Inauguration of MIT’s 15th President, Prof. Charles M. Vest

Ladies and gentlemen, the inaugural procession, led by the Chief Marshal Mr. Carl M. Mueller will now enter the court. The audience will please remain seated. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [SIDE CONVERSATIONS] Make the announcement now. MUELLER: Ladies and gentlemen, the 15th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Charles Marstiller Vest, accompanied by Chairman of the MIT Corporation, Dr. Paul Edward Gray, and led by the Chairman of the MIT Faculty, Professor Henry Donnan Jacoby, please stand. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] GRAY: The Corporation and the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are now declared convened together with this assembly to join in the inauguration of Charles Marstiller Vest as 15th President of the Institute. Please join Professor Ellen Harris, Associate Provost for the Arts, in singing one verse of the national anthem. Then please remain standing for the invocation by Reverand Susan Thomas. [MUSIC PLAYING- "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER"] HARRIS: (SINGING) O say can you see, by the dawn's early light. What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight. For the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave. For the land of the free and the home of the brave. THOMAS: I've been asked to invoke the presence of God upon these proceedings. It is my duty and delight to do so, although I sometimes wonder whether this is what we really want. For one does so with fear and trembling as well. Nevertheless, I invite you to join me in prayer. Gracious God, we boldly call upon you this day to ask your guidance and blessing upon Charles. That he, as president of MIT, might be your servant for good. As he shapes the future of this Institute, which in turn helps to shape the future of your beleaguered, bountiful creation. Pour out upon him wisdom and understanding, counsel, and might, knowledge, and of the fear of God. In the midst of his achievement, give him a humble heart and a resilient spirit. That the great responsibility he bears not weigh too heavily upon him. That he might remember human frailty, seeking and granting forgiveness for mistakes or wrongdoing, as he already has done. Make him soft as well as tough, in the tradition of his family nickname. May he know that we, the MIT community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni, like the Detroit Tigers who sent him an autographed baseball in honor of the occasion, wish him well. May he laugh frequently at himself or with others. For laughter and lightness of heart is surely one of your greatest and most redemptive gifts. Give him wise and faithful friends. Bring him counselors in justice and mercy. Establish and strengthen the web of his family, especially blessing and upholding his life's partner, Becky. As we look toward the future and the critical next decade for this planet, may you indeed guide MIT in its priorities. I humbly yet boldly ask that your hand move our hands and minds in the work that we do. We love and desire that this earth be preserved, and even improved. Use us all as your servants in these coming years to do just that. Inaugurate your just and loving purposes among us here today. We give thanks for past presidencies and administrations of MIT, especially today for the conscientious leadership of President Paul Gray and Priscilla Gray. Remain with them in their life and work and keep them in your care. All this we ask, trusting that you will hear our fervent prayers this day, and that you already know what we most need. Amen. Please be seated. GRAY: I am pleased to welcome to the platform Dr. Frank HT Rhodes, President of Cornell University, who will be giving remarks on behalf of the academic community. Frank Rhodes, a longtime friend and colleague, received his education as a geologist at Birmingham in England. Following service as a member of the faculty and the administration of the University of Michigan, Dr. Rhodes became president of Cornell University in 1977. He is a senior member in the Major League of university presidents, and he possesses, as I know from personal experience, wisdom and a generous spirit, which compliment his seniority. It is a great honor and privilege to have him with us today, as the Institute embarks on a new decade under the leadership of a new president. Frank Rhodes. [APPLAUSE] RHODES: Mr. Chairman, President Vest, Mrs. Vest, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Wiesner, Dr. Saxon, members of the Corporation and members of the platform party, distinguished members of the faculty, the staff, and student bodies, honored delegates from sister institutions, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, this is a great day, not just for MIT, but for all of higher education. And all of us have felt a sense of pride and expectation as we marched from 77 Massachusetts Avenue here to Killian Court to the fanfares written by members of the MIT faculty, which welcome in a new chapter in the distinguished history of this great institution, gathering as we do to celebrate to Chuck Vest's inauguration as MIT's 15th president, and formally to hand to him the responsibility for guiding MIT, positioning it to shape the future, the theme of this inaugural year. I'm privileged and happy to speak for all institutions in congratulating MIT and congratulating President Vest on the symbolic importance of today's inauguration. I also feel a special kinship with Chuck Vest. He has been close to Cornell in helping us over the years as a member of our Advisory Council for the College of Engineering. And I feel another kinship because he and I served for a time in the same position, though at different times at the University of Michigan. And I've watched with admiration and pride his growing success in a series of roles of growing responsibility at that university. He brings to you, as you have already discovered, outstanding credentials, not just as an engineer in his chosen profession, but also as a teacher, as a scholar, and as an administrator. We can be confident that with Chuck Vest at the helm there are great years ahead for MIT. But the university presidency at any institution has always been amongst life's most challenging professions. Boards of trustees and members of the Corporation expect a degree of perfection in their presidents that the English expect to find only in their butlers. Newsweek magazine a month ago had a lengthy article on the university presidency. And the headline was wanted miracle workers. Chuck Vest may not be a miracle worker, but he is more than equal to the formidable task that you offer him today. For the challenges facing universities such as MIT have seldom been greater than they are today. These have been recent months of unprecedented concern and criticism about all the nation's research universities, concerns about cost, both the cost of teaching and the cost of research, the perennial concerns about increases in tuition, and the more recent concerns about indirect costs, concerns too about the quality of our graduates, with extensive argument about the curriculum and about the competence of the graduates of some institutions, concern too about the integrity of our scholarship. And not least of all, concern about freedom of expression and viewpoint on the campus. No university, no institute, can be immune to these concerns and these criticisms. For we have an obligation, not only to uphold the integrity of our scholarship, but also to be responsible and prudent stewards of the resources that are entrusted to us. Academic freedom in the end depends upon public trust and public support. And the price of public support is public accountability. Since he arrived on the campus last October, Chuck Vest has shown himself to be more than equal to addressing just those concerns and more. Willing to deal with controversial issues honestly and straightforwardly. And equally important, willing to think carefully and deliberately about MIT's mission and the longer term implications of that. How to sharpen it, how to focus it, how to preserve and enhance its existing formidable strengths, and to fashion those to new emerging societal needs and opportunities. And that is just as it should be. For to dwell on the problems of the moment or of this year or next year is simply to obscure the larger and overwhelmingly positive role that universities in general, and MIT in particular, have contributed to our national life and must continue to contribute. William Bennett, when he was Secretary of Education, was once asked by a seventh grader, how you tell a good country from a bad one. And he replied, I apply the gate test. When the gates of a country are open, watch which way the people run. Do they run into the country or out of the country? And that holds for universities as well as countries. It is no coincidence that American universities, and not least MIT, are sought out by students from all over the world. And they are sought out not simply as engines of basic research, although they have proven over and over again, and continue to prove, how productive they are in that particular regard. Here at MIT, one thinks of the first chemical synthesis of penicillin, or of vitamin A, the first complete synthesis of a gene, the development of modern methods of food preservation, and development in a series of generations of computer systems. In countless ways, MIT has and does contribute to our national well-being. But the role of research universities, and not least the private research universities such as MIT, extends far beyond those research activities. It is these universities that have been particularly concerned with the most gifted students, something born out, I note, with satisfaction amongst MIT's Nobel laureates, which include 11 current or former faculty members and 11 alumni, a fine and representative balance. And it has also been these same research universities that have been particularly devoted to quality and the programs of professional and other studies that they represent, particularly concerned with innovation in those programs. It was here at MIT, for example, a quarter century ago, that the standard for engineering education was established. And with Chuck Vest's leadership and the commitment of the faculty, I imagine it may be a time that is ripe for that to happen again. How much that surpasses even the great dreams of William Barton Rogers, who hoped for so much for this remarkable Institute when he founded it. How much that is attribute to the leadership which has gone before. And I note especially that of Paul Gray and David Saxon, of Jerry Wiesner and Howard Johnson, of Jay Stratton, and so many others and the commitment of many people here in this court today whose contributions over the years have set MIT apart as one of that small handful of institutions of worldwide quality. And yet, given the present climate of public skepticism and of constrained resources, maintaining MIT's position will require leadership of the highest order. And it is just that that Chuck Vest is superbly equipped to provide. He brings to MIT extraordinary skills in the administrative sphere, perception, and distinction as a scholar and teacher, and unusual grace, and a rare ability and total commitment, together with a resiliency and a sense of humor that will serve him well. And which I gather have already been tested as on the first day that he appeared in his office and found that the whole wall was covered up behind a large bulletin board covered with clippings from The Tech. Those are qualities which will stand MIT well in the years ahead. I realize of course that leaders are out of fashion today, and not least in the world of education. They are either incompetent or they are too smart. The few who aren't too weak are too strong. We're in favor of leadership, but we are against authority. I like John Gardner's story about the wife who read the card from a fortune-telling machine that her husband had just got when he dropped a penny into the weighing machine. And she took the card in her hand and said, you're a leader with a magnetic personality, strong character, intelligent, witty, attractive to the opposite sex. And then she turned the card over and added, and it has your weight wrong too. And yet leadership in the most expensive sense is essential if our research universities are to move beyond the present of criticism and constraints and realize the potential that they have to contribute to the years ahead. That's more than management. Management involves supervision of details, presiding over the established routine. Leadership involves something more, seeing opportunities, even in adversity, and kindling in others the passion of their own commitment. MIT is enormously fortunate to have found just such a leader in Chuck Vest. The responsibility that you give to him and to Becky today is awesome. The office in which you install him is lonely. And what he most needs now is your friendship and your support, not just in spring time, but in winter as well. Today, he and Becky dedicate their high professional skills, their experience, their energy, even the affairs of their family to your service. And you have a reciprocal debt to him. Because the strength of this Institute lies not solely in the skills of its president or the distinction of its faculty or the splendor and scope of its buildings or the balance of its budget or the magnitude of its endowment, important though all of those are, nor does it depend solely on the loyalty of the alumni body or the quality of the students or the devotion of the Corporation, although these too are vital. The truth strength of MIT derives rather from the extent to which all members of the community share common hopes and common goals, and are willing to commit themselves to their achievement. And so today's ceremony is more than ceremony. It is a compact, an agreement, between you and your new president. And that compact endorsed today links MIT to William Barton Rogers and others who brought this remarkable institute into existence 130 years ago. But it goes beyond that because it links us to a large community of men and women who have loved learning and defended it well. It bridges continents, it crosses oceans, it spans the centuries, stretching from Bologna and Paris and Oxford to Cambridge and MIT here this morning. And as you reaffirm that larger partnership, I'm privileged to speak for all our sister institutions in congratulating you on your choice and in wishing the Institute and chuck Vest good success. May MIT's distinguished past be but a prelude to an even more glorious future, which, not least in this inaugural year, it is MIT's privilege and special challenge to shape. Thank you. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [APPLAUSE] GRAY: It is now my pleasure to introduce Stephen J. Tapscott, Professor of Literature, who will read a poem of welcome. TAPSCOTT: "The Poem of Welcome." Ceremonious among the glorious rhododendrons the faculty progresses. They walk in their medieval costumes. And for once, their shoes are shined. Under the stately, engraved names of white male scientists, by their presence, the faculty embodies today's welcome. "The Poem of Welcome" walks among them. Its shoes too are shined, although they are metaphorical shoes. It walks stately to the podium, it's traditional tassel waggles ticklishly in its ear. "The Poem of Welcome" asks itself, what in the world am I doing here. What does a poem have to do with power, or the transmission of power, or the ceremony of the occasion of transmission? Charles Vest seems like a decent man. Look, for a lyric poem, that is very high praise. The faculty has gathered to thank him, to welcome, and to warn him. Decent people know how every welcome contains a kind of gratitude, and how every real welcome is a kind of warning to both parties. And jeepers, this is an occasion. Before and behind the poem, the faculty assembles and welcome, they wear their gaudy costumes and legitimize the occasion. Many are women, others have tenure. How solemn they seem assembled. I am not entirely sure that I want to be a note of welcome, thinks the lyric poem to itself. I think I might prefer to be a deconstructed, politically correct lyric of soaring beauty and searing cultural analysis. Look, I think I prefer to be a poem for 100 years forward, with tenure in the great anthologies of the future. I think I want to be a poem to make strong adults weep and virgins quiver and little children dance in the meadows, if there are meadows in 100 years in the future. Maybe I want to be a poem of elegy for meadows. What does a poem have to do with occasions of power? Hmm, thinks the poem. Well, anyway, how can a lyric poem speak for the diversity and polyvalence and generative foment of a contentious collective like the Institute. And come to think about it, why does this poem sound like it's written in prose? "The Poem of Welcome" is on a bad roll now. It is whining its welcome disgracefully in front of everyone. And those composers, they had it easy. Processionals without irony, without the need for declamatory assertions, welcome, they honked with their big trombones. Here we are, step off a big melodic line, some bass and a beat you can march to. But can a poem use a brass trombone? No. It's not the same using words, not like a trombone. The poem re-imagines itself, ode with trombones. Welcome, honk, honk to Charles Vest. Wa, wa, wa, wa, wa. It's just not the same lacking brass. Before and behind the poem by now, the faculty is getting a little restless. They scuff their shine shoes against the temporary platform. They gaze off towards the Charles or back up towards the Dome. From deep in the drooping sleeves of their robes surreptitiously they bring out peanut butter sandwiches. They knew they were in for a long one. Furtively, they pick off pieces of peanut butter sandwich and slip them into their mouths behind their hands. Their throats are dry, but they brought no drinks, not wanting to risk spills. Because they are intellectuals and just a little bored, some set themselves intricate challenges, like how to pull the wrapper off the Clark bar in your pocket without making a single crackling sound. Some have brought paperback books, which, during the poem, they slip open only a crack, deep in the fabric of their robes and read politely, pretending to pay attention. One leans back with eyes closed. It would seem she is asleep, but she is not. She is a mechanical engineer with mathematical training, like Charles Vest. The poem remembers what Bertrand Russell said, how from the outside it is impossible to tell the difference between a mathematician thinking and a mathematician sleeping. And so the poem understands in what way this behavior is the behavior of authentic welcome, because this is the faculty expressing the fact of themselves under the rented robes. And this, after all, is what they do, they work. During this time, too, during this occasions, in their heads, they're working. And here is the enacted shape of that obsession, the configurate, passionate, solitude of learning to which they welcome Charles Vest as colleague and as leader. Through the eyes in the back of its head, "The Poem of Welcome" looks back and surveys the stage. It looks forward toward the faculty. It sees among them faces it recognizes. Because the poem is a fiction, it recognizes among the faculty also, like holograms, some fictions who pass for faculty on occasions like these. The poem sees the two figures, humanist and engineer, from the great symbolic seal of the Institute. You can recognize them-- the humanist studies the text, the engineer carries a hammer to match his anvil. Though the poem has always wondered symbolically why they are both white men, and, for that matter, why anybody, even an engineer, would lug an anvil around with him wherever he goes. And because the poem's nature is to be wholly symbolic, it has always bothered the poem symbolically that the two figures stand there on the seal of the Institute, humanist and engineer, and turn their backs on one another. Who thought that one up, thinks the poem. Possibly the same designer who made that poor engineer lug his anvil around. Today, however, they are sitting beside one another using the anvil as a foot rest. Generously, they pretend to pay attention. They are fictions, but they are true enough to the life here to be busy, even a little preoccupied. The faculty is gathered here to embody a welcome in their preposterous accouterments. Therefore, it is easy for the magi, too, to blend themselves among the faculty. "The Poem of Welcome" knows which ones the magi are, but the poem isn't telling. They blend like holograms. Better they should be indistinguishable, as they have chosen. Or maybe the occasion has chosen them, generated them, the magi themselves, with its solemn and ritual energy. Yes, they are the same magi, though not on the same mission. Nobody here seriously expects a college administrator to resemble any kind of messiah. They are figures of speech in a speech of welcome. That is, they are figures of welcome. "The Poem of Welcome" prefers to believe that the magi have come here voluntarily, because that is what they do since their retirement. They move forward or continue, venturing knowledge and the forwarding faith of knowledge. They weren't necessarily Christians then or now, but they were the first scientists and part poet and part administrator, magician, astronomer, mathematician, awake or thinking, who arrived at a mystery by means of equation, by faith in their own calculations, which pulled them toward the unknown. The others, the shepherds had angels. And I would bet that the angels had trumpets, but that was another story. They believed in knowledge and in mystery, the magi, and in ritual embodiments of welcome. "The Poem of Welcome" wonders, after all, if that is why this poem sounds as if it is written in prose. Because prose is the track of forwarding momentum, it does not turn as traditional verse does. It runs forward and incorporates what it addresses, learning and becoming it. The magi shift a little uncomfortably in their seats, they are a little embarrassed. They have been here a long time, and the seats are hard and they're not so young anymore, and they neglected to bring foam cushions in the sleeves of their robes. But they brought their invisible gifts, their capacity for work, their odd obsessiveness, their purity of concentration, their love of teaching, and, yes, their contentiousness, their occasionally irritating naiveté, their social conscience, their ability to talk on and on and on in the committee meetings. It is very easy for the magi to blend among the faculty. And they do merge into the spirits and body of the faculty assembled to embody this occasion. From the outside, you'd never know who they are. They have traveled a long way through race and class and sex, figures of knowledge and a forward motion of magic and equation and poetry. "The Poem of Welcome" is happy to see its old friends, though it doesn't give their secret away. They will help the poem to say welcome, though they say nothing. Thus, the poem speaks like the magi inclusively. And just as the poem speaks for the faculty, so here the faculty stands for the Institute inclusively. And the poem says welcome, the teaching staff, the office staff in the windows, the grounds, the library, the laboratory staff, kids in the day care, administration, the Corporation, the Arts Council-- god love them-- say welcome, and are welcomed, because this poem says so, exercising the poem's utopian prerogative. And so the poem says what it came to say, it says welcome. It says so in English and Spanish, bienvenido. It says so in Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean, huanying, [SPEAKING JAPANESE],, hwan-yeong hamnida. It says so in Russian, [SPEAKING RUSSIAN],, and Polish, [SPEAKING POLISH]. It says so in Yiddish and Arabic, shalom aleichem, assalamualaikum. It says so in Kurdish, [SPEAKING KURDISH].. It says so in Hillbilly, howdie. It says so in Swahili, karibu. It says so in Yoruba, ek'abo. It says so in Ashanti, [SPEAKING ASHANTI].. It says so in American sign. JACOBY: It is my great pleasure to introduce Charles Marstiller Vest, the 15th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This ceremony culminates a process that began two years ago, when the Corporation and faculty committees on the presidency met for the first time in a room overlooking this perpetually sun-drenched Killian Court. There followed an intense year-long effort during which the faculty and trustees worked side-by-side, each meeting in a regular patchwork of pinstripes Our first task was self-education about MIT's needs, challenges, and opportunities. We also learned about the staggering dimensions of the president's role and the complex arena in which For example, I remember Paul Gray contrasting a university president with a corporate chief executive. When a CEO announces a decision, Paul said, the staff generally nod acceptance and then get on with it. In a university, the faculty inevitably look you in the eye and ask, why. And you better have a good answer, because if it's not the faculty, it's the students, or alumni, or parents, or occasionally a congressman from some Midwestern state. Eventually, our committees agreed that all we needed was the composite clone of Thomas Edison, Marie Curie, Winston Churchill, and Lee Iacocca. With that premise, we did in fact identify a group of people of extraordinary talent and accomplishment, from both inside and outside MIT. The greater challenge At the end of an illuminating and indeed eventful process, we put forward the name of Charles Vest, with confidence and with enthusiasm. Chuck best fits the template of an MIT president. His academic credentials are impeccable-- active teaching, Research, and scholarship, the publication Of a major textbook, initiatives with industry and government. Though every bit the model professor, Chuck Vest was clearly not one of those academics described By our neighbor, Henry Rosovsky, as those Who carefully cultivate a selection of disabling traits So as to avoid administrative chores. Instead, Chuck took on roles of increasing leadership within his institution, the University of Michigan. First as associate dean, then dean of engineering, and finally provost, a job which made him responsible for the 17 schools and colleges And Chuck has other attributes not listed on the balance sheet in Who's Who, but equally important and fitting the template-- genuine openness, personal warmth, and the ability both to listen and to hear, special concern for students and young faculty, a deep commitment to excellence, and a sense of humor, robust enough that it even permeates his electronic mail. Above all is Chuck's devotion to the fundamental principles of the Academy, principles deeply ingrained during a lifetime spent on university campuses. This collegiate upbringing by the way parallels that of Karl Taylor Compton, another MIT president who, like Chuck, took office As an engineer, Chuck knows that complex problems do not succumb to simple solutions. Nevertheless, even in these uncertain times, his vision is like that articulated nearly 50 years ago by Vannevar Bush, a vision of faith in the application of science to the needs and desires of mankind. Well, another pertinent piece of wisdom from Vannevar Bush is the following, "Never start a speech unless you have in mind the sentence with which you are going to conclude." So here's mine-- on behalf of the faculty and the entire MIT community, we welcome you, Chuck and Becky Vest. We thank you for accepting this daunting responsibility, and we pledge our labor and support as you lead us and this GRAY: And now as chairman of the Corporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and on behalf of that body, I shall proceed to induct into office our 15th president, Dr. Charles Marstiller Vest. Will Professor Johnson and Professor Wiesner please bring Dr. Vest forward? Charles Marstiller Vest, by the authority of the Corporation and with the enthusiastic approval of the faculty, the alumni and alumnae, the student body, and this distinguished assembly, I present into your keeping the charter of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and invest you with all the authority, privileges, and responsibility of the Office of President. May you serve the Institute and dignify its Office of President with all the skill, wisdom, and dedication, which our confidence accorded to you, and may your administration be memorable. VEST: Dr. Gray, I accept this charter as the symbol of Office of the Presidency of this great institution. I do so with a full sense of the magnitude of my responsibility. And I am deeply grateful for your trust. I pledge myself to work unremittingly with the trustees, faculty, students, staff, alumni and alumnae for the greatest good of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This is indeed a splendid moment as we gather to celebrate a great institution, to renew our commitment to a set of ideals, to mark a passage, and to set a course for the future. Yet for me and my family, it is also an intensely personal experience, and one that we are honored to share. A journey that began on a warm family in a small town in West Virginia has led to center stage in Killian Court, where my own path and that of the Institute have come together in this symbolic moment. It is a profound privilege to walk with four great and gracious men-- Jay Stratton, Howard Johnson, Jerry Wiesner, and Paul Gray. Your trust and guidance give me great comfort and courage for the task ahead. On the banks of the Charles River, an institution has arisen that is recognized throughout the world for its unique contributions to our life and times. Established 130 years ago this spring, MIT did not become yet another comprehensive university, nor did it become simply an engineering school or a polytechnic institute. Rather, it became a wellspring of scientific and technological knowledge and practice, and a place where musical creativity thrives. Its inventive and entrepreneurial faculty generated a great economic engine. And they have created revolutionary insights into the structure of language, the nature of learning. They have led the quest to decipher the molecular foundations of life. They have influenced the political and economic policies of nations. MIT's engineers and scientists made critical contributions to our nation's security when that was largely a military manner And its graduates have given architectural manifestation to humankind's highest cultural and artistic insights. MIT has been home to distinguished scholars from around the world, men and women who have stretched the human mind and spirit. Above all, it has provided an intense and effective education to generations of the brightest young men and women of this nation and the world have brought forth. Now MIT prepares for the passing of the 20th century and the advent of the 21st. We seek form and substance appropriate for these times, even as we seek to shape the future of our nation and world. But we enter more than a new temporal era, we stand at the dawn of a new global age. Our lives are interwoven across national boundaries in unprecedented ways, connected through our Earth's environment, whose stewardship we all share, through our economic and production systems, through instantly shared information, through universally shared dreams. These dreams include the vision of a world in which the security of nations is defined by economic and social dexterity, rather than by military might. They include the vision of a nation that has regained its sense of social justice and is truly the land of opportunity for all. MIT has played a remarkable role at critical moments in shaping our nation and our world. We have done so through individual creative genius and through grand institutional ventures. Like America itself, we've responded in an heroic and innovative manner to sudden challenges, such as the onset of World War II or the launching of Sputnik. Today, we are challenged once again on a grand scale, but this time by slow, corrosive forces rather than by a sudden, galvanizing events. By the erosion of our global environment, rather than by explosions at Pearl Harbor. By declines in scientific literacy and industrial competitiveness, rather than by the launching of a satellite. This morning, I would like to share with you my view of the challenges that confront us, and to offer a growing vision of the opportunities they present for the future of MIT. There is a remarkable image etched in the mind and psyche of our generation. We were the first to view a shimmering seemingly peaceful planet Earth from the depths of space. Still, here below, we know that we inhabit a raucous global village. We are connected across time and space as never before in human history. Many of these connections have been made possible by the advances in science and technology. We must learn to deal with this interdependence in new ways, creating new forms of organization, incorporating new points of view. Let me give three examples. First, the Earth's environment, a fragile envelope that bears witness to the degrading effects of human activity. It is no longer possible, if it ever was, for individuals or nations to think that the way in which they treat their land, air, and water has no bearing on their neighbors. Nor is it possible for us to work on each aspect of this damaged environment as a separate problem. Ironically, many of the scientific and technological advances that so enhance human comfort and well-being, advances in transportation, energy, and agriculture, can currently pose threats to our biosphere. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for us here at MIT. I believe that we must marshal our interests and capabilities to understand these issues and to develop solutions. Such an endeavor will require a new generation of scientific computation for atmospheric modeling, new instrumentation for monitoring environmental conditions, new modes of analysis and new technologies to correct or avoid problems. Beyond this, we need to come together in new ways from different fields, different organizations, and different countries to understand not only the physical, but the cultural, economic, and political forces that affect the health of the natural world. The stage has been set at MIT by the establishment of the Center for Global Change Science and by the new Council on Global Environment. Only with this kind of integrated approach, drawing on faculty from disparate fields, can we hope to meet the profound challenge, making and keeping our planet livable. Another challenge and set of opportunities in our increasingly interdependent world lies in the realm of electronic communication. Instantaneous communication, both verbal and visual, has reduced our planet to the electronic global village once envisioned by McLuhan. Knowledge has become a capital asset, at least as important as physical resources. Bits of information flowing through copper wires, optical fibers, or satellite links have become a new currency, the currency of the information marketplace. Increasingly, the commerce of In this new marketplace will be conducted along fiber optic information superhighways that will connect computers, telephones, high-definition video systems, and hybrid technologies yet to be developed. This information infrastructure already exists in rudimentary form. MIT has the opportunity to play a pivotal role in bringing increased capabilities and coherence to this system and in defining the currency of the new information marketplace. In doing so, we must not only increase the power and ease of computing and communications, but we must do so in ways that enhance our intellectual and social capabilities to help us make wiser decisions then that enable us to bridge cultural and political barriers. Here, too, we must invent new ways of combining our talents across disciplinary and institutional boundaries in order to give form, substance, and humanity to the daunting information age. To this end, I am pleased to announce the establishment of the MIT Information Infrastructure Initiative, a project that will bring together eight different organizations within MIT with the goal of working with industrial partners to develop a new, very high frequency, entirely optical network, and to establish within our campus a working model of the information marketplace. My third example derives from the increasing political and economic connections throughout the world. And that is this-- will the MIT of the future be a national or an international institution? What does it mean for MIT to be a citizen of a world where common problems or interests are often more powerful than geographic distances, yet where national differences exist? The issue is complex. MIT is a national institution, but America is no longer isolated. MIT was born as a manifestation of Yankee ingenuity and know-how. It has served as a driving force for the creation and improvement of American industry. It's funded to a very significant extent by the American taxpayer. And above all, it is centered on the education of many of the brightest and most talented young people of the United States. MIT is, of, and for America. Today, however, in order to serve America well, we must participate in the broader global community. Basic science has always prided itself in being the prototype for true international cooperation. But today, this viewpoint and system are being strained, strained because of the increasing economic value of university-generated knowledge and technological concepts. There are those who look at this country's position on the economic balance scales and call for greater protection of our ideas, especially those having to do with science and technology. Some look to this country's troubles in the world marketplace and are quick to blame our overseas competitors. Others cast the issue into the framework of Pogo Possum's famous saying, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." And still others quickly respond along the lines of Robert Reich, who asks, who is us. That is, in this day and age, what defines an American corporation. Clearly, we must be concerned with this nation's economic well-being. We must not however endanger the very essence of our institution by retreating into simplistic forms of techno-nationalism. To draw boundaries around our institution, to close off the free exchange of education and ideas would be antithetical to the concept of a great university. The list of nations that had difficult historical moments, closed their universities to the outside world, is not one we would be proud to join. This does not mean that we could not on occasion establish special programs directed at the solution of national problems. However, any such programs must also fit one fundamental rule-- all students, once admitted to MIT, must be able to fully participate in our educational and research programs without regard to their citizenship. In my view, a much more important concern of MIT should be the establishment of programs to ensure that our students are educated in such a way as to prepare them to lead full, responsible lives as world citizens. It's time that we made the matter of international context and opportunity an integral part of an MIT education. Just as we develop new connections among nations, so too must we seek new connections within our own. The face of America is changing, significantly and rapidly. Our society is increasingly pluralistic, yet our connections across racial, ethnic, and sometimes even gender boundaries are frayed. Securing America's promise for all remains a crucial goal. The nation's potential will not be fully realized until all racial and ethnic groups have full opportunity to realize their own potential and, in doing so, to contribute fully to the health and vigor of our society. MIT has traditionally educated engineers, scientists, and others to develop technologies, lead businesses, service professors, researchers, and scholars. To continue this leadership in the era ahead, we must better reflect the changing face of America in our students, faculty, and staff. We can clearly see such changes in our undergraduate population, thanks to the leadership, commitment, and concerted effort of many here with us today. Among our graduate students and our faculty, however, we see far less evidence of this change as yet. We must double and redouble our efforts to attract the brightest and best from all races, both women and men, not only to our undergraduate programs, but our graduate school and to our faculty. There are many social and historical forces mitigating against success in this endeavor. It will require a renewed commitment on the part of each of us to identify and recruit these scholars. And once they are here, to do our part to see that they attain their full potential. As one step, we will begin implementing during the coming weeks a program proposed by the Equal Opportunity Committee to recruit more women to our faculty. We will reaffirm and reinvigorate our policies and programs for bringing more under-represented minority members to our faculty. As we succeed, and in order to succeed, with these and other efforts, we must work to ensure that MIT is a place that respects and celebrates the diversity of our community. Just as we celebrate learning about the physical universe, or the political or economic worlds, or the creative arts, so must we celebrate learning about and from each other. Such change is rewarding, but it is seldom easy. During the years ahead, we must refuse to let the centrifugal forces of intolerance and injustice pull us apart. We must be held together by respect for the individual and by a commitment to the Just as we as individuals are part Of an interwoven social fabric, so too Is MIT part of an interdependent educational system, one That begins before kindergarten and extends Through post-doctoral studies. Within this system, America's colleges and universities Stand as national treasures. But the strengths of these institutions, And thus of our society, is imperiled-- Imperiled by the state of our primary and secondary schools, And imperiled by the declining interests and ability Among our young people to pursue rigorous advanced studies, Particularly in science and engineering. These trends must be reversed. It is my firm belief that national educational strength Is the essential prerequisite for Economic and social prosperity. Education can move a nation. The future belongs to those who understand it. At all levels, active and forum participation In our economy and our democracy now Requires an ability to understand Basic scientific and technical concepts. And yet, American popular culture Pushes us in the opposite direction. We need no less than a change in the culture of this country, A revolution and attitude about the importance Of education and, in particular, scientific and mathematical Literacy. Until we as a nation wake up to the fact That we must increase our investment in the growth Of human capital-- That is, people and ideas-- Our educational system will spiral downward, Pulling our economy and our way of life with it. This is a danger of the first magnitude, And we must all work to address it. 30 years ago, MIT played a key role In launching a nationwide wave of education reform In the sciences. The time has come again for us to place our expertise And stature in the service of a major national effort To rebuild the strength of science and mathematics In American schools. I believe that MIT not only can but must Draw on its special strengths to help renew Effective, accessible education for the young people Of this country. The education that we most directly influence, However, is the education of our own students. Among them are people whose passion Is to engineer a better world. Among them are people with a particular concentrated Brilliance. Among them are profoundly creative People who tread new and different pathways. We are gifted with some of the very brightest young people Of our nation and of the world. It is through these students that MIT Will have its greatest influence on the world of the future. In recent years, our faculty has been Involved in long-term review of its undergraduate program. The intensity of this review is testimony to the fact That education, and particularly undergraduate education, Is at the very core of MIT. No one has been more engaged in these matters over the years Than our engineering faculty. Indeed, the engineering curriculum of this country Was largely developed by MIT faculty in the 1950s and '60s. They spearheaded the infusion of basic science Into engineering education and practice. The results were astounding. We produced engineers who created a revolution In computing and communication, developed vehicles To explore outer space, and started not only companies, But entire industries based on high technology. While this curriculum has been continually refreshed, Its fundamental approach in content Remained essentially unchanged for 30 years. The world in which engineering is practiced, On the other hand, has changed dramatically and rapidly. Take for example the decline in the United States' ability To compete in the world marketplace For manufactured goods. The reasons for this decline are complex, But the major issue has certainly Been the attitude of industry and of universities Toward the design and manufacture Of consumer products. We need to infuse, therefore, our engineering students With an increased respect for, an enjoyment of, Effective, efficient, and socially responsive design And production. Today, we must prepare engineers who Have the self-discipline, analytical skills, And problem-solving abilities so highly valued in MIT graduates, But who are also prepared for the challenge of production And leadership in the world marketplace Of the next century. This is but one of the challenges to engineering Education, but it is indicative of the concerns that Face our faculty as they design a curriculum that Will serve our students well into the 21st century. They will do so in the setting of this research university, A setting in which the unique blending of graduate education, Undergraduate education, and research Creates unparalleled opportunities for learning And for discovery, a setting that Keeps both our education and our research Forward-looking and robust. All do not agree with this view. Many believe that our mission has become distorted And that education has been lost in the desire And responsibility to excel in research. This is clearly a central issue for MIT, One that must be openly discussed In all corners of the Institute. This fall, as an event of the inaugural year, We will hold a major colloquium on the topic Of teaching and learning within the research university. I intend this to be a no holds barred debate that Will illuminate our efforts to shape the future of education At MIT. Educational success at MIT depends, above all else, On the commitment and inventiveness of our faculty. Excellence in undergraduate teaching Must be rewarded and encouraged. To this end, we are establishing an endowed program To recognize faculty members who have profoundly influenced Our students through their sustained And significant contributions to teaching and curriculum Development. A select number of faculty will be Appointed as faculty Fellows, each for a 10-year period, And will receive an annual scholar's allowance Throughout their appointment. First Fellows will be appointed this year-- We expect their ranks to build to at least 60 During this decade. The strength of an MIT education is its depth and intensity. Our graduates value, above all else, their self-discipline, Analytical thinking skills, and their confidence To take on great challenges. Today, science and technology, culture and policy, industry And government, production and communication Are interwoven as never before. The nation needs broadly educated young men And women to be leaders of the next generation. An understanding of science and technology Is surely part of what such leaders must possess. Similarly, those who practice science and technology Need an ever greater understanding Of the world in which they will work, and must Be able to contribute wisely to policies affecting The development and uses of technology. What does this mean for education at MIT? Surely, it means that a careful balance among the humanities, Arts, and social sciences on the one hand, Mathematics and the physical and life sciences on the other. And it means a continuing look at our departmental programs To ensure that, in content and approach, They give our students the best possible foundation For intellectual growth and professional achievement. Our campus should be a place in which Humanistic and artistic scholarship and creation can Flower in unique and important new ways. I further believe that we at MIT have an unusual opportunity For the humanities and engineering To enrich each other. While the continuum from the humanities To the natural sciences has long been recognized, The continuum from the humanities to engineering Is less well-explored. In general, such exploration, in my view, Has been hindered by a utilitarian view Of the humanities and social sciences On the part of many engineering educators And by a lack of appreciation of the intellectual content Of modern engineering by many humanists. An MIT education should enlarge an individual's choices, So should include a common experience in science And mathematics, a serious exploration of the humanities, Arts, and social sciences, and continuing conversation Among these fields. I believe that the creative tension generated By these varying interests and cultures can serve us well As we continue to review and renew Our undergraduate programs. We have a common currency of excellence and creativity, Regardless of field, that will enable Us to develop new modes of inquiry and teaching That will make the most unique, intellectual community that Is MIT. We have a special set of talents and focus That give MIT its distinctive character. By building on our special strengths, MIT will contribute, enrich, in often unique ways, to the times And to the nation's needs. We should not expect to be all things to all people. One of the great strengths of the American educational system Is the great variety of public and private colleges And universities. This condition allows for, and indeed Demands, experimentation, variation, cooperation, And competition. Resulting synergy is the yeast that keeps our system strong. For decades, the American research universities Have served this nation exceedingly well. From virtually any perspective, they Have paid enormous dividends in return for the public's trust And investment. Dividends in the form of educated leaders in academia, Business and government, advances in medical care And nutrition, of national security, Of new and revitalized industries Have increased understanding of our physical, Social, and natural worlds. But today, the American public is calling into question The value of our research universities And no longer tends to view science and technology As the foundation of progress. The public's attention is caught not only By the debate over the costs and quality Of undergraduate education, but by the debate over the costs And conduct of research. The doubt of the moment, however, Must not be allowed to weaken the basic concept Of the American university system, one that is universally Recognized as being the best in the world. This system is founded on a social contract With the American public and enhanced by partnerships We cannot keep our flexibility, our vigor, our quality as a nation or as an academic community by taking this partnership for granted. We need to rebuild trust in this nation's research universities and its scientific enterprise. We must ensure that the foundation of scientific and scholarly research is secure. What is this foundation? Jacob Bronowski stated it with deceptive simplicity when he wrote, "The end of science is to discover what is In seeking scientific truth, ideas and hypotheses are debated, tested, proved, disproved, revised, built upon, or rejected. This activity is carried out by researchers in different laboratories in different universities, indeed, in different countries. That is what makes science, indeed most scholarship, simultaneously an individual and a communal activity. And it is why we have usually been able to rely on this system to detect and correct error. Like all human endeavors, science is not and cannot be totally free from error or even occasional abuse. And so it rests upon us, as scientists and scholars, to do a better job of strengthening, continually renewing, and transmitting our system of values. Great teachers, in part, can stimulate the passion, excitement, and beauty of intellectual endeavor. But it is equally important that we impart and stimulate the meaning of and the necessity of and the passion for the pursuit of truth with integrity and ethical rigor. But whatever we say, ethical lessons will be taught primarily by the ways in which we undertake our own scholarly activities. These lessons will also be conveyed by the ways in which our institutions handle problems if they do arise. How we deal with alleged misconduct will also affect the strength of society's confidence in and regard for our universities and colleges and for the enterprise of science. We have heard great outcries for and against the policing of science. Our response as an academic community must not be one of knee-jerk defensiveness against our critics. Rather, we must engage seriously with our thoughtful critics, as well as our colleagues, as we develop ways to continuously foster academic integrity, to deal forthrightly and fairly with problems when they arise. If we are not able to do so, we can be sure that others will be only too glad to do it for us. Public confidence in our universities must be fully restored. Our social compact must be reestablished. But in the discourse required to do so, we must avoid the trap of justifying all that we do on utilitarian grounds. Clearly, we have been great contributors to the nation's economy, and this must continue to be a cardinal element of MIT's mission. But we must take care not to overemphasize these contributions as the justification for investing in universities. If we overuse such arguments, we might unwittingly endanger our traditions of intellectual excellence, innovation, integrity, openness, worldwide service, deep scholarship, and independent criticism. Ultimately, our contributions to social progress and well-being rests on our ability to steer our own course with imagination and intellectual daring. What then is my vision of MIT a decade hence? MIT will be a preeminent wellspring of scientific knowledge and technological innovation. MIT will foster the pursuits of individual scholars whose work so often leads to truly fundamental discoveries. We will be known for our ability to establish new and effective methods for analyzing complex and pervasive issues facing the nation and the world. In an invigorated partnership with industry, the government, and other educational institutions, we will contribute profoundly to their solution. MIT will be known for educating engineers who combine the spirit of innovation and invention with a passion for the highest quality and efficiency in design and production. MIT will better reflect in our students, our faculty, and our staff the changing face of America. We will find ways to instill the excitement and romance of science and mathematics into new generations of young people. MIT will spearhead efforts to rekindle our nation's belief in the importance of scientific research and education. We will have found renewed commitment to the deepest values of the Academy. MIT will stand for integrity in all that it does. MIT will serve our nation well, but also will be of and for the greater world community. Above all, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be a place to which the brightest young men and women will come for their educations. They will be able to attend MIT regardless of their financial circumstances. They will be taught and counseled by dedicated teachers who themselves define the leading edge of human knowledge and invention. Their education will be robust, deep in scientific content, yet providing the flexibility and learning skills to serve them well in ever-changing and expanding circumstances. They will be attuned to the complexities of their world, a world that they will help to change. Through that wonderful blend of undergraduate education, graduate education, research, and creative activity that is MIT, our students will be enriched. And they in turn will enrich the Institute. Mens et manus-- with mind in hand, we set forth. Our promise will be secured by the collective energies and wisdom of those who are drawn to this great magnet for intellect and creativity. Together, we will give shape to the future, the future of MIT, our nation, and our world. Thank you very much. GRAY: Before we adjourn, I would like to invite all of you to the MIT community reception, which will be held immediately following this ceremony on the Kresge Oval. Oval, that's on the West Campus across Massachusetts Avenue from the main entrance. The audience is requested to remain seated until the completion of the procession. The members of the inaugural procession will now please rise. I now declare this meeting adjourned. And let this great old Institute go forward under the leadership of its new president. [APPLAUSE] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING]