The MIT Morningside Academy for Designan interdisciplinary center that aims to build on the Institute’s leadership in design-oriented education and become a global hub for design research, thinking and entrepreneurship, is set to launch in September 2022, President L. Rafael Reif announced in March.
The academy, which will be housed in the Metropolitan Warehouse along with the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P), will create and manage academic and research programs within MIT, particularly between SA+P and the School of Engineering. It 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 strengthen the Institute’s efforts to address pressing issues of global concern, such as climate adaptation, public health, transport and civic engagement.
The founding support — a $100 million gift from the Morningside Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the TH Chan family — includes funding for graduate and postgraduate scholarships, faculty seats, undergraduate student opportunities, and new entrepreneurship competition awards, as well as public events such as symposia, lectures and exhibitions.
“At MIT, we sometimes describe our work as ‘inventing the future,'” Reif said. “In addition to the Institute’s technical, scientific and analytical strengths, that mission requires profound humanity and imagination – the ability to listen carefully and think broadly, to reformulate old problems in unexpected ways, to crystallize bold new visions, to weaving and tuning the wisdom of different disciplines into fresh, humane solutions. These are essential assets of design thinking. The MIT Morningside Academy for Design will amplify the impact of MIT’s existing world-class programs in design.”