List of Institute Professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

For a list of faculty at MIT, see List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty.

“ The title of Institute professor is an honor bestowed by the Faculty and Administration of MIT on a faculty colleague who has demonstrated exceptional distinction by a combination of leadership, accomplishment, and service in the scholarly, educational, and general intellectual life of the Institute or wider academic community. ” — MIT Policies and Procedures: Special Professorial Appointments, Institute Professor

Institute Professor is the highest title that can be awarded to a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is analogous to the titles of distinguished professor, university professor, or regents professor used at other universities in recognition of a professor's extraordinary research achievements and dedication to the school. At MIT, Institute Professors are granted a unique level of freedom and flexibility to pursue their research and teaching interests without regular departmental or school responsibilities; they report only to the provost. Usually no more than twelve professors hold this title at any one time. The position was created by President James R. Killian in 1951 and John C. Slater was the first to hold the position.

Institute Professors are initially nominated by leaders representing either a department or school. The chair of the faculty then consults with the Academic Council and jointly appoints with the president an ad-hoc committee from various departments and non-MIT members to evaluate the qualifications and make a documented recommendation to the president. The final determination is made based upon recommendations from professionals in the nominee's field. The case is then reviewed again by the Academic Council and approved by the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation.

List of Institute Professors

Current

Name	Department	Elected	Notability	Reference
Emilio Bizzi	Brain and Cognitive Sciences	2002	Motor control; President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2006–2009)
Sallie W. Chisholm	Marine Biology	2015	Discovery and biology of the Prochlorococcus marine cyanobacteria
Ann Graybiel	Brain and Cognitive Sciences	2008	Basal Ganglia; National Medal of Science (2001)
John Harbison	Music and Theater Arts	1995	Composer; Pulitzer Prize (1987) for Flight into Egypt; MacArthur Fellow (1989)
Robert S. Langer	Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering	2005	Drug delivery and tissue engineering; youngest person to be elected to three American academies; Lemelson-MIT Prize (1998), Draper Prize (2002), National Medal of Science (2007), Millennium Technology Prize (2008)
Barbara Liskov	Computer Science	2008	Turing Award (2008), John von Neumann Medal (2004), contributions to data abstraction and programming languages
John D.C. Little	Management		Little's law; marketing; e-commerce
Thomas Magnanti	Mechanical Engineering	1997	Operations research; Dean of Engineering (1999–2007)
Joel Moses	Computer Science	1999	Algebraic manipulation algorithms; MACSYMA; Provost of MIT (1995–1998); Dean of Engineering (1991–1995)
Ron Rivest	Computer Science	2015	Co-inventor of the RSA (cryptosystem) algorithm; founder of Verisign, RSA Security
Phillip Sharp	Biology	1999	RNA interference and splicing; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1993)
Marcus Thompson	Music and Theater Arts	2015	Violist; Artistic Director of Boston Chamber Music Society
Daniel I.C. Wang	Chemical Engineering	1995	Biochemical process engineering
Sheila Widnall	Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering	1998	Secretary of the Air Force (1993–1997); first MIT alumna appointed to MIT engineering faculty; first woman to chair the MIT faculty

Emeritus

Name	Department	Elected	Notability	Reference
Noam Chomsky	Linguistics	1976	Generative grammar; Kyoto Prize (1988); political activist; one of the most widely cited scholars alive
John M. Deutch	Chemistry	1990	Deputy Secretary of Defense (1994–1995); Director of Central Intelligence (1995–1996); Provost of MIT (1985–1990)
Peter A. Diamond	Economics	1997	Social Security reform; Nobel Prize in Economics (2010)
Mildred S. Dresselhaus	Physics & Electrical Engineering	1985	Carbon nanotubes; National Medal of Science (1990)
Jerome I. Friedman	Physics	1991	Quantum chromodynamics; Nobel Prize in Physics (1990)
Morris Halle	Linguistics	1981	Phonology; The Sound Pattern of English
Mario Molina	Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences	1997	Stratospheric ozone chemistry; Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1995)
Isadore Singer	Mathematics	1987	Atiyah–Singer index theorem; Abel Prize (2004)
Robert M. Solow	Economics	1973	National Medal of Science (1999); John Bates Clark Medal (1961); Nobel Prize in Economics (1987)

Deceased

Name	Department	Elected	Notability	Reference
Manson Benedict	Nuclear Engineering	1969	National Medal of Science (1975)
Norbert Wiener	Department of Mathematics	1959	National Medal of Science (1964)
Gordon S. Brown	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1973	Automatic feedback-control systems; computer numerical control; Dean of Engineering (1959–1968)
Martin Julian Buerger	Mineralogy	1956	Crystallography
Morris Cohen	Material Science and Engineering	1974	Metallurgy of steel
Charles S. Draper	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1966	Inertial guidance; gyro gunsight; founder of the Instrumentation Laboratory
Harold Eugene "Doc" Edgerton	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1966	High-speed photography; Co-founder of EG&G; National Medal of Science (1973)
Herman Feshbach	Physics	1983	Nuclear reaction theory; National Medal of Science (1986)
Edwin R. Gilliland	Chemical Engineering	1971	Fractional distillation columns and fluidized catalytic cracking; President's Science Advisory Committee (1961–1965)
Hermann Anton Haus	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1986	Optical communications; National Medal of Science (1995)
Arthur von Hippel	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1962	Dielectric materials
Arthur Thomas Ippen	Civil Engineering	1970	Hydraulic engineering and water resources
Roman O. Jakobson	Linguistics		Slavic studies and linguistics; Russian formalism
György Kepes	Architecture	1970	Founded the Center for Advanced Visual Studies; Bauhaus contributor; Hungarian Medal of Honor and Middle Cross (1996)
Norman Levinson	Mathematics	1971	Non-linear differential equations; mathematical analysis; analytic number theory; testified at 1953 House Un-American Activities Committee
Francis E. Low	Physics		Condensed matter physics; Provost of MIT (1980-1985)
Franco Modigliani	Economics & Management	1970	Nobel Prize in Economics (1985)
Philip Morrison	Physics	1973	Theoretical astrophysics
Walle J. H. Nauta	Brain and Cognitive Sciences	1973	Nauta Silver Impregnation Method used to trace degenerating nerve fibers
Walter A. Rosenblith	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1975	Psychoacoustics; elected to all three National Academies; Provost of MIT (1971–1980)
Bruno Rossi	Physics	1966	X-ray astronomy and discovery of cosmic rays; National Medal of Science (1983); Wolf Prize (1987)
Paul Samuelson	Economics	1966	John Bates Clark Medal (1947); Nobel Prize in Economics (1970); National Medal of Science (1996)
Francis O. Schmitt	Biology	1955	Biological electron microscopy
Nevin S. Scrimshaw	Nutrition and Food Science	1980	Eliminating nutritional deficiency; World Food Prize (1991)
Ascher H. Shapiro	Mechanical Engineering	1975	Fluid mechanics and biomedical engineering
John C. Slater	Physics	1951	Quantum theory and electromagnetic theory of microwaves; advisor to William Shockley and Richard Feynman
Cyril S. Smith	Materials Science & Humanities		Metallurgy and crystallography; metallography of archaeological artifacts
Carl R. Soderberg	Mechanical Engineering	1959	Steam turbine electric generators; Dean of Engineering (1954–1959); consultant on the J-57 turbojet
Charles H. Townes	Physics	1961	Quantum Electronics and Maser; Nobel Prize in Physics (1964); National Medal of Science (1982)
John S. Waugh	Chemistry		Computational studies of spin systems
Victor Weisskopf	Physics	1965	National Medal of Science (1980); Wolf Prize (1981); co-founder of the Union of Concerned Scientists
Jerome Wiesner	Electrical Engineering and Computer Science	1980	Chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee (1961–1964); Dean of Science (1964–1966); Provost of MIT (1966–1971); President of MIT (1971–1980)
Jerrold R. Zacharias	Nuclear Science and Engineering	1966	Atomic beams and clocks; educational reform; microwave radar
Chia-Chiao Lin	Mathematics	1966	Fluid mechanics

Former

Name	MIT department	Current institution	Elected	Notability	Reference
David Baltimore	Biology	Caltech	1995	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1975)

External links

• MIT online directory of Institute Professors and Institute Professors Emeriti
• MIT Facts: Faculty and Staff
• MIT's Spectrvm magazine article