In June, 2,110 students filed into Killian Court to receive their diplomas and a dose of wit and wisdom from President Emeritus Charles M. Vest, now head of the National Academy of Engineering. Vest spoke of two letters he’d received from MIT. In 1968 he got a rejection letter after applying for an assistant professorship. But 22 years later a second letter arrived, offering him the presidency. “Always read your mail from MIT,” he joked. “There is an outside chance that instead of asking for an alumni donation, it may ask you to be president … or perhaps commencement speaker.” Vest also urged his audience to embrace optimism. Despite the world’s complexity and the immensity of its challenges, he said, MIT graduates can–and must–use their knowledge and skill to “make the world well.”

Photograph by Donna Coveney/MIT
Keep Reading
Most Popular
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook?
Robot vacuum companies say your images are safe, but a sprawling global supply chain for data from our devices creates risk.
A startup says it’s begun releasing particles into the atmosphere, in an effort to tweak the climate
Make Sunsets is already attempting to earn revenue for geoengineering, a move likely to provoke widespread criticism.
10 Breakthrough Technologies 2023
These exclusive satellite images show that Saudi Arabia’s sci-fi megacity is well underway
Weirdly, any recent work on The Line doesn’t show up on Google Maps. But we got the images anyway.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.