Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Chair of the faculty Lily Tsai welcomes the new president-elect to MIT”.
Lily TSAI. This is a moment of great hope and joy for the Institute as a whole. When each of the faculty members of the search committee agreed to serve, they did so with the understanding that the charge was not to represent ourselves as individuals, nor as members of a Particular department, school or college, nor based on our particular areas of scholarship.. Instead, our task was to represent the faculty and the MIT community as a whole, reflecting your views, concerns and aspirations for MIT over the next decade.. To do that, we needed to hear from all of you and about the decisions to be made, the actions to be taken and the ideals that we uphold., The participation of hundreds of faculty members in our engagement sessions, reinforced the committee’s sense of how deeply committed the Faculty are to MIT and the long-term stake that the faculty feel in the health and future of the Institute.
Staff student and corporation members on the search committee conducted parallel processes to collect input. And, as we came together to compare notes, we discovered our findings to be Inspiringly similar and shared across the Institute., From all of your feedback, we formulated a rich picture of where MIT is today and where MIT could be in the future.. You told us what the next MIT president must accomplish and how they could lead. This knowledge and insight drawn from every corner of the MIT community shaped the process of selecting our next president..
It guided the questions we asked ourselves and of candidates.. It provided the lens through which we assessed the answers. Through these comprehensive and broad reaching efforts. We created a list of attributes for our next president to ensure that they would have a successful tenure, be widely embraced by our community and maintain and advance MITs excellence.
As the world’s leading science and technology university., A list of attributes consistently emerged for the person. We were seeking. A bold leader with exceptional judgment., An active listener who seeks all viewpoints with a genuinely open mind., An individual who leads from principles and integrity. Who is trusted by their community.
A person with experience handling crises with wisdom and calm., Someone who loves MITs uniqueness, who will maintain an advance, its excellence. And someone with intellectual breadth? Who is unendingly curious.? I am here on behalf of all our colleagues on the search committee to say with one voice that we believe Sally Kornbluth exemplifies these attributes. Sally embodies the values that we espouse as central to the ethos at MIT.. Sally brings the excellence, creativity and spirit of lifelong learning that distinguishes great leaders.
Sally, felt to us like someone who was cut from our own cloth. Someone who will share the love that we at MIT have for originality, quirkiness and discovery. Over many many hours of meetings and due diligence. The committee evaluated over 250 candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds, including every individual submitted to us by the community.. But now the search is over. In the weeks ahead. We know you will quickly come to see why Sally was our choice to be the next president of MIT., Our first, our only and our unanimous choice..
We wholeheartedly commend her to you with the highest of regard. And we ask you to join us in extending a warm and enthusiastic welcome to her from our Institute and from our community. .