot                 = [[Traditions and student activities at MIT#Tim the Beaver|Tim the Beaver]]<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Tim |url=https://timbeaver100.mit.edu/history-tim |website=TimBeaver100.MIT.edu |access-date=April 14, 2020}}</ref>
 | sporting_affiliations  = {{hlist|[[NCAA Division III]] – [[New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference|NEWMAC]] |[[New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association|NEISA]] |[[Collegiate Water Polo Association|CWPA]] |[[United Volleyball Conference|UVC]] |[[Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges|EARC]] |[[Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges|EAWRC]]}}
 | website                = {{URL|https://web.mit.edu/}}
 | coordinates            = {{Coord|region:US-MA_type:edu|format=dms|display=title}}
 | logo                   = MIT 2023 red logo.svg
 | logo_size              = 150px
 | faculty                = 1,090<ref name="MITFactFacStaff"/>
 | colors                 = {{college color list|team=MIT Engineers}}
 | athletics_nickname     = [[MIT Engineers|Engineers]]
 | mapframe-custom        = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=275|frame-height=145|frame-latitude=42.360|frame-longitude=-71.080|zoom=12|type=shape|stroke-color=#750014|stroke-width=2|fill=#000|fill-opacity=0.1|id=Q49108 |Title=Cambridge campus}}
}}

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The '''Massachusetts Institute of Technology''' ('''MIT''') is a [[Private university|private]] [[research university]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], United States. Founded in 1861 to advance "useful knowledge", the university has played a significant role in the development of many areas of technology and science.

[[William Barton Rogers]] founded MIT to accelerate [[Technological and industrial history of the United States|American industrialization]] through scientific knowledge. Initially funded by a [[land-grant universities|federal land grant]], the institute adopted a German polytechnic model emphasizing laboratory instruction in [[applied science]] and [[engineering]], and moved from Boston's Back Bay to its current campus in Cambridge in 1916. Early growth came through research contracts with private industry, though the institute remained financially constrained and focused primarily on practical engineering education into the 1930s.

MIT's transformation as a research enterprise began during [[World War II]], when projects like the [[MIT Radiation Laboratory|Radiation Laboratory]] made it the nation's largest non-industrial R&D contractor. Graduate enrollment and research funding grew rapidly in the postwar decades as faculty members such as [[Vannevar Bush]] helped shape federal support for basic science. In the late twentieth century, MIT became closely associated with [[computer science]], [[artificial intelligence]], [[biotechnology]], [[Open-source software movement|open-source]] software development, and [[Big science|"big science" initiatives]] like the [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] and the [[LIGO|LIGO project]]. Engineering remains its largest school, though MIT has also developed prominent programs in basic science, economics, management, architecture, and humanities.

MIT has an urban campus that extends more than a mile (1.6&nbsp;km) along the [[Charles River]]. Academic buildings are connected by an extensive corridor system. MIT's off-campus operations include the [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory|Lincoln Laboratory]] and the [[Haystack Observatory]], as well as affiliated laboratories such as the [[Broad Institute|Broad]] and [[Whitehead Institute]]s. Undergraduate life is known for [[Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program|hands-on research]] and [[Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology|elaborate pranks]]. Tuition is generally not charged to undergraduates from families with incomes below $200,000, and most graduate students are funded by research.  

{{As of|2024|10|df=US}},<!-- Edit the foregoing date to indicate when the following statistics were compiled --> [[List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation|105 Nobel laureates]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=How many Nobel Prize Laureates are affiliated with MIT? |url=https://ir.mit.edu/projects/honors-and-awards-database/ |access-date=2022-03-19 |website=MIT Admissions |language=en-US}}</ref> 26 [[Turing Award]] winners, and 8 [[Fields Medal]]ists have been affiliated with MIT as alumni, faculty members, or researchers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.csail.mit.edu/about/notable-awards |title=Notable Awards |website=MIT CSAIL |access-date=2019-10-18}}</ref>  Alumni and faculty have founded many notable companies and served in senior government positions in the United States and abroad.

== History ==
{{Main|History of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

=== Foundation and vision ===
{{blockquote|text=[...] a school of industrial science aiding the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce [...]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/about-corporation/charter/ |title=Charter of the MIT Corporation |access-date=1 April 2025}}</ref>
|author=Massachusetts General Court
|title=''Acts of 1861, Chapter 183''
}}
In 1859, a proposal was submitted to the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to use newly filled lands in [[Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts|Back Bay]], Boston for a "[[Conservatoire national des arts et métiers|Conservatory of Art and Science]]", but the proposal failed.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kneeland |first=Samuel |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/house260.pdf |title=Committee Report: Conservatory of Art and Science |publisher=Massachusetts House of Representatives, House No. 260 |date=March 1859 |access-date=June 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612090711/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/house260.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Timeline |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/mit-timeline/ |work=MIT History |publisher=MIT Institute Archives |access-date=April 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130219203038/http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/mit-timeline/ |archive-date=February 19, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A charter for the [[incorporation (business)|incorporation]] of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed by [[William Barton Rogers]], was signed by [[John Albion Andrew]], the [[governor of Massachusetts]], on April 10, 1861.<ref>{{cite web |title=Acts and Resolves of the General Court Relating to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/1861%20Charter.pdf |work=MIT History |publisher=MIT Institute Archives |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701055022/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/1861%20Charter.pdf |archive-date=July 1, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Rogers, a [[geology|geologist]] who had recently arrived in Boston from the [[University of Virginia]],<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Collection: William Barton Rogers papers {{!}} MIT ArchivesSpace |url=https://archivesspace.mit.edu/repositories/2/resources/586 |access-date=2023-01-09 |website=MIT Libraries ArchiveSpace}}</ref> wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Facts 2012: Origins and Leadership |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/origins.html |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 29, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rogers |first=William |publisher=The Committee of Associated Institutions of Science and Arts |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/objects-plan.pdf |title=Objects and Plan of an Institute of Technology: including a Society of Arts, a Museum of Arts, and a School of Industrial Science; proposed to be established in Boston |year=1861 |access-date=June 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612092224/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/objects-plan.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He did not wish to found a [[vocational education|professional school]], but a combination with elements of both professional and [[liberal education]],<ref name="Lewis Report">Lewis 1949, p. 8.</ref> proposing that:
<blockquote>The true and only practicable object of a polytechnic school is, as I conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them, and along with this, a full and methodical review of all their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/timeline/letter1846.html |title=Letter from William Barton Rogers to His Brother Henry |date=March 13, 1846 |access-date=October 2, 2010 |publisher=Institute Archives, MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105859/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/timeline/letter1846.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>

The Rogers Plan reflected the [[History of European research universities#European university models in the 19th and 20th centuries|German research university model]], emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction oriented around seminars and laboratories.<ref name="Angulo https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155 155–156">{{cite book |last=Angulo |first=A.J. |title=William Barton Rogers and the Idea of MIT |date=January 26, 2009 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155 155–156] |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-9033-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Angulo |first1=A. J. |chapter=The Initial Reception of MIT, 1860s–1880s |pages=1–28 |editor-first1=Roger L. |editor-last1=Geiger |title=Perspectives on the History of Higher Education |date=2017 |doi=10.4324/9781315126296 |isbn=978-1-315-12629-6 }}</ref>

=== Early developments ===
[[File:MIT_Rogers_Building_1872.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.7|Original [[Rogers Building (MIT)|Rogers Building]] in [[Back Bay, Boston]], 1872]]
Two days after MIT was chartered, the [[Battle of Fort Sumter|first battle]] of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] broke out. After a long delay through the war years, MIT's first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Andrews |first1=Elizabeth |first2=Nora |last2=Murphy |first3=Tom |last3=Rosko |year=2000 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/wbr-visionary/ |publisher=MIT |title=William Barton Rogers: MIT's Visionary Founder |access-date=March 8, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512091317/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/wbr-visionary/ |archive-date=May 12, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The new institute was founded as part of the [[Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act]] to fund institutions "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes" and was a land-grant school.{{sfn|Stratton|Mannix|2005|pp=251–276}}<ref name="LoC">{{cite news |title=Morrill Act:Primary Documents of American History |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Morrill.html |access-date=February 10, 2016 |work=[[Library of Congress]] |date=2016}}</ref> In 1863, under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst#History|Massachusetts Agricultural College]], which later developed into the [[University of Massachusetts Amherst]]. In 1866, the proceeds from land sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay.<ref name="BostonTech1">{{cite book |title=When MIT Was "Boston Tech", 1861–1916 |last=Prescott |first=Samuel C |year=1954 |publisher=[[MIT Press]]}}</ref>

[[File:MIT dynamo room_Boston campus c1895 cropped.png|thumb|right|250px|"Boston Tech" students with [[dynamo]]s]]
MIT was informally called "Boston Tech".<ref name="BostonTech1" /> The institute adopted the [[History of European research universities|European polytechnic university model]] and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date.<ref name="Angulo https://archive.org/details/williambartonrog00angu/page/155 155–156"/> Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President [[Francis Amasa Walker]].<ref name="Dunbar1">{{cite journal |last1=Dunbar |first1=Charles F. |title=The Career of Francis Amasa Walker |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |date=1897 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=436–448 |id={{ProQuest|127808960}} |doi=10.2307/1880719 |jstor=1880719 }}</ref> Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/tea-party/ |title=Explore campus, visit Boston, and find out if MIT fits you to a tea |date=December 16, 2006 |access-date=December 16, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Munroe1923a">{{cite book |first=James P. |last=Munroe |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |year=1923 |title=A Life of Francis Amasa Walker |location=New York |pages=233, 382}}</ref> new buildings were built, and the size of the student body increased to more than one thousand.<ref name="Dunbar1" />

The curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science.<ref>Lewis 1949, p. 12.</ref> The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership. During these "Boston Tech" years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffed [[Harvard University]] president (and former MIT faculty) [[Charles W. Eliot]]'s repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard College's [[Lawrence Scientific School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/harvard-mit/index.html |title=Alumni Petition Opposing MIT-Harvard Merger, 1904–05 |publisher=Institute Archives, MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722160408/https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/harvard-mit/index.html |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard.<ref name=Alexander>{{cite web |last1=Alexander |first1=Philip N. |title=MIT-Harvard Rivalry Timeline |url=http://mta.scripts.mit.edu/CES/mit-harvard-rivalry-timeline/ |website=MIT Music and Theater Arts News |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=July 7, 2014 |archive-date=2014-07-14  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714173624/http://mta.scripts.mit.edu/CES/mit-harvard-rivalry-timeline/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving a desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually, the MIT Corporation approved a formal agreement to merge with Harvard and move to then-remote [[Allston]], over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students, and alumni.<ref name="Alexander" /> The merger plan collapsed in 1905 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that MIT could not sell its Back Bay land.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Budari |first=Robert |title=How MIT ended up on Memorial Drive |magazine=MIT Tech Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/29/1053303/how-mit-ended-up-on-memorial-drive/ |date=29 June 2022 |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus aerial all buildings 1921 US Army cropped.png|thumb|upright=1.4|"New Technology" campus in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], opened in 1916.]]
In 1912, MIT acquired its current campus by purchasing a one-mile (1.6&nbsp;km) tract of [[land reclamation|filled lands]] along the Cambridge side of the Charles River.<ref>{{cite web |title=Souvenir Program, Dedication of Cambridge Campus, 1916 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/pageant/index.html |work=Object of the Month |publisher=MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120510124840/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/pageant/index.html |archive-date=May 10, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |publisher=J. B. Shields |title=Middlesex Canal (Massachusetts) map, 1852 |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1852_Middlesex_Canal_(Massachusetts)_map.jpg |year=1852 |access-date=September 17, 2010}}</ref><!--See also [[History of Boston#Geographic expansion|History of Boston]].|group=lower-alpha}}--> The [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] "New Technology" campus was designed by [[William W. Bosworth]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Freeman's 1912 Design for the "New Technology" |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/freeman/index.html |work=Object of the Month |publisher=MIT Institute Archives & Special Collections |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527195219/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/freeman/index.html |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious "Mr. Smith", starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialist [[George Eastman]], an inventor of film production methods and founder of [[Eastman Kodak]].{{refn|Between 1912 and 1920, Eastman donated $20 million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|20|1920|2023|r=1}}}} million in 2024 dollars) in cash and Kodak stock to MIT.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lindsay |first=David |year=2000 |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/george-eastman/ |publisher=PBS-WGBH |title=Eastman Becomes a Mystery Donor to MIT}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} In 1916, with the first academic buildings complete, the MIT administration and the MIT charter crossed the [[Charles River]] on the ceremonial barge ''Bucentaur'' built for the occasion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://museum.mit.edu/nom150/entries/546 |title=MIT150 Exhibition Nomination |website=museum.mit.edu |access-date=2016-01-03 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305232529/http://museum.mit.edu/nom150/entries/546 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://webmuseum.mit.edu/media.php?module=subjects&type=popular&kv=9&media=20 |title=MIT Museum |website=webmuseum.mit.edu |access-date=2016-01-03  |archive-date=2023-08-10  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810230416/https://webmuseum.mit.edu/media.php?module=subjects&type=popular&kv=9&media=20 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Industry dependence and reform===
Unlike the [[Ivy League]] universities, MIT drew an unusually large share of its students from families of moderate means and depended heavily on [[tuition]] rather than [[Financial endowment|endowment]] income for its operating budget.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=13–14}} The "Technology Plan," launched by President [[Richard C. Maclaurin|Richard Maclaurin]] in 1919, sought to deepen industry patronage. Under the plan, corporations paid MIT an annual retaining fee in exchange for access to faculty, library resources, and technical services.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|2010|pp=65–66}} By the late 1920s, more than a third of the teaching staff were engaged in research, testing, or consulting for industry, with MIT handling an expanding volume of corporate contracts.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|2010|pp=69–70}} An industry orientation meant that salaries and faculty research funds lagged behind those at other East Coast research universities, heavy work on industry problems limited basic research, and foundations would not fund an institution solving industrial problems.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=179–181}}{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=157}} By the late 1920s MIT was regarded by elite universities as a "mere engineering school servicing industry".{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=156–157}}

[[File:Karl Compton Vannevar Bush MIT Presidents Office 1932.jpg|thumb|right|[[Vannevar Bush]] (l) and [[Karl Compton]] (r) led reforms to funding and curriculum]]
A mandate for reform came from board members tied to industry research: [[Gerard Swope]], president of [[General Electric]], and [[Frank B. Jewett]], head of [[Bell Telephone Laboratories]]. Both argued that practice-oriented training was obsolete and industry needed engineers grounded in fundamental science.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|2010|pp=70–71}}{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=157–158}} In 1930 they recruited the physicist [[Karl Taylor Compton|Karl Compton]] to carry out a broad program of reform.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=157}}

As president, Compton overhauled the science departments first, recruiting a cohort of research-oriented faculty.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=159–160}} In 1932, he reorganized MIT into schools of engineering, science, and architecture, created a formal [[graduate school]], and appointed [[Vannevar Bush]] as vice president and dean of engineering.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=163}} To relieve dependence on industry, the pair centralized all industrial contracts, established a patent licensing program, and curtailed faculty consulting.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=163–165}}{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=181–182}} Compton also secured research grants from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] and other philanthropies, tripling annual foundation support, and campaigned for federal government support of university science.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=159}}{{Sfn|Kevles|1995|p=252–257}} 

The reforms were uneven. Physics, chemistry, and electrical engineering advanced rapidly, but much of the engineering school did virtually no research well into the 1930s. Faculty resisted changes to shop practice and consulting arrangements.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=165–166}} Even so, by the mid-1930s, MIT had been admitted to the [[Association of American Universities]], the organization of the nation's top research universities.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=156}}{{Sfn|Lécuyer|2010|p=75}} The institutional changes of this decade positioned MIT to take a leading role in wartime research after 1940.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=170–171}}

=== Defense research ===
{{See|MIT Radiation Laboratory}}
[[File:Naval Radar Training school GCP-00075994 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|Navy recruits training on [[MIT Radiation Laboratory|Rad Lab]] radar systems]]
In June 1940, Vannevar Bush, who had left MIT's administration to lead the [[Carnegie Institution]] in Washington, persuaded President Roosevelt to create the [[National Defense Research Committee]] (NDRC) to mobilize civilian science for defense.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=6–7}} The NDRC's first major project was a laboratory for microwave radar research. After other proposed sites fell through, Bush and other science administrators turned to Compton, who agreed to host the project at MIT.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=9–10}}{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=21–22}}

The [[MIT Radiation Laboratory|Radiation Laboratory]], as it was called to conceal its purpose, opened in 1940 and grew from a staff of thirty to roughly 4,000 and rivaled the [[Manhattan Project]] in scale: the NDRC division under which it operated expended some $1.5 billion on radar systems.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|p=9}}{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|p=22}} The Rad Lab contract was the first and largest wartime research agreement between the federal government and a university; its terms became a model for postwar government–university contracts.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=9–10}}{{Sfn|Burchard|1948|pp=215–221}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Other wartime projects at MIT included [[Charles Stark Draper]]'s gyroscopic gunsights for the Navy, Gordon Brown's work on feedback-control systems in the [[Servomechanisms Laboratory]], and dozens of smaller efforts across the Institute.{{Sfn|Burchard|1948|pp=127–143}}{{Sfn|Douglas|2010|pp=90–92}}}} By war's end MIT had received $117 million (${{Inflation|index=US|value=1.17|start_year=1945|r=1}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}) in government R&D contracts, more than any industrial contractor and roughly a third of all NDRC spending on university research.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|p=7}}{{Sfn|Kevles|1995|p=342}}

[[File:Margaret Hamilton - restoration.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.65|[[Margaret Hamilton (software engineer)|Margaret Hamilton]] wrote guidance code for the Apollo moon landings]]
The Rad Lab closed in 1945, but opened a new era of large military research contracts at MIT. New interdepartmental laboratories took shape: the [[Research Laboratory of Electronics]] (1946) inherited the Rad Lab's facilities and an Army–Navy contract for basic research in microwaves and electronics; the [[Laboratory for Nuclear Science]] (1946) opened with Navy support; [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory|Lincoln Laboratory]] (1951) was created to develop a [[Semi-Automatic Ground Environment|continental air-defense radar network]] for the Air Force.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=66–67}}{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=15–16, 38–39, 144–145}} [[Charles Stark Draper]]'s wartime gunsight laboratory, renamed the [[Draper Laboratory|Instrumentation Laboratory]], expanded into inertial guidance for [[ballistic missile]]s and computerized guidance for the [[Apollo Guidance Computer|Apollo lunar mission]].{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=90–94}} The new laboratories became the primary training ground for graduate students in science and engineering and spawned dozens of firms along the [[Route 128 (Massachusetts)|Route 128]] corridor.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=15–16}} 
{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Research outgrowths of the interdepartmental laboratories included:: 
* [[Magnetic-core memory]] developments by [[Jay Forrester]];
* [[Information theory]] by [[Claude Shannon]] and [[Robert Fano]]; 
* [[Cybernetics]] writings by [[Norbert Wiener]];
* [[Generative grammar]] by [[Noam Chomsky]];
* [[Artificial intelligence]] by [[Marvin Minsky]].{{Sfn|Wildes|Lindgren|1985}}{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=15–16}}}}

The cumulative effect transformed MIT into a different kind of institution. Between the early 1930s and the mid-1950s, the faculty doubled and the graduate student body quintupled.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=179}} Federal funding, negligible before the war, reached $38 million by 1944, and by 1957 research expenditures represented 72 percent of MIT's operating budget.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=174}}<ref name="Canizares2007">{{cite web |last=Canizares |first=Claude R. |title=Sixty-six Years of Sponsored Research |url=https://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/193/canizares.html |work=MIT Faculty Newsletter |volume=XIX |issue=3 |date=January 2007 |access-date=March 1, 2026}}</ref> The Department of Defense was the dominant sponsor for much of this period.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=15–16}}<ref name="Canizares2007"/> By 1962 the physicist [[Alvin Weinberg]], coiner of the term "[[big science]]," said it was difficult "to tell whether MIT is a university with many government research laboratories appended to it or a cluster of government research laboratories with a very good educational institution attached to it."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weinberg |first=Alvin M. |title=The Federal Laboratories and Science Education |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=136 |issue=3512 |date=April 6, 1962 |page=30 |doi=10.1126/science.136.3512.27}}</ref>{{Sfn|Kaiser|2010|pp=104–105}}

==== Vietnam-era opposition ====
Most defense-funded work on campus was basic and unclassified.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=15–16}}<ref name="Canizares2007"/> The major exception was the Instrumentation Laboratory, where "Doc" Draper's practice of carrying projects from conception through deployment had made the lab an anomaly in university research.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=248–249}} Its work on guidance systems for [[UGM-73 Poseidon|Poseidon]] [[MIRV]] warheads drew particular criticism as destabilizing the Cold War arms race.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=233–235}} 

[[File:Charles Draper and Instrumentation Laboratory picketers 1969-04-23 cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Draper and picketers at the Instrumentation Lab]]
Opposition to the [[Vietnam War]] brought these tensions to a head. On March 4, 1969, students and faculty organized a research stoppage to protest the military applications of science; out of the faculty effort grew the [[Union of Concerned Scientists]].{{Sfn|Nelkin|1972|pp=55–58}}{{sfn|Bridger|2015|pp=164–165}} President [[Howard Wesley Johnson|Howard Johnson]] convened a review panel on the Instrumentation Lab and Lincoln Lab, chaired by Sloan School dean William Pounds, even as demonstrations continued into the fall. 

The Pounds Panel reaffirmed the place of the labs at MIT and recommended diversification and oversight, not military divestiture.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=235–237}}{{Sfn|Nelkin|1972|pp=79–80}} In May 1970, Johnson announced that the Instrumentation Laboratory would be separated from MIT, and it became the independent [[Draper Laboratory]] in 1973.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=239–243}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Johnson's action ran contrary to the  activists' demands and the Pounds Panel recommendations. Most activists had sought conversion of the laboratories to civilian research, not divestiture, predicting that an independent laboratory would pursue weapons work without academic restraint.{{Sfn|Nelkin|1972|pp=78–79}} Only two members of the 22-member panel had recommended separation.{{Sfn|Nelkin|1972|pp=79–80}}{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=236–237}} After separation, the Draper Laboratory immediately became the largest nonprofit defense R&D contractor in the country, with DOD obligations exceeding 90 percent of its funding.{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=244–245}}}} MIT established a policy that on-campus research must be open and publishable, and classified work was consolidated at [[MIT Lincoln Laboratory|Lincoln Laboratory]]'s off-campus site.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=249–250}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|After the recommendation to diversify funding, Lincoln remained tilted toward military projects in the subsequent decade. By the mid-1980s roughly a quarter of its budget came from the [[Strategic Defense Initiative]].{{Sfn|Leslie|1993|pp=244–245}}{{Sfn|Bridger|2015|pp=191–192}}}}

=== Postwar educational reform ===
The Institute's new scale and resources raised questions about its educational direction. By 1946, research dwarfed the academic budget.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=175–176}} The number of graduate students rose from roughly 700 in 1940 to 2,700 by 1959; the ratio of graduate to undergraduate students shifted from about 1:3 before the war to nearly 1:1.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=179}} Federal research contracts, which supported research assistants, drove much of this growth. By the late 1950s, MIT had "virtually become a graduate school with a strong undergraduate school."{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=179}}

At Vice President [[James Killian]]'s urging in 1947, MIT faculty formed a Committee on Educational Survey chaired by chemical engineer [[Warren K. Lewis]].{{Sfn|Killian|1985|pp=79–80}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Killian, appointed president a year later in 1948, promoted the adoption of the committee's ideas.}} After two years of study, the Lewis Committee produced a landmark report.{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|p=65}} It reaffirmed the founding principle that the undergraduate program should integrate useful training and liberal education, and warned that a preoccupation with research was coming at the expense of undergraduate teaching.{{Sfn|Lewis Committee|1949|pp=15–22}}{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=65–66}} It called for MIT students to build creative and intellectual autonomy rather than command of routine procedures.{{Sfn|Lewis Committee|1949|pp=15–17}}{{Sfn|Geiger|1993|pp=65–66}}

In 1950, the Corporation approved the committee's recommendation for a [[MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences|School of Humanities and Social Studies]] to stand on equal footing with the existing schools.{{Sfn|Lewis Committee|1949|pp=43–44}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The humanities and social sciences had previously been organized as a division with lower institutional status and no authority to grant degrees. The school later became known as the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences}} The new school offered general education for undergraduates alongside graduate programs in political science, economics, linguistics, and [[science and technology studies]].{{Sfn|Killian|1985|pp=221–222}}

Reform in engineering met greater resistance. Professors hired to advance applied science in the 1930s were opposed by older faculty attached to practical instruction and shop-centered training.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|pp=178–179}} In mechanical engineering, [[Richard Söderberg]] and reformers dismantled machinery laboratories. [[Gordon S. Brown|Gordon Brown]] gave higher priority to modern physics within electrical engineering and instituted new programs in engineering science across departments.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=179}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Brown originally advanced these ideas as head of electrical engineering. When he became dean of engineering in 1959, a [[Ford Foundation]] grant extended the engineering-science approach to metallurgy, mechanical engineering, and aeronautical engineering.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=179}}{{Sfn|Killian|1985|pp=182–183}}}} These changes, part of a national movement to put engineering education on scientific footing, reshaped the MIT undergraduate experience in a single generation.{{Sfn|Lécuyer|1992|p=180}}

New educational experiments sought to improve undergraduate training. In 1957, [[Edwin H. Land]], the inventor of instant photography, gave a lecture arguing that students should engage in original research from their arrival on campus, working with faculty rather than waiting years to reach the research frontier.{{Sfn|Killian|1985|pp=174–177}} In 1969, the new [[Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program]] (UROP), directed by physicist [[Margaret MacVicar]], allowed undergraduates to participate in research projects across the Institute. This was widely adopted at other schools and was later identified by [[Clark Kerr]] as one of the few genuine university reforms from the 1960s.{{Sfn|Kerr|2001|p=127}}

=== Recent history ===
<!-- Additions to Recent history should have long-term and broad institutional significance. See comment at end of section before adding new material. -->
==== Life sciences ====
From the 1970s onward, MIT's reduced portfolio of on-campus defense research was matched by a rise in federal health research.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The share of on-campus research supported by the Department of Health and Human Services rose from 16 percent in 1970 to 33 percent by 2006, while the Department of Defense's share fell from 28 to 15 percent.<ref name="Canizares2007"/>}}{{Sfn|Sharp|2006}} The Center for Cancer Research, opened in 1974 in a converted candy factory (E17) on Ames Street, marked a turning point. Founded by [[Salvador Luria]] with a [[National Cancer Institute]] grant and staffed by a cohort recruited with [[David Baltimore]], including [[Phillip Allen Sharp|Phillip Sharp]], [[Nancy Hopkins (scientist)|Nancy Hopkins]], and [[Robert Weinberg (biologist)|Robert Weinberg]], the center quickly became one of the strongest groups in cancer biology in the country.{{Sfn|Durant|2010|pp=148–149}}{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 7}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Baltimore received the [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] the following year; Sharp shared the prize in 1993 for his discovery of [[RNA splicing]].{{Sfn|Durant|2010|pp=156–157}}}}

After a contentious public debate over [[recombinant DNA]] research was resolved by a Cambridge city ordinance in 1977, MIT expanded biological research through a series of independent but affiliated research institutes whose investigators hold MIT faculty appointments.{{Sfn|Durant|2010|pp=149–158}} The [[Whitehead Institute]] (1982) added sixteen investigators to the biology community. Mathematician [[Eric Lander]], working from the Whitehead, established a genome center in 1990 that became a major contributor to the [[Human Genome Project]].{{Sfn|Sharp|2006}}{{Sfn|Durant|2010|p=157}} The [[Broad Institute]] (2003), a joint enterprise with Harvard, grew out of that effort into one of the largest genomic research operations in the world.{{Sfn|Sharp|2006}}{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 7}} The [[McGovern Institute for Brain Research]] (2001) and the [[Picower Institute for Learning and Memory]] (2002) extended the model into the neurosciences.{{Sfn|Sharp|2006}} New buildings for biology, neuroscience, genomics, and cancer research rose on the northeast campus. In 1998, a new Department of Biological Engineering was created at the interface of molecular biology and engineering.{{Sfn|Sharp|2006}}

Investments in the life sciences induced a biotechnology [[Cluster theory|industry cluster]] around Kendall Square. Homegrown firms such as [[Biogen]] and [[Genzyme]] first expanded in the area. In 2002, [[Novartis]] relocated its research headquarters to Cambridge, a decision that drew virtually every major pharmaceutical company to follow over the next decade.{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 16}} In 2004, the appointment of neuroscientist [[Susan Hockfield]] as MIT's sixteenth president, the first life scientist to lead MIT, reflected the programs' maturity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.mit.edu/2004/president-announcement |title=Dr. Susan Hockfield selected 16th president |publisher=MIT News |date=August 26, 2004 |access-date=March 29, 2026}}</ref> 
In 2006, President Hockfield launched the [[MIT Energy Initiative]] to investigate challenges posed by increasing [[World energy resources and consumption|global energy consumption]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About MITEI |url=http://web.mit.edu/mitei/about/index.html |publisher=MIT Energy Initiative |access-date=May 31, 2012}}</ref>

====Computation====
[[File:MIT Media Lab.jpg|thumb|right|The 1985 [[MIT Media Lab]] building, designed by [[I.M. Pei]], houses researchers developing novel uses of computer technology.]]
Programs that emerged from defense projects—[[Project Whirlwind|Whirlwind]], the Research Laboratory of Electronics, and the [[SAGE (computer)|SAGE]] air-defense system—gave rise in the 1960s to digital computing laboratories. [[Project MAC]], launched in 1963 with [[ARPA]] funding, drew researchers from scattered departments into a single effort around [[time-sharing]] and [[artificial intelligence]].{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 8}}<ref name="LeeMcCarthy1992">{{cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=J. A. N. |last2=McCarthy |first2=J. |last3=Licklider |first3=J. C. R. |title=The beginnings at MIT |journal=[[IEEE Annals of the History of Computing]] |year=1992 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=18–54 |doi=10.1109/85.145317}}</ref> Project MAC was reorganized in 1976 as the [[MIT Laboratory for Computer Science|Laboratory for Computer Science]] (LCS).{{Sfn|Wildes|Lindgren|1985|loc=ch. 22}} A culture of student programmers grew out of the [[Tech Model Railroad Club]], whose members were more drawn to the electrical switching systems beneath the layout than to the trains themselves.{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 8}}{{Sfn|Raymond|2001|loc=ch. 1}} These groups became the nucleus of the [[MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|AI Laboratory]], regarded as the birthplace of [[Hacker culture|hacker culture]].{{Sfn|Raymond|2001|loc=ch. 1}} When commercial pressures began pulling researchers into spinoff companies in the early 1980s, [[Richard Stallman]] responded by launching the [[GNU Project]] (1983) and the [[Free Software Foundation]] (1985), establishing a framework for [[free software]] that shaped the later [[open-source software|open-source]] movement.{{Sfn|Raymond|2001|loc=chs. 1, 6}} 

In 1983, MIT launched [[Project Athena]], an eight-year partnership with [[IBM]] and the [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] that placed networked workstations across campus and produced widely adopted infrastructure, including the [[Kerberos (protocol)|Kerberos]] authentication protocol and the [[X Window System]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Frederick |first=Eva Charles Anna |title=Looking back at Project Athena |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/looking-back-project-athena-1011 |publisher=MIT News, School of Engineering |date=November 11, 2018 |access-date=March 29, 2026}}</ref> In 1985, [[Nicholas Negroponte]] and former MIT president [[Jerome Wiesner]] founded the [[MIT Media Lab|Media Lab]], which focused on integration of computing with communication, design, and the arts, drawing researchers including [[Marvin Minsky]] and [[Seymour Papert]] from the AI Lab.{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 14}} Its industry sponsorship model helped draw technology firms to establish research outposts in nearby [[Kendall Square]].{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 14}}

In 1994, [[Tim Berners-Lee]] established the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] (W3C) at the Laboratory for Computer Science to develop open standards for the web.{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 14}} In 2003, the AI Laboratory and LCS merged to form the [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory]] (CSAIL), now the largest research laboratory at the Institute.{{Sfn|Buderi|2022|loc=ch. 14}} Open-access ideas running from the AI Lab found new expression when MIT launched [[MIT OpenCourseWare|OpenCourseWare]] in 2002, a project whose architects explicitly drew on the open-source principle that knowledge systems should be freely accessible.<ref name="Vest2001">{{cite web |last=Vest |first=Charles M. |title=Disturbing the Educational Universe |year=2001 |url=https://web.mit.edu/president/communications/rpt00-01.html}}</ref><ref name="Abelson2008">{{cite journal |last=Abelson |first=Harold |author-link=Hal Abelson |title=The creation of OpenCourseWare at MIT |journal=Journal of Science Education and Technology |year=2008 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=164–174 |doi=10.1007/s10956-007-9060-8}}</ref> In 2018, MIT announced the creation of the [[MIT Schwarzman College of Computing|Schwarzman College of Computing]], a billion-dollar initiative to integrate artificial intelligence research and education across the Institute.<ref name="Gershgorn">{{cite news |last=Gershgorn |first=Dave |url=https://qz.com/1424832/mits-billion-dollar-ai-school-isnt-just-for-coders/ |title=MIT is building a billion-dollar college dedicated to AI |work=Quartz |date=October 15, 2018 |access-date=October 16, 2018}}</ref>

====Institutional life====
In 1991, the [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice]] sued MIT and the eight [[Ivy League]] universities, alleging that their practice of jointly setting need-based financial aid for commonly admitted students violated [[Sherman Antitrust Act|antitrust law]]. The other schools signed [[consent decree]]s and MIT contested the suit alone under [[Charles M. Vest|Charles Vest]].{{Sfn|Keyser|2011|pp=53–54}}{{Sfn|Bamberger|Carlton|2000}}{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Responding to the antitrust allegations, MIT argued that aid allocations were charitable functions rather than commercial and directed limited aid toward the students who needed it most.{{Sfn|Bamberger|Carlton|2000}}}} A federal appeals court ruled in MIT's favor in 1993, and Congress subsequently passed legislation permitting need-based aid coordination among universities.{{Sfn|Bamberger|Carlton|2000}}

In 1999, a committee of women faculty in the School of Science, led by biologist Nancy Hopkins, published a report documenting that senior women faculty received less laboratory space, lower salaries, and fewer institutional resources than male colleagues of comparable rank.{{Sfn|Zernike|2023|loc=ch. 21}}<ref>{{cite web |title=A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT |url=https://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html |work=MIT Faculty Newsletter |volume=XI |issue=4 |date=March 1999 |access-date=March 31, 2026}}</ref> President Vest publicly acknowledged the findings, writing that he now understood gender discrimination at MIT to be "far more reality than perception."{{Sfn|Zernike|2023|loc=ch. 21}} The report prompted policy changes across MIT's schools, spurred similar investigations at nine other universities, and was credited with advancing gender parity in academic science nationally.{{Sfn|Zernike|2023|loc=epilogue}}

Three days after the [[Boston Marathon bombing]] of April 2013, [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department|MIT Police]] officer [[Sean Collier]] was fatally shot by the bombers on campus, setting off a manhunt that shut down much of the Boston metropolitan area.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/officers-killing-spurred-pursuit-in-boston-attack.html |title=Officer's Killing Spurred Pursuit in Boston Attack |date=April 24, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |last1=Ruderman |first1=Wendy |last2=Kovaleski |first2=Serge |last3=Cooper |first3=Michael}}</ref> His memorial service drew more than 10,000 people.<ref name=Bidgood>{{cite news |last=Bidgood |first=Jess |title=On a Field at M.I.T., 10,000 Remember an Officer Who Was Killed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/boston-marathon-bombings-developments.html?_r=0 |access-date=January 30, 2014 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 24, 2013}}</ref>
<!-- This section covers events with long-term bearing on MIT's institutional history and culture, not active campus news. Please see [[Wikipedia:Recentism|WP:Recentism]] for general principles for evaluating historical notability. For active news and controversies, consider writing Wikinews articles or adding to pages devoted to current events. See talk page for past discussions about coverage.-->

== Campus ==
{{Main|Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

[[File:MIT Main Campus aerial.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|MIT's central campus from above the [[Harvard Bridge]]. Left of center is the Great Dome, with the Stata Center and Kendall Square behind.]]
MIT's {{cvt|166|acre|ha|1|adj=on}} campus in the city of [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]] spans approximately a mile along the north side of the [[Charles River]] basin.<ref name="Campus">{{cite web |title=The Campus |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/campus.html |publisher=MIT Facts 2018 |access-date=November 11, 2018}}</ref> The campus is divided roughly in half by [[Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)|Massachusetts Avenue]], with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. The bridge closest to MIT is the [[Harvard Bridge]], which is known for being marked off in a [[List of humorous units of measurement|non-standard unit of length]] – the [[smoot]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/article/20983/ |title=Smoot's Legacy: 50th anniversary of famous feat nears |access-date=August 13, 2008 |journal=[[Technology Review]] |last=Durant |first=Elizabeth |archive-date=2012-01-11  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111082013/http://www.technologyreview.com/article/20983/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Measure of This Man Is in the Smoot; MIT's Human Yardstick Honored for Work |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 8, 2005 |last=Fahrenthold |first=David}}</ref>

The [[Kendall/MIT station|Kendall/MIT]] [[MBTA subway|subway]] station is located on the northeastern edge of the campus, in [[Kendall Square]]. Since the 1960s, MIT and other firms have intensively developed high-rise educational, retail, residential, startup incubator, and office space around the station. The Cambridge neighborhoods surrounding MIT are a mixture of modern offices for high-tech firms, old industry buildings, and low-rise residential neighborhoods.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cambridge: Just the Facts (City Facts Brochure) |url=http://www.cambridgema.gov |publisher=City of Cambridge |access-date=May 31, 2012}}</ref><ref name="BO"/> The [[MIT Museum]] has moved immediately adjacent to a Kendall Square subway entrance, joining the [[List Visual Arts Center]] on the eastern end of the campus.<ref name="New MIT Museum Location">{{cite web |title=New MIT Museum Invites Exploration and Discussion |url=https://spectrum.mit.edu/spring-2022/new-mit-museum-in-kendall-square-invites-exploration-and-discussion/ |website=spectrum.mit.edu |publisher=MIT |access-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref>

Each building at MIT [[Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Campus organization|has a number]] (possibly preceded by a ''W'', ''N'', ''E'', or ''NW'') designation, and most have a name as well. Typically, academic and office buildings are referred to primarily by number while residence halls are referred to by name. The organization of building numbers roughly corresponds to the order in which the buildings were built and their location relative (north, west, and east) to the original center cluster of Maclaurin buildings.<ref name="Numbering system">{{cite web |url=http://studentlife.mit.edu/mindandhandbook/campus-life/building-history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222150052/http://studentlife.mit.edu/mindandhandbook/campus-life/building-history |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2010 |title=Building History and Numbering System |publisher=Mind and Hand Book, MIT |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref> Many of the buildings are connected above ground as well as through an extensive network of tunnels, providing protection from the Cambridge weather as well as a venue for [[roof and tunnel hacking]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mit.edu/facilities/maps/tunnelMap.pdf |title=MIT Campus Subterranean Map |publisher=MIT Department of Facilities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731034447/http://mit.edu/facilities/maps/tunnelMap.pdf |archive-date=July 31, 2010 |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='Hackers' Skirt Security in Late-Night MIT Treks |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |last=Abel |first=David |date=March 30, 2000}}</ref>

The campus' primary energy source is natural gas. In connection with capital campaigns to expand the campus, the Institute has also extensively renovated existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency. MIT has also taken steps to reduce its environmental impact by running [[alternative fuel]] campus shuttles, subsidizing [[CharlieCard|public transportation passes]], constructing [[Carbon offsets and credits|solar power offsets]], and building a [[cogeneration]] plant to power campus electricity, heating, and cooling requirements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/environment/commitment/conservation.html |title=The Environment at MIT: Conservation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104133307/http://web.mit.edu/environment/commitment/conservation.html |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |publisher=MIT |access-date=August 11, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Carrington |first=Don |title= Mass. entities claim solar power on N.C. grid will offset carbon use |newspaper=Carolina Journal |date=26 April 2017 |url=https://www.carolinajournal.com/massachusetts-entities-claim-solar-power-on-n-c-grid-will-offset-carbon-use/ |accessdate=20 August 2024}}</ref>

===Research facilities===
[[MIT Nuclear Research Reactor|MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap6-nrl.shtml |title=MIT Course Catalogue |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104182125/http://web.mit.edu/catalogue/overv.chap6-nrl.shtml |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 14, 2008}}</ref> is one of the most powerful university-based [[nuclear reactor]]s in the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/LooseNukes/ |title=Loose Nukes: A Special Report |work=ABC News |access-date=April 14, 2007}}</ref> but MIT maintains that it is well-secured.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/reactor.html |title=MIT Assures Community of Research Reactor Safety |publisher=MIT News Office |date=October 13, 2005 |access-date=October 5, 2006}}</ref>

MIT Nano, also known as Building 12, is the campus' central facility for nanoscale research. Its {{cvt|100000|sqft|adj=on}} [[cleanroom]] and research space, visible through glass panels, is the largest research facility of its kind in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mitnano.mit.edu/research-capabilities |title=Research Capabilities &#124; MIT.nano |website=mitnano.mit.edu}}</ref> At US$400 million to construct, it is also one of the costliest buildings on campus. The facility also provides nanoimaging capabilities with vibration damped imaging and metrology suites sitting atop a {{cvt|5|e6lb|kg|adj=on}} slab of concrete underground.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chandler |first1=David |title=A big new home for the ultrasmall |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-nano-building-open-0924 |agency=MIT News |date=September 23, 2018}}</ref>

Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized [[wind tunnel]] for testing [[Aerodynamics|aerodynamic]] research, a [[ship model basin|towing tank]] for testing ship and ocean structure designs, and previously [[Alcator C-Mod]], which was the largest fusion device operated by any university.<ref>{{cite news |title=Supersonic Tunnel Open; Naval Laboratory for Aircraft Dedicated at M.I.T. |work=The New York Times |date=December 2, 1949}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ship Test Tank for M.I.T.; Dr. Killian Announces Plant to Cost $500,000 |work=The New York Times |date=February 6, 1949}}</ref> MIT's campus-wide wireless network was completed in the fall of 2005 and consists of nearly 3,000 access points covering {{cvt|9.4|e6sqft|m2}} of campus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://senseable.mit.edu/news/on_us/CNN4November2005.htm |title=MIT maps wireless users across campus |date=November 4, 2005 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |publisher=MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905081952/http://senseable.mit.edu/news/on_us/CNN4November2005.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2006}}</ref>

=== Architecture ===
[[File:Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (54960815718).jpg|thumb|MIT's Building 10 and Great Dome overlooking Killian Court]]

MIT has a history of commissioning innovative buildings.<ref name="Starchitecture">{{cite news |title=Starchitecture on Campus |url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/02/22/starchitecture_on_campus/ |date=February 22, 2004 |access-date=October 24, 2006 |work=The Boston Globe |first=David |last=Dillon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040624133145/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2004/02/22/starchitecture_on_campus/ |archive-date=24 June 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=At MIT, Going Boldly Where No Architect Has Gone Before |last=Flint |first=Anthony |date=October 13, 2002 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref> The first buildings for the Cambridge campus, completed in 1916 and designed by [[William Welles Bosworth]], were the first non-industrial buildings built from reinforced concrete in the United States.{{refn|Historically, the neoclassical buildings numbered 1–6 and 10 are known as the "Bosworth buildings" or "Maclaurin buildings" after [[Richard C. Maclaurin|the MIT president]] who led MIT during their construction. MIT publications also refer to them as the "Main Group"—including 7 and 8, which were later additions.<ref>{{cite web |last=Trafton |first=Anne |title=MIT’s past and future |url=https://news.mit.edu/2016/symposium-then-now-next-0401 |date=1 April 2016}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}<ref name="Jarzombek1">{{Cite book |last=Jarzombek |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Jarzombek |title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech |place=Boston |year=2004 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |pages=50–51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiwRGc3E7Z8C |isbn=978-1-55553-619-0}}</ref> Bosworth's idea—industrial efficiency inside, classical aesthetics outside—was influenced by the [[City Beautiful movement]] of the early 1900s. His design features the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]]-esque Great Dome overlooking Killian Court, where [[graduation]] ceremonies are held each year.<ref name="Jarzombek1" /> The friezes of the limestone-clad buildings around Killian Court are engraved with the names of important scientists and philosophers.{{refn|The friezes of the marble-clad buildings surrounding Killian Court are carved in large Roman letters with the names of [[Aristotle]], [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], [[Louis Pasteur|Pasteur]], [[Antoine Lavoisier|Lavoisier]], [[Michael Faraday|Faraday]], [[Archimedes]], [[Leonardo da Vinci|da Vinci]], [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], and [[Nicolaus Copernicus|Copernicus]]; each of these names is surmounted by a cluster of appropriately related names in smaller letters. Lavoisier, for example, is placed in the company of [[Robert Boyle|Boyle]], [[Henry Cavendish|Cavendish]], [[Joseph Priestley|Priestley]], [[John Dalton|Dalton]], [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac|Gay Lussac]], [[Jöns Jakob Berzelius|Berzelius]], [[Friedrich Wöhler|Woehler]], [[Justus von Liebig|Liebig]], [[Robert Bunsen|Bunsen]], [[Dmitri Mendeleev|Mendelejeff]] {{sic}}, [[Sir William Henry Perkin|Perkin]], and [[Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff|van't Hoff]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html |title=Names of MIT Buildings |publisher=MIT Archives |access-date=April 10, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100519104929/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/index.html |archive-date=May 19, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=TechNames>{{cite news |title=Names on Institute Buildings Lend Inspiration to Future Scientists |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/the-tech.html |access-date=May 30, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=XLII |number=70 |date=December 22, 1922 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013722/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/exhibits/names/the-tech.html |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> |group=lower-alpha}} The [[Infinite Corridor]] runs the east-west length of the Bosworth's buildings, beginning at Lobby 7 despite a name suggesting it has no beginning.<ref name="BO"/> 

[[File:Ray and Maria Stata Center (MIT).JPG|thumb|upright=1|The [[Stata Center]] houses [[CSAIL]], [[MIT Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems|LIDS]], linguistics, and philosophy.]]
Buildings on the modern campus, many connected to the Bosworth's original buildings, range from utilitarian to high design. The demolished [[Building 20]] and surviving Building 24, constructed cheaply with little architectural effort, have been acclaimed for their research utility.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brand |first=Stewart |title=How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built |title-link=How Buildings Learn |year=1994 |publisher=Penguin |location=New York |pages=24–28}}</ref> After World War II, MIT commissioned many of its new buildings from high-profile architects. Among the post-war [[modernist architecture]] on campus is [[Alvar Aalto]]'s Baker House (1947), [[Eero Saarinen]]'s [[MIT Chapel]] and [[Kresge Auditorium]] (1955), and [[I.M. Pei]]'s four research buildings: [[Green Building (MIT)|Green]], Dreyfus, Landau, and [[Wiesner Building|Wiesner]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Colleges: More Than Ivy-Covered Halls |date=March 2, 1986 |last=Campbell |first=Robert |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889750,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081222124045/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889750,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2008 |title=Challenge to the Rectangle |work=Time Magazine |access-date=August 13, 2008 |date=June 29, 1953}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869832,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114202627/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869832,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 14, 2009 |title=Flagpole in the Square |work=Time Magazine |date=August 22, 1960 |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref> 

More recent buildings like [[Frank Gehry]]'s [[Stata Center]] (2004), [[Steven Holl]]'s [[List of MIT undergraduate dormitories#Simmons Hall|Simmons Hall]] (2002), [[Charles Correa]]'s Building 46 (2005), and [[Fumihiko Maki]]'s Media Lab Extension (2009) stand out among the Boston area's traditional architecture as examples of contemporary campus "[[starchitect]]ure".<ref name="Starchitecture"/><ref>{{Cite news |title=Architecture's Brand Names Come to Town |work=The Boston Globe |date=May 20, 2001 |last=Campbell |first=Robert}}</ref> These high-end buildings have not always been well received;<ref>{{cite news |title=The Campuses of Cambridge, A City Unto Themselves |last=Paul |first=James |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 9, 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/23/AR2007112300679_pf.html |title=The Hubris of a Great Artist Can Be a Gift or a Curse |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Lewis |first=Roger K. |date=November 24, 2007 |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref> in 2010, ''[[The Princeton Review]]'' included MIT in a list of twenty schools whose campuses are "tiny, unsightly, or both".<ref>{{cite web |title=2010 361 Best College Rankings: Quality of Life: Campus Is Tiny, Unsightly, or Both |url=http://www.princetonreview.com/schools/college/CollegeRankings.aspx?iid=1023832 |publisher=Princeton Review |year=2010 |access-date=July 6, 2010}}</ref>

=== Housing ===
{{Main|Housing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{See also|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities, sororities, and ILGs}}
[[File:Simmons Hall, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG|thumb|right|[[Housing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Simmons Hall|Simmons Hall]], an undergraduate dormitory.]]

Undergraduates are guaranteed four-year housing in one of MIT's 11 undergraduate dormitories.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://studentlife.mit.edu/housing/undergraduate-housing/residence-halls |title=Undergraduate Residence Halls |author=MIT Housing Office |access-date=October 1, 2010}}</ref> Those living on campus can receive support and mentoring from live-in graduate students and faculty.<ref>{{cite web |title=Residential Life Live-in Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/reslife/rlp/ra-grt.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320123544/http://web.mit.edu/reslife/rlp/ra-grt.html |archive-date=March 20, 2012}}</ref> Because housing assignments are made based on the preferences of the students themselves, diverse social atmospheres can be sustained in different living groups; for example, according to the ''Yale Daily News'' staff's ''The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010'', "The split between East Campus and West Campus is a significant characteristic of MIT. East Campus has gained a reputation as a thriving counterculture."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010 |author=Yale Daily News Staff |year=2009 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin |isbn=978-0-312-57029-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_5/page/377 377–380] |url=https://archive.org/details/insidersguidetoc00yale_5/page/377}}</ref> MIT also has five dormitories for single graduate students and two apartment buildings on campus for married student families.<ref>{{cite web |title=Graduate residences for singles & families |url=http://housing.mit.edu/graduatefamily/residences |access-date=October 1, 2010 |author=MIT Housing Office |publisher=MIT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620170109/http://housing.mit.edu/graduatefamily/residences |archive-date=June 20, 2010}}</ref>

MIT has an active Greek and [[student housing cooperative|co-op housing]] system, including thirty-six [[fraternity|fraternities]], [[sorority|sororities]], and independent living groups ([[FSILG]]s).<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Facts: Housing |year=2010 |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/housing.html |access-date=October 1, 2010}}</ref> {{As of|2015}}, 98% of all undergraduates lived in MIT-affiliated housing; 54% of the men participated in fraternities and 20% of the women were involved in sororities.<ref name="CDS">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/cds/2012/cds2012.html |title=Common Data Set |year=2012 |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost, MIT}}</ref> Most FSILGs are located across the river in [[Back Bay]] near where MIT was founded, and there is also a cluster of fraternities on MIT's West Campus that face the Charles River Basin.<ref>{{cite web |title=Undergraduate and Graduate Residence Halls, Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups @ MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/reslife/fsilg/map.pdf |publisher=MIT Residential Life |access-date=June 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508222758/http://web.mit.edu/reslife/fsilg/map.pdf |archive-date=May 8, 2012}}</ref> After the 1997 alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger, a new pledge at the [[Phi Gamma Delta]] fraternity, MIT required all freshmen to live in the dormitory system starting in 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |title=MIT rules freshmen to reside on campus |work=The Boston Globe |date=August 27, 1998 |first=Kate |last=Zernike |page=B1}}</ref> Because FSILGs had previously housed as many as 300 freshmen off-campus, the new policy could not be implemented until [[List of MIT undergraduate dormitories#Simmons Hall|Simmons Hall]] opened in that year.<ref>{{cite news |title=For First Time, MIT Assigns Freshmen to Campus Dorms |work=The Boston Globe |last=Russell |first=Jenna |date=August 25, 2002}}</ref>

In 2013–2014, MIT abruptly closed and then demolished undergrad dorm Bexley Hall, citing extensive water damage that made repairs infeasible. In 2017, MIT shut down Senior House after a century of service as an undergrad dorm. That year, MIT administrators released data showing just 60% of Senior House residents had graduated in four years. Campus-wide, the four-year graduation rate is 84% (the cumulative graduation rate is significantly higher).<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/06/the-fall-of-mits-counter-culture-dorm/532074/ |title=Why Residents of MIT's Counter-Culture Dorm Have to Move Out |last=Glatter |first=Hayley |work=The Atlantic |access-date=November 7, 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Off-campus real estate===
MIT has substantial [[commercial real estate]] holdings in Cambridge on which it pays [[property tax]]es, plus an additional voluntary [[payment in lieu of taxes]] (PILOT) on academic buildings which are legally tax-exempt. {{as of|2017}}, it is the largest taxpayer in the city, contributing approximately 14% of the city's annual revenues.<ref name="CommFacts">{{cite web |title=MIT Facts 2017: MIT and the Community |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/community.html |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=March 24, 2017}}</ref> Holdings include [[Technology Square (Cambridge, Massachusetts)|Technology Square]], parts of [[Kendall Square]], [[University Park (Cambridge)|University Park]], and many properties in [[Cambridgeport, Cambridge|Cambridgeport]] and [[Area 4, Cambridge|Area 4]] neighboring the main campus.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Maps/Institutions/cddmap_institutions_ownership.pdf |title=Institutional Ownership Map – Cambridge Massachusetts |access-date=2016-09-08 |archive-date=2015-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022201633/https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/CDD/Maps/Institutions/cddmap_institutions_ownership.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> The land is held for investment purposes and potential long-term expansion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yadav |first=Sudhanshu |date=2022-06-22 |title=Discover – MITIMCo |url=https://mitimco.org/discover |access-date=2022-06-22  |archive-date=2025-02-22  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250222075957/https://mitimco.org/discover |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== {{anchor|MIT Corporation}}Organization and administration ==
[[File:MIT Lobby 7.jpg|upright|thumb|Lobby 7 at 77 [[Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)|Massachusetts Avenue]] is regarded as the main entrance to campus.]]

MIT is a state-chartered [[nonprofit corporation]] governed by a privately appointed [[Board of directors|board]] known as the '''MIT Corporation'''.<ref name="Mead">{{cite web |last=Mead |first=Dana G. |title=A Brief History and Workings of the MIT Corporation |date=May 2006 |website=MIT Faculty Newsletter |access-date=19 August 2024 |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/185/mead.html}}</ref> The Corporation has 60–80 members at any time, some with fixed terms, some with life appointments, and eight who serve ''[[Ex officio member|ex officio]]''.<ref name = "Mead"/>{{refn |Life members end their terms at 75 years old. ''Ex officio'' members are the Corporation's elected officers—its Chair, President, Treasurer, and Secretary—and the president of the MIT Alumni Association, the [[Governor of Massachusetts]], the Chief Justice of the [[Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court]], and the Massachusetts Secretary of Education.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/bylaws/bylaws-section-2 |title=Bylaws of the MIT Corporation – Section 2: Members |publisher=The MIT Corporation |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://corporation.mit.edu/membership/all-members |title=The MIT Corporation: All Members |publisher=The MIT Corporation |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> The Corporation approves the budget, new programs, degrees and faculty appointments, and elects a president to manage the university and preside for the Institute's faculty.<ref name = "Mead"/><ref name="BO">{{cite web |url=https://catalog.mit.edu/mit/overview/administration/ |title=MIT Course Catalogue: Overview |publisher=MIT |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> The current president is [[Sally Kornbluth]], a cell biologist and former provost at [[Duke University]], who became MIT's eighteenth president in January 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bradt |first=Steve |date=October 20, 2022 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2022/sally-kornbluth-named-MIT-president-1020 |title=Sally Kornbluth is named as MIT's 18th president}}</ref>

MIT has five schools ([[Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science|Science]], [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering|Engineering]], [[MIT School of Architecture and Planning|Architecture and Planning]], [[MIT Sloan School of Management|Management]], and [[MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences|Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences]]) and one college ([[MIT Schwarzman College of Computing|Schwarzman College of Computing]]); the institute does not operate a law school or a medical school.{{refn|The Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) offers joint MD, MD-PhD, or Medical Engineering degrees in collaboration with [[Harvard Medical School]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20030105013857/http://hst.mit.edu/servlet/ControllerServlet?handler=PublicHandler&action=browse&pageid=231 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 5, 2003 |title=Harvard-MIT HST Academics Overview |access-date=August 5, 2007}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}}<ref name="Schools">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/academic.shtml |title=MIT Facts: Academic Schools and Departments, Divisions & Sections |year=2010 |access-date=October 1, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/faq-mit-stephen-schwarzman-college-of-computing-1015 |title=FAQ on the newly established MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing |work=MIT News |access-date=October 24, 2018}}</ref> Faculty committees control many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and administrative affairs.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bras |first=Rafael L. |author-link=Rafael L. Bras |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres05/17.00.pdf |title=Reports to the President, Report of the Chair of the Faculty |date=2004–2005 |access-date=December 1, 2006 |publisher=MIT}}</ref> The chair of each of MIT's academic departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn reports to the Provost.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/orgchart/replist.html |title=Reporting List |publisher=MIT |access-date=September 7, 2010}}</ref> Academic departments also report to "Visiting Committees," specialized bodies of Corporation members and outside experts who evaluate the performance, activities, and needs of each department.

MIT's [[financial endowment|endowment]], real estate, and other financial assets are managed through by the MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), a subsidiary of the MIT Corporation created in 2004.<ref>{{cite report |last=Humphreys |first=Joshua |title=Educational Endowments and the Financial Crisis: Social Costs and Systemic Risks in the Shadow Banking System |publisher=Center for Social Philanthropy |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/files/Tellusendowmentcrisis.pdf |pages=47–48 |accessdate=19 August 2024}}</ref> A minor revenue source for much of the Institute's history, the endowment's role in MIT operations has grown due to strong investment returns since the 1990s, making it [[List of colleges and universities in the United States by endowment size|one the largest U.S. university endowments]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The MIT Endowment |url=https://alum.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2024-04/brochure-endowment-2023_202403.pdf |date=March 2024 |accessdate=19 August 2024}}</ref> Among its holdings are a majority of shares in the audio equipment manufacturer [[Bose Corporation]], as well as a commercial real estate portfolio in [[Kendall Square]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Gelles |first=David |title=Bose founder donates lion's share to MIT |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/91cb5cf2-740c-11e0-b788-00144feabdc0 |date=1 May 2011 |accessdate=19 August 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blanding |first=Michael |title=The Past and Future of Kendall Square |date=18 August 2015 |magazine=MIT Technology Review |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2015/08/18/10816/the-past-and-future-of-kendall-square/ |access-date=1 April 2025}}</ref>

== Academics ==
{{Infobox U.S. college admissions
|year                   = 2022<!-- Comparison year is automatically set to five years prior -->
|ref                    = <ref name="CDS2022-23">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2022-23 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2023 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=30 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930012350/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|change ref             = <ref name="CDS2017-18">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2017-18 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2018 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601171311/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|admit rate             = 4.0%
|admit rate change      = -3.2
|yield rate             = 85.0%
|yield rate change      = +9.5

|test optional          = no
|SAT Total              = 1520⁠–1570<!-- use an em-dash (–) -->
|SAT Total change       = 
|SAT EBRW               = <!-- use an em-dash (–) -->
|SAT EBRW change        = 
|SAT Math               = <!-- use an em-dash (–) -->
|SAT Math change        = 
|ACT Composite          = 35–36<!-- use an em-dash (–) -->
|ACT Composite change   =

|top decile             = 
|top decile change      = 
|top quarter            = 
|top quarter change     = 
|top half               = 
|top half change        = 
|GPA                    = 
|GPA change             = 
|undergrad              = yes
}}
MIT is a large, highly residential, research university with a majority of enrollments in graduate and professional programs.<ref name="Carnegie">{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=166683 |publisher=Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching |access-date=June 22, 2012}}</ref> The university has been [[educational accreditation|accredited]] by the [[New England Association of Schools and Colleges]] since 1929.<ref>{{cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=https://cihe.neasc.org/about-our-institutions/roster/massachusetts-institute-technology |website=Roster of Institutions |date=July 26, 2018 |publisher=New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education |access-date=August 3, 2018 |archive-date=2018-08-03  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180803074547/https://cihe.neasc.org/about-our-institutions/roster/massachusetts-institute-technology |url-status=dead }}</ref> MIT operates on a [[Academic term#Collegiate calendars|4–1–4 academic calendar]] with the fall semester beginning after [[Labor Day (United States)|Labor Day]] and ending in mid-December, a 4-week "Independent Activities Period" in the month of January, and the spring semester commencing in early February and ceasing in late May.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/calendar/index.html |title=Academic Calendar |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref>

MIT students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers or acronyms alone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/learning/majors_minors/index.shtml |title=Majors & Minors |publisher=MIT Admissions Office |access-date=August 13, 2008 |quote=MIT is organized into academic departments, or Courses, which you will often hear referred to by their Course number or acronym.}}</ref> Departments and their corresponding majors are numbered in the approximate order of their foundation; for example, Civil and Environmental Engineering is {{nowrap|Course 1}}, while Linguistics and Philosophy is {{nowrap|Course 24}}.<ref name="Butcher">{{cite web |last=Butcher |first=Ev |title=Course Code Designation Key |url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/sandiego/contents_courses.shtml |publisher=MIT Club of San Diego |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725142703/http://alumweb.mit.edu/clubs/sandiego/contents_courses.shtml |archive-date=July 25, 2011}}</ref> Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the most popular department, collectively identify themselves as "Course 6". MIT students use a combination of the department's course number and the number assigned to the class to identify their subjects; for instance, the introductory calculus-based [[classical mechanics]] course is simply "8.01" (pronounced ''eight-oh-one'') at MIT.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/degre.intro.html |title=MIT Course Catalogue: Degree Programs |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 16, 2008}}</ref>{{refn|Course numbers are sometimes presented in [[Roman numerals]], e.g. "Course XVIII" for mathematics.<ref name="Enrollments">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/yrpts/index.html |title=Enrollment Statistics |publisher=MIT Office of the Registrar |access-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref> At least one MIT style guide now discourages this usage.<ref>{{cite web |title=Style Sheet {{!}} Report Preparation Guidelines |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/stylesheet.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 6, 2012}}</ref> Also, some Course numbers have been re-assigned over time, so that the subject area of a degree may depend on the year it was awarded.<ref name="Butcher" />|group=lower-alpha}}

=== Undergraduate program ===
{| style="float:right; font-size:85%; margin:10px; text-align:center; font-size:85%; margin:auto;" class="wikitable"
|+ Enrollment in MIT (2017–2024)
! Academic Year
! Undergraduates
! Graduate
! Total Enrollment
|-
! 2017–2018<ref name="CDS2017-18" />
|4,547 ||6,919 ||11,466
|-
! 2018–2019<ref name="CDS2018-19">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2018-19 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2019 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=29 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230829095829/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|4,602 ||6,972 ||11,574
|-
! 2019–2020<ref name="CDS2019-20">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2019-20 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2020 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601171233/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|4,530 ||6,990 ||11,520
|-
! 2020–2021<ref name="CDS2020-21">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2020-21 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2021 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=7 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230907232847/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|4,361 ||6,893 ||11,254
|-
! 2021–2022<ref name="CDS2021-22">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2021-22 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2022 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=7 October 2023 |archive-date=1 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601161521/https://ir.mit.edu/cds-2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|4,638 ||7,296 ||11,934
|-
! 2022–2023<ref name="CDS2022-23" />
|4,657 ||7,201 ||11,858
|-
! 2023–2024<ref name="Enrollment Statistics" />
|4,576 ||7,344 ||11,920
|}
The four-year, full-time undergraduate program maintains a balance between professional majors and those in the arts and sciences. In 2010, it was dubbed "most selective" by ''[[U.S. News & World Report|U.S. News]]'',<ref name=":0" /> admitting few transfer students<ref name="Carnegie" /> and 4.1% of its applicants in the 2020–2021 admissions cycle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mitadmissions.org/apply/process/stats/ |website=mitadmissions.org |access-date=April 12, 2019 |title=Admissions statistics}}</ref> It is [[need-blind]] for both domestic and international applicants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/need-blind-admissions/|title=What is need-blind admissions?|publisher=MIT Admissions|access-date=2019-11-25|archive-date=2019-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191121052104/https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/need-blind-admissions/|url-status=live}}</ref> MIT offers 44 undergraduate degrees across its five schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/front.degre.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Degree Charts |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> In the 2017–2018 academic year, 1,045 Bachelor of Science degrees (abbreviated "[[Scientiæ Baccalaureus|SB]]") were granted, the only type of undergraduate degree MIT now awards.{{update after|2016|10|2}}<ref name="Degrees">{{cite web |title=MIT Degrees Awarded |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/students/degrees.html |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost |access-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Academic Programs |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> In the 2024 fall term, among students who had designated a major, the School of Engineering was the most popular division, enrolling 72% of students in its 19 undergraduate degree programs, followed by the School of Science (20%), Sloan School of Management (4.7%), School of Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences (1.5%), and School of Architecture and Planning (1.8%).{{update after|2029|10|2}} The largest undergraduate degree programs were in Computer Science and Engineering ({{nowrap|Course 6–3}}), Mechanical Engineering ({{nowrap|Course 2}}), Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making ({{nowrap|Course 6-4}}), Electrical Engineering and Computer Science ({{nowrap|Course 6–2}}), and Mathematics ({{nowrap|Course 18}}).<ref name="Enrollment Statistics"/>

[[File:Infinitecorridor.jpg|thumb|The [[Infinite Corridor]] is the primary passageway through campus.]]{{anchor|AnchorGIR}}
All undergraduates are required to complete a core curriculum called the General Institute Requirements (GIRs).<ref name="GIR">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3-gir.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Undergraduate General Institute Requirements |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> The Science Requirement, generally completed during freshman year as prerequisites for classes in science and engineering majors, comprises two semesters of physics, two semesters of calculus, one semester of chemistry, and one semester of biology. There is a Laboratory Requirement, usually satisfied by an appropriate class in a course major. The Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) Requirement consists of eight semesters of classes in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, including at least one semester from each division as well as the courses required for a designated concentration in a HASS division. Under the Communication Requirement, two of the HASS classes, plus two of the classes taken in the designated major must be "communication-intensive",<ref name=CommReq>{{cite web |title=About the Requirement |url=http://web.mit.edu/commreq/index.html |work=Undergraduate Communication Requirement |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 30, 2012}}</ref> including "substantial instruction and practice in oral presentation".<ref name=CommReqFac>{{cite web |title=Faculty and Instructors |url=http://web.mit.edu/commreq/faculty.html |work=Undergraduate Communication Requirement |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 30, 2012}}</ref> Finally, all students are required to complete a [[Human swimming|swimming]] test;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/article/533031/mits-wettest-test/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704181143/http://www.technologyreview.com/article/533031/mits-wettest-test/ |title=MIT's Wettest Test |last=Morell |first=Nicole |work=MIT Technology Review |publication-date=December 18, 2014 |archive-date=2015-07-04  |access-date=2015-07-03  |url-status=dead }}</ref> non-varsity athletes must also take four quarters of [[physical education]] classes.<ref name="GIR"/>

Most classes rely on a combination of lectures, recitations led by associate professors or graduate students, weekly problem sets ("p-sets"), and periodic quizzes or tests. While the pace and difficulty of MIT coursework has been compared to "drinking from a fire hose",<ref>{{Cite news |title=The Boston Globe |date=February 1, 1959 |page=51 |quote='Getting an education at MIT is like drinking from a fire hose' is generally attributed to former President Jerome Wiesner. However, in the 1 February 1959 (p. 51) issue of the Boston Globe, there is the following, "Quoting an MIT student Dr. [Julius] Stratton cited the quickening pace of science and said: 'Getting a technical education today is like getting a drink from a firehose.'"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Leadership and Organizational Culture: New Perspectives on Administrative Theory and Practice |editor=Thomas J. Sergiovanni |editor2=John Edward Corbally |chapter=Leadership as Reflection-in-Action |last=Schön |first=Donald A. |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-252-01347-6 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfjpFezRhuYC&pg=PA59 |page=59 |quote=[In the sixties] Students spoke of their undergraduate experience as "drinking from a fire hose." |access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mattuck |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Mattuck |title=The Torch or the Firehose |year=2009 |publisher=MIT OpenCourseWare |page=1 |url=http://ocw.mit.edu/resources/res-18-004-the-torch-or-the-firehose-a-guide-to-section-teaching-spring-2009/online-publication/}}</ref> the freshmen retention rate at MIT is similar to other research universities.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |url=http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/freshmen-least-most-likely-return |title=Average Freshmen Retention Rates: National Universities |magazine=U.S. News & World Report |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> The "pass/no-record" grading system relieves some pressure for first-year undergraduates. For each class taken in the fall term, freshmen transcripts will either report only that the class was passed, or otherwise not have any record of it. In the spring term, passing grades (A, B, C) appear on the transcript while non-passing grades are again not recorded.<ref name="Freshman Year">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap3.html#fre |title=MIT Course Catalog: Freshman Year |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref> (Grading had previously been "pass/no record" all freshman year, but was amended for the Class of 2006 to prevent students from [[gaming the system]] by completing required major classes in their freshman year.<ref>{{cite news |last=Keuss |first=Nancy |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N50/p-nr_-_real.50f.html |title=The Evolution of MIT's Pass/No Record System |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=120 |issue=50 |date=October 17, 2000 |access-date=September 6, 2010 |archive-date=2011-05-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516094101/http://tech.mit.edu/V120/N50/p-nr_-_real.50f.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>) Also, freshmen may choose to join alternative learning communities, such as [[Experimental Study Group]], [[Concourse Program at MIT|Concourse]], or Terrascope.<ref name="Freshman Year" />

MIT's curriculum encourages students to apply scientific knowledge in practical domains, an idea summarized in the institute motto of ''mens et manus'' or "mind and hand."{{sfn|Stratton|Mannix|2005|p={{pn|date=February 2026}}}}<ref>{{cite web |last=Ferriero |first=David S |title=David S. Ferriero at the MIT150 Convocation |work=This is the retired blog of the 10th Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero. Comments are closed. |date=10 April 2011 |url=https://aotus.blogs.archives.gov/2011/04/15/mens-et-manus-reaching-for-the-future/ |access-date=8 April 2025}}</ref> Courses emphasizes uses of engineering knowledge in arenas like product design competitions and control design.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marquard |first=Bryan |title=Woodie Flowers, MIT robotics guru who championed 'gracious professionalism,' dies at 75 |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2019/10/23/woodie-flowers-mit-robotics-guru-who-championed-gracious-professionalism-dies/HFNrAHeHobcYqWcmQG3FJP/story.html |date=23 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Wilson |first=Anne |title=For developing designers, there's magic in 2.737 (Mechatronics) |date=3 September 2024 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2024/for-developing-designers-magic-in-mechatronics-0903 |access-date=8 April 2025}}</ref> In 1969, [[Margaret MacVicar]] founded the [[Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program]] (UROP) to enable undergraduates to collaborate directly with faculty members and researchers. Students join or initiate research projects ("UROPs") for academic credit, pay, or on a volunteer basis through postings on the UROP website or by contacting faculty members directly.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT UROP: Basic Information |url=http://web.mit.edu/UROP/basicinfo/index.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 21, 2012}}</ref> A substantial majority of undergraduates participate.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Research and Teaching Firsts |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |access-date=October 6, 2006 |publisher=MIT News Office |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060915023328/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |archive-date=September 15, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program |url=http://wiki.mitadmissions.org/UROP |publisher=MIT Admissions |access-date=June 21, 2012}}</ref> Students often become [[scientific journal|published]], file [[patent application]]s, and/or launch [[startup company|start-up companies]] based upon their experience in UROPs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Use of Undergraduates in Research Is Hailed by M.I.T.; Inventions by Students |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |last=Maeroff |first=Gene I. |date=January 11, 1976}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N47/UROP_turns_30.47f.html |title=An MIT Original, the Oft Replicated UROP Program Reaches 30 Years |last=Palmer |first=Matthew |date=October 5, 1999 |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=119 |number=47 |access-date=2009-05-08  |archive-date=2011-05-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516094138/http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N47/UROP_turns_30.47f.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The program has been widely emulated at other U.S. universities.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brehm |first=Denise |title=MIT's much-imitated UROP turns 30 |website=MIT News |date=2 February 2000 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2000/urop-0202 |access-date=8 April 2025}}</ref>

In 1970, the then-Dean of Institute Relations, Benson R. Snyder, published ''[[The Hidden Curriculum]],'' arguing that education at MIT was often slighted in favor of following a set of unwritten expectations and that graduating with good grades was more often the product of figuring out the system rather than a solid education. The successful student, according to Snyder, was the one who was able to discern which of the formal requirements were to be ignored in favor of which unstated norms. For example, organized student groups had compiled "[[History of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Course "Bibles"|course bibles]]"—collections of problem-set and examination questions and answers for later students to use as references. This sort of gamesmanship, Snyder argued, hindered development of a creative intellect and contributed to student discontent and unrest.<ref>{{cite book |last=Benson |first=Snyder |title=The Hidden Curriculum |year=1970 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=0-262-69043-8 |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?tid=4398&ttype=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922160317/http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=4398 |archive-date=September 22, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Mahoney |first=Matt |title=Unwritten Rules |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/mitnews/427509/unwritten-rules/ |access-date=June 21, 2012 |journal=[[Technology Review]] |date=May 2012}}</ref>

=== Graduate program ===
MIT's graduate program has high coexistence with the undergraduate program, and many courses are taken by qualified students at both levels. MIT offers a comprehensive doctoral program with degrees in the humanities, social sciences, and [[STEM fields]] as well as professional degrees, including the [[Master of Business Administration]] (MBA).<ref name="Carnegie"/> The Institute offers graduate programs leading to academic degrees such as the Master of Science (which is abbreviated as MS at MIT), various Engineer's Degrees, Doctor of Philosophy ([[PhD]]), and [[Doctor of Science]] (DSc) and interdisciplinary graduate programs such as the [[MD-PhD]] (with [[Harvard Medical School]]) and a joint program in [[oceanography]] with [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/overv.chap4-gdr.html |title=MIT Course Catalog: Graduate Education: General Degree Requirements |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/catalog/inter.gradu.html |title=Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs |publisher=Officer of the Registrar, MIT |access-date=September 6, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Degrees Offered |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/degrees.html |website=MIT Facts 2017 |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=September 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |url=https://mit.whoi.edu/ |title=MIT-WHOI Joint Program |language=en-US |access-date=2019-11-10}}</ref>

Admission to graduate programs is decentralized; applicants apply directly to the department or degree program. More than 90% of doctoral students are supported by fellowships, research assistantships (RAs), or teaching assistantships (TAs).<ref>{{cite web |title=Graduate Education |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/graduate.html |work=MIT Facts 2012 |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 25, 2012}}</ref>

=== Rankings ===
{{Infobox US university ranking
<!-- U.S. rankings -->| Forbes = 1
| THE_WSJ = 2
| USNWR_NU = 2
| Wamo_NU = 10
<!-- Global rankings -->| QS_W = 1
| THES_W = 2
| USNWR_W = 2
| ARWU_W = 3
}}

MIT places among the top five in many overall rankings of universities (see table right) and rankings based on students' [[revealed preferences]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Avery |first1=Christopher N. |last2=Glickman |first2=Mark E. |last3=Hoxby |first3=Caroline M. |last4=Metrick |first4=Andrew |title=A Revealed Preference Ranking of U.S. Colleges and Universities |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |date=February 2013 |volume=128 |issue=1 |pages=425–467 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjs043 |jstor=26372502 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2012 Parchment Top Choice College Rankings: All Colleges |url=http://www.parchment.com/c/college/college-rankings.php |publisher=Parchment Inc. |access-date=June 5, 2012}}</ref><ref name="coughlan">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-29086590 |title=What makes a global top 10 university? |last=Coughlan |first=Sean |date=September 15, 2014 |website=[[BBC News]] |quote=It's the third year in a row that [MIT] ... has been top of the QS World University Rankings. The biggest single factor in the QS rankings is academic reputation ... calculated by surveying more than 60,000 academics ... Universities with an established name and a strong brand are likely to do better.}}</ref> 
In 2026, it was ranked 4th among the world’s top universities by [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine and [[Statista]].<ref>https://time.com/7358185/top-universities-globally-2026/</ref> For several years, ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'', the [[QS World University Rankings]], and the [[Academic Ranking of World Universities]] have ranked MIT's School of Engineering first, as did the 1995 [[United States National Research Council|National Research Council]] report.<ref name="1995 NRC">{{cite web |url=http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html |title=NRC Rankings |access-date=October 9, 2008 |archive-date=2008-09-26  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926121702/http://www.stat.tamu.edu/~jnewton/nrc_rankings/nrc1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the same lists, MIT's strongest showings apart from in engineering are in computer science, the natural sciences, business, architecture, economics, linguistics, mathematics, and, to a lesser extent, political science and philosophy.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |title=MIT undergraduate engineering again ranked No.&nbsp;1 |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/undergraduate-rankings.html |date=August 17, 2010 |publisher=MIT News Office}}</ref>

[[Times Higher Education]] has recognized MIT as one of the world's "six super brands" on its ''World Reputation Rankings'', along with [[University of California, Berkeley|Berkeley]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], and [[Stanford University|Stanford]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Morgan |first=John |title=Top Six Universities Dominate THE World Reputation Rankings |date=January 1990 |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011/reputation-ranking/analysis |quote="The rankings suggest that the top six- ... Stanford University and the University of Oxford – form a group of globally recognized "super brands".}}</ref> In 2019, it was ranked #3 among the universities around the world by [[SCImago Institutions Rankings]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scimagoir.com/rankings.php?sector=Higher%20educ.&country=all |title=SCImago Institutions Rankings – Higher Education – All Regions and Countries – 2019 – Overall Rank |website=www.scimagoir.com}}</ref> In 2017, the [[Times Higher Education World University Rankings]] also rated MIT the #2 university for arts and humanities.<ref name="THE">{{cite web |title=Stanford and MIT lead THE arts and humanities ranking |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/stanford-and-mit-lead-arts-and-humanities-ranking |website=Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings |publisher=Times Higher Education (THE) |access-date=January 26, 2018 |language=en |date=September 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name="SHASS-THE">{{cite web |title=MIT SHASS: MIT named No.&nbsp;2 university worldwide for the Arts and Humanities |url=https://shass.mit.edu/news/mit-named-no-2-university-worldwide-arts-and-humanities |website=shass.mit.edu |access-date=January 26, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=2017-12-22  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222065447/http://shass.mit.edu/news/mit-named-no-2-university-worldwide-arts-and-humanities |url-status=dead }}</ref> MIT was ranked #7 in 2015 and #6 in 2017 of the Nature Index Annual Tables, which measure the largest contributors to papers published in 82 leading journals.<ref name="Nature Index 2016">{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/ten-institutions-that-dominated-science-in-twentyfifteen |title=Ten institutions that dominated science in 2015 |access-date=May 28, 2019 |archive-date=2016-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424082505/https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/ten-institutions-that-dominated-science-in-twentyfifteen |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Nature Index 2018">{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/twenty-eighteen-annual-tables-ten-institutions-that-dominated-sciences |title=10 institutions that dominated science in 2017 |date=June 12, 2018 |access-date=May 28, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Nature Index FAQs">{{cite web |url=https://www.natureindex.com/faq#introduction1 |title=Introduction to the Nature Index |access-date=May 28, 2019}}</ref> Georgetown University researchers ranked MIT #3 in the US for 20-year [[return on investment]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/roi2022/ |title=Ranking 4,500 Colleges by ROI (2022) |publisher=[[Georgetown University]] |author=Center on Education and the Workforce}}</ref>

=== Collaborations ===
[[File:Kresge Auditorium - Side - MIT (54960889209).jpg|thumb|right|[[Eero Saarinen]]'s [[Kresge Auditorium]] (1955) is a classic example of [[Mid-century modern|post-war architecture]].]]
The university historically pioneered research and training collaborations between academia, industry and government.<ref>{{cite news |title=A Survey of New England: A Concentration of Talent |newspaper=The Economist |date=August 8, 1987 |quote=MIT for a long time ... stood virtually alone as a university that embraced rather than shunned industry.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/mitshapingfuture00mann_0|title=MIT: Shaping the Future |first=Edward B. |last=Roberts |chapter=An Environment for Entrepreneurs |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=1991 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=0262631415 |quote=The war made necessary the formation of new working coalitions ... between these technologists and government officials. These changes were especially noteworthy at MIT.}}</ref>&nbsp;In 1946, President Compton, Harvard Business School professor [[Georges Doriot]], and Massachusetts Investor Trust chairman Merrill Grisswold founded [[American Research and Development Corporation]], the first American [[venture-capital]] firm.<ref>{{cite news |last=Shlaes |first=Amity |title=From the Ponderosa to the Googleplex: How Americans match money to ideas |work=State Department Press Release |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=May 14, 2008 |quote=Griswold, [MIT president] Compton, and various politicians handpicked Doriot to head American Research & Development, a new firm that would invest in [the] small, innovative companies that had been underserved by traditional capital markets.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Jane |url=http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/publication/2008/05/20080512161121jmnamdeirf0.424679.html |title=Route 128: How it developed, and why it's not likely to be duplicated |page=15 |work=New England Business |location=Boston |date=July 1, 1985 |quote=Compton co-founded in 1946 what is believed to be the nation's first venture capital company. ...&nbsp;[He] and a group led by a Harvard professor [Doriot] founded one of the first venture capital companies, American Research & Development Corp.}}</ref>&nbsp;In 1948, Compton established the MIT Industrial Liaison Program.<ref>{{cite web |title=Industrial Liaison Program: About Us |publisher=MIT |year=2011 |url=http://ilp.mit.edu/about.jsp |quote=Established in 1948, the ILP continues ... making industrial connections for MIT. |access-date=2012-11-25 |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016005821/http://ilp.mit.edu/about.jsp |url-status=dead}}</ref> Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, American politicians and business leaders accused MIT and other universities of contributing to a [[Late 1980s recession|declining economy]] by [[technology transfer|transferring]] taxpayer-funded research and technology to international – especially [[Economy of Japan|Japanese]] – firms that were competing with struggling American businesses.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEEDB153FF93AA25751C1A966958260&scp=1&sq=M.I.T.+Deal+with+Japan+Stirs+Fear+on+Competition&st=nyt |title=MIT Deal with Japan Stirs Fear on Competition |last=Kolata |first=Gina |date=December 19, 1990 |access-date=June 9, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=MIT Criticized for Selling Research to Japanese Firms |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 14, 1989 |first=William |last=Booth}}</ref> On the other hand, MIT's extensive collaboration with the federal government on research projects has led to several MIT leaders serving as [[President's Science Advisory Committee|presidential scientific advisers]] since 1940.{{refn|[[Vannevar Bush]] was the director of the [[Office of Scientific Research and Development]] and general advisor to [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Harry Truman]], [[James Rhyne Killian]] was Special Assistant for Science and Technology for [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], and [[Jerome Wiesner]] advised [[John F. Kennedy]] and [[Lyndon Johnson]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/ostpside-0502.html |title=Nearly half of all US Presidential science advisers have had ties to the Institute |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 2, 2001 |access-date=March 18, 2007}}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} MIT established a Washington Office in 1991 to continue effective [[lobbying]] for research funding and national [[science policy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |title=MIT Washington Office |access-date=March 18, 2007 |publisher=MIT Washington Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070207103414/http://web.mit.edu/dc/ |archive-date=February 7, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=February 11, 2001 |title=Hunt Intense for Federal Research Funds: Universities Station Lobbyists in Washington}}</ref>

The [[United States Department of Justice|US Justice Department]] began an investigation in 1989, and in 1991 filed an [[Sherman Antitrust Act|antitrust suit]] against MIT, the eight [[Ivy League]] colleges, and eleven other institutions for allegedly engaging in [[price-fixing]] during their annual "Overlap Meetings", which were held to prevent bidding wars over promising prospective students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2DC1E3CF933A2575BC0A96F948260 |title=Price-Fixing Inquiry at 20 Elite Colleges |work=The New York Times |date=August 10, 1989 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |first=David |last=Johnston}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE2DB173DF930A25750C0A967958260 |title=23 College Won't Pool Discal Data |last=Chira |first=Susan |date=March 13, 1991 |access-date=December 16, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> While the Ivy League institutions [[consent decree|settled]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3D81E38F930A15756C0A967958260 |title=Ivy Universities Deny Price-Fixing But Agree to Avoid It in the Future |work=The New York Times |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=May 23, 1991 |access-date=December 16, 2008}}</ref> MIT contested the charges, arguing that the practice was not anti-competitive because it ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.<ref name="Overlap">{{cite news |title=MIT Ruled Guilty in Anti-Trust Case |work=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1992 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1DC1439F930A3575AC0A964958260 |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |access-date=July 16, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE0DE1E38F935A15755C0A964958260 |title=Price-Fixing or Charity? Trial of M.I.T. Begins |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=June 26, 1992 |access-date=August 13, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department dropped the case in 1994.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1994/settlement-0105.html |title=Settlement allows cooperation on awarding financial-aid |publisher=MIT Tech Talk |year=1994 |access-date=March 3, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5DC113BF932A15751C1A965958260 |title=MIT Suit Over Aid May Be Settled |first=William |last=Honan |author-link=William Honan |date=December 21, 1993 |access-date=July 16, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
[[File:MIT Walker Memorial.jpg|thumb|right|Walker Memorial is a monument to MIT's fourth president, [[Francis Amasa Walker]].]]


MIT's proximity<ref group=lower-alpha>MIT's Building 7 and Harvard's Johnston Gate, the traditional entrances to each school, are {{cvt|1.72|mi|km|2}} apart along [[Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston)|Massachusetts Avenue]].</ref> to [[Harvard University]] ("the other school up the [[Charles River|river]]") has led to a substantial number of research collaborations such as the [[Harvard–MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology]] and the [[Broad Institute]].<ref name="EdPart"/> In addition, students at the two schools can [[cross-registration|cross-register]] for credits toward their own school's degrees without any additional fees.<ref name="EdPart"/> A cross-registration program between MIT and [[Wellesley College]] has also existed since 1969, and in 2002 the [[Cambridge–MIT Institute]] launched an undergraduate exchange program between MIT and the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref name="EdPart">{{cite web |title=MIT Facts: Educational Partnerships |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/partnerships.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090104171108/http://web.mit.edu/facts/partnerships.html |archive-date=January 4, 2009 |access-date=September 7, 2010 |year=2010}}</ref> MIT also has a long-term partnership with [[Imperial College London]], for both student exchanges and research collaboration.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/185057/mit-imperial-launch-unparalleled-student-exchange/ |title=MIT and Imperial launch 'unparalleled' student exchange {{!}} Imperial News {{!}} Imperial College London|work=Imperial News |access-date=March 21, 2018 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://news.mit.edu/2018/mit-expands-multi-departmental-partnership-imperial-college-london-0222 |title=MIT expands partnership with Imperial College London |work=MIT News |access-date=March 21, 2018}}</ref> More modest cross-registration programs have been established with [[Boston University]], [[Brandeis University]], [[Tufts University]], [[Massachusetts College of Art]], and the [[School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]].<ref name="EdPart"/>

MIT maintains substantial research and faculty ties with independent research organizations in the Boston area, such as the [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory]], the [[Whitehead Institute|Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research]], and the [[Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution]].<ref name=":2" /> Ongoing international research and educational collaborations include the [[Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions]] (AMS Institute),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ams-institute.org/partners/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511014305/http://www.ams-institute.org/partners/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-05-11|title=AMSI|access-date=13 July 2024}}</ref> Singapore-MIT Alliance, MIT-[[Politecnico di Milano]],<ref name="EdPart"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/progettorocca |title=Roberto Rocca Project |access-date=November 19, 2009 |publisher=MIT}}</ref> MIT-[[University of Zaragoza|Zaragoza]] International Logistics Program, and projects in other countries through the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) program.<ref name="EdPart"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/misti/ |title=MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives |access-date=March 17, 2007 |publisher=MIT |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210111938/http://web.mit.edu/misti/ |archive-date=February 10, 2007}}</ref>

The mass-market magazine ''[[Technology Review]]'' is published by MIT through a subsidiary company, as is a special edition that also serves as an [[alumni magazine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.technologyreview.com/about/ |work=[[Technology Review]] |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 5, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Alumni Benefits |url=http://alum.mit.edu/benefits/AlumniBenefits |publisher=MIT Alumni Association |access-date=June 5, 2012}}</ref> The [[MIT Press]] is a major [[university press]], publishing over 200 books and 30 journals annually, emphasizing science and technology as well as arts, architecture, new media, current events, and social issues.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/history/default.asp |title=History – The MIT Press |access-date=March 18, 2007 |publisher=MIT |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070415034220/http://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/history/default.asp |archive-date=April 15, 2007 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

MIT Microphotonics Center and [[PhotonDelta]] founded the global roadmap for integrated photonics: Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap – International (IPSR-I). The first edition has been published in 2020. The roadmap is an amalgamation of two previously independent roadmaps: the IPSR roadmap of MIT Microphotonics Center and AIM Photonics in the United States, and the WTMF (World Technology Mapping Forum) of PhotonDelta in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About IPSR-I |url=https://photonicsmanufacturing.org/about-ipsr-i |access-date=29 December 2022 |website=Photonicsmanufacturing.org}}</ref> In 2022, Open Philanthropy donated $13,277,348 to MIT to study potential risks from AI.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Massachusetts Institute of Technology — AI Trends and Impacts Research (2022) |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/grants/massachusetts-institute-of-technology-ai-trends-and-impacts-research-2022/ |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Open Philanthropy |language=en-us}}</ref>

=== Libraries, collections, and museums ===
{{See also|Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries|Campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology#Artwork}}
The MIT library system consists of five subject libraries: Barker (Engineering), Dewey (Economics), Hayden (Humanities and Science), Lewis (Music), and Rotch (Arts and Architecture). There are also various specialized libraries and archives. The libraries contain more than 2.9 million printed volumes, 2.4 million microforms, 49,000 print or electronic journal subscriptions, and 670 reference databases. The past decade has seen a trend of increased focus on digital over print resources in the libraries.<ref>{{cite web |last=Geraci |first=Diane |title=Information Resources |url=http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres10/2010.13.00.pdf |work=MIT Reports to the President 2009–2010 |date=June 30, 2010 |publisher=MIT Reference Publications Office |access-date=June 26, 2012}}</ref> Notable collections include the Lewis Music Library with an emphasis on 20th and 21st-century music and electronic music,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/music/contents.html |title=Lewis Music Library |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 10, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707163440/https://libraries.mit.edu/music/contents.html |archive-date=July 7, 2010}}</ref> the [[List Visual Arts Center]]'s rotating exhibitions of contemporary art,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://listart.mit.edu/about |title=MIT List Visual Arts Center |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010}}</ref> and the Compton Gallery's cross-disciplinary exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/compton.html |title=Compton Gallery |publisher=MIT Museum |access-date=October 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806185321/http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/compton.html |archive-date=August 6, 2010}}</ref> MIT allocates a percentage of the budget for all new construction and renovation to commission and support its extensive public art and outdoor sculpture collection.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mit.edu/~lvac/percent/index.html |title=MIT Percent-for-Art Program |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://listart.mit.edu:8080/Prt2*1$15*1943 |title=MIT Public Art Collection |publisher=MIT |access-date=October 1, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718110730/http://listart.mit.edu:8080/Prt2%2A1%2415%2A1943 |archive-date=July 18, 2009}}</ref>

The [[MIT Museum]] was founded in 1971 and collects, preserves, and exhibits artifacts significant to the culture and [[history of MIT]]. The museum now engages in significant educational outreach programs for the general public, including the annual [[MIT Museum#Cambridge Science Festival|Cambridge Science Festival]], the first celebration of this kind in the United States. Since 2005, its official mission has been, "to engage the wider community with MIT's science, technology and other areas of scholarship in ways that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century".<ref name="MITMuseum">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/museum/about/mission.html |title=MIT Museum: Mission and History |publisher=MIT |access-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref>

=== Research ===
MIT was elected to the [[Association of American Universities]] in 1934 and is [[Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education|classified]] among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity";<ref name="AAU">{{cite web |title=Member Institutions and Years of Admission |url=http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476 |publisher=Association of American Universities |access-date=June 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028050512/http://www.aau.edu/about/default.aspx?id=5476 |archive-date=October 28, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Carnegie"/> research expenditures totaled $952 million in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rankings by total R&D expenditures |url=https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/profiles/site?method=rankingBySource&ds=herd |website=ncsesdata.nsf.gov |publisher=[[National Science Foundation]] |access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref> The federal government was the largest source of sponsored research, with the [[Department of Health and Human Services]] granting $255.9 million, [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] $97.5 million, [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]] $65.8 million, [[National Science Foundation]] $61.4 million, and [[NASA]] $27.4 million.<ref name="Research">{{cite web |title=Research at MIT |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100802071524/http://web.mit.edu/facts/research.html |archive-date=August 2, 2010 |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 1, 2012}}</ref> MIT employs approximately 1300 researchers in addition to faculty.<ref name=MITFac>{{cite web |author=Office of the Provost |title=MIT Faculty and Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/faculty_staff.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> In 2011, MIT faculty and researchers disclosed 632 inventions, were issued 153 patents, earned $85.4 million in cash income, and received $69.6 million in royalties.<ref>{{cite web |title=TLO Statistics for Fiscal Year 2011 |url=http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/about/office_statistics.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=July 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521090351/http://web.mit.edu/tlo/www/about/office_statistics.html |archive-date=May 21, 2012}}</ref> Through programs like the Deshpande Center, MIT faculty leverage their research and discoveries into multi-million-dollar commercial ventures.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Matthew |title=Innovation for the Real World |url=http://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/topic/excellence_in_philanthropy/innovation_for_the_real_world |access-date=June 5, 2012 |newspaper=Philanthropy |date=Spring 2012 |author2=Michael Green |author-link=Matthew Bishop (journalist)}}</ref>

In electronics, [[magnetic-core memory]], [[radar]], [[single-electron transistor]]s, and [[inertial guidance]] controls were invented or substantially developed by MIT researchers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ieee.org/about/ieee-history.html |title=IEEE History Center: MIT Radiation Laboratory |publisher=IEEE |access-date=June 9, 2008}}</ref><ref name="RLE History"/> [[Harold Eugene Edgerton]] was a pioneer in [[high-speed photography]] and [[sonar]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Edgerton |first=Harold "Doc" |url=http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/high-speed-photography |access-date=November 28, 2009 |title=High Speed Camera |date=November 28, 2009 |archive-date=2010-02-07  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207035431/http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/high-speed-photography |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://edgerton-digital-collections.org/techniques/sonar The Edgerton Digital Collections Project] "When a strobe would not do the trick in murky waters, Edgerton began working on sonar techniques to "see" with sound."</ref> [[Claude E. Shannon]] developed much of modern [[information theory]] and discovered the application of [[Boolean logic]] to [[digital circuit]] design theory.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/shannon.html |title=MIT Professor Claude Shannon dies; was founder of digital communications |date=February 27, 2001 |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=October 4, 2010}}</ref> In the domain of computer science, MIT faculty and researchers made fundamental contributions to [[Norbert Wiener|cybernetics]], [[Marvin Minsky|artificial intelligence]], [[Joseph Weizenbaum|computer languages]], [[Patrick Winston|machine learning]], [[Rodney Brooks|robotics]], and [[Ronald Rivest|cryptography]].<ref name="RLE History">{{cite web |url=http://www.rle.mit.edu/about/about_history.html |title=Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT: History |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515234702/http://www.rle.mit.edu/about/about_history.html |archive-date=May 15, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Guttag |first=John |title=The Electron and the Bit, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, 1902–2002 |year=2003}}</ref> At least nine [[Turing Award]] laureates and seven recipients of the [[Draper Prize]] in engineering have been or are currently associated with MIT.<ref name=TuringAward>{{cite web |author=Office of the Provost |title=A. M. Turing Award |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/acm-turing.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref><ref>Robert N. Noyce, Robert Langer, Bradford W. Parkinson, Ivan A. Getting, Butler W. Lampson, Timothy J. Berners-Lee, Rudolph Kalman</ref>

Current and previous physics faculty have won eight [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Nobel Prizes]],<ref name="IR Nobel">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/nobel.html |title=Nobel Prize |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}}</ref> four [[Dirac Medal (ICTP)|ICTP Dirac Medals]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/dirac.html |title=Dirac Medal |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}}</ref> and three [[Wolf Prize]]s predominantly for their contributions to subatomic and [[quantum]] theory.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp?id=25&cat_title=PHYSICS |title=Prize in Physics |publisher=Wolf Foundation |access-date=October 4, 2010 |archive-date=2024-05-25 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240525172450/https://www.webcitation.org/65DR3JlSI?url=http://www.wolffund.org.il/cat.asp%3Fid=25 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Members of the chemistry department have been awarded three [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry|Nobel Prizes]] and one Wolf Prize for the discovery of novel syntheses and methods.<ref name="IR Nobel"/> MIT biologists have been awarded six [[Nobel Prize in Medicine|Nobel Prizes]] for their contributions to genetics, immunology, oncology, and molecular biology.<ref name="IR Nobel"/> Professor [[Eric Lander]] was one of the principal leaders of the [[Human Genome Project]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lander |first1=Eric |title=Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome |year=2001 |doi=10.1038/35057062 |journal=Nature |volume=409 |pmid=11237011 |last2=Linton |first2=LM |last3=Birren |first3=B |last4=Nusbaum |first4=C |last5=Zody |first5=MC |last6=Baldwin |first6=J |last7=Devon |first7=K |last8=Dewar |first8=K |last9=Doyle |first9=M |display-authors=8 |issue=6822 |pages=860–921 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62798/1/409860a0.pdf |bibcode=2001Natur.409..860L |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Eric S. Lander |url=http://www.broadinstitute.org/about/bios/bio-lander.html |publisher=Broad Institute |access-date=June 9, 2008}}</ref> [[Positronium]] atoms,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2002/deutsch.html |title=Martin Deutsch, MIT physicist who discovered positronium, dies at 85 |date=August 20, 2002 |access-date=June 12, 2008}}</ref> synthetic [[penicillin]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Professor John C. Sheehan Dies at 76 |date=April 1, 1992 |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1992/sheehan-0401.html |publisher=MIT News Office |access-date=June 12, 2008}}</ref> [[Julius Rebek|synthetic self-replicating molecules]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w3.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1990/may09/23124.html |title=Self-Reproducing Molecules Reported by MIT Researchers |publisher=MIT News Office |date=May 9, 1990 |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516120912/http://w3.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1990/may09/23124.html |archive-date=May 16, 2008}}</ref> and the genetic bases for [[Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease) and [[Huntington's disease]] were first discovered at MIT.<ref name="MIT Firsts">{{cite web |title=MIT Research and Teaching Firsts |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=June 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531233441/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/special/firsts.html |archive-date=May 31, 2008}}</ref> [[Jerome Lettvin]] transformed the study of cognitive science with his paper "What the frog's eye tells the frog's brain".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/31/science/last-rites-for-a-plywood-palace-that-was-a-rock-of-science.html |title=Last Rites for a 'Plywood Palace' That Was a Rock of Science |last=Hilts |first=Philip J. |date=March 31, 1998 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=October 4, 2010}}</ref> Researchers developed a system to convert MRI scans into 3D printed physical models.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hardesty |first=Larry |url=https://news.mit.edu/2015/3-d-printed-heart-models-surgery-0917.html |title=Personalized Heart model |date=September 17, 2015 |access-date=September 21, 2015}}</ref>

Beginning in 1980, [[LIGO|Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory]] (LIGO) was designed and constructed by a team of scientists from [[California Institute of Technology]], MIT, and industrial contractors, and funded by the [[National Science Foundation]]. It was designed to open the field of [[gravitational-wave astronomy]] through the detection of [[gravitational wave]]s predicted by [[general relativity]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About LIGO |url=https://space.mit.edu/LIGO/aboutligo.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref> Gravitational waves were [[first observation of gravitational waves|detected for the first time]] by the LIGO detector in 2015. For contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves, two Caltech physicists, [[Kip Thorne]] and [[Barry Barish]], and MIT physicist [[Rainer Weiss]] won the [[Nobel Prize in physics]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rainer Weiss – Facts |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2017/weiss/facts/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref> Weiss, who is also an MIT graduate, designed the laser interferometric technique, which served as the essential blueprint for the LIGO.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT physicist Rainer Weiss shares Nobel Prize in physics |date=October 3, 2017 |url=https://news.mit.edu/2017/mit-physicist-rainer-weiss-shares-nobel-prize-physics-1003 |publisher=MIT News |access-date=8 September 2020}}</ref>

In the domain of humanities, arts, and social sciences, as of October 2019 MIT economists have been awarded seven [[Nobel Prize in Economics|Nobel Prizes]] and nine [[John Bates Clark Medal]]s.<ref name="IR Nobel"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/clark.html |title=John Bates Clark Medal |publisher=Office of Institutional Research, MIT |access-date=December 31, 2008}}</ref> Linguists [[Noam Chomsky]] and [[Morris Halle]] authored seminal texts on [[generative grammar]] and [[phonology]].<ref>{{cite news |title=A Changed Noam Chomsky Simplifies |last=Fox |first=Margalit |author-link=Margalit Fox |date=December 5, 1998 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01EEDB113BF936A35751C1A96E958260 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jan/20/society.politics |title=Conscience of a nation |work=The Guardian |date=January 20, 2001 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |last=Jaggi |first=Maya |author-link=Maya Jaggi |location=London}}</ref> The [[MIT Media Lab]], founded in 1985 within the [[MIT School of Architecture and Planning|School of Architecture and Planning]] and known for its unconventional research,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/2002/01/08/0108medialab.html |title=MIT Media Lab Tightens Its Belt |last=Herper |first=Matthew |date=January 8, 2002 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=Forbes}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=M.I.T. Media Lab at 15: Big Ideas, Big Money |date=April 7, 2009 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/09/technology/09MITT.html |first=Lisa |last=Guernsey}}</ref> has been home to influential researchers such as [[Constructivism (learning theory)|constructivist]] educator and [[Logo (programming language)|Logo]] creator [[Seymour Papert]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/07/12/in_search_of_a_beautiful_mind/ |title=In Search of A Beautiful Mind |last=Matchan |first=Linda |date=July 12, 2008 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=The Boston Globe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080721230722/http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/07/12/in_search_of_a_beautiful_mind/ |archive-date=21 July 2008}}</ref>

Spanning many of the above fields, [[MacArthur Fellowship]]s (the so-called "Genius Grants") have been awarded to 50 people associated with MIT.<ref name=MacArthur>{{cite web |author=Office of the Provost |title=MacArthur Fellows |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/macarthur.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> Five [[Pulitzer Prize]]–winning writers currently work at or have retired from MIT.<ref name=Pulitzer>{{cite web |author=Office of the Provost |title=Pulitzer Prize |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/pulitzer.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> Four current or former faculty are members of the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]].<ref name=AcademyArts>{{cite web |author=Office of the Provost |title=American Academy of Arts and Letters |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/artsandletters.html |publisher=MIT |access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref>

Allegations of [[research misconduct]] or improprieties have received substantial press coverage. Professor [[David Baltimore]], a [[Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine|Nobel Laureate]], became embroiled in a misconduct investigation starting in 1986 that led to Congressional hearings in 1991.<ref name="Baltimore">{{cite news |title=Journal Cites New Evidence ex-MIT Scientist Faked Data |last=Saltus |first=Richard |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 28, 1990}}</ref><ref name="Nobel Winner">{{cite news |title=Nobel Winner Is Caught Up in a Dispute Over Study |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D8133FF931A25757C0A96E948260&scp=22&sq=Massachusetts+Institute+of+Technology+misconduct&st=nyt |work=The New York Times |date=April 12, 1988 |last=Boffey |first=Philip}}</ref> Professor [[Ted Postol]] has accused the MIT administration since 2000 of attempting to [[Whitewash (censorship)|whitewash]] potential research misconduct at the Lincoln Lab facility involving a [[ballistic missile defense]] test, though a final investigation into the matter has not been completed.<ref>{{cite news |title=MIT Faces Charges of Fraud, Cover-up on Missile Test Study |work=The Boston Globe |date=November 29, 2002 |last=Abel |first=David}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pierce |first=Charles P. |title=Going Postol |work=The Boston Globe |date=October 23, 2005 |url=https://archive.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/10/23/going_postol/ |access-date=January 27, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051025002021/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/10/23/going_postol/ |archive-date=25 October 2005}}</ref> Associate Professor [[Luk Van Parijs]] was dismissed in 2005 following allegations of scientific misconduct and found guilty of the same by the [[United States Office of Research Integrity]] in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ori.hhs.gov/misconduct/cases/VanParijs.shtml |title=Case Summary – Luk Van Parijs |publisher=Office of Research Integrity, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |date=January 23, 2009 |access-date=December 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611090045/http://ori.hhs.gov/misconduct/cases/VanParijs.shtml |archive-date=June 11, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090203/full/news.2009.74.html |title=Former MIT biologist penalized for falsifying data |publisher=Nature News |date=February 3, 2009 |first=Eugenie |last=Reich}}</ref>

In 2019, [[Clarivate Analytics]] named 54 members of MIT's faculty to its list of "Highly Cited Researchers". That number places MIT eighth among the world's universities.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-highly-cited-researchers-2019-list-reveals-top-talent-in-the-sciences-and-social-sciences-300960223.html |title=Global Highly Cited Researchers 2019 list reveals top talent in the sciences and social sciences |website=PR Newswire|language=en |access-date=2020-04-12}}</ref>

== Notable output ==
=== Natural sciences ===
*[[Oncogene]] – [[Robert Weinberg (biologist)|Robert Weinberg]] discovered genetic basis of human [[cancer]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shih |first1=C. |last2=Weinberg |first2=R. A. |year=1982 |title=Isolation of a transforming sequence from a human bladder carcinoma cell line |journal=Cell |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=161–9 |doi=10.1016/0092-8674(82)90100-3 |pmid=6286138 |s2cid=12046552}}</ref>
*[[David Baltimore#Reverse transcriptase|Reverse transcription]] – [[David Baltimore]] independently isolated, in 1970 at MIT, two RNA tumor viruses: [[Murine leukemia virus|R-MLV]] and again [[Rous sarcoma virus|RSV]].<ref name="pmid4316300">{{cite journal |author=Baltimore D. |date=June 1970 |title=RNA-dependent DNA polymerase in virions of RNA tumour viruses |journal=Nature |volume=226 |issue=5252 |pages=1209–11 |doi=10.1038/2261209a0 |pmid=4316300 |bibcode=1970Natur.226.1209B |s2cid=4222378}}</ref>
*[[Thermal death time]] – [[Samuel Cate Prescott]] and [[William Lyman Underwood]] from 1895 to 1898. Done for [[canning]] of food. Applications later found useful in [[medical devices]], [[pharmaceuticals]], and [[cosmetics]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Pioneers in Food Science, Volume 1: Samuel Cate Prescott – M.I.T. Dean and Pioneer Food Technologist |last=Goldblith |first=S.A. |publisher=Food & Nutrition Press |year=1993 |location=Trumball, CT}}</ref>
*[[Electroweak interaction]] – [[Steven Weinberg]] proposed the electroweak unification theory, which gave rise to the modern formulation of the [[Standard Model]], in 1967 at MIT.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Weinberg | first1 = S | year = 1967 | title = A Model of Leptons | url = http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120112142352/http://astrophysics.fic.uni.lodz.pl/100yrs/pdf/12/066.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2012-01-12 | journal = Phys. Rev. Lett. | volume = 19 | issue = 21 | pages = 1264–66 | doi = 10.1103/PhysRevLett.19.1264 | bibcode = 1967PhRvL..19.1264W }}</ref>

=== Computer and applied sciences ===
*[[Akamai Technologies]] – [[Daniel Lewin]] and [[Tom Leighton]] developed a faster [[content delivery network]], now one of the world's largest [[distributed computing]] platforms, responsible for serving between 15 and 30 percent of all web traffic.<ref name="figures">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-akamai-tech-results-idUSKBN0NJ2IV20150428 |title=Strong dollar hurts Akamai's profit forecast, shares fall |date=April 28, 2015 |work=Reuters}}</ref>
*[[Cryptography]] – MIT researchers [[Ron Rivest]], [[Adi Shamir]] and [[Leonard Adleman]] developed one of the first practical [[public-key cryptography|public-key cryptosystems]], the [[RSA (cryptosystem)|RSA cryptosystem]], and started a company, [[RSA Security]].<ref>{{Cite web |work=University of Bristol |title=Dr Clifford Cocks CB |url=http://www.bristol.ac.uk/graduation/honorary-degrees/hondeg08/cocks.html |access-date=2022-04-14 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
*[[Digital circuits]] – [[Claude Shannon]], while a master's degree student at MIT, developed the digital circuit design theory which paved the way for modern computers.<ref name="Fortune">{{cite book |last=Poundstone |first=William |title=Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street |url=https://archive.org/details/fortunesformulau00poun |url-access= registration |publisher=Hill & Wang |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8090-4599-0}}</ref>
*[[Electronic ink]] – developed by [[Joseph Jacobson]] at [[MIT Media Lab]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?TRID=574 |title=Innovators under 35 |year=1999 |work=MIT Technology Review |access-date=January 26, 2013 |archive-date=2016-03-15  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315084817/http://www2.technologyreview.com/tr35/profile.aspx?trid=574 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Emacs|Emacs (text editor)]] – development began during the 1970s at the [[MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory|MIT AI Lab]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Sunil K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8eg3EAAAQBAJ&dq=Emacs+(text+editor)+%E2%80%93+development+began+during+the+1970s+at+the+MIT+AI+Lab&pg=PT159 |title=Linux Yourself: Concept and Programming |date=2021-08-31 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0-429-82051-9 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Flight recorder|Flight recorder (black box)]] – [[Charles Stark Draper]] developed the black box at [[Charles Stark Draper Laboratory|MIT's Instrumentation Laboratory]]. That lab later made the [[Apollo program|Apollo Moon landings]] possible through the [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] it designed for [[NASA]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Eldon C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G8Dml1x55r0C&dq=black+box+at+MIT's+Instrumentation+Laboratory&pg=PA37 |title=Journey to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Guidance Computer |date=1996 |publisher=AIAA |isbn=978-1-56347-185-8 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[GNU Project]] – [[Richard Stallman]] formally founded the [[free software movement]] in 1983 by launching the [[GNU Project]] at MIT.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.gnu.org/gnu/initial-announcement.html |title=Initial Announcement – GNU Project – Free Software Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/specials/mit150/galleries/top_50/ |title=MIT 150: The Top 50 |website=Boston.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/50_things_that_mit_made |title=50 Things (That MIT Made) – MIT Admissions |website=MIT Admissions|date=May 27, 2011 }}</ref>
*[[Julia (programming language)]] – Development was started in 2009, by [[Jeff Bezanson]], [[Stefan Karpinski]], [[Viral B. Shah]], and [[Alan Edelman]], all at MIT at that time, and continued with the contribution of a dedicated MIT Julia Lab<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nazarathy |first1=Yoni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KidBEAAAQBAJ&dq=Julia+Development+2009+mit+Bezanson++Karpinski+++Shah++Alan+Edelman&pg=PA4 |title=Statistics with Julia: Fundamentals for Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence |last2=Klok |first2=Hayden |date=2021-09-04 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-70901-3 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Lisp (programming language)]] – [[John McCarthy (computer scientist)|John McCarthy]] invented Lisp at MIT in 1958.<ref name="MCCARTHY">{{cite web |url=http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/recursive.html |title=Recursive Functions of Symbolic Expressions and Their Computation by Machine, Part I |author=John McCarthy |access-date=October 13, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004215327/http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/recursive.html |archive-date=October 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>
*[[History of the lithium-ion battery#Commercialization in portable applications: 1991-2007|Lithium-ion battery efficiencies]] – Yet-Ming Chiang and his group at MIT showed a substantial improvement in the performance of lithium batteries by boosting the material's conductivity by [[Doping (semiconductor)|doping]] it<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chung |first1=S. Y. |last2=Bloking |first2=J. T. |last3=Chiang |first3=Y. M. |year=2002 |title=Electronically conductive phospho-olivines as lithium storage electrodes |journal=Nature Materials |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=123–128 |doi=10.1038/nmat732 |pmid=12618828 |bibcode=2002NatMa...1..123C |s2cid=2741069}}</ref> with [[aluminium]], [[niobium]] and [[zirconium]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boesenberg |first1=Ulrike |last2=Henriksen |first2=Christian |last3=Rasmussen |first3=Kaare Lund |last4=Chiang |first4=Yet-Ming |last5=Garrevoet |first5=Jan |last6=Ravnsbæk |first6=Dorthe B. |title=State of LiFePO 4 Li-Ion Battery Electrodes after 6533 Deep-Discharge Cycles Characterized by Combined Micro-XRF and Micro-XRD |journal=ACS Applied Energy Materials |date=25 April 2022 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=4358–4368 |doi=10.1021/acsaem.1c03966 |bibcode=2022ACSAE...5.4358B }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Qiao |first1=H. |last2=Wei |first2=Q. |title=Functional Nanofibers and their Applications |chapter=Functional nanofibers in lithium-ion batteries |date=2012 |pages=197–208 |doi=10.1533/9780857095640.2.197 |isbn=978-0-85709-069-0 }}</ref>
*[[Macsyma]], one of the oldest general-purpose computer algebra systems; the GPL-licensed version [[Maxima (software)|Maxima]] remains in wide use.<ref name='moses'>{{cite web |url=http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/moses/Macsyma.pdf |title=Macsyma: A Personal History |first=Joel |last=Moses |publisher=Milestones in Computer Algebra |date=May 2008}}. See also {{citation |author=Joel Moses |title=Macsyma: A personal history |journal=Journal of Symbolic Computation |volume=47 |year=2012 |issue=2 |pages=123–130 |doi=10.1016/j.jsc.2010.08.018 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
*[[MIT OpenCourseWare]] – the [[OpenCourseWare]] movement started in 1999 when the [[University of Tübingen]] in Germany published videos of [[lecture]]s online for its ''timms'' initiative (Tübinger Internet Multimedia Server).<ref name="tub99">{{Cite web |url=http://timms.uni-tuebingen.de/archive/sose99.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930065906/http://timms.uni-tuebingen.de/archive/sose99.aspx |url-status=dead |title=Tübinger Internet Multimedia Server |archive-date=September 30, 2009}}</ref> The OCW movement only took off, however, with the launch of MIT OpenCourseWare and the Open Learning Initiative at [[Carnegie Mellon University]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oli.cmu.edu/get-to-know-oli/learn-more-about-oli/ |title=Learn More About OLI |work=cmu.edu}}</ref> in October 2002. The movement was soon reinforced by the launch of similar projects at [[Yale]], [[Utah State University]], the [[University of Michigan]] and the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jacobs |first1=Lynn F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFUI2ZC7nwsC&dq=MIT+OpenCourseWare+utah+yale&pg=PT113 |title=The Secrets of College Success |last2=Hyman |first2=Jeremy S. |date=2013-04-10 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-57515-4 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Perdix micro-drone]] – autonomous drone that uses [[artificial intelligence]] to swarm with many other Perdix drones.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.war.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/1044811/department-of-defense-announces-successful-micro-drone-demonstration/ |title=Department of Defense Announces Successful Micro-Drone Demonstration |website=U.S. Department of Defense}}</ref>
*[[Project MAC]] – groundbreaking research in [[operating system]]s, [[artificial intelligence]], and the [[theory of computation]]. [[DARPA]] funded project.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bonvillian |first1=William B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XvpFDwAAQBAJ&dq=Project+MAC+DARPA&pg=PA32 |title=Advanced Manufacturing: The New American Innovation Policies |last2=Singer |first2=Peter L. |date=2018-01-12 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-34340-4 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Radar in World War II|Microwave radar]] – developed at MIT's [[Radiation Laboratory (MIT)|Radiation Laboratory]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=MIT Radiation Laboratory {{!}} MIT Lincoln Laboratory |url=https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history/mit-radiation-laboratory |access-date=2021-10-15 |website=www.ll.mit.edu}}</ref>
*[[Sketchpad|SKETCHPAD]] – invented by [[Ivan Sutherland]] at MIT (presented in his PhD thesis). It pioneered the way for [[human–computer interaction]] (HCI).<ref name="SearsJacko2007">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8TPF_O385AC&pg=PA5 |title=The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications, Second Edition |last1=Sears |first1=Andrew |last2=Jacko |first2=Julie A. |date=September 19, 2007 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-1-4106-1586-2 |page=5 |access-date=March 1, 2013}}</ref> Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of modern [[computer-aided design]] (CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in the development of [[computer graphics]] in general.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ko |first1=Joy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0z1MDwAAQBAJ&dq=SKETCHPAD+ancestor+of+modern+computer-aided+design&pg=PT63 |title=Geometric Computation: Foundations for Design |last2=Steinfeld |first2=Kyle |date=2018-02-15 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-65907-5 |language=en}}</ref>
*[[VisiCalc]] – first [[spreadsheet]] computer program for [[personal computer]]s, originally released for the [[Apple II]] by [[VisiCorp]]. MIT alumni [[Dan Bricklin]] and [[Bob Frankston]] rented time sharing at night on an MIT mainframe computer (that cost $1/hr for use).<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2011-05-17 |title=Boston Globe Highlights 150 MIT Ideas, Innovators |url=https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/boston-globe-highlights-150-mit-ideas-innovators/ |journal=MIT Sloan Management Review |language=en-US}}</ref>
*[[World Wide Web Consortium]] – founded in 1994 by [[Tim Berners-Lee]], (W3C) is the main international [[standards organization]] for the [[World Wide Web]]<ref name="consortium">{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/Consortium/ |title=World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) About the Consortium |publisher=W3C |date=September 2009 |access-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref>
*[[X Window System]] – pioneering architecture-independent system for graphical user interfaces that has been widely used for [[Unix]] and [[Linux]] systems.<ref>{{Cite book | last1=Pl | first1=Noite |work=Noite.pl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TbxVDwAAQBAJ&dq=X+Window+System+MIT&pg=PP6 |title=The X Window System: Linux Services. AL3-123 |language=pl}}</ref>

=== Companies and entrepreneurship ===
MIT alumni and faculty have founded numerous companies, some of which are shown below:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/entrepreneurship.html |title=MIT Facts 2017: Entrepreneurship and Innovation |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=November 18, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/compaines-founded-by-mit-grads-2014-8# |title=17 Companies You Didn't Know Were Founded By MIT Grads |work=Business Insider |access-date=November 18, 2017 |language=en}}</ref>
<!-- EDITOR NOTE: Use MIT-standard degree abbreviations, SB, SM, PhD, MBA, *without periods*" -->
*[[Analog Devices]], 1965, co-founders [[Ray Stata]], (SB, SM) and Matthew Lorber (SB)
*[[BlackRock]], 1988, co-founder Bennett Golub, (SB, SM, PhD)
*[[Bose Corporation]], 1964, founder [[Amar Bose]] (SB, PhD)
*[[Boston Dynamics]], 1992, founder [[Marc Raibert]] (PhD)
*[[BuzzFeed]], 2006, co-founder [[Jonah Peretti]] (SM)
*[[Dropbox (service)|Dropbox]], 2007, founders [[Drew Houston]] (SB) and [[Arash Ferdowsi]] (drop-out)
*[[Hewlett-Packard]], 1939, co-founder [[William Redington Hewlett|William R. Hewlett]] (SM)
*''[[HuffPost]],'' 2005, co-founder [[Jonah Peretti]] (SM)
*[[Intel]], 1968, co-founder [[Robert Noyce]] (PhD)
*[[Khan Academy]], 2008, founder [[Sal Khan|Salman Khan]] (SB, SM)<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2, 2022 |title=What is the history of Khan Academy? |url=https://support.khanacademy.org/hc/en-us/articles/202483180-What-is-the-history-of-Khan-Academy- |access-date=January 24, 2024 |website=Khan Academy Help Center |archive-date=2021-08-10  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810105819/https://support.khanacademy.org/hc/en-us/articles/202483180-What-is-the-history-of-Khan-Academy- |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*[[Koch Industries]], 1940, founder [[Fred C. Koch]] (SB), sons [[Bill Koch (businessman)|William]] (SB, PhD), [[David Koch|David]] (SB)
*[[Qualcomm]], 1985, co-founders [[Irwin M. Jacobs]] (SM, PhD) and [[Andrew Viterbi]] (SB, SM)
*[[Raytheon]], 1922, co-founder [[Vannevar Bush]] (DEng, Professor)
*[[Renaissance Technologies]], 1982, founder [[James Harris Simons|James Simons]] (SB)
*[[Scale AI]], 2016, founder [[Alexandr Wang]] (drop-out)
*[[Texas Instruments]], 1930, founder [[Cecil Howard Green]] (SB, SM)
*[[TSMC]], 1987, founder [[Morris Chang]] (SB, SM)
*[[VMware]], 1998, co-founder [[Diane Greene]] (SM)

== Student life ==
{{Main|Traditions and student activities at MIT|MIT class ring}}
[[File:VeteransDayMIT.jpg|thumb|[[Reserve Officers' Training Corps|ROTC]] students celebrate [[Veterans Day]] at MIT in 2019.]]
The faculty and student body place a high value on [[meritocracy]] and on technical proficiency.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/admissions/pdf/MITinstructions.pdf |title=MIT freshman application & financial aid information |first=Marilee |last=Jones |author-link=Marilee Jones |access-date= January 2, 2007 |publisher=MIT Admissions Office |quote=We are a meritocracy. We judge each other by our ideas, our creativity and our accomplishments, not by who our families are. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107035149/http://web.mit.edu/admissions/pdf/MITinstructions.pdf |archive-date=November 7, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bernanke |first=Ben S. |date=June 9, 2006 |title=2006 Commencement Speech at MIT |url=http://www.federalreserve.gov/boardDocs/speeches/2006/20060609/default.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061007204443/http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2006/20060609/default.htm |archive-date=October 7, 2006 |access-date=January 2, 2007 |quote=Mathematical approaches to economics have at times been criticized as lacking in practical value. Yet the MIT Economics Department has trained many economists who have played leading roles in government and in the private sector, including the current heads of four central banks: those of [[Central Bank of Chile|Chile]], [[Bank of Israel|Israel]], [[Banca d'Italia|Italy]], and, I might add, the [[Federal Reserve System|United States]].}}</ref> MIT has never awarded an [[honorary degree]],<ref>{{cite web |date=June 8, 2001 |title=No honorary degrees is an MIT tradition going back to ... Thomas Jefferson |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/commdegrees.html |access-date=May 7, 2006 |publisher=MIT News Office |quote=MIT's founder, [[William Barton Rogers]], regarded the practice of giving honorary degrees as 'literary almsgiving ... of spurious merit and noisy popularity ... '}}</ref> nor does it award [[athletic scholarship]]s,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Does MIT provide any academic or athletic scholarships? |url=https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/scholarships/ |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=MIT Admissions |quote=MIT provides financial aid on the basis of financial need only. We don’t award money based on any measure of merit—academic, athletic, artistic, or anything else.}}</ref> ''[[Ad eundem degree|ad eundem]]'' [[Ad eundem degree|degrees]],{{Citation needed|reason=This claim was added in revision 5747543. I am unable to find any sources that mention MIT and ad eundem degrees in connection to each other, that aren't just copying Wikipedia.|date=February 2023}} or [[Latin honors]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=B. |first=Mollie |date=July 16, 2006 |title=Standing out |url=https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/standing_out/ |access-date=2023-02-25 |website=MIT Admissions |quote=MIT doesn’t rank, and nobody graduates with Latin honors or anything foofy like that.}}</ref> upon graduation. However, MIT has twice awarded honorary professorships: to [[Winston Churchill]] in 1949 and [[Salman Rushdie]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite news |first=Daniel C. |last=Stevenson |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html |title=Rushdie Stuns Audience 26–100 |volume=113 |number=61 |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |access-date=2009-05-08  |archive-date=2010-07-25  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725052034/http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N61/rushdie.61n.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many [[wikt:upperclassman|upperclass]] students and alumni wear a large, heavy, distinctive [[class ring]] known as the "[[Brass Rat]]".<ref name="Brass Rat">{{cite book |title=Massachusetts Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, & Other Offbeat Stuff |publisher=Globe Pequot |year=2004 |isbn=0-7627-3070-6 |last=Gellerman |first=Bruce |author2=Erik Sherman |pages=[https://archive.org/details/massachusettscur00bruc/page/65 65–66] |url=https://archive.org/details/massachusettscur00bruc/page/65}}</ref><ref name=BrassRat2013>{{cite news |last=Pourian |first=Jessica J. |title=2013's Brass Rat unveiled |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N5/ringpremiere.html |access-date=June 12, 2011 |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=131 |number=5 |date=February 15, 2011 |archive-date=2011-10-26  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026153320/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N5/ringpremiere.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Originally created in 1929, the ring's official name is the "Standard Technology Ring".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |title=Ring History ('93 class webpage) |access-date=December 26, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061214164648/http://alumweb.mit.edu/classes/1993/brassrat.html |archive-date=December 14, 2006}}</ref> The undergraduate ring design (a separate graduate student version exists as well) varies slightly from year to year to reflect the unique character of the MIT experience for that class, but always features a three-piece design, with the MIT seal and the class year each appearing on a separate face, flanking a large rectangular bezel bearing an image of a [[American Beaver|beaver]].<ref name="Brass Rat"/> The [[initialism]] [[IHTFP]], representing the informal school motto "I Hate This Fucking Place" and jocularly [[euphemized]] as "I Have Truly Found Paradise", "Institute Has The Finest Professors", "Institute of Hacks, TomFoolery and Pranks", "It's Hard to Fondle Penguins", and other variations, has occasionally been featured on the ring given its historical prominence in student culture.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bauer |first=M.J. |title=IHTFP |url=https://www.mit.edu/people/mjbauer/ihtfp.html |access-date=November 23, 2005}}</ref>

=== Caltech Rivalry ===
{{Main|Caltech–MIT rivalry}}

MIT also shares a well-known [[Caltech–MIT rivalry|rivalry]] with the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech), stemming from both institutions' reputations as two of the highest ranked and most highly recognized science and engineering schools in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World University Rankings |url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2022/world-ranking |access-date=2022-02-27 |website=Times Higher Education (THE) |date=August 25, 2021 |language=en}}</ref> The rivalry is an unusual college rivalry given its focus on academics and pranks instead of sports, and due to the geographic distance between the two (their campuses are separated by about 2580 miles and are on [[West Coast of the United States|opposite]] [[East Coast of the United States|coasts]] of the United States). In 2005, Caltech students pranked MIT's Campus Preview Weekend by distributing t-shirts that read "MIT" on the front, and "...because not everyone can go to Caltech" on the back.<ref name="calvsmit">{{cite web |title=Caltech vs MIT |url=http://www.caltechvsmit.com/ |access-date=July 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060308151838/http://www.caltechvsmit.com/ |archive-date=March 8, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Seigel |first=Alex |title=Tales from the Snow-Covered Trenches: A Techer's Account of Card-Readers, Campus Cops, and Courage |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20101102-084118157 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=April 11, 2005 |page=2}}</ref><ref name="mit2005">{{cite news |last=Wang |first=Hanhan |title=Caltech Pranks CPW; MIT Hackers Reply |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V125/PDF/N19.pdf |access-date=September 23, 2012 |newspaper=The Tech |date=April 12, 2005 |page=1 |archive-date=2010-07-12  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712213326/http://tech.mit.edu/V125/PDF/N19.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Additionally, the word Massachusetts in the "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" engraving on the exterior of the Lobby 7 dome was covered with a banner so that it read "That Other Institute of Technology". In 2006, MIT retaliated by posing as contractors and stealing the 1.7-ton, 130-year-old [[House System at the California Institute of Technology#Fleming cannon|Fleming cannon]], a Caltech landmark. The cannon was relocated to Cambridge, where it was displayed in front of the [[Green Building (MIT)|Green Building]] during the 2006 Campus Preview Weekend.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caltech Pranked by MIT Today |url=http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/12826 |publisher=California Institute of Technology |access-date=September 23, 2012 |date=April 6, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919014724/http://media.caltech.edu/press_releases/12826 |archive-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=McNamara |first=John |title=MIT Students and Prefrosh Discover the Cannon |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20101101-161812927 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=10 April 2006 |page=1}}</ref> In September 2010, MIT students unsuccessfully tried to place a life-sized model of the [[TARDIS]] time machine from the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' (1963–present) television series on top of Baxter Hall at Caltech. A few months later, Caltech students collaborated to help MIT students place the TARDIS on top of their originally planned destination.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marzen |first=Sarah |title=Caltech Security Halts MIT Prank |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20110216-082822045 |access-date=2014-06-11 |newspaper=The California Tech |date=27 September 2010 |page=1}}</ref> The rivalry has continued, most recently in 2014, when a group of Caltech students gave out mugs sporting the MIT logo on the front and the words "The Institute of Technology" on the back. When heated, the mugs turned orange and read, "Caltech, The Hotter Institute of Technology".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lawler |first1=Liz |title=Caltech Prank Club pranks MIT Campus Preview Weekend |url=http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechCampusPubs:20140414-230220681 |access-date=11 June 2014 |work=The California Tech |date=14 April 2014 |page=1}}</ref>

=== Activities ===
{{Main|Traditions and student activities at MIT}}

{{See also|Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}
{{See also|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternities and sororities}}
[[File:Huntbeginsinlobby7.jpg|thumb|The start of the [[MIT Mystery Hunt]] in 2007]]
MIT has over 500 recognized student activity groups,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/asa/resources/group-list.html |title=Student Group List |website=MIT |access-date=November 25, 2015}}</ref> including a [[WMBR|campus radio station]], ''[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]]'' student newspaper, an annual [[MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition|entrepreneurship competition]], a [[MIT Crime Club|crime club]], and weekly screenings of popular films by the [[Student life and culture at MIT#Lecture Series Committee|Lecture Series Committee]]. Less traditional activities include the "world's largest open-shelf [[MIT Science Fiction Society|collection of science fiction]]" in English, a [[TMRC|model railroad club]], and a vibrant [[Tech Squares|folk dance]] scene. Students, faculty, and staff are involved in over 50 educational outreach and public service programs through the [[MIT Museum]], Edgerton Center, and MIT Public Service Center.<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Outreach Database |url=http://mitpsc.mit.edu/outreach/home/search |access-date=September 7, 2010 |publisher=MIT |archive-date=2011-05-11  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511132424/http://mitpsc.mit.edu/outreach/home/search |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Fraternities and sororities provide a base of activities in addition to housing. Approximately 1,000 undergrads, 48% of men and 30% of women, participate in one of several dozen Greek Life men's, women's and co-ed chapters on the campus.<ref>[http://www.mitifc.com/faqs Current statistics from the 2020 FSILG office annual report] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200621043722/http://www.mitifc.com/faqs |date=2020-06-21 }}, accessed 22 Jun 2020.</ref>

The [[Student life and culture at MIT#Independent Activities Period|Independent Activities Period]] is a four-week-long "term" offering hundreds of optional classes, lectures, demonstrations, and other activities throughout the month of January between the Fall and Spring semesters. Some of the most popular recurring IAP activities are Autonomous Robot Design (course 6.270), Robocraft Programming (6.370), and MasLab [[Traditions and student activities at MIT#Competitions|competitions]],<ref name="Discover">{{cite news |url=http://discovermagazine.com/2005/jun/mit-nerds/ |first=Claudia Glenn |last=Dowling |title=MIT Nerds |date=June 5, 2005 |access-date=August 17, 2007 |work=Discover Magazine}}</ref> the annual [[MIT Mystery Hunt|"mystery hunt"]],<ref name="Globe">{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/01/23/her_mystery_achievement_to_boldly_scavenge_at_mit/ |last=Bridges |first=Mary |work=The Boston Globe |title=Her Mystery achievement: to boldly scavenge at MIT |date=January 23, 2005 |access-date=January 16, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050405220144/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/01/23/her_mystery_achievement_to_boldly_scavenge_at_mit/ |archive-date=5 April 2005}}</ref> and [[Traditions and student activities at MIT#Independent Activities Period|Charm School]].<ref name=CharmSchool>{{cite web |title=Charm School |url=http://studentlife.mit.edu/sao/charm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426004454/http://studentlife.mit.edu/sao/charm |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 26, 2011 |work=MIT Student Activities Office |publisher=MIT Division of Student Life |access-date=July 3, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E7D8113EF935A35751C0A9679C8B63 |title=What, Geeks at M.I.T.? Not With This Class |last=Chang |first=Kenneth |date=February 6, 2001 |access-date=August 12, 2008 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> More than 250 students pursue [[externships]] annually at companies in the US and abroad.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kirkpatrick |first=J. |year=2011 |title=Students head off to varied externships |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=131 |issue=59 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N59/externship.html |access-date=2012-07-05  |archive-date=2015-10-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016005821/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N59/externship.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Kirkpatrick |first=J. |year=2011 |title=Record 294 participate in MIT Externship Program |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=131 |issue=57 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N57/externship.html |access-date=2012-07-05  |archive-date=2015-10-16  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016202823/http://tech.mit.edu/V131/N57/externship.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many MIT students also engage in "hacking", which encompasses both the [[Roof and tunnel hacking|physical exploration of areas]] that are generally off-limits (such as rooftops and steam tunnels), as well as [[Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology|elaborate practical jokes]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=T.F. |title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-66137-9 |year=2003 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nightworkhistory0000pete}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=These Are Not Your Ordinary College Pranks |work=The Boston Globe |date=April 1, 2003 |last=Biskup |first=Agnieska}}</ref> Examples of high-profile hacks have included the [[Caltech's rival|abduction of Caltech's cannon]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mitcannon.com/ |title=Howe & Ser Moving Co |access-date=April 4, 2007}}</ref> reconstructing a [[Wright Flyer]] atop the Great Dome,<ref>{{cite news |title=MIT Pranksters Wing It For Wright Celebration |work=The Boston Globe |date=December 18, 2003 |first=Marcella |last=Bombadieri |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/cgi-bin/ngate/BG?ext_docid=0FF8A4DEBA245CA5&ext_hed=MIT%20PRANKSTERS%20WING%20IT%20FOR%20WRIGHT%20CELEBRATION&ext_theme=bg&pubcode=BG |archive-date=2015-09-04  |access-date=2007-09-26  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904001202/http://nl.newsbank.com/cgi-bin/ngate/BG?ext_docid=0FF8A4DEBA245CA5&ext_hed=MIT%20PRANKSTERS%20WING%20IT%20FOR%20WRIGHT%20CELEBRATION&ext_theme=bg&pubcode=BG |url-status=dead }}</ref> and adorning the [[John Harvard]] statue with the [[Master Chief (Halo)|Master Chief's Mjölnir Helmet]].<ref>{{cite web |title=MIT Hackers & Halo 3 |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |volume=127 |number=41 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N41/graphics/halo3.html |access-date=September 25, 2007 |archive-date=2010-04-29  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429210757/http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N41/graphics/halo3.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Athletics ===
{{Main|MIT Engineers}}

[[File:MIT Z Center.jpg|thumb|The [[Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center]] houses a two-story fitness center as well as swimming and diving pools.]]

MIT sponsors 31 varsity sports, reduced from 41 in 2009, and has one of the three broadest NCAA Division III athletic programs.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2009/04/24/mit_forced_to_cut_8_varsity_sports/ |title=MIT forced to cut 8 varsity sports |date=April 24, 2009 |first=John |last=Powers |work=The Boston Globe |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427060541/http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2009/04/24/mit_forced_to_cut_8_varsity_sports/ |archive-date=27 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Kathryn Krtnick, Asst. Dir. of Communications |title=Re: NCAA Media Inquiry |publisher=Natl. Collegiate Athletic Assn |date=November 28, 2012 |url=http://mitcrimeclub.org/ncaa121128.pdf |quote=List of institutions that sponsor the most sports: Bowdoin College and Williams College – 32; MIT – 31.}}</ref> Nearly 20% of undergraduates play at least one varsity sport.<ref name="AthleteFAQ"/> Applying athletes are considered by the academic standards applied to all applicants, though coaches may advocate for their admission.<ref name="AthleteFAQ">{{cite web |title=Does MIT recruit athletes? |url=https://mitadmissions.org/help/faq/does-mit-recruit-athletes/ |publisher=MIT Admissions |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref><ref name="SchillSoriero">{{cite web |last1=Schmill |first1=Stuart |last2=Soriero |first2=Julie |title=Athletics Admissions Recruiting Letter |url=https://web.mit.edu/athletics/www/acs/Athletics_Admissions_Recruiting_Letter.pdf |publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref> 

MIT participates in the [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA's]] [[Division III (NCAA)|Division III]] and the [[New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference]], with women's crew competing at the Division I level in the [[Patriot League]]. MIT's intercollegiate sports teams, called the Engineers, have won 22 Team National Championships and 42 Individual National Championships. 

MIT is the all-time leader in [[Academic All-America]] selections (468 {{as of|2025|08|lc=y}}), ahead of [[Stanford University]] and the [[University of Nebraska–Lincoln]] across all NCAA divisions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Academic All-America Program by the Numbers |url=https://academicallamerica.com/sports/2017/11/28/AAAByTheNumbers.aspx |publisher=College Sports Communicators |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref> MIT Athletes won 13 [[Elite 90 Award|Elite 90]] awards and ranks first among NCAA Division III programs, and third among all divisions.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/Elite90 |title=NCAA Elite 90 Award All-Time Recipients |website=MIT |language=en |access-date=March 7, 2019 |archive-date=2019-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080824/https://www.mitathletics.com/information/excellence/Elite90 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== People ==
{{Further|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

MIT affiliates have received major academic and professional honors across a range of fields. As of October 2024, 105 Nobel laureates, 26 Turing Award winners, and 8 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT as alumni, faculty, or researchers.{{cn|date=February 2026}} The institute also counts 58 National Medal of Science recipients, 29 National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipients, and 84 MacArthur Fellows among its affiliates.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://web.mit.edu/facts/awards.html |title=MIT Facts 2018: Faculty and Staff |website=web.mit.edu |access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref> 

In public service, 41 MIT-affiliated astronauts have flown in space,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://alum.mit.edu/slice/nasa-chooses-three-mit-alumni-be-astronauts |title=NASA Chooses Three MIT Alumni to be Astronauts |website=alum.mit.edu |date=June 22, 2017 |language=en |access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref> 16 have served as Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force, and 8 alumni have served as foreign heads of state.{{cn|date=February 2026}} Many alumni have also held senior positions in the U.S. federal government, including members of the Cabinet, the Federal Reserve, and the leadership of national defense and intelligence agencies. Alumni and faculty have founded or led many notable companies, particularly in technology, defense, and biotechnology.

=== Students ===

{| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;"
|+ style="font-size:90%" |Student body composition as of May 2, 2023
|-
! Race and ethnicity<ref>{{cite web |title=College Scorecard: Massachusetts Institute of Technology |url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?166683-Massachusetts-Institute-of-Technology |access-date=August 22, 2024 |publisher=[[United States Department of Education]]}}</ref>
! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]]
|align=right| {{bartable|34|%|2||background:purple}}
|-
| [[Non-Hispanic whites|White]]
|align=right| {{bartable|22|%|2||background:gray}}
|-
| [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]]
|align=right| {{bartable|15|%|2||background:green}}
|-
| [[Foreign national]]
|align=right| {{bartable|11|%|2||background:orange}}
|-
| Other{{efn|Other consists of [[Multiracial Americans]] & those who prefer to not say.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|10|%|2||background:brown}}
|-
| [[African Americans|Black]]
|align=right| {{bartable|8|%|2||background:mediumblue}}
|-
! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |[[Economic diversity]]
|-
| [[American lower class|Low-income]]{{efn|The percentage of students who received an income-based federal [[Pell Grant]] intended for low-income students.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|19|%|2||background:red}}
|-
| [[Affluence in the United States|Affluent]]{{efn|The percentage of students who are a part of the [[American middle class]] at the bare minimum.}}
|align=right| {{bartable|81|%|2||background:black}}
|}

MIT enrolled 4,535 undergraduates and 7,047 graduate students in 2024–2025.<ref name="CDS2024-25">{{cite web |title=Common Data Set 2024–2025 |url=https://ir.mit.edu/projects/2024-25-common-data-set/ |publisher=MIT Institutional Research |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref> In 2025, MIT admitted 4.5% of its applicants for first-year admission. 86% of admitted students enrolled.<ref name="CDS2024-25"/><ref name="TechYield2025">{{cite news|last=Hir |first=Vivian |title=MIT's yield rate increases from 73% in 2015 to all-time high of 86.6% in 2025 |url=https://thetech.com/2025/11/06/mit-yield-rate-increase |work=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |date=November 6, 2025 |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref>

MIT is one of nine U.S. colleges that is both [[need-blind admission|need-blind]] and full-need for all undergraduate applicants, including international students.<ref name="MITSFS">{{cite web |title=Making MIT affordable |url=https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/the-cost-of-attendance/making-mit-affordable/ |publisher=MIT Student Financial Services |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref> All financial aid is based on demonstrated need, MIT does not offer merit or athletic scholarships.<ref name="MITSFS"/> Beginning with the 2025–2026 academic year, tuition is not charged to students from families with incomes below $200,000 with typical assets.<ref name="WBUR2024">{{cite news |last=Piper-Vallillo |first=Emily |title=MIT to cover full tuition for undergrads from households making below $200,000 |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/11/20/mit-tuition-income-college-costs |work=[[WBUR]] |date=November 20, 2024 |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref><ref name="MITSFS"/> At times, annual increases led to a student tradition (dating back to the 1960s) of tongue-in-cheek "tuition riots."<ref name="Tuition Riot">{{cite news |newspaper=[[The Tech (newspaper)|The Tech]] |title=Tuition hike provokes student riot |date=January 14, 1966 |last=Bolotin |first=Mark |volume=85 |issue=32 |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V85/PDF/N32.pdf |access-date=August 26, 2010 |archive-date=September 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925064936/http://tech.mit.edu/V85/PDF/N32.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The admissions process does not give preference to [[Legacy preferences|children of alumni]].<ref name="NYTChetty2023">{{cite news |last1=Cain Miller |first1=Claire |last2=Bhatia |first2=Bhatia |title=An Ivy League/Elite College Admissions Calculator: How Much Does Your Background Matter? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/24/upshot/ivy-league-elite-college-admissions.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 24, 2023 |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref><ref name="Petersen2012">{{cite web |last=Peterson |first=Chris |title=Just To Be Clear: We Don't Do Legacy |url=https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/just-to-be-clear-we-dont-do-legacy/ |publisher=MIT Admissions |date=June 25, 2012 |access-date=February 16, 2026}}</ref> A 2023 study by economists [[Raj Chetty]], David Deming, and John Friedman found that legacy preferences, athletic recruitment, and non-academic ratings were the primary drivers of admissions advantages for wealthy applicants at twelve highly selective U.S. colleges. At MIT, students from the wealthiest families were no more likely to attend than other applicants with comparable test scores.<ref name="Chetty2023">{{cite journal |last1=Chetty |first1=Raj |last2=Deming |first2=David J. |last3=Friedman |first3=John N. |title=Diversifying Society's Leaders? The Determinants and Causal Effects of Admission to Highly Selective Private Colleges |journal=Quarterly Journal of Economics |year=2024 |doi=10.1093/qje/qjae015 |url=https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/collegeadmissions/}}</ref><ref name="NYTChetty2023"/>

In August 2024, after the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] overruled race-based [[Affirmative action in the United States|affirmative action]] in ''[[Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard]]'' (2023), the university reported that for the class of 2028, Black and Latino student enrollment decreased from previous averages to 5 and 11 percent, respectively, while [[Asian Americans|Asian American]] enrollment increased to 47 percent.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Hartocollis |first1=Anemona |last2=Saul |first2=Stephanie |date=2024-08-21 |title=At M.I.T., Black and Latino Enrollment Drops Sharply After Affirmative Action Ban |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/us/mit-black-latino-enrollment-affirmative-action.html |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Maglione |first1=Francesca |last2=Lorin |first2=Janet |date=2024-08-21 |title=MIT's Drop in Black Students Shows Fallout From Top Court Ruling |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-21/mit-reports-drop-in-black-student-enrollment-for-incoming-class |access-date=2024-08-22 |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |language=en}}</ref>

MIT has been nominally [[co-education]]al since admitting [[Ellen Swallow Richards]] in 1870. Richards also became the first female member of MIT's faculty, specializing in [[environmental health|sanitary chemistry]].<ref name="Bowden">{{cite book |last1=Bowden |first1=Mary Ellen |title=Chemical achievers: the human face of the chemical sciences |date=1997 |publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation |location=Philadelphia, PA |isbn=9780941901123 |pages=156–158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCg5MgI2S54C&pg=PA156}}</ref><ref name="CHFBio">{{cite web |title=Ellen H. Swallow Richards |url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/ellen-h-swallow-richards |website=Science History Institute |access-date=November 18, 2016 |date=June 2016}}</ref> Female students remained a small minority prior to the completion of the first wing of a women's dormitory, [[Katherine Dexter McCormick|McCormick Hall]], in 1963.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mccormick.scripts.mit.edu/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FactSheet.pdf |title=McCormick Fact Sheet |url-status=dead |access-date=February 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220002345/http://mccormick.scripts.mit.edu/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/FactSheet.pdf |archive-date=February 20, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Simha |first=O. R. |title=MIT campus planning 1960–2000: An annotated chronology |year=2003 |pages=32–33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ldq-ZgxszzMC&pg=PA32 |isbn=978-0-262-69294-6 |quote=In 1959, 158 women were enrolled at MIT. |publisher=[[MIT Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Stratton |first=J. A. |title=The president's report 1960 |year=1960 |page=49 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/presidents-reports/1960.pdf |quote=Registration: In 1959–60 ... [o]ne hundred and fifty-five women were enrolled, [2.5 percent of student body]. ... |access-date=2009-11-12  |archive-date=2016-03-04  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304121656/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/presidents-reports/1960.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Between 1993 and 2009 the proportion of women rose from 34 percent to 45 percent of undergraduates and from 20 percent to 31 percent of graduate students.<ref name="Enrollments"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/hal/women-enrollment-comm/final-report-ch1.html |title=Chapter 1: Male/Female enrollment patterns in EECS at MIT and other schools |date=January 3, 1995 |access-date=December 8, 2006 |author=EECS Women Undergraduate Enrollment Committee |work=Women Undergraduate Enrollment in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT}}</ref> {{as of|2009}}, women outnumbered men in Biology, Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Architecture, Urban Planning, and Biological Engineering.<ref name="Enrollments"/><ref name="Women Enrollments">{{cite book |work=MIT, Office of the Registrar. |title=Enrollment statistics: Women students, Fall term 2009–2010 |date=October 9, 2009 |url=http://web.mit.edu/registrar/stats/gender/index.html}}</ref>

=== Faculty and staff ===
{{Main|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology}}

{{Update section|date=January 2022}}
[[File:Ford-MIT Nobel Laureate Lecture Series 2000-09-18.jpg|thumb|right|A 2000 panel featuring Institute Professors Emeriti and Nobel Laureates (from left to right) [[Franco Modigliani]], [[Paul Samuelson]], and [[Robert Solow]]]]

{{As of|2025}}, MIT had 1,090 [[Faculty (academic staff)|faculty]] members.<ref name=MITFactFacStaff>{{cite web |title=Faculty and Staff |url=http://web.mit.edu/facts/faculty.html |work=MIT Facts |publisher=MIT |access-date= March 21, 2025}}</ref> Faculty are responsible for lecturing classes, for advising both graduate and undergraduate students, and for sitting on academic committees, as well as for conducting original research. Between 1964 and 2009 a total of seventeen faculty and staff members affiliated with MIT won [[Nobel Prize]]s (thirteen of them in the latter 25 years).<ref>{{cite book |work=Nobel Foundation |title=Nobel laureates and universities |year=2009 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html |access-date= April 1, 2015}}</ref> As of October 2020, 37 MIT faculty members, past or present, have won Nobel Prizes, the majority in [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences|Economics]] or [[Nobel Prize in Physics|Physics]].<ref name="Faculty Awards">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/nobel.html |title=Awards and Honors |publisher=Institutional Research, Office of the Provost |access-date= October 18, 2011}}</ref>

{{As of|2013|October}}, current faculty and teaching staff included 67 [[Guggenheim Fellow]]s, 6 [[Fulbright Scholar]]s, and 22 [[MacArthur Fellow]]s.<ref name="MITFactFacStaff" /> Faculty members who have made extraordinary contributions to their research field as well as the MIT community are granted appointments as [[Institute Professor]]s for the remainder of their tenures. [[Susan Hockfield]], a molecular [[neurobiology|neurobiologist]], served as MIT's president from 2004 to 2012. She was the first woman to hold the post.<ref name="Hockfield">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/hockfield/biography.html |title=Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Biography |publisher=MIT |access-date=September 19, 2008}}</ref>

MIT faculty members have often been recruited to lead other colleges and universities. Founding faculty-member [[Charles W. Eliot]] became president of Harvard University in 1869, a post he would hold for 40 years, during which he had influence both on American higher education and on secondary education<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charles William Eliot {{!}} Research Starters {{!}} EBSCO Research |url=https://www.ebsco.com/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=EBSCO |language=en}}</ref>. MIT alumnus and faculty member [[George Ellery Hale]] played a central role in the development of the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech), and other faculty members have been key founders of [[Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering]] in nearby [[Needham, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://collections.archives.caltech.edu/agents/people/3395 |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=collections.archives.caltech.edu}}</ref>

{{As of|2014}} former provost [[Robert A. Brown]] served as president of [[Boston University]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert A. Brown {{!}} College of Engineering |url=https://www.bu.edu/eng/profile/robert-a-brown/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=www.bu.edu}}</ref>; former provost [[Mark S. Wrighton|Mark Wrighton]] is chancellor of [[Washington University in St. Louis]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark S. Wrighton |url=https://washu.edu/people/mark-s-wrighton/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |language=en-US}}</ref>; former associate provost [[Alice Gast]] is president of [[Lehigh University]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-30 |title=Remembering Former Lehigh President Alice P. Gast |url=https://www2.lehigh.edu/remembering-former-lehigh-president-alice-p-gast |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=Lehigh University News |language=en}}</ref>; and former professor [[Suh Nam-pyo]] is president of [[KAIST]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nam Pyo Suh {{!}} Professional Education |url=https://professional.mit.edu/programs/faculty-profiles/nam-pyo-suh |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=professional.mit.edu}}</ref>. Former dean of the School of Science [[Robert J. Birgeneau]] was the chancellor of the [[University of California, Berkeley]] (2004–2013)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert J. Birgeneau » MIT Physics |url=https://physics.mit.edu/faculty/robert-birgeneau/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=MIT Physics |language=en-US}}</ref>; former professor [[John Maeda]] was president of [[Rhode Island School of Design]] (RISD, 2008–2013)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-12-21 |title=John Maeda named president of Rhode Island School of Design |url=https://news.mit.edu/2007/announcement-risd-1222 |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=MIT News {{!}} Massachusetts Institute of Technology |language=en}}</ref>; former professor [[David Baltimore]] was president of [[Caltech]] (1997–2006)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Caltech Mourns the Passing of President Emeritus and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore |url=https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/caltech-mourns-the-passing-of-president-emeritus-and-nobel-laureate-david-baltimore |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=California Institute of Technology |language=en}}</ref>; and MIT alumnus and former assistant professor [[Hans Mark]] served as chancellor of the [[University of Texas]] system (1984–1992).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barnes |first=Michael |date=2021-12-19 |title='God of aerospace engineering': Hans Mark, former UT chancellor who fled Nazis, dies at 92 |url=https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/12/19/hans-mark-obituary-ut-system-chancellor-austin-university-texas-aerospace-nasa-moon-landing/8962158002/ |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=Austin American-Statesman |language=en}}</ref>

In addition, faculty members have been recruited to lead governmental agencies; for example, former professor [[Marcia McNutt]] is president of the [[National Academy of Sciences]],<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/feb-16-2016-NASelection.html |title=Marcia McNutt Elected 22nd NAS President; New Treasurer, Council Members Chosen |date=February 16, 2016 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=February 23, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221111144/http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/feb-16-2016-NASelection.html |archive-date=February 21, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> urban studies professor [[Xavier de Souza Briggs]] served as the associate director of the [[White House Office of Management and Budget]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/briggs-0120.html |title=DUSP's Briggs joins Obama administration |publisher=MIT News Office |date=January 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106002228/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/briggs-0120.html |archive-date=November 6, 2013}}</ref> and biology professor [[Eric Lander]] was a co-chair of the [[President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/lander-pcast-1222.html |title=Lander named to Obama's science team |date=December 22, 2008 |publisher=MIT News Office |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106003252/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/lander-pcast-1222.html |archive-date=November 6, 2013}}</ref> In 2013, faculty member [[Ernest Moniz]] was nominated by President Obama and later confirmed as [[United States Secretary of Energy]].<ref name=nytimes-nominee>{{cite news |last1=Calmes |first1=Jackie |last2=Broder |first2=John |title=Obama Announces 3 Cabinet Nominations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/us/politics/obama-to-nominate-new-heads-for-energy-department-and-epa.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp |access-date=March 4, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 4, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Rampton |first=Roberta |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2013/02/06/exclusive-microsoft-and-symantec-disrupt-cyber-crime-ring/ |title=Exclusive: Obama considering MIT physicist Moniz for energy secretary – sources |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=February 6, 2013 |access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> Former professor Hans Mark served as Secretary of the Air Force from 1979 to 1981. Alumna and Institute Professor Sheila Widnall served as Secretary of the Air Force between 1993 and 1997, making her the first female Secretary of the Air Force and first woman to lead an entire branch of the US military in the Department of Defense. A 1999 report, met by promises of change by President Charles Vest, found that senior female faculty in the School of Science were often marginalized, and in return for equal professional accomplishments received reduced "salary, space, awards, resources, and response to outside offers".<ref>{{cite journal |author1=First and Second Committees on Women Faculty in the School of Science |title=A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT |journal=The MIT Faculty Newsletter |date=March 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508212213/http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/Fnlwomen.htm |archive-date=8 May 1999 <!-- |quote=Vol. XI No. 4 --> |volume=11 |issue=4 |url=http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/Fnlwomen.htm |publisher=[[MIT]]}}</ref>

{{As of|2017}}, MIT was the second-largest employer in the city of Cambridge.<ref name="CommFacts" /> Based on feedback from employees, MIT was ranked No. 7 as a place to work, among US colleges and universities {{as of|2013|3|lc=y}}.<ref name=Glassdoor>{{cite web |title=Glassdoor's Top 25 Universities To Work For |url=http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/top-25-universities-work-2013/ |work=Glassdoor |date=September 20, 2013 |publisher=Glassdoor, Inc. |access-date=March 11, 2014}}</ref> Surveys cited a "smart", "creative", "friendly" environment, noting that the [[work-life balance]] tilts towards a "strong work ethic" but complaining about "low pay" compared to an industry position.<ref name=GlassdoorMIT>
{{cite web |title=MIT Reviews |url=http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/MIT-Company-Reviews-E2889_P5.htm |work=Glassdoor |publisher=Glassdoor, Inc. |access-date=March 11, 2014}}
</ref>

=== Notable alumni ===
{{Main list|List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Massachusetts Institute of Technology
}}
<!-- Do NOT add alumni below, unless they are *exceptionally*notable; otherwise, see the "List of MIT alumni" article. Do NOT add *fictional*alumni here, see the "MIT in popular culture" article. -->Many of MIT's over 120,000 alumni have achieved considerable success in scientific research, public service, education, and [[business sector|business]]. {{As of|2020|October|df=US}}, 41 MIT alumni have won Nobel Prizes, 48 have been selected as [[Rhodes Scholar]]s,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/2019%20RS_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution.pdf |title=Rhodes Scholarships: Number of Winners by Institution, U.S. Rhodes Scholars (1904–2019) |website=The Rhodes Trust |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215642/http://www.rhodesscholar.org/assets/uploads/2019%20RS_Number%20of%20Winners%20by%20Institution.pdf |archive-date= 2019-02-15}}</ref> 61 have been selected as [[Marshall Scholar]]s,<ref name="IRAwardsHonors">{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/ir/pop/awards/index.html |title=Awards and Honors |author=MIT Office of Institutional Research |access-date= March 11, 2014}}</ref> and 3 have been selected as [[Mitchell Scholarship|Mitchell Scholars]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Mongo |first=Julia |date=November 24, 2020 |title=Meghan Davis named 2022 Mitchell Scholar |url=https://news.mit.edu/2020/meghan-davis-named-2022-mitchell-scholar-1124 |access-date=November 26, 2020 |website=MIT News}}</ref>

Alumni in United States politics and public service include former [[Chairman of the Federal Reserve]] [[Ben Bernanke]], former [[Massachusetts's 1st congressional district|MA-1]] Representative [[John Olver]], former [[California's 13th congressional district|CA-13]] Representative [[Pete Stark]], [[Kentucky's 4th congressional district|KY-4]] Representative [[Thomas Massie]], California Senator [[Alex Padilla]], and former [[United States National Economic Council|National Economic Council]] chairman [[Lawrence H. Summers]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae (Lawrence H. Summers) |url=https://apps.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/cv/LawrenceSummers.pdf |publisher=Harvard University |access-date= 8 September 2020}}</ref>

MIT alumni have founded or co-founded many notable companies, such as [[Robert Noyce|Intel]], [[James Smith McDonnell|McDonnell]] [[Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.|Douglas]], [[Cecil Howard Green|Texas Instruments]], [[Robert Metcalfe|3Com]], [[Andrew Viterbi|Qualcomm]], [[Amar Bose|Bose]], [[Vannevar Bush|Raytheon]], [[Apotex]], [[Fred C. Koch|Koch Industries]], [[Willard Rockwell|Rockwell International]], [[Robert A. Swanson|Genentech]], [[Drew Houston|Dropbox]], and [[John Thompson Dorrance|Campbell Soup]]. According to the British newspaper ''[[The Guardian]]'', "a survey of living MIT alumni found that they have formed 25,800 companies, employing more than three million people including about a quarter of the workforce of Silicon Valley. Those firms collectively generate global revenues of about $1.9 trillion (£1.2 trillion) a year". If the companies founded by MIT alumni were a country, they would have the 11th-highest [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] of any country in the world.<ref name="Entrepreneur">{{cite journal |url=http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217327 |title=Gurus and Grads |journal=Entrepreneur |date=September 20, 2010 |author1=Ericka Chickowski}}</ref><ref name="Kauffman">{{cite news |title=Kauffman Foundation study finds MIT alumni companies generate billions for regional economies |publisher=MIT News Office |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/kauffman-study-0217.html |date=February 17, 2009 |access-date= February 25, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Pilkington |first=Ed |title=The MIT factor: celebrating 150 years of maverick genius |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/may/18/mit-massachusetts-150-years-genius |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=May 18, 2011 |access-date= May 25, 2011}}</ref>

More than one third of the [[List of NASA missions#Human spaceflight|United States' crewed spaceflights]] have included [[List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni#Alumni Astronauts|MIT-educated astronauts]], a contribution exceeding that of any university excluding the [[United States service academies]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/notable_alumni/ |title=Notable Alumni |access-date=November 4, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061127113157/http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/pulse/notable_alumni/ |archive-date=November 27, 2006}}</ref> Of the [[List of Apollo astronauts|12 people who have set foot on the Moon]] {{as of|2019|lc=on}}, four graduated from MIT (among them [[Apollo 11]] [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] Pilot [[Buzz Aldrin]]). Alumnus and former faculty member [[Qian Xuesen]] led the [[Nuclear weapons of China|Chinese nuclear-weapons program]] and became instrumental in Chinese rocket-program.<ref>{{in lang|zh}} [http://scitech.people.com.cn/GB/10294899.html 钱学森：历尽险阻报效祖国 火箭之王淡泊名誉] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303191921/http://scitech.people.com.cn/GB/10294899.html |date=2016-03-03  }}，人民网，2009年10月31日.Accessed October 31, 2009; {{in lang|zh}} [http://news.163.com/09/1031/17/5MVIKNT90001124J.html 美国航空周刊2008年度人物:钱学森]．网易探索(广州)(2009年10月31日. Accessed November 11, 2009.</ref>

Noted alumni in other fields include health care policy analyst and journalist [[Avik Roy]], children's book author [[Hugh Lofting]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Children's Books and Their Creators |first=Anita |last=Silvey |isbn=0-395-65380-0 |year=1995 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=415 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzV5M07MZigC&pg=RA4-PA415}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-04 |title=Avik Roy, "The Future of Health Care Law and Policy" {{!}} University of Chicago Law School |url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/recordings/avik-roy-future-health-care-law-and-policy |access-date=2025-12-12 |website=www.law.uchicago.edu |language=en}}</ref> sculptor [[Daniel Chester French]], guitarist [[Tom Scholz]] of the band [[Boston (band)|Boston]], the British ''[[BBC]]'' and ''[[ITN]]'' correspondent and political advisor [[David Walter (British journalist and politician)|David Walter]], ''[[The New York Times]]'' columnist and Nobel Prize-winning economist [[Paul Krugman]], ''[[The Bell Curve]]'' author [[Charles Murray (political scientist)|Charles Murray]], and [[United States Supreme Court building]] architect [[Cass Gilbert]].<ref name="WDL">
{{cite web |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11376/ |title=Study for Woolworth Building, New York |website=[[World Digital Library]] |date=December 10, 1910 |access-date=July 25, 2013}}
</ref> Other distinguished alumni include economist Esther Duflo,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2019 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2019/duflo/facts/ |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=NobelPrize.org |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Smialek |first=Jeanna |date=2019-10-14 |title=Nobel Economics Prize Goes to Pioneers in Reducing Poverty |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/14/business/nobel-economics.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> who received the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 2019 for her experimental approach to poverty alleviation; physicist [[Mildred Dresselhaus]], a pioneer in carbon science and recipient of the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-11-10 |title=President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/11/10/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Angier |first=Natalie |date=2012-07-02 |title=Carbon Catalyst for Half a Century |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/science/carbon-catalyst-for-half-a-century.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>; physicist and science policy leader [[Shirley Ann Jackson]], former chair of the [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission|U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission]] and president of [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dr. Shirley Jackson Bio |url=https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OSTP/html/rand/summit/jacksonbio.html |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson To Step Down in 2022, Concluding Historic Tenure {{!}} News |url=https://news.rpi.edu/content/2021/06/25/rensselaer-president-shirley-ann-jackson-step-down-2022-concluding-historic |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=news.rpi.edu}}</ref>; and astronaut [[Eileen Collins]], the first woman to pilot and command a [[Space Shuttle]] mission.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-10-04 |title=Eileen Collins - NASA's First Female Shuttle Commander - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/astronauts/former-astronauts/eileen-m-collins/eileen-collins-nasas-first-female-shuttle-commander/ |access-date=2026-02-18 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thulin |first=Lila |title=What It Was Like to Become the First Woman to Pilot and Command a Space Shuttle |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/what-it-was-become-first-woman-pilot-and-command-space-shuttle-180973343/ |access-date=2026-02-18 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> 

<gallery class="center" mode="nolines" widths="110" heights="130">
File:Buzz Aldrin (3x4 cropped).jpg|[[Apollo 11]] astronaut [[Buzz Aldrin]], ScD 1963
File:Kofi Annan 2012 (cropped).jpg|UN Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]], SM 1972
Richard Feynman 1959 (cropped).png|Physics Nobel laureate [[Richard Feynman]], SB 1939<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard P. Feynman – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1965/feynman/biographical/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=12 September 2020}}</ref>
Ben Bernanke official portrait.jpg|[[Federal Reserve]] Bank chairman [[Ben Bernanke]], PhD 1979
File:11.21 2020 APEC暨經濟領袖會議會後記者會 (50628253717) (cropped2).jpg|[[TSMC]] chairman [[Morris Chang]], BS 1952, ME 1955
Mario Draghi in 2021 crop.jpg|Prime Minister of Italy [[Mario Draghi]], PhD 1977
Esther Duflo - Pop!Tech 2009 - 001 (cropped).jpg|Economics Nobel laureate [[Esther Duflo]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Curriculum Vitae (Esther Duflo) |url=https://economics.mit.edu/files/14455 |publisher=MIT |access-date=13 October 2020 |archive-date=2018-08-09  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809223646/http://economics.mit.edu/files/14455 |url-status=dead }}</ref> PhD 1999
File:Brewster_Kahle_(cropped).jpg|[[Internet Archive]] founder [[Brewster Kahle]], SB 1982
File:P20230814AS-0367 (cropped).jpg|Economics Nobel laureate [[Paul Krugman]], PhD 1977
Ronald mcnair.jpg|[[STS-51-L|''Challenger'' astronaut]] [[Ronald McNair]], PhD 1976
File:Benjamin_Netanyahu,_February_2023_(cropped).jpg|[[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], BS 1975, MS 1976
File:Itzhak Perlman with I.M. Pei, architect, looking at model of NYC Convention Center (03124v) (cropped).jpg|Architect [[I. M. Pei]], BArch 1940
ClaudeShannon MFO3807.jpg|Information theorist [[Claude Shannon]], PhD 1940
Alfred_P_Sloan_Bachrach_portrait_(cropped)(2).png|[[General Motors]] CEO [[Alfred P. Sloan]], SB 1895
File:SXSW-2024-alih-OB7A0861-Lisa_Su_(cropped_2).jpg|[[AMD]] CEO [[Lisa Su]], SB 1990, PhD 1994
Robert Woodward Nobel.jpg|Chemistry Nobel laureate [[Robert Burns Woodward]], SB 1936, PhD 1937<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert B. Woodward – Biographical |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1965/woodward/biographical/ |publisher=Nobel Foundation |access-date=4 October 2020}}</ref>
</gallery>
<!-- Vannevar Bush, Henry Kloss, Kevin A. Lynch, William R. Hewlett, Robert Metcalfe, Charles Stark Draper, Gordon Bell, Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton, Frederick Terman, George Ellery Hale, Rudolf E. Kalman, Claude Shannon, Lawrence Berk, Ellen Swallow Richards,  Lawrence Summers -->

== See also ==
*[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Engineering]]
*[[Whitehead Institute]]
*[[Broad Institute|Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard]]
*[[Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research]]
*[[Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society|The Coop]], campus bookstore
{{clear right}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist|30em}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
: ''Also see the [http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/bibliography/ bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222043839/http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/mithistory/bibliography/ |date=2012-02-22  }} maintained by MIT's [http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/ Institute Archives & Special Collections] and Written Works in MIT in popular culture.''

{{refbegin|30em}}
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*{{cite journal |last1=Angulo |first1=A. J. |year=2007 |title=The Initial Reception of MIT, 1860s–1880s |journal=History of Higher Education Annual |volume=26 |pages=1–28}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bamberger |first1=Gustavo E. |last2=Carlton |first2=Dennis W. |chapter=Antitrust and Higher Education: MIT Financial Aid (1993) |title=The Antitrust Revolution |edition=3rd |editor1-last=Kwoka |editor1-first=John E. |editor2-last=White |editor2-first=Lawrence J. |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2000 |pages=264–285}}
* {{cite book |last=Brand |first=Stewart |author-link=Stewart Brand |title=The Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT |publisher=[[Viking Press]] |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-670-81442-8 |ref={{sfnRef|Brand|1987}}}}
*{{cite book |last=Bridger |first=Sarah |year=2015 |title=Scientists at War, The Ethics of Cold War Weapons Research |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674736825}}
*{{cite book |last=Buderi |first=Robert |title=Where Futures Converge: Kendall Square and the Making of a Global Innovation Hub |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=9780262046510}}
* {{cite book |last=Burchard |first=John Ely |author-link=John Ely Burchard |title=Q.E.D.: MIT in World War II |publisher = J. Wiley & Sons; Chapman & Hall |year=1948 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015012432384 |location=New York |oclc=1625883}}
*{{cite book |last=Douglas |first=Deborah |chapter=MIT and War |title=Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision |editor-last=Kaiser |editor-first=David |publisher=MIT Press |year=2010 |pages=81–102 |jstor=j.ctt5hhbpp.8}}
*{{cite book |last=Durant |first=John |chapter=Refrain from Using the Alphabet |editor-last=Kaiser |editor-first=David |title=Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2010 |pages=141–163 |jstor=j.ctt5hhbpp.11}}
*{{cite book |last=Etzkowitz |first=Henry |title=MIT and the Rise of Entrepreneurial Science |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2002 |isbn=9780415435055}}
* {{cite book |last=Geiger |first=Roger L. |author-link=Roger L. Geiger |title=To Advance Knowledge: The Growth of American Research Universities: 1900–1940 |year=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York; London |url=https://archive.org/details/toadvanceknowled0000geig}}
* {{cite book |last=Geiger |first=Roger L. |title=Research and Relevant Knowledge : American Research Universities since World War II |year=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York; London |url=https://archive.org/details/researchrelevant0000geig_i9p3/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book |last=Hapgood |first=Fred |title=Up the Infinite Corridor: MIT and the Technical Imagination |year=1992 |publisher=Addison-Wesley |location=Reading, Mass. |isbn=9780201082937 |url=https://archive.org/details/upinfinitecorrid00hapg}}
*{{cite book |last=Jarzombek |first=Mark |title=Designing MIT: Bosworth's New Tech |year=2004 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston, Mass. |isbn=9781555536190}}
*{{cite book |last=Kaiser |first=David |author-link=David Kaiser (physicist) |chapter=Elephant on the Charles: Postwar Growing Pains |title=Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision |editor-last=Kaiser |editor-first=David |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |year=2010 |pages=103–121 |jstor=j.ctt5hhbpp.9}}
* {{cite book |last=Kerr |first=Clark |author-link=Clark Kerr |year=2001 |orig-year=1963 |title=The Uses of the University |edition=5th |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=978-0674005327 |url=https://archive.org/details/usesofuniversity0000kerr_x6g3/page/n5/mode/2up |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Kevles |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Kevles |title=The Physicists: The History of a Scientific Community in Modern America |year=1995 |orig-date=1978 |edition=2nd |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |url=https://archive.org/details/physicistshistor0000kevl |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}
*{{cite book |last=Keyser |first=Samuel Jay |title=Mens et Mania: The MIT Nobody Knows |year=2011 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262015943}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Lécuyer |first1=Christophe |year=1992 |title=The Making of a Science Based Technological University: Karl Compton, James Killian, and the Reform of MIT, 1930–1957 |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=153–180 |doi=10.2307/27757693 |jstor=27757693}}
*{{cite book |last=Lécuyer |first=Christophe |chapter=Patrons and a Plan |title=Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision |editor-last=Kaiser |editor-first=David |publisher=MIT Press |year=2010 |pages=59-80 |jstor=j.ctt5hhbpp.7}}
*{{cite book |last=Leslie |first=Stuart W. |title=The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford |year=1993 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231079587}}
*{{cite book |title=Report of the Committee on Educational Survey (Lewis Report) |year=1949 |url=http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |last1=Lewis |first1=Warren K. |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |access-date=May 28, 2012 |first2=Ronald H. |last2=Robnett |first3=C. Richard |last3=Soderberg |first4=Julius A. |last4=Stratton |first5=John R. |last5=Loofbourow |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507000129/http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/mithistory/pdf/lewis.pdf |archive-date=May 7, 2012 |url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=William J. |title=Imagining MIT: Designing a Campus for the Twenty-first Century |year=2007 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262134798}}
*Nelkin, Dorothy. (1972). ''The University and Military Research: Moral politics at MIT (science, technology and society)''. New York: Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|0-8014-0711-7}}.
*{{cite book |last=Peterson |first=T. F. |title=Nightwork: A History of Hacks and Pranks at MIT |year=2003 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262661379 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nightworkhistory0000pete}}
*{{cite book |last=Prescott |first=Samuel C. |title=When MIT was "Boston Tech", 1861–1916 |year=1954 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=9780262661393 |edition=Reprint}}
* {{cite book |last=Raymond |first=Eric S. |author-link=Eric S. Raymond |title=[[The Cathedral and the Bazaar|The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary]] |publisher=[[O'Reilly Media]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-596-00108-7 |ref={{sfnRef|Raymond|2001}}}}
* {{cite thesis |last1=Renehan |first1=Colm |date=2007 |title=Peace activism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1975 to 2001: A case study |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/94b5a4c0d9029739cb8f4d1c4b330c46/1 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Servos |first1=John W. |title=The Industrial Relations of Science: Chemical Engineering at MIT, 1900-1939 |journal=Isis |date=1980 |volume=71 |issue=4 |pages=531–549 |doi=10.1086/352591 |jstor=230499 }}
*{{cite book |last=Shrock |first=Robert Rakes |title=Geology at MIT 1865–1965: A History of the First Hundred Years of Geology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology |year=1982 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262192118}}
*{{cite journal |last=Sharp |first=Phillip A. |title=Life Sciences at MIT: A History and Perspective |journal=MIT Faculty Newsletter |volume=XVIII |issue=3 |date=January–February 2006 |url=https://web.mit.edu/fnl/volume/183/sharp.html}}
*{{cite book |last=Simha |first=O. Robert |title=MIT Campus Planning, 1960–2000: An Annotated Chronology |year=2003 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262692946}}
*{{cite book |last=Snyder |first=Benson R. |title=The Hidden Curriculum |year=1971 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262690430}}
* {{cite book |last1=Stratton |first1=Julius Adams |last2=Mannix |first2=Loretta H. |title=Mind and Hand: The Birth of MIT |date=2005 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-19524-9 |oclc=62873345 }}
*{{cite book |last=Vest |first=Charles M. |title=Pursuing the Endless Frontier: Essays on MIT and the Role of Research Universities |year=2004 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262220729 |url=https://archive.org/details/pursuingendlessf00vest}}
*{{cite book |last1=Wildes |first1=Karl L. |last2=Lindgren |first2=Nilo A. |title=A Century of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, 1882–1982 |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofelectri0000wild |url-access=registration |year=1985 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |isbn=9780262231190 }}
* {{cite book |last=Zernike |first=Kate |title=The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science |publisher=[[Scribner (publisher)|Scribner]] |year=2023 |isbn=9781982131838}}
{{refend}}

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