Melissa Nobles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Melissa Nobles
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Nobles in 2024
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| 7th Chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Assumed office August 18, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Cynthia Barnhart |
| 9th Dean of the MIT School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences | |
| In office 2015–2021 |
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| Preceded by | Deborah Kay Fitzgerald |
| Succeeded by | Agustín Rayo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 13, 1963 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Brown University (BA) Yale University (MA, PhD) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Political science |
| Institutions | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | "Responding with good sense": the politics of race and censuses in contemporary Brazil (1995) |
| Doctoral advisor | James C. Scott |
Melissa Nobles (born May 13, 1963) is an American political scientist and a leader in education. She is currently the Chancellor and a Professor of Political Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is a famous university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before becoming Chancellor, she was the Dean of MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
Nobles studies how different groups of people are treated in society. Her work looks at racial politics, how people are grouped, and how societies deal with past conflicts.
Early Life and Education
Melissa Nobles was born on May 13, 1963, in Harlem, New York City. Her mother was a social worker, and her father was a police officer. Both of her parents grew up in the southern United States. They went to schools that were separated by race.
Nobles grew up mostly in the Bronx. Her family moved to New Rochelle, New York, when she was in junior high school. In high school, she was very active. She was the president of her school's Black culture club. She was also her class president.
Nobles went to Brown University and studied history. She earned her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts, in 1985. At Brown, she became very interested in how race affects politics in Brazil. Later, she earned two more degrees from Yale University. She got a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in political science. Her main teacher at Yale was James C. Scott. Her Ph.D. paper, finished in 1995, was about race and population counts in Brazil. After her Ph.D., she worked at research centers at Boston University and Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
Career at MIT
Melissa Nobles started teaching at MIT in 1999. She became an associate professor of political science. From 1997 to 2000, she held a special professorship called the Cecil and Ida Green Career Development Professorship. In 2010, she became the Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor.
From 2013 to 2015, Nobles led MIT's political science department. She was also a vice-president of the American Political Science Association from 2013 to 2014. This is a big group for political scientists.
In 2015, Nobles became the Dean of MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. This was a big step because she was the first Black dean of an academic school at MIT. In 2021, she was chosen to be the Chancellor of the university. She took over from Cynthia Barnhart, who was Chancellor from 2014 to 2021. As Chancellor, Melissa Nobles helps lead the entire university.
Selected Works
