News & Stories

Event: Hack for Inclusion

February 19-21, 2021 – MIT Sloan is hosting “Hack for Inclusion” an event that brings together some of the brightest minds — both technical and non-technical — to build solutions that address today’s biggest problems related to bias, diversity, and inclusion. Over the course of the weekend, participants collaborate with a diverse group of individuals […]

MIT community unites for Beirut explosion relief efforts

On Aug. 4, the third-largest non-nuclear blast the world has ever seen shook the city of Beirut, Lebanon. The city’s core was wiped out. Beirut was in shambles, leaving 300,000 people homeless in a city that was already struggling economically, politically, and socially — all during a global pandemic. Thousands of injured people flooded Beirut’s […]

MIT deepens connections to the Middle East

Since MIT’s first major collaboration in the Middle East in the 1970s, the Institute has deepened its connection and commitment to the region, expanding to create the MIT-Arab World Program through the MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI). This year, partnering with the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (AHSF) in Jordan, the program is launching […]

Donald Blackmer, professor emeritus of political science and longtime leader at MIT, dies at 91

Donald L. M. Blackmer, professor emeritus of political science at MIT, died on Aug. 14. He was 91. A highly regarded scholar in international studies, he was also a longtime leader at MIT, serving variously as executive director of the Center for International Studies, head of the Department of Political Science, associate dean of the School of Humanities […]

$25 million gift launches ambitious new effort tackling poverty and climate change

With a founding $25 million gift from King Philanthropies, MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is launching a new initiative to solve problems at the nexus of climate change and global poverty. The new program, the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI), was announced today by King Philanthropies and J-PAL, and will start immediately. […]

MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab to launch research center at American University in Cairo

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) at MIT is launching a new regional research center in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to focus on innovative research and policy engagement to reduce poverty. Policy challenges in the MENA region are complex and interconnected: Children in the region have among the lowest learning […]

Tunney Lee, professor emeritus of urban planning, dies at 88

Tunney Lee, professor emeritus of urban planning and former head of the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), passed away of complications from cancer treatment on July 2 in Boston. He was 88 years old. An architect by training, Lee was also an accomplished planner, historian, and community activist. At MIT, his research […]

Robert Art retires as director of the Seminar XXI Program

Robert Art will step down from his role as the director of the Seminar XXI Program effective June 30. Art is a senior fellow at the MIT Security Studies Program (SSP) and the Christian A. Herter Professor of International Relations, Emeritus at Brandeis University. He has directed the Seminar XXI program at the Center for International […]

Eleven from MIT awarded 2020 Fulbright Fellowships

This story was updated on 12/17/2020 to reflect Christian Cardozo’s decision to accept a Fulbright fellowship. Eleven MIT students and recent alumni are recipients of awards from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. They will use their grants to conduct research, earn a graduate degree, or teach English abroad. This year’s Fulbright award winners are headed […]

Sara Plana receives inaugural Jeanne Guillemin Prize

If we can better understand the causes and consequences of war, then we can contribute to its prevention. That is the guiding philosophy of faculty and students at the Security Studies Program (SSP), explains Sara Plana, a fifth-year PhD candidate in the MIT Department of Political Science. Plana was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Jeanne Guillemin […]