Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
MIT and DMSE are committed to excellence in education and research. We recognize that effective science and engineering is a result of collaborative efforts, and that a community has better collaborations with differing experiences, education, backgrounds, and interests.
DMSE is committed to advancing the inclusion of underrepresented minorities and women in our community. We acknowledge the Institute’s goals of the 2004 faculty resolution to increase the number of underrepresented minority and women graduate students and the 2010 Report of the Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity (pdf).
The MIT DMSE faculty care deeply about the mental and physical health of our students, and both the health of our students and the quality of their academic work are extremely important to us. We value diversity and inclusiveness in our students, faculty, and staff with regard to their backgrounds and opinions, and we remain committed to MIT’s goal of increasing the percentage of underrepresented minority faculty and students expressed as a resolution of the MIT Faculty Meeting of 5/19/2004.
By ongoing review and improvement of our recruitment, hiring, and retention practices and by promoting a supportive academic and social environment, the DMSE faculty pledge to enhance diversity and inclusiveness within departmental faculty, students, and staff. Our progress towards creating a diverse, caring community will be reviewed biennially by the DMSE Visiting Committee.
The MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Collaborative (DEIC) was convened in fall 2020. The objective of this collaborative is to reflect upon and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion while integrating them into the mission of materials science and engineering, namely education, research, and development of materials for the benefit of society. The DEIC set forth the following vision: to foster a diverse, welcoming, respectful, supportive, and engaged community, and to promote discipline which enables full human flourishing—academic, personal, and professional—of every member across race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, national origin, political philosophy, and other elements of background and lived experience.
DEI Collaborative Members 2022-2023
The collaborative members are drawn from the key stakeholder groups of Faculty and Instructional Staff; Graduate and Undergraduate Students; Administrative and Support Staff; and Postdocs. The DEI Collaborative facilitates events for the stakeholder groups individually as well as together, in order to address the ways that community members in DMSE experience DEI in both distinct and similar ways.
Chair
Christine Ortiz, Professor, DMSE
Faculty and instructional stakeholder
group co-chair
Aristide Gumyusenge, Assistant Professor, DMSE
Graduate student stakeholder group co-chair
Isabella Caruso, Graduate Student, DMSE
Undergraduate student stakeholder group chair
Linnaea D. Uliassi, Undergraduate Student, DMSE
Facilitator
Ellan Spero, Instructor and Historian of Science and Technology, DMSE
Staff stakeholder group chair
TBD
Faculty and instructional stakeholder group
co-chair
Mike Tarkanian, Senior Lecturer, DMSE
Graduate student stakeholder group co-chair
Eliana Michal Feygin, Graduate Student, DMSE
Administrative Help
Ryan Kendall, Administrative Assistant, DMSE
Annual Report and Future Plans 2020-2021
This report details the Collaborative’s strategic approach to enhance the learning, research, and working environment for all of DMSE. Full Annual Report (pdf)
Womxn of Materials Science (WXOMS)
WXOMS Group aims to build a community and provide social and professional support for women and gender-diverse members of the DMSE community.
DMSE Resources for Easing Friction and Stress (DMSE REFS)
DMSE REFS is a group of graduate students who received extensive training in conflict management and empathy
DEI Events Photo Gallery
