NEWS BRIEFS
UA Faculty in Dining Halls initiative
In an effort to increase interaction between students and faculty outside the classroom, the Undergraduate Association Committee on Education and the Division of Student Life announced a new initiative — Faculty in Dining Halls.
The program, launched on Monday, invites faculty members to join students for breakfast in dorm dining halls. The hope is that the program will provide an opportunity for students and faculty to get to know each other outside a classroom setting. Students will be able to engage faculty from all departments in casual conversations over breakfast, turning dining halls into places where students and faculty can make connections.
Celine Liang wins 6th annual Math Prize for Girls
On Saturday, nearly 300 young women traveled to MIT’s campus to compete in the annual Math Prize for Girls competition.
This year’s winner was 16 year old Celine Liang, who answered 17 out of 20 questions correct for the highest score and a prize of $29,300.
The competition, now in its sixth year, is an effort to challenge gender-based stereotypes and give girls the chance to compete in an all-women environment, helping them make connections with other girls with a similar passion for math.
Competition director Ravi Boppana in an interview with the Boston Globe, “the Math Prize was created to debunk gender stereotypes and to support young women who see higher-level mathematics as a pursuit that is challenging, fun and incredibly rewarding.”
Math Prize for Girls is the world’s largest math competition aimed at high school girls, and awards upwards of $30,000 to its top scorers. MIT has hosted the competition for the past four years.
Susan Hockfield named chair of Forum Academy of World Economic Forum
Former MIT president Susan J. Hockfield has been named chair of the World Economic Forum’s online learning initiative, Forum Academy.
Launched in partnership with edX, Forum Academy aims to create a global, online learning environment and a curriculum that provides professionals with leading-edge, industry and region-specific knowledge.
Hockfield, who inaugurated edX during her tenure at MIT, will guide the creation of curriculum and construction of a pedagogical framework for Forum Academy. She will also engage top universities in collaboration with the initiative.
“Discovery and innovation are key pillars of my work in academia and as Forum Academy explores new approaches to life-long learning it will draw on the critically important mix of insights from the academy, industry and government… Meeting the challenge of life-long learning as the pace of discovery accelerates requires us to innovate for positive global change,” Hockfield said in a statement released by the World Economic Forum.
Hockfield is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Foundation board, which guides the strategic development of the Forum.
—Katherine Nazemi