Susan Hockfield facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Hockfield
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| 16th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| In office August 5, 2004 – December 31, 2012 |
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| Preceded by | Charles M. Vest |
| Succeeded by | L. Rafael Reif |
| Provost of Yale University | |
| In office December 11, 2002 – August 5, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Alison Richard |
| Succeeded by | Andrew D. Hamilton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 24, 1951 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Spouse | Thomas Byrne |
| Education | University of Rochester (BS) Georgetown University (MS, PhD) |
| Signature |  |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Yale University Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Thesis | Afferent and Efferent Neuronal Connections of the Dorsal Horn of the Caudal Medulla (Trigeminal Nucleus Caudalis) Demonstrated by Retrograde Labeling with Horseradish Peroxidase (1979) |
| Doctoral advisor | Stephen Gobel |
| Other academic advisors | Allan Basbaum |
| Doctoral students | Daniel Geschwind |
Susan Hockfield (born March 24, 1951) is an American scientist who studies the brain. She was the 16th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2012. MIT is a very famous university known for its science and engineering programs.
After her time as president, Susan Hockfield continued to work at MIT. She is a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. She also teaches at MIT's Sloan School of Management. She is part of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, which studies cancer. She also serves on the boards of several important organizations, including the Lasker Foundation and Pfizer.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Susan Hockfield grew up in Chappaqua, New York. She finished high school in 1969. She then went to the University of Rochester and earned a bachelor's degree in Biology in 1973.
Later, she studied at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. In 1979, she earned her Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neuroscience. Her special research during her Ph.D. was about how our nervous system senses and handles pain.
Career Journey
After finishing her studies, Susan Hockfield worked at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1980, she joined the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She was hired by James Watson, a famous scientist who helped discover the structure of DNA.
Working at Yale University
In 1985, Hockfield became a professor at Yale University. She became a full professor of neurobiology in 1994. Soon after, she started taking on leadership roles. From 1998 to 2002, she was the Dean of Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In this role, she oversaw many graduate programs. During her time as dean, more students applied to the graduate school. She also improved support for graduate students, including healthcare and career help.
In December 2002, she became Yale's Provost. This is the second-highest position at the university. As Provost, she led big projects in science, medicine, and engineering. This included a large investment of $500 million to build new science facilities.
Leading MIT as President
In August 2004, Susan Hockfield was chosen to be the next president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During her time as president, MIT raised almost $3 billion, which was more than any previous president had raised.
Even though there was a big financial crisis in 2008, Hockfield made sure that MIT remained affordable for students. The financial aid for undergraduate students increased by about 75 percent during her presidency.
Focusing on New Discoveries
In her first speech as president, Hockfield encouraged MIT to combine engineering and life sciences. She believed this would help solve big global problems. She supported projects that brought together different departments and schools at MIT. She also encouraged working with medical centers and other schools in the Boston area.
Some of the important projects she led include:
- The David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, which studies cancer.
- The Ragon Institute, a partnership between Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard University.
- The Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts. This center is a unique collaboration of five universities, two companies, and the state of Massachusetts. It provides advanced computing tools for many types of research.
Hockfield also wanted to create a center at MIT focused on energy. This led to the MIT Energy Initiative. This initiative raised over $350 million during her time and helped speed up research on clean energy technologies. In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama visited MIT to talk about energy policy. Hockfield gave him the first tour of an MIT lab ever given by a sitting U.S. president.
Supporting American Manufacturing
Hockfield also encouraged research in manufacturing, which she saw as very important for the United States. She started a project called “Production in the Innovation Economy.” This project aimed to create a plan for modern manufacturing in America. She also co-chaired the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a group of leaders from government, industry, and universities. She believed that to make the economy grow, America needed to bring back high-tech manufacturing jobs.
Improving Student Life and Campus
During Hockfield's presidency, more women and students from diverse backgrounds joined MIT. The graduating class of 2015 had 45 percent women and 24 percent underrepresented minorities. To handle the growing number of students who wanted to attend MIT, Hockfield helped expand the undergraduate student population.
She also improved student life and learning. A new building for graduate students was built, and MIT's oldest building was renovated for undergraduate students. This new space helped students work together more easily.
The east side of MIT's campus also saw improvements. An extension was added to the Media Lab complex, and a new building was built for the MIT Sloan School of Management. Hockfield also helped develop the area around Kendall Square. By the end of her presidency, this area had more biotech and life sciences companies than almost anywhere else in the world.
Online Learning Initiatives
In December 2011, MIT launched MITx. This is a free online learning platform that offers online versions of MIT courses. In May 2012, Hockfield and Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust announced edX. This was a partnership between MIT and Harvard for online education. Hockfield said that edX would help improve education on their campuses and offer new learning opportunities for millions of people worldwide.
Scientific Research
Susan Hockfield is known for her pioneering work in brain research. She used a special technology called monoclonal antibody technology. She also discovered a gene that plays a key role in how cancer spreads in the brain.
Her early research looked at how brain cells communicate. She found a group of proteins on cell surfaces that change based on brain activity early in life. This showed how early experiences affect brain structure and function. Later, it was suggested that one of these proteins might be involved in brain tumors. Hockfield's work on a type of brain tumor called glioma helped identify molecules that allow glioma cells to move through healthy brain tissue. This movement is what makes glioma so dangerous.
Honors and Awards
Susan Hockfield has received many awards and honors for her contributions to science and education:
- She was elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2016.
- She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
- She has received honorary degrees from many universities, including Georgetown University, Duke University, and Tsinghua University.
- She received the Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal from Yale University.
- She was given the Amelia Earhart Award, which honors women who have greatly expanded opportunities for other women.
- In 2005, she received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
- She received the Edison Achievement Award in 2010 for her dedication to innovation.
Selected Works
- The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution, W. W. Norton & Company, 2019. ISBN: 978-0-393-63474-7.
- Our science, our society, Science Magazine, Vol 359 Issue 6375, 2018.
Personal Life
Susan Hockfield is married to Thomas N. Byrne, M.D. He is a professor at Harvard Medical School and also teaches at MIT. They were married on March 2, 1991, at Yale's Battell Chapel. They have a daughter named Elizabeth.
