Dean for graduate education to take leave, start new university
Professor Christine Ortiz is stepping down from her post as dean for graduate education to found a new residential research university.
MIT mulls ending in-dorm summer storage
Undergraduates may have to find places other than their dorms to store their belongings over the summer.
Small storm, then warm
A combination of storm systems will bring a chance of snow showers to the Institute on Friday, punctuating a streak of milder-than-normal weather.
Pro football and a math PhD: Juggling two worlds
MIT students tend to have a lot on their plates — they might be juggling a varsity sport, a few clubs, and an academic workload. But John Urschel has reached a different height — after finishing his second season in the NFL this month, he’s now working on a PhD in mathematics at MIT.
Institute Double Take
Elena Byun ’17 spins a dragon staff in an MIT spinning club event during a winter storm.
Marvin Minsky, pioneer in artificial intelligence, dies at 88
Marvin Minsky, who combined a scientist’s thirst for knowledge with a philosopher’s quest for truth as a pioneering explorer of artificial intelligence, work that helped inspire the creation of the personal computer and the Internet, died Sunday night in Boston. He was 88.
CORRECTIONS
An article about this year’s Mystery Hunt published last week included several errors. The article incorrectly stated that Setec had won Mystery Hunt in 2002, 2005, and 2009; in fact, before this year, Setec had won in 1999, 2001, and 2004. The article misstated the class year of Chris Morse, the leader of Setec. He graduated from MIT with a PhD in 1998, not 1982 (this mistake was introduced during editing). He was a professor at Tufts in 2004, the last year Setec won Mystery Hunt, but is now a teacher at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. About 40 teams, not 18, participated in Mystery Hunt 2016.
That Dragon, Cancer: a powerful story about loss and its emotional baggage
“I’m sorry guys, it’s not good,” says a man in glasses and a button-down shirt, hesitance in his voice. He’s seated next to a woman holding a clipboard, her head tilted in sympathy at the receivers of this ‘not-good’ news. They are addressing our main characters, arranged on a couch facing them: a husband, a wife, and a small child who happens to be the unwitting subject of the conversation.
Junior clocks best NCAA time for 3000m, finishing at 9:41.34
Maryann Gong ’17 registered a first place finish with a time of 9:41.34 in the 3000m, an NCAA record, which helped the Engineers to victory at the Bowdoin Invitational II on Jan. 22 inside the William Farley Field House.
Sally Lee
Editor’s Note: Portraits of Resilience is a photography and narrative series by Prof. Daniel Jackson. Each installment consists of a portrait and a story, told in the subject’s own words, of how they found resilience and meaning in their life.
