1. Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology
The Innovation Cluster in and around Kendall Square is depicted above (illustration courtesy of MITIMCo).
BIO/PHARMA VC
ENERGY IT/DATA
MIT
Dear Friends,
As you may recall, in June of 2014
I agreed to stay on as Dean of Science
on a more permanent basis, dropping
the “interim” qualifier on my job title.
You can thus look forward to hearing
more from me in this capacity over the
next several years.
In this issue of Science@MIT,
Institute Professor and Nobel
Laureate Phil Sharp tells us about
the ways in which MIT scientists
have shaped Kendall Square. The
area looks entirely different now than
it did when I arrived here in 1980. Back then, it was a decaying, unsafe
industrial zone; now it has become a beautiful mecca for technology, largely
due to its proximity to MIT. With the additional attraction of the affiliated
Whitehead and Broad Institutes for biomedical and genomic research,
Cambridge has become a world-wide center for biotechnology.
Letter from the DeanTABLE OF CONTENTS
Michael Sipser
Dean, MIT School of Science and
Barton L. Weller Professor of Mathematics.
Letter from the Dean 1
Features
How to Build a Biotech Renaissance
Bendta Schroeder 3
The Department of Biology as a Source
of Convergence
Phil Sharp 6
Getting Africa on the Climate-Change Grid
Jimmy Gasore 10
A New Fundamental Science Initiative for MIT 13
Donor Profile
A Much Needed Boost for Basic Research at MIT
John and Cindy Reed 12
Science News & Events from Our
Departments, Laboratories, and Centers
Biology 15
Brain and Cognitive Sciences 16
Chemistry 20
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences 21
Mathematics 23
Physics 25
Support the School of Science 27
continued on page 2
Publishedtwiceyearly
Fall2014

2. 2
Executive Editor :
Contributing Writers:
Photography:
Proofreader + Copyeditor:
Design:
Jessica Boyle
Dawn Adelson, Jessica Boyle, Elizabeth Chadis, Jimmy Gasore, Helen Hill, Laurie Ledeen,
Erin McGrath, Dennis Porche, Bendta Schroeder, Phil Sharp, Rachel Traughber, Genevieve Wanucha
M. Scott Brauer, Helen Hill, Justin Knight, Kelly Lorenz, Dominick Reuter, Mandana Sassanfar, Danielle Stingu,
Bryce Vickmark, Allison Wing, Nina Wu
Sharon Bailly
Ink Design, inc.
L E T T E R F R O M T H E D E A N
Companies started by MIT faculty have attracted other biotech
firms to become a part of the vibrant community that has
grown up nearby. We are proud of the extraordinary ways our
faculty and alumni precipitated the growth of this incredible
21st century industry that will revolutionize the way we live and
understand ourselves.
Additionally, Sharp looks ahead to make the case for the
convergence of many scientific and engineering fields around
the life sciences – a trend which he argues will be a necessary
approach to future research and development if we are going
to solve the major problems of our time. Although convergence
is a national and international phenomenon, MIT has played
an important leadership position in the movement. Our own
Department of Biology soared to prominence through the
convergence of physical sciences and biology in the middle of
the last century.
I hope you will be inspired by EAPS graduate student Jimmy
Gasore, who is in Rwanda building the first high-frequency
climate observatory station in Africa. The ultimate goal of the
station is to accurately measure greenhouse gases on the
continent – a continent that covers a fifth of the world’s land and
which, until now, has been a glaring missing piece of the data
we need to understand the climate change puzzle. This project,
which will put Africa on the climate-change grid, has been a joint
effort of the Rwandan government, MIT faculty and students,
and individual alumni and donors who support our activities.
Speaking of support for science at MIT, we are most pleased
to introduce the new Fundamental Science Investigator Award
(FSIA), a bold approach to the problem of reduced federal
funding for our scientists. Cindy and John Reed ’61 (XV), S.M.
’65 (XV) have generously provided the funds to establish the
first of what we hope will be a number of very special awards
to support research in the School of Science. Through the
vantage point of the MIT Corporation, which John chaired from
2010 to 2014, and through his work on various committees
throughout the Institute, he came to the conclusion that MIT
needs to provide more support for basic scientific research.
I completely agree, and am deeply appreciative of John and
Cindy’s philanthropic support for science. To all of our donors
who support the School of Science, I thank you.
As always, I look forward to hearing from alumni and friends of
the School of Science. You can reach me at sipser@mit.edu.
continued from page 1
We are proud of the
extraordinary ways
our faculty and alumni
precipitated the growth
of [biotech], which will
revolutionize the way
we live and understand
ourselves.
– Mike Sipser
“
”

3. 3
In the 1970s, if you stood at the corner of Main and Vassar
Streets and looked out from the edge of the MIT campus,
you would see nothing but a vacant lot. Kendall Square had
been decimated by the decline of manufacturing and by
businesses escaping to the suburbs, leaving only a few scattered
outposts, such as Draper Laboratory and the Department of
Transportation’s Volpe Center.
When the leaders of a new company, Biogen, looked for a
location for their Cambridge headquarters in 1980, they chose
a spot on one edge of that vacant lot, on Binney Street. When
Biogen opened in 1982, the company was a pioneer on multiple
fronts: it was one of the first few biotech companies, the first
company to obtain a recombinant DNA (rDNA) license in
Cambridge, and a harbinger of great changes in store for
Kendall Square.
While Biogen never left Cambridge, it would move its
headquarters for a time to the suburb Weston. But on February
11, 2014, the company, now Biogen Idec, celebrated its return to
Binney Street. And the contrast between the Kendall Square of
1982 and 2014 could not be greater: This time, Biogen Idec would
be joining a bioscience community populated by numerous high-
profile biotech companies, research institutes, and startups.
Biogen Idec’s relocating celebrations included the unveiling of
a series of permanent exhibits featuring some of the people
important to the company’s history, as well as the dedication of
a new building to Biogen co-founder Phillip A. Sharp, an MIT
Institute Professor of Biology and a member of the Koch Institute
for Integrative Cancer Research.
Sharp’s Nobel prize-winning discovery of RNA splicing at
MIT helped lay the groundwork for Biogen. Naming a Biogen
Idec building after a scientist is unusual — as they’re usually
named after business people — but the name is fitting: In
many ways, Sharp’s story mirrors that of the biotech renaissance
in Kendall Square.
Finding a Community at MIT
Much of Sharp’s scientific career was shaped by searching for
and finding the right community. He was looking for a place that
would give him not only the right research tools, but also the
right people who could provide mentorship, work toward similar
F E AT U R E S
How to Build a Biotech Renaissance
continued on page 4
Written by Bendta Schroeder
goals, and exchange exciting new ideas. Sharp had worked his
way from an undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1966 at Union
College, a small liberal arts institution not too far from his rural
home in the northern hills of Kentucky, to completing a doctorate
in physical chemistry in 1969 at the University of Illinois.
His thesis used physical and statistical theory to characterize
DNA as a polymer. But when he read the 1966 Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory symposium on “The Genetic Code,” he
was inspired to join the emerging fields of molecular biology
and genetics and sought the right community to help him make
the jump.
Sharp found an excellent opportunity in working for Norman
Davidson at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), who
had been working as a chemist, but was transitioning into what
would become groundbreaking work in molecular biology. Sharp
knew that in getting a postdoctoral position at Caltech, he would
be joining “a whole host of very extraordinary young people
and professors,” he said, with whom he would share the same
scientific background and scientific goals.
When Sharp wanted to extend his research into human cells,
he looked for a new scientific home, which he found at the Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York. Sharp was particularly
pleased to be working under the tutelage of the laboratory’s
then-Director Jim Watson. “I was totally excited about being in
that environment,” Sharp explained, “because I knew there would
be great people who were doing interesting things I could work
with.” There, his postdoctoral fellowship eventually grew into a
senior research position, where he studied gene structure and
regulation using adenoviruses.
But, ultimately, Sharp wanted to work at MIT, to work alongside
the likes of David Baltimore, who was using RNA viruses to
explore mammalian cell biology, and David Botstein and Harvey
Lodish, who both focused on bacterial and mammalian systems.
Sharp wanted to be part of MIT’s community that focused on
molecular approaches to understanding the human cell, which,
he believed, was the future of the field.
In 1974, Salvador Luria asked Sharp to join the newly established
Center for Cancer Research (CCR) at MIT (now the Koch Institute
for Integrative Cancer Research). Sharp accepted, and moved to
´´
A look back at how Institute Professor Phillip Sharp, his startup
Biogen, and MIT’s biotech community helped revive Kendall Square

4. 4
the center’s home in a small building on Ames Street that had
been converted from a chocolate factory. Along with Sharp, Luria
recruited many other researchers who would usher in what has
been dubbed MIT’s “golden age” of biology.
At the CCR, Sharp joined a roster that already included Baltimore
(who would win the Nobel Prize for his work on RNA viruses),
Nancy Hopkins (who would make important discoveries about
retroviral cancers in mice), David Housman (co-founder of
Genzyme who identified the genomic location of the Huntington
gene), and Robert Weinberg (who would isolate the first
oncogene and tumor suppressor gene). Sharp’s Nobel Prize-
winning discovery of RNA splicing occurred in 1977, only 3 years
after he joined the CCR.
Building Relationships beyond MIT
When Sharp arrived at the CCR, the center was embroiled in
controversy. Its research program was organized around rDNA,
a brand new, controversial technology that joined together
DNA sequences from multiple sources, allowing scientists to
introduce DNA between species.
In 1974, a group of scientists met to discuss their concerns
about the potential hazards of rDNA. This group, led by
Paul Berg, a Stanford University biochemist (and including
Baltimore), worried that without setting responsible guidelines
for rDNA, scientists could inadvertently cause serious harm.
For instance, they could confer antibiotic resistance to naturally
pathogenic bacteria or give otherwise harmless bacteria the
power to cause tumors in humans. The group published a
letter in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
later known as the “Berg letter.” The authors outlined their
concerns and recommended a temporary moratorium on rDNA
experimentation, which the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
soon adopted.
But just when the international moratorium on rDNA
experimentation was lifted, then-Cambridge Mayor Alfred Velucci
called for an additional 2-year moratorium, citing objections to
the potential risks of rDNA experimentation and lack of public
consent. While it was Harvard University’s proposal for a new
facility that triggered the new moratorium, it was MIT that had
the most to lose: The CCR facilities were already built, and its
scientists were waiting to begin their rDNA research.
MIT and Harvard worked closely with the Cambridge City
Council, developing a joint review board that would ensure
rDNA facilities adhered to NIH guidelines. MIT faculty and
administration met with the citizens of Cambridge at street fairs,
continued from page 3
F E AT U R E S

5. 5
teach-ins, and debates to help them understand rDNA research,
and how the NIH guidelines would ensure their safety. By 1977,
the scientific community won its case when the city passed
an ordinance adopting the NIH guidelines and lifting the
rDNA moratorium.
Mapping Success
While the rDNA controversy slowed down the progress of
research temporarily, MIT’s outreach to Cambridge citizens
helped the Kendall Square bioscience community flourish.
The quick success of the CCR in rDNA research persuaded
the philanthropist Jack Whitehead to establish the Whitehead
Institute in Kendall Square in 1982, in affiliation with MIT and
led by Baltimore. The city’s established regulatory framework
attracted the attention of biotech venture capitalists.
In fact, the innovative science at MIT and the regulatory
transparency of Cambridge attracted the attention of Ray
Schaefer, an MIT alumnus and venture capitalist. Schaefer began
talks with Sharp and Wally Gilbert, a Harvard molecular biologist,
that eventually led, in cooperation with several prominent
scientists in Europe, to the creation of Biogen in 1978.
By the time Biogen opened its doors, fears about rDNA subsided
in the face of the prosperity of the biotech research community.
When Velucci cut the ribbon at Biogen’s opening ceremony, he
reassured the audience that he had “no fear of recombinant DNA
as long as it paid its taxes.”
Today, Biogen Idec is one of the many biotech companies and
research centers clustered around MIT’s campus, many founded
by the Institute’s leaders. Sharp’s colleagues at the Koch Institute
— a mix of scientists and engineers working to fight intractable
cancers — can take credit for many of these institutions. Since
the Koch Institute was formed 5 years ago, its faculty (including
MIT Institute Professor Bob Langer) have formed 18 companies,
many of which are located in Kendall Square.
Other biotech companies have come to the neighborhood
to take advantage of the healthy infrastructure in Cambridge
and its vibrant bioscience community. While there were many
individuals and organizations involved, MIT faculty members
and administrators indeed played a major role in reviving
Kendall Square, because they understood that in order to build a
thriving bioscience program, they would have to build a thriving
community of talented people — at MIT and beyond.
F E AT U R E S
MIT Co-Founded
Biotech and High Tech
Agios
Akamai
Alnylam
Archemix
AVEO Pharmaceuticals
Biogen Idec
Epizyme
Etex
Genzyme
Ironwood Pharmaceutical
Metabolix
Millenium Pharmaceutical
Momenta
Pharmaceuticals
Sanofi
Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceutical
MIT Affliliated
Institutes
Broad Institute
Ragon Institute
Whitehead Institute
MIT Departments
and Institutes
Biological Engineering
Brain Cognitive
Sciences Complex
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Computer Science
Artificial Intelligence
Laboratory
Department of Biology
Electrical Engineering
Computer Science
Harvard-MIT Division
of Health Sciences
Technology
Koch Institute
Materials Science
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Physics
Other High Tech
Companies
Abcam
Acceleron
Aegerion
Pharmaceuticals
Amazon
Amgen
Ariad
Boston Biomedical
Celexion
Charles River Ventures
CIC
Draper Laboratory
Eisai Schlumberger
Flagship Ventures
Firefly Bioworks
Genomics Collaborative
Google
Highland Capital
H3 Biomedicine
Intersystems
Invivo Therapeutics
Metabolix
Microsoft
Novartis
Novartis Institutes for
Biomedical Research
Partners HealthCare
Permeon Biologics
Pfizer
Ra Pharma
Sanofi
Sirtris
VMware
Lab Central

6. 6
F E AT U R E S
The Department of Biology as a Source
of Convergence
The Changing Way We “Do Science”
In the next decade, the world will face growing challenges that
can be answered by the life sciences: providing better health
care at a sustainable cost, economically transforming plant
cellulose into transportable fuels by genetically engineering
organisms and more efficient enzymes, and feeding a growing
world population by opening up arid climates and high-salinity
soils to farming through the genetic engineering of plants.
All of these must be done in parallel with maintaining and
improving the environment, including reducing global warming.
However, to garner the benefits of revolutionary advances
in molecular and genetic engineering, the life sciences must
converge with the physical, mathematical, computational, and
engineering sciences.
1974 1982 1991 1993 2000 2001
MIT opens the Center
for Cancer Research
The Department
of Brain and
Cognitive Sciences
is established.
Biology becomes
an undergraduate
course requirement.
The Department
of Biological
Engineering is
established.
The McGovern Institute
for Brain Research is
founded at MIT by Pat ’59
(VII) and Lore McGovern.
Biology professor and
Nobel Laureate Phillip
Sharp is appointed as
Founding Director.
Jack Whitehead founds
the Whitehead Institute
in affiliation with MIT.
Biology professor and
Nobel Laureate David
Baltimore becomes
Whitehead’s Founding
Director.
Written by Phil Sharp, Nobel Laureate and Institute Professor
MIT biologist and Nobel Laureate Salvador Luria; future Professor of
Biology Nancy Hopkins; and future Nobel Laureate David Baltimore at
MIT’s Center for Cancer Research, January 1974.

7. 7
F E AT U R E S
“Convergence” does not mean that different fields of study
merely share their tools, but rather that the fields come together
to re-conceptualize approaches to research and solving
problems. While the progress toward convergence is a national
and international phenomenon, MIT has an important leadership
position in the movement. The modern Department of Biology
was established through the convergence of physical sciences
and biology in the middle of the last century, and the department
has since then contributed enormously to bringing life sciences
to a period of even greater engagement through convergence.
The first revolution in convergence was born from the discovery
of the structure of DNA by a physicist, Francis Crick, and a
continued on page 8
2002
The Picower Institute for Learning
and Memory is founded at MIT
by Barbara and Jeffry Picower.
Susumu Tonegawa, Nobel
Laureate and Professor of Biology
and Neuroscience, is appointed
Founding Director.
The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer
Research is created to bring together
biologists and chemists along with
biological, chemical, mechanical, and
materials science engineers, computer
scientists, clinicians, and others,
bringing an interdisciplinary approach
to the fight against cancer.
2008 2011
A certificate
program for
biophysics
is approved.
Course 6-7, Computer Science
and Molecular Biology,
becomes a joint major
between the Department of
Biology and the Department
of Computer Science and
Electrical Engineering.
2012
The Institute for
Medical and Engineering
Sciences (IMES)
is created.
2013
The Center for Integrative
Synthetic Biology (CISB)
is created.
While the progress
toward convergence
is a national and
international
phenomenon, MIT
has an important
leadership position in
the movement.
– Phil Sharp
“
”

8. 8
biologist, James Watson, thereby changing the focus of the life
sciences to molecular biology and genes. MIT staked its position
in the movement when Salvador Luria, the thesis mentor of
James Watson, was recruited to the department in the late 1950s
to strengthen molecular biology. Luria would go on to receive a
Nobel Prize with his close friend and collaborator, the physicist
Max Delbrück, as well as with geneticist Alfred Hershey.
Over the years, many faculty in the Department of Biology
were trained in physical, mathematical, and engineering
sciences before turning to questions of the life sciences.
The career of Paul Schimmel at MIT is an example of this
progression. Trained as a polymer chemist at Stanford with
Paul Flory, recipient of a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Schimmel
was recruited to MIT by the Chemistry Department but migrated
to the Department of Biology early in his career in order to
pursue his important work on the specificity of transferring
information from the genetic code in DNA to proteins.
F E AT U R E S
continued from page 7
MIT as a whole has evolved with broader engagement in life
sciences through the growth of the Department of Biology.
Expansion of the department occurred with the opening of the
Center for Cancer Research in 1974, agreement of affiliation with
the Whitehead Institute in the early 1980s, establishment of the
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences in 1991, and two
neuroscience-oriented institutes – the McGovern Institute in
2001 and the Picower Institute in 2002. More recently, affiliations
with the Broad Institute and Ragon Institute have furthered
this scope. The faculty in the life sciences of the Departments
of Biology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences have grown from
roughly 46 in 1974 to over 130 in 2014. As a centerpiece of the
evolving convergence movement at MIT, 12 cancer biologists
from the Center for Cancer Research joined 12 engineers from
several departments to create the Koch Institute for Integrative
Cancer Research in 2008.
Important Institute-wide decisions accelerated the spread of
convergence on campus. A particularly significant one was the
requirement that all students needed to be educated in the
core principles of modern biology. The first class with a biology
requirement graduated in 1997. In parallel with this, many faculty
from engineering departments at MIT took a 1-week “bootcamp”-
type course taught by faculty in the Department of Biology.
It is impossible to precisely summarize all of the convergence-
type advances at MIT over the past decades. However, some
are easily identified: the merging of some faculty from the
Department of Applied Biological Science into the Department
of Chemical Engineering and Department of Biology in 1988,
the creation of the Department of Biological Engineering in
2000, and the establishment of the Institute for Medical and
Engineering Sciences in 2012. Examples at the level of education
include the establishment of joint departmental convergent-type
graduate training programs, such as the Biophysics Group and
the Center for Integrative Synthetic Biology (CISB) – created in
2008 and 2013, respectively – and the establishment of a joint
undergraduate major between the Department of Biology and
the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.
Currently, about one-third of the faculty in the School of
Engineering have some aspect of their research program
in life sciences.
Reports and articles attempting to project the promise of
this trend can be found on the MIT website
www.convergencerevolution.net.
Importantly, this
focus…became the
nucleus of the powerful
biotechnology cluster
in Kendall Square.
Innumerable patients
have benefited from the
translation of this basic
science to technology
advanced at MIT.
– Phil Sharp
“
”
The Path to the Future of Life Sciences

9. 9
Since the recruitment of Salvador Luria, genes and their
applications have been a major focus of MIT’s Department of
Biology. The importance of this focus to the success of MIT
biologists can be tracked through the several Nobel Prizes that
would follow: Luria’s discovery of genetic traits in bacteria,
Gobind Khorana’s synthesis of the first gene (Khorana’s primary
appointment was in chemistry), David Baltimore’s discovery of
the reverse transcription of RNA sequences to DNA sequences,
Susumu Tonegawa’s discovery of DNA rearrangement as the
basis for immune diversity, Robert Horvitz’s discovery of the
genes controlling cell death, and my own discovery of the
split gene structure in higher organisms. Beyond this, many
trainees of the department have made similar contributions
with comparable recognition. Importantly, this focus on genes
and molecular biology became the nucleus of the powerful
biotechnology cluster in Kendall Square. Innumerable patients
have benefited from the translation of this basic science to
technology advanced at MIT through the proximity of this
biotech cluster.
The latest wave in convergence involves combining molecular
and cellular biology – in which MIT has so long been a leader
– with genomics, engineering, and knowledge of physical
sciences. Engineers have engaged in life sciences in the
past, so what is new about today’s convergence? In the past,
biology and biomedical sciences have benefited greatly from
the quantitative approaches and technology of engineers and
physical sciences. Examples of previous successes range from
heart pacemakers to massive bioreactors producing antibiotics.
Many of these contributions have been at the level of whole
organism physiology, as well as at the level of organs and tissue.
Today, however, new opportunities to converge life sciences with
physical, mathematical, computational, and engineering sciences
are found at the molecular level.
MIT has committed to leading the new wave of convergence
by making broader engagement in the life sciences possible
for faculty members working across the Institute. Through the
growth of the Department of Biology and the proliferation of new
departments, research centers, and educational programs
(see timeline, pages 6-7, for more details), MIT continues to bring
faculty and students together from the life sciences, physical
sciences, mathematics, and engineering. As a result, our faculty
are making advancements in the treatment of cancer, the editing
of the genome, and using bacterial viruses to make batteries
and solar cells. They are poised to make a second biotechnology
renaissance here in Cambridge.
F E AT U R E S
Institute Professor and 1993 Nobel Laureate Phil Sharp.

10. 10
The exponential increase of greenhouse gases since the
industrial revolution has been constantly shifting the global
climate to a dangerous level, suggesting an urgent need for
an immediate and sustained global mitigation. Strategies for
emissions reduction are usually implemented at the national and
regional level, requiring that the amount of emissions and the
geographical distribution of their sources be known at national
and regional scales, as well. Information on greenhouse gas
emissions and the sources of their distribution is readily available
in most of the developed world, thanks to computing power
and human capacity. A different picture, however, emerges from
developing countries; for example, there is no long-term high
frequency greenhouse observing station on the entire African
continent. Since Africa covers a fifth of the world’s landmass,
this is no small piece of lost data. Thus the ultimate goal of my
research project: getting Africa on the climate-change grid.
Tropics in general – and in Africa in particular – have contributed
a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural
activities, wild fires, and deforestation; during the end of the last
decade, tropical wetlands played a central role in the increased
presence of atmospheric methane. Emissions from sources like
these constitute the most uncertain element of the global carbon
budget. Still, “lack of data” is the only term used to describe
Africa’s emissions.
I am building the first high-frequency climate observatory
station in Africa, located in the Republic of Rwanda. I will
then use the resulting data to estimate emissions of carbon
dioxide and methane in Eastern and Central Africa. Quantifying
tropical African emissions will not only support regional and
national emission reduction policies, but also reduce the largest
uncertainty in the global carbon budget – thereby adding a piece
of new understanding to the climate-change puzzle.
Choosing the right place to host the climate observatory
station was a challenge by itself. First, logistical considerations
like power supply, accessibility, and laboratory space were
considered. Second, and most important, were the technical
considerations: The station had to be away from cities and
towns and higher in altitude in order to measure background
concentration. Moreover, a large station “footprint” was
preferred, as it would allow for sampling a larger region with just
one station. The footprint, which is a map of all possible origins
Getting Africa on the
Climate-Change Grid
Jimmy Gasore
Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Graduate Student
of air masses arriving at the station, is obtained by running
computer simulations that follow the trajectory of air mass in the
backward direction. Those criteria were met by Mount Kalisimbi,
a 15,000-foot extinct volcano located in the Northwest Region of
the Republic of Rwanda. Computer simulations of trajectories
of air masses coming to Mount Kalisimbi indicate that this
location can sample air masses from Egypt and Saudi Arabia in
the north, India and the Indian Ocean in the east, Madagascar in
the south, and all the countries in between, with some extension
into Western Africa. The high elevation of Mount Kalisimbi allows
measurement of the “background” concentration, which is free
from the contamination of pollution from local sources. In this
respect, Kalisimbi has attributes of a global observatory sampling
the entire troposphere.
Because of the high elevation of Kalisimbi, accessibility is a
challenge for now. Luckily, the government of Rwanda is building
a cable car to the summit for ecotourism, which will also allow
regular access to the station and other infrastructures on the
summit. While waiting for a cable car, I am operating on Mount
Mugogo, which is a temporary station near Kalisimbi. With its
altitude of 8,500 feet, Mugogo does not have the attributes of
a global station but is perfect for a regional climate station;
in fact, it is the data from Mount Mugogo that I will use to
estimate regional emissions. At Mount Mugogo, I test and install
instruments and train local station technicians. I am currently
measuring carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, ozone,
solar radiation, and other meteorological variables.
In addition to setting up a climate observatory station, I will be
using inverse methods to estimate surface sources and sinks of
carbon dioxide and methane in Eastern and Central Africa.
The process of estimating surface emissions from atmospheric
concentration is much like going back in time, which is why
it is called an inverse problem. Gas molecules are emitted
by human activities like cars and power plants, as well as by
natural processes like those that take place in wetlands. After
emissions, the gas undergoes physical processes; namely,
mixing and transport by winds, chemical transformations
fueled by solar radiation, and chemical reactions with other
atmospheric constituents. The combination of these physical and
chemical processes determines the concentration of a certain
gas measured at a given time and place. On the other hand,
F E AT U R E S

11. 11
inverse emissions estimation starts by measuring atmospheric
concentrations of greenhouse gases and meteorological
information, then estimating what was emitted at the surface
by carefully going through all the chemical transformations and
physical mixing undergone by the gas molecules in the reverse
direction. This technique requires powerful computers and
advanced mathematics.
At the end of this project, I will provide the very first
comprehensive regional high-frequency observation-based
emissions estimation for Central and Eastern Africa. This
information will be the basis for regional carbon policies and
improve the current understanding of the global carbon budget.
Furthermore, the estimated sources and sinks of carbon
dioxide and methane will provide to the scientific community
additional data for comparing and checking global inversion
studies, calibrating ecosystem models, and verifying
regional emissions.
i Jimmy Gasore, EAPS Graduate Student.
ii Mount Kalisimbi will host the only high-frequency greenhouse gases
monitoring station on the African continent.
iii Rwandan President Paul Kagame (far right) meets EAPS graduate
student Jimmy Gasore, who is from Rwanda, and Ron Prinn, TEPCO
Professor of Atmospheric Science, during his April 2014 visit to MIT.
To read about President Paul Kagame’s visit to MIT,
visit sciencem.it/1Bh4FgV
To learn more about MIT’s research efforts, visit
cgcs.mit.edu
F E AT U R E S
i
ii
iii

12. 12
Those paying attention to where the federal government is
investing in RD may notice that we are not living in an easy
time for those pursuing fundamental scientific research.
Diminishing federal support has had major consequences for
scientists at MIT and all over the country: Graduate programs
are at risk of shrinking in size and young faculty are seeing their
grant applications rejected despite excellent reviews. In order
to ensure that the School of Science at MIT remains one of the
world’s premier institutions for scientific research, we need
to create additional support for our scientists pursuing basic,
curiosity-driven research.
Enter John Reed ’61 (XV), S.M. ’65 (XV), Chairman of the MIT
Corporation from 2010 to 2014. Together with his wife Cindy,
John Reed has initiated and made possible the first Fundamental
Science Investigator Award (FSIA) in the School of Science.
This award, described on the following pages, is modeled after
the enormously successful Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Investigator program and will be granted only to faculty
addressing very fundamental questions, such as the origins of
life, the science of climate, or the nature of dark matter. In short,
the award provides a multi-year funding base that allows the
faculty member to lead a small research program without relying
on outside funding. It is expected that research conducted with
the support of the FSIA will lead to publishable results, which will
then enable further funding from risk-adverse federal agencies.
It is not everyone who has the combined ability and foresight to
understand the impact of something like the FSIA on our scientific
enterprise. And one might be hard-pressed to find that perspective
in someone who was formerly a banker. But John Reed learned
about the challenges of supporting fundamental science during
his time as Chairman and from spending time on various Visiting
Committees and Advisory Councils throughout the schools.
“I think that those engaged in basic science need support, and I
think that the nature of the support can be budget relieving, which
obviously makes a difference to us… Basic research is key, and
it doesn’t gather the kind of support that cancer or energy gets.”
With that statement, Reed has zeroed in on one of the critical
problems in the way scientific research is currently funded: Those
pursuing fundamental scientific problems don’t yet necessarily
know what the applications of their discoveries will be, so their
research does not fall neatly under a category or theme. What’s
more, Reed said, “I don’t want to give money for specific research
A Much Needed Boost for
Basic Research at MIT
John and Cindy Reed Create the First
Fundamental Science Investigator Award
topics because they come and go; supporting those who will be
doing research is more beneficial than supporting the research
topic alone.”
Reed declared, “The key is that MIT needs support for basic
science. Cindy and I are early supporters because we care about
MIT and understand the value of basic research. We hope others
will join us in supporting this effort.”
John Reed on His Days as a Student
“I was coming to MIT at a time when you were here to learn,
you weren’t here to have fun. No one ever asked me whether
I was having fun. When I was here, tuition hit $1,000 and
everybody protested! I got everything out of MIT that I could
have hoped,” he says. “I learned how to think. You could tell
that your brain got pushed up a notch. The problems were
hard and you had to get your brain organized.
“My father, MIT class of 1924, told me that I would be on my
own once I got married or graduated…whichever came first.
So when I graduated he sent me a nice letter from Argentina
[where John grew up] with a gift of some books, a note of
congratulations, and a request that I remit any money left in
my checking account.”
D O N O R P R O F I L E

13. 13
The Birth of Science at MIT
In 1930, the MIT Corporation recognized that the engineer of
the future would need a deeper understanding of science, and
that this new education could not be provided without a top-tier
science faculty. Until that time, MIT did a good job of training
people to build and run the machines of the industrial revolution,
but they were not prepared to exploit the new knowledge of
quantum mechanics, atomic physics, and subatomic physics
that were about to reshape technology. Recruiting scientist
Karl Compton as MIT’s eleventh President, they made a pivotal
decision that would ultimately allow the Institute to participate in
the development of radar and to a play a leading role in post-war
science and engineering research.
The United States government’s appreciation of the importance
of science for national defense led to an exponential growth
in the fraction of the federal budget spent on research, which
reached a peak during the Apollo program of the 1960s. As
defense-research spending declined after the Cold War, federal
spending on the life sciences grew rapidly, so that the fraction
of the discretionary budget spent on basic research was roughly
constant. MIT faculty members followed, by reorienting their
research to address the exciting opportunities provided by the
revolution in molecular biology. Thus, for over 60 years, MIT
has been among the leading science – not just engineering –
universities in the world, because of generous funding by the
federal government.
However, that generous funding for fundamental science is
no longer forthcoming. Austere budgets have kept the growth
of funding in the physical sciences far below inflation since
the end of the Cold War; the same has been true for the life
sciences for the past decade (except for the 2 years of stimulus
funding during the Great Recession). What’s more, in times of
reduced federal funding, applied research does much better than
fundamental science, and MIT’s new sources of funding – from
foreign governments and foundations – are focused on applied
problems, rather than new discoveries.
A New Fundamental Science
Initiative for MIT
F E AT U R E S
continued on page 14

14. 14
Why New Scientific Discoveries Are Important
Basic research is the process of creation, and without it,
applications vanish.
When initially starting his project aiming to develop an atomic
clock, Professor Dan Kleppner never imagined it would someday
become the technology at the heart of GPS. “With basic
research, you don’t begin to recognize the applications until
the discoveries are in hand,” he said recently. “In my view, basic
science is the best thing that mankind pursues.”
Richard Schrock, the Frederick G. Keyes Professor of Chemistry
who won the Nobel Prize in 2005, has said that by following his
curiosity, he developed the catalysts for the chemical reaction
now used every day for the green production of pharmaceuticals,
fuels, and other synthetic chemicals. The same can be said of
Nobel Laureate Bob Horvitz, who, during his curiosity-driven,
extensive research on C. elegans, discovered specific genes that
determine cell death. Even today, this fundamental finding is
revealing new therapies for the treatment of cancer, Alzheimer’s,
and Parkinson’s disease.
Fundamental scientific research at MIT has led to the
discovery of the first human cancer gene, the first experimental
confirmation of the existence of the quark, and the first chemical
synthesis of penicillin. Each and every one of these discoveries
started with curiosity-driven research.
Science at MIT Matters
At MIT, our scientific discoveries lead to new technology and
move to the marketplace more rapidly than almost anywhere else
in the world. One only needs to count the startup companies in
Kendall Square that have been founded by MIT science faculty
members, students, and postdocs to see how well this is working
(see page 5 for a partial listing). What’s more, these startups are
often founded in collaboration with our colleagues in the School
of Engineering.
In his inaugural address, President L. Rafael Reif touched on
the critical importance of fundamental science at MIT: “I have
no doubt that the people of MIT will continue their passionate
pursuit of curiosity-driven, fundamental research. This work is
extremely important in and of itself because it expands the body
of knowledge. But it also handsomely returns the investment to
society, by enabling real-world solutions that we cannot begin to
imagine. Unfortunately, these days, important segments of our
society do not seem to fully appreciate this connection. But if a
society gives up on basic research, it is giving up on its future.
Let me say this again: If a society gives up on basic research, it is
giving up on its future.”
The Fundamental Science Investigator Award
The new Fundamental Science Investigator Award (FSIA) has
been created in an effort to help the School of Science reverse the
pressures of shrinking graduate programs and reduced federal
funding for basic scientific research. Promising, mid-career
School of Science faculty will be carefully nominated to receive
the FSIA, which will provide fellowships for three graduate
students and one postdoctoral associate – the minimum size
needed for an experimental effort in science. The FSIA provides
a multi-year funding base that allows the faculty member to lead
a small research program without relying on outside funding.
Ultimately, the award should make him or her much more
competitive in pursuing other sources of funding, because
successful results accomplished while supported by the FSIA
could eventually justify further support from risk-averse federal
agencies or foundations.
The cost to sponsor an expendable multi-year Fundamental
Science Investigator Award is $1.5 million. The cost to endow one
FSIA is $9 million; our goal is to be able to offer at least five
of these prestigious awards in the coming years. If you would
like more information, please contact Elizabeth Chadis at
617.253.8903 or echadis@mit.edu.
“If a society gives
up on basic
research,
it is giving up on
its future.
– L. Rafael Reif, President of MIT
”
F E AT U R E S
continued from page 13

15. 15
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
“Alan Grossman is an outstanding biologist who is deeply
committed to the research and educational missions of the
Biology Department,” said Michael Sipser, Dean of the School of
Science and the Barton L. Weller Professor of Mathematics. “I am
committed to working with him to sustain and enhance MIT’s
position as an extraordinary place to do biology.”
Grossman received a B.A. in biochemistry from Brown University
in 1979 and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of
Wisconsin at Madison in 1984. After a postdoctoral fellowship
in the Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology at
Harvard University, Grossman joined MIT’s Department of
Biology in 1988. In 1997, Grossman received the Eli Lilly and Co.
Research Award, given by the American Society for Microbiology.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences.
Biology
Alan D. Grossman Appointed
Department Head
Written by Bendta Schroeder
Alan D. Grossman, the Praecis Professor of Biology, has been
named the new Head of the Department of Biology. A faculty
member since 1988 and an Associate Department Head from
2012 until June 2014, Grossman succeeds Tania Baker, the E.C.
Whitehead Professor of Biology and an investigator with the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Grossman has significant experience in service, research,
education, and outreach. He served for many years on the
graduate committees for biology, computational and systems
biology, and microbiology. He was Director or Co-Director of the
biology graduate program for 7 years.
Grossman was instrumental in the establishment of the graduate
program in microbiology in 2008 and served as its Director until
2012. The program is an interdepartmental, interdisciplinary
endeavor, with more than 50 participating faculty members
from several departments in the School of Science and School
of Engineering. This program integrates educational resources
across participating departments, builds connections among
faculty with shared interests, and creates an educational and
research community for training students in the study of
microbial systems. Grossman also served as a member of the
Committee on Curriculum and most recently on the Office of
Minority Education’s Faculty Advisory Committee.
Grossman’s research combines a range of approaches – genetic,
molecular, physiological, biochemical, cell-biological, and
genomic – to study how bacteria sense internal and external
conditions and control basic cellular processes. His current work
seeks to define mechanisms regulating bacterial DNA replication
and cellular responses to replication stress. His laboratory also
studies horizontal gene transfer, the primary means by which
antibiotic resistance is spread among bacteria.
“I have benefited tremendously from the support and
encouragement from people in all parts of the department,
and I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve this outstanding
community,” Grossman said. “I look forward to working closely
with my colleagues and continuing the tradition of recruiting and
mentoring excellent young faculty, supporting educational and
outreach efforts, and building strong and beneficial relationships
with other departments. I also look forward to reaching out to
our alumni and friends from our extended biology community,
and from our larger Institute community.”
i Alan Grossman, Praecis Professor of Biology and new Head of
the Department.
ii Alan Grossman and Graham Walker, American Cancer Society
Professor, HHMI Professor, at this year’s Biology Department
Summer Research Program Poster Session and Luncheon.
ii
i

16. 16
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Controlling Neural Circuits with Light:
A Window into Psychiatric Disease
Written by Bendta Schroeder
A rat is placed in an unfamiliar chamber at the intersection of
two corridors. One corridor is enclosed, the other is exposed.
The rat has two choices: He can follow his inclination to explore
his new environment and venture into the open corridor, or he
can follow his anxious impulse to avoid predators by hiding in
the enclosed passage. He chooses, for the most part, to stay out
of sight. But then a researcher flips a switch. Immediately, the rat
steps into the open passage – he’s up for adventure.
What Happened?
At the Dean’s Breakfast on March 26, 2014, Kay Tye ’03 (IX),
Whitehead Career Development Assistant Professor of
Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
(BCS), told the audience about her latest research on the neural
basis of anxiety. Tye studies the neural circuitry that translates
information from the world around us into impulses to either
seek pleasure or avoid pain. Or, to put it simply, Tye studies
the neuroscience of emotion. Emotions play an important role
in how we interact with the world: They are a filter that lets
us decide what is important in our environments, how much
attention we should pay to it, and how we should react to it.
Emotions motivate us to seek out what might benefit us and
avoid what might harm us.
The problem is when emotions are no longer directly tied to
the world around us, resulting in mental health issues, such as
anxiety, depression, and addiction. Anxiety, where an individual
experiences sustained, increased apprehension without an
immediate threat of harm, affects 28% of adults in the United
States. There are several pharmaceutical treatments, but taking
them often results in a lot of unwanted side effects. These
pharmaceuticals bathe the entire brain in a soup of medicine,
stimulating or inhibiting emotion-regulating parts of the brain
indiscriminately, and they frequently produce opposing and
adverse effects. Tye believes we can develop more effective
treatments with fewer side effects if we instead target the
specific neural circuits that regulate anxiety – but first, Tye
needs to pinpoint exactly where those circuits are.
This is where the rat in the chamber comes in. Tye and the
graduate students in her laboratory isolated a very specific
connection, also called a projection, which carries signals
between two regions of the rat’s brain that are thought to
govern anxiety: the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the
ventral hippocampus (vHPC). This projection can be referred
to as BLA-vHPC.
They used a technique called optogenetics – developed by MIT
Professor Ed Boyden with researchers at Stanford University
– which allowed them to turn the projection on and off like a
switch. They encoded a package of DNA with a neuron inhibitor
governed by a light-sensitive protein, and then spliced it into
i ii

17. 17
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
their target neurons. When they shone a light on the BLA-vHPC,
the inhibitor turned the projection off and the rat immediately
traded its timidity for boldness. Tye and her graduate students
were also able to do the reverse: When they activated the BLA-
vHPC, the rat traded its boldness for timid, anxious behavior.
Because they could turn anxiety-related behavior on and off with
their BLA-vHPC switch, Tye and her graduate students concluded
that the BLA-vHPC projection helps govern anxiety.
In the future, Tye plans to study BLA-vHPC circuitry for
pharmaceutical targets. While rat and human brains are
obviously different, the amygdala remains very similar across
mammalian species. She is also applying similar approaches to
study the role of connections between the lateral hypothalamus
and the ventral tegmental area in addictive eating behaviors.
To carry out these studies, Tye depends on her current and
incoming graduate students, who play a critical role within the
department. As Department Head Jim DiCarlo recently shared,
“[they] are essential to the department’s preeminence. They do
a lot of the heavy lifting, conducting much of the department’s
research while helping to teach and mentor undergraduates;
being young and optimistic, they take risks that lead to exciting
new discoveries and breakthroughs.”
More About Kay Tye
Kay Tye completed her undergraduate studies at MIT
in 2003, majoring in brain and cognitive sciences
with a minor in biology. She went to the University of
California at San Francisco for her graduate studies
under the mentorship of Patricia Janak, to train in in
vivo electrophysiology and behavioral neuroscience,
and earned her Ph.D. in 2008. Her thesis work was
supported by a National Science Foundation Fellowship
and was recognized with the Weintraub Award and the
Lindsley Prize. She then stayed on for an extra year to
complete a collaboration examining learning-induced
plasticity using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in
acute slice preparations with Antonello Bonci.
She began her post-doctoral training at Stanford
University in 2009 with the support of a National
Research Service Award from the National Institutes
of Health under the mentorship of Karl Deisseroth,
where she integrated her existing skill set with
imaging and optogenetic techniques to examine the
basis of motivated behaviors. As of January 2012, she
has returned to MIT to start her own laboratory as the
Whitehead Career Development Assistant Professor
of Neuroscience in BCS and the Picower Institute of
Learning and Memory.
To learn more about the Tye Laboratory,
visit www.tyelab.org
i After finishing her lecture, Professor
Tye ’03 (IX) answered questions and
discussed her research with a number
of guests.
ii Jake Xia Ph.D. ’92 (VI) poses a
question during the talk.
iii Peter Steven ’78 (XVIII), Ph.D. ’86
(XVII) and former MIT Professor
Larry Evans enjoy their breakfast.
iii

18. 18
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
A New Society Launches Celebrating
Graduate Student Fellowship Support
Written by Rachel Traughber
MIT’s graduate program in brain and cognitive sciences is
consistently recognized as one of the best in the world. We
attract outstanding students with the discipline and creativity
to make major contributions to our understanding of the brain
and how it works in sickness and health. From the nature of
intelligence to understanding the diseases of development
and aging, we are closing in on answers to some of the most
challenging problems faced by human beings.
With the federal government sequester in effect, support for
these students faces grave challenges.
“Our ability to enroll graduate students in our program is
contingent on whether or not we have the financial capacity to
support them while they are here,” said BCS Department Head
Jim DiCarlo. “We are entering a golden age of brain and cognitive
science research and discoveries. Now more than ever, this is
a critical time to be sure we keep attracting the best minds to
MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.”
The Champions of the Brain Fellows was created to address
this need. Launched during the summer of 2013, the society’s
purpose is twofold: to recognize the generosity of those friends
and alumni who make it possible for BCS graduate students
to explore their scientific dreams, and to encourage those who
are considering supporting the graduate students of
the department.
Champion of the Champions
Among the department’s long-time supporters who answered
this call are Barrie HM and Al ’51 Zesiger. In 2009, when the
Zesigers learned that BCS would be able to admit only 11
students due to funding concerns, they pledged $1 million
to endow a fellowship for the department. As the department
explored ways to recognize and encourage philanthropic
support for graduate students, reaching out to the Zesigers
was a natural choice.
Champions of the Brain Fellows
i ii
We hope this event becomes
a highlight of our academic
year. It’s our opportunity to
thank donors while enabling
them to engage with the
students, learn more about
their research, and meet
others who care about the
department’s mission.
– Jim DiCarlo
“
”

19. 19
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
“Barrie and Al are wonderful advocates of graduate students in
the department,” said DiCarlo, “I am so pleased that they are
willing to help us take on this new challenge.”
To inaugurate the Champions of the Brain Fellows, the
Zesigers have pledged an additional $1 million to match new
fellowship donations. It is their hope that this commitment
will inspire others.
The Inaugural Champions Dinner
On March 5, 2014, the department hosted its first Champions
of the Brain Fellows celebration. The evening kicked off with a
reception followed by an intimate dinner with students, faculty,
and fellowship supporters. Over dinner, several BCS graduate
students presented on their experiences and research at MIT:
Becky Canter, Weedon Fellow, described her Alzheimer’s
research in the Tsai Laboratory; Stephen Allsop, Halis Fellow
and M.D./Ph.D. student in the Tye Laboratory, discussed his
path to MIT and his interest in understanding how social
information changes behavior; and Pedro Tsividis, Leventhal
Fellow, shared his work on developmental accounts and
computational models of curiosity and exploration in the
Tenenbaum and Schulz Laboratories.
The department plans to hold this event annually, with the next
dinner set to take place in the fall of 2015. Other benefits of
membership include updates from students on their research
and progress throughout their academic careers at MIT. Those
interested in becoming a champion or learning more about
the society can contact Elizabeth Chadis, Assistant Dean of
Development, at 617-253-8903 or echadis@mit.edu
i Department Head Jim DiCarlo, 2013-2014 Zesiger Fellow
Christine Eckhardt, and Barrie Zesiger HM.
ii Fellowship sponsor Estelle Weedon and Nobel Laureate Susumu
Tonegawa, Professor of Biology and Neuroscience, peer down from
the reception area to the floors below.
iii Halis Fellow Stephen Allsop, an accomplished jazz pianist,
provided musical entertainment for the evening with his ensemble
NotetheNuanceLIVE!
iv McClelland Fellow Michael Lynn, of Mehrdad Jazayeri’s
Laboratory, meets fellowship sponsor Bill McClelland ’47 (XVIII)
and Lynne Lippincott.
Now is the time
to invest in brain
research and MIT
is the place. Together,
we can make
a difference.
– Barrie Zesiger
”
“
iii iv

20. 20
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
Chemistry
A Springtime Celebration
Written by Laurie Ledeen
Thanks to the generosity of two longstanding and thoughtful
supporters, the Chemistry Department hosted a springtime
celebration on May 18, 2014. Over 60 alumni, friends, and faculty
gathered in the Winter Garden of MIT’s Media Laboratory. Guests
enjoyed not only spectacular views of the Charles River and Back
Bay, but also conversation and presentations focused on the
department’s educational and research accomplishments, as well
as its future plans, goals, and special projects.
Department Head Sylvia Ceyer began the evening with opening
remarks and a warm welcome before turning it over to John
Essigmann, William R. (1956) and Betsy Leitch Professor of
Chemistry and Biological Engineering, who shared exciting
news about a subject central to the department’s education
mission and reputation. Essigmann’s presentation, entitled
“Our Chemistry Labs Don’t Stink Anymore,” outlined the reasons
why we can expect an improvement to the atmosphere in which
our undergraduates study chemistry, due to the exciting and long
overdue relocation of our undergraduate laboratories to the top
floor of MIT’s new state-of–the-art nanotechnology building. This
major capital project is a focal point for MIT’s planned campaign,
and the department hopes to take full advantage of the project’s
high internal and external profile.
A major feature of the new facility is the fact that the design
of the new laboratories is inspired by URIECA, the department’s
innovative undergraduate curriculum. This topic was the
focus of Assistant Professor Brad Pentelute’s presentation,
“Flowing into URIECA Moments at MIT.”
To conclude the evening’s presentations, Susan Solomon,
Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry
and Climate Science, a well-known scientist whose research
takes place at the intersection of basic science and public
policy, gave her talk “The World’s Chemistry in Our Hands.”
i Guests had a wonderful view of the Charles River.
ii (Left to right): MIT Professors Yogi Surendranath Ph.D. ’11 (V D)
and Kit Cummins Ph.D. ’93 (V) with local alumnus Timothy Oyer
Ph.D. ’91 (V) and his wife, Joanne.
iii MIT alumni who attended the event were able to connect with
professors, old and new, and learn about new research happening
in the department. (Left to right): Julian Adams Ph.D. ’81 (V) meets
Professor Mo Movassaghi and Brad Pentelute, Pfizer-Laubach Career
Development Assistant Professor.
iv Judy Selwyn Ph.D. ’71 (V) and John Dolhun Ph.D. ’73 (V), friends
of the department, engage in conversation between presentations.
i
ii
iii
iv

21. 21
Earth, Atmospheric
and Planetary
Sciences
Memorial Symposium Held in Honor of the
Late Professor Theodore R. Madden
Written by Helen Hill
A symposium to honor the life and work of Professor Theodore
“Ted” Madden, who died in November 2013 at age 88, was held
March 14, 2014. The event brought together the Madden family,
current EAPS faculty, former colleagues, and former students
of Madden’s, and reflected the extraordinarily broad scope of
Madden’s research, which extended from Earth’s core to the
outer magnetosphere.
Speakers in the morning session “From the Earth’s Core to
the Crust” (chaired by EAPS’ Professor Nafi Toksöz) included
Michael Bergman Ph.D. ’92 (XII, XII D), Randall Mackie Ph.D. ’91
(XII, XII D), Dave Lockner Ph.D. ’90 (XII, XII D), David Fitterman
Ph.D. ’75 (XII), Peter Molnar (University of Colorado), Yves
Bernabé Ph.D. ’86 (XII), and Phil Nelson ’62 (XII), Ph.D. ’67 (XII).
After a luncheon in the Ida Green Lounge, the afternoon session
“From the Earth’s Crust to Outer Space” (chaired by Brad Hager,
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Earth Sciences) included Dale
Morgan Ph.D. ’81 (XII D), Earle Williams Ph.D. ’81 (XII), Adolfo
Figuero-Vinas Ph.D. ’81 (XII), and Norman Ness ’55 (XII B),
Ph.D. ’59 (XII). An in-absentia video message from Jon Claerbout
’60 (VIII), Ph.D. ’67 (XII) was also shown.
The keynote address was given by Don Paul ’67 (XVIII), S.M. ’69
(XII), Ph.D. ’77 (XII), and EAPS Department Head Rob van der
Hilst gave opening and closing remarks.
The talks were followed by a memorial service in the MIT Chapel.
Among the speakers were Rob van der Hilst; Bill Thompson ’57
(XII B), S.M. ’58 (XII B), Ph.D. ’63 (XII); Carl Wunsch ’62 (XVIII),
Ph.D. ’67 (XII); Yed Angoran Ph.D. ’76 (XII); and Enders Robinson
’50 (XVIII), S.M. ’52 (XIV), Ph.D. ’54 (XII). At the close, Taps and
an Honor Guard were provided by members of the United States
Marine Corps in honor of Madden’s service.
At the reception, which took place in Room 54-923 of the Green
Building immediately following the service, it was announced
that the Madden Fellowship fund had reached its fundraising
goal in time to appoint the first Madden Fellow this fall. Major
donors to the fund were Jie Zhang Ph.D. ’97 (XII D); John Reed
’61 (XV), S.M. ’65 (XV); and keynote speaker Don Paul ’67 (XVIII),
S.M. ’69 (XII), Ph.D. ’77 (XII).
Ted Madden 1925-2013
Theodore Madden, or Ted as he was best known, was an MIT
alumnus and faculty member whose contributions to research
and teaching influenced a generation of Earth scientists. Ted
entered the Institute in 1942 and never left, with the exception
of a 3-year stint in the Marine Corps during World War II. Ted
received his B.S. in physics in 1949 and his Ph.D. in geophysics in
1961. He was already a professor of geophysics when he received
his graduate degree. Ted was known for his breadth of academic
interests, competitive spirit, and holistic approach to education.
Ted was probably most celebrated for his work on methods
for electrical exploration. In 1986, he received the Society of
Exploration Geophysicists’ Reginald Fessenden Award in
recognition of his “pioneering efforts in the development
of frequency domain IP, both in practice and in theory.” Few
biographies, however, capture the enormous breadth of his
research, which spanned from the core of the Earth to the
outer magnetosphere, and included topics as diverse as
electromagnetics, seismology, gravity waves, plasma physics,
and random networks.
Ted was also an accomplished athlete who loved all sports,
particularly hockey, soccer, and lacrosse. He received MIT’s
award for the most outstanding athlete in 1949. Ted liked to
say that he “majored in sports and minored in physics.” His
former students remember that he brought the same intensity
to athletics as he did to inverse problems.
Ted will be missed by many friends and colleagues, but his
enormous impact on MIT and the Earth sciences will continue.
He leaves his wife, Halima, his children Salim, Jennifer, and
Nadia ’00 (XII), and his grandchildren Laila and Matthew.
To watch the symposium online, visit
sciencem.it/maddenmemorial
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S

22. 22
At the Lorenz Center, Water Unites Leaders
in Climate Sciences
Written by Genevieve Wanucha
Water has a lot of say in how Earth’s climate works – from cloud
distribution to ocean circulation and from atmospheric moisture
to snowfall patterns – and scientists often acknowledge that the
uncertainty about our climate’s future trajectory comes from a
lack of understanding of water. This intellectual challenge filled
the better part of February 10-12, 2014, for 37 leading climate
researchers, along with graduate students and postdoctoral
Fellows, who participated in the Lorenz Center’s first scientific
workshop, “Water in the Climate System,” which took place at the
MIT Endicott House in Dedham, Massachusetts.
The Lorenz Center is a new climate research initiative founded
by MIT Professors Kerry Emanuel and Daniel Rothman in the
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences as
a way to renew the emphasis on fundamental questions about
climate. The founders dedicated the center to the late MIT
Professor Edward N. Lorenz, the architect of chaos theory,
who shared in their conviction that more knowledge about the
underlying principles of our climate would make the complex
system easier to understand.
The workshop brought together some of the biggest names
in climate-related fields, who presented work on the climate
or hydrological mechanism of their research to an audience
packed with inquiring minds. The five sessions included
“Convection”; “Water Vapor, Clouds, and Climate”; “Moisture
and Weather”; “Precipitation and Climate”; and “Potpourri,”
an eclectic mixture of aquaplanet modeling and geomorphology.
All 26 presentations are available in slide format at sciencem.it/
EAPSslides.
“It was a great opportunity for younger scientists to learn about
the big ideas in the field and hear from voices outside of MIT,”
said MIT Ph.D. student Tim Cronin. In fact, they uniquely
benefited from the experience: To avoid the “experts-talking-
to-experts” phenomenon, Emanuel implemented his strategy
of giving the graduate students and postdocs the chance to
ask the first few questions in every discussion period. Beyond
being observers, the newer generation of researchers drove the
conversation from the start.
More than a few times, a student’s inquiry would get the experts
talking back and forth about the big climate conundrums of
our time, such as: How do ocean and atmosphere circulations
transport heat across the globe? How can we design models
that accurately estimate regional changes in the water cycle as
the globe warms? When can we expect significantly different
summers and snow storms?
This workshop was made possible by a generous gift from Colin
Masson, a retired astrophysicist who appreciates the Lorenz
Center’s broad view of climate science and who attended the
event. Private donations like Masson’s support the Lorenz
Center’s regular activities, which also include the annual John
Carlson Lecture. To reach their ultimate vision, Emanuel and
Rothman are currently raising funds to support graduate
students, postdoctoral researchers, and visiting scientists, with
an emphasis on backgrounds in diverse areas, such as applied
mathematics, biology, and chemistry.
“Our idea, simply put, is both to attract the very best minds to
climate science and to give them free reign to think creatively,
unsaddled by the pressing practical demands of climate
forecasting,” the founders wrote in A Fresh Approach to Climate
Science. If the “Water in the Climate System” workshop was any
indication, the Lorenz Center already serves as that magnet of
basic research talent.
To see slides from the workshop, visit
sciencem.it/EAPSslides
To read A Fresh Approach to Climate Science, visit
sciencem.it/afreshapproach
i Lorenz Center Co-Founders Daniel Rothman, Professor of
Geophysics (left), and Kerry Emanuel ’76 (XII), Ph.D. ’78 (XIX),
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science (right),
pose for a photograph with Colin Masson, who made the entire
workshop possible.
ii Lorenz Center Workshop attendees mingle in the MIT Endicott
House with post-workshop refreshments.
ii
i
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S

23. 23
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
Mathematics
MIT Is the Place for Students to
Study Mathematics
MIT students won the 2013 William Lowell Putnam Mathematical
Competition: Our team ranked first among 430 teams from across
North America. Perhaps even more impressive, four MIT students
were designated Putnam Fellows for scoring among the top five
test takers. An additional eleven of our students ranked in the
next 21, followed by another 20 who received Honorable Mention
out of 56. Overall, MIT represents an enormous 43% of the top
81 scorers in the competition, beating MIT’s previous record
performance of 40.5% just last year. Our students benefited from
excellent coaching by Professors Richard Stanley, Abhinav Kumar
’02 (VI-3, VIIIB, XVIII), and Henry Cohn ’95 (XVIII).
The competition took place on December 7, 2013, when over
4,100 students took the exam from 557 colleges and universities
in the United States and Canada. Established in 1938, the William
Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition annually administers
the exam on the first Saturday of December. The exam consists
of 12 problems and lasts 6 hours, over two equal sessions. The
median score this year was 1 point out of a possible 120. Those
who win the Putnam Competition have gone on to become
distinguished mathematicians, including several who have
received the Fields Medal or won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Individual Putnam Fellows
1. Mitchell M. Lee, MIT
2. Zipei Nie, MIT
3. Evan O’Dorney, Harvard
4. Bobby Shen, MIT
5. David Yang, MIT
Teams
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. Carnegie Mellon University
3. Stanford University
4. Harvard University
5. California Institute of Technology
MIT
Harvard
Stanford
CMU
Princeton
Caltech
Yale
Waterloo
StonyBrook
BerkeleyBringham
Young
Brown
Northwestern
NYU
RPI
35
11
0
5
10
15
20
NumberofStudents
Putnam Fellow
Honorable Mention and higher
Top 81 Performers
25
30
35
40
8 7
4
33
Winners of the 74th Putnam Competition

24. 24
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
The Dean of Science Visits New York
On the evening of April 3, 2014, Vlad Portnoy ’93 (VIII) hosted
the Dean of Science, Michael Sipser, at Jefferies LLC’s Madison
Avenue location in midtown Manhattan. After 5:30 PM reception,
over 50 guests attended Sipser’s talk “Beyond Computation:
The P versus NP Question.”
The P versus NP problem is one of the great unanswered
questions of contemporary mathematics and is widely
considered the most important unsolved problem in theoretical
computer science. A solution to this problem would reveal the
theoretical limitations of computer power for solving puzzles,
cracking codes, proving theorems, and optimizing many
practical tasks.
i Assistant Dean Elizabeth Chadis with Michael Sipser, Dean of
Science, and Vlad Portnoy ’93 (VIII), the event’s host.
ii Ilya Lisansky ’99 (VI-3, XVIII), MNG ’99 (VI P) and Igor Gonta ’95
(VI-1), SM ’95 (VI A) enjoy the reception.
iii Elizabeth Dominguez ’78 (V) with her husband, Nestor.
iv Friends John Niforatos ’97 (II), Chris Danielian ’97 (XV), ’98 (VIII),
and John Terilla, a mathematics professor, attended the Thursday
evening presentation.
i
iii iv
ii

25. 25
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
Physics
Finding the Chemically Most Primitive Stars
with the Australian SkyMapper Telescope
Some of the oldest, 13 billion-year-old stars can be found in the
Milky Way Galaxy. They are found because they have unusually
small amounts of heavy elements in them, which indicate that
they must have formed early on in the universe, when not many
elements – other than hydrogen and helium – had yet been
created. Finding those ancient needles in the cosmic haystack
requires large-scale sky surveys that enable efficient selection of
candidate old stars. The Australian SkyMapper survey is a new
effort that is poised for many exciting discoveries using a new
specially tailored selection technique.
Anna Frebel, Silverman (1968) Family Career Development
Assistant Professor of Physics, spoke of this effort at a
breakfast talk on January 30, 2014, entitled “Finding the
Chemically Most Primitive Stars with the Australian SkyMapper
Telescope.” Physics Department Head Peter Fisher introduced
Frebel after welcoming the attendees and sharing updates on
the department.
During her presentation, Frebel also showed a video to the
audience to share what it is like to be at the Magellan Telescopes
at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The same morning, an
MIT alumni travel trip was touring the Magellan Telescopes, so
the breakfast attendees were able to view what the other alumni
were seeing on-site.
You can find more information on Frebel and the
Magellan Telescopes at sciencem.it/1wUJpNd
i Anna Frebel, Assistant Professor of Physics, stands beneath the
visible Milky Way in the Atacama Desert.
ii Sequence of stellar spectra with different levels of heavy element
depletion. Top: the sun; Middle: two stars with only 1/1,000th of the
solar iron abundance; Bottom: star with only 1/6,000th of the solar
iron abundance. (Background image from NASA/CXC/PSU/JPL-
Caltech/CfA; image processing: R. Fouche, spectra: A. Frebel.)
i
ii

26. 26
S C I E N C E N E W S E V E N T S
Lourie Hosts the School of Science
Robert Lourie ’82 (VIII), Ph.D. ’86 (VIII) hosted an event on
his yacht Prediction on June 20, 2014. Over 40 people attended,
which included School of Science alumni and friends, faculty, and
Lourie Fellows. Former Chairman of the Corporation, John Reed,
gave remarks and shared updates about MIT and the School
of Science. He also spoke about the importance of support for
basic science, shared his involvement as a donor, and announced
that he and his wife Cindy had created the first Fundamental
Science Investigator Award in the School of Science. Lourie then
spoke about his experience at MIT as an undergraduate and
graduate student in the Physics Department and thanked his
advisor Professor Bill Bertozzi, who was in attendance, for all of
his support. Lourie said he was glad he was in a position to give
back to MIT and to support graduate fellowships in the Physics
Department. Lourie Fellows Gabriel Collin, Charles Epstein,
Rebecca Russell, and Jing Wang were in attendance.
i Left to right: Robert Lourie ’82 (VIII), Ph.D. ’86 (VIII),
host of the evening; Cindy Reed; John Reed ’61 (XV),
SM ’65 (XV), former Chairman of the Corporation; Marc
Kastner, Donner Professor of Science and former Dean of
Science; and Michael Sipser, Dean of Science and Barton
L. Weller Professor of Mathematics.
ii Alex Hastings (left), Renate Kurowski-Cardello, and Tom
Cardello enjoy the view over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
i
ii

27. 27
S U P P O R T T H E S C H O O L O F S C I E N C E
The graduate students in the School of Science
are not only a major force in MIT’s creative engine,
they are the foundation of MIT’s productivity.
Additionally, they are critical to the recruitment and
retention of our faculty and vital to maintaining the
strength and leadership of our scientific enterprise.
It should come as no surprise that growing
the number of both endowed and expendable
fellowships is a major institutional priority.
As you read on page 18, the Department of Brain
and Cognitive Sciences recently established the
Champions of the Brain Fellows to recognize the
men and women who support the department’s
students with either expendable or endowed
fellowships. Neuroscience is a field in its
infancy. Powerful new tools and insights, many
developed here at MIT, are creating a moment of
extraordinary opportunity – a chance to unravel
persistent puzzles of the brain and mind. Be part
of this scientific journey by becoming a Champion
of the Brain Fellows and joining us next October at
the annual reception and dinner, where students
and faculty mingle with their champions and
present their recent findings.
Membership begins with a gift of $70,000.
The School of Science continues to accept
donations in honor of former Dean, Marc A.
Kastner, and the fellowship which was created
in his honor. When he was Dean, Marc would
tell alumni and friends that the best way they
could support basic science at MIT was to
support our graduate students with a fellowship.
The Marc A. Kastner Fellowship celebrates his
many accomplishments.
You can make a gift to this fund online by visiting
giving.mit.edu/schoolofscience
For more details or if you have any questions
about making a gift to the School of Science,
please contact:
Elizabeth Chadis
Assistant Dean for Development
MIT School of Science 6-131
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617-253-8903
Email: echadis@mit.edu
Support the MIT School of Science
Graduate students: Vital to MIT’s leadership

28. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue, 6-131
Cambridge, MA 02139
Name One of the New
Classrooms in Building 2
Tell us what you think!
What would you like to see featured in Science@MIT?
Send all comments to jboyle@mit.edu.
Leave your legacy in the historic Main Group
at MIT by naming a space in Building 2.
This renovation is the only one of its kind
in the Main Group’s 100-year history, and
gifts of $100,000 or higher provide naming
opportunities. For more information,
please reach out to:
Elizabeth Chadis
Assistant Dean for Development
MIT School of Science 6-131
77 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Tel: 617-253-8903
Email: echadis@mit.edu
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Parts of the wall may be missing, but the chalkboard still stands amidst renovations in
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