The MIT Morningside Academy for Design, an interdisciplinary center that aims to build on the Institute’s leadership in design-centered education and become a global center for research, thinking, and entrepreneurship. design, will be launched in September 2022, announced President L. Rafael Reif in March.
The academy, which will be housed in the Metropolitan Warehouse with the School of Architecture and Planning (SA + P), will create and administer academic and research programs at MIT, especially between SA + P and the School of Engineering. He will encourage design work at MIT to grow and cross disciplines in engineering, science, management, computer science, architecture, urban planning, and the arts. The results will reinforce the Institute’s efforts to address urgent issues of global importance, such as climate adaptation, public health, transportation, and civic engagement.
Its founding support, a $ 100 million gift from the Morningside Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the TH Chan family, will include funding for graduate and postdoctoral fellowships, faculty chairs, opportunities for undergraduate students and new awards for to entrepreneurship competitions, as well as to public competitions. events such as symposia, conferences and exhibitions.
“At MIT, we sometimes describe our work as‘ inventing the future, ’” Reif said. “Beyond the technical, scientific and analytical strengths of the Institute, this task requires a deep humanity and imagination: the ability to listen closely and think broadly, to rethink old problems in unexpected ways, to crystallize new visions dare, to weave the wisdom of different disciplines. and voices in new and human solutions. These are the essential strengths of design thinking. The MIT Morningside Academy for Design will amplify the impact of existing MIT world-class design programs. ” .