Skip to Content
MIT News magazine

Corporation Seeks New Chair

Mead to step down after seven years of leadership
February 23, 2010

Dana Mead, PhD ‘67, chairman of the MIT Corporation since 2003, announced at the group’s quarterly meeting in December that he will step down from the post at the end of June.

The bylaws of the Corporation require that a member cannot serve past the age of 75; Mead will turn 75 during the next academic year. He is the ninth chairman of the Corporation and has been a member since 1996.

“I will miss working in this very vibrant and dynamic environment–the students, faculty, administrators, alumni, and the like,” said Mead.

President Susan Hockfield expressed gratitude for Mead’s contributions to MIT. “His astute powers of analysis, deep knowledge of governance, and keen instincts in working with people have immeasurably benefited the Institute,” she said.

During his tenure, Mead focused on transforming the Corporation’s membership to more accurately reflect the composition of the student body and faculty. As a result, the number of women serving as Corporation members grew by around 50 percent during his tenure. Representation by foreign members also increased by almost half during the same period. But to many, Mead’s greatest accomplishment as chairman was overseeing the search in 2004 that brought President Hockfield to the Institute.

The Corporation’s executive committee is in the process of identifying a nominee to serve as Mead’s successor.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.