Leadership announcements from around the Institute
Featured in May 2026 newsletter
Faculty members play critical leadership roles at the Institute, school, and DLCI levels. Here are the faculty leadership appointments made since the start of 2026.
Provost Chandrakasan appointed three faculty members to leadership positions. He named Institute Professor Paula Hammond as the dean of the School of Engineering, effective January 2026. He named Maria Yang, the William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, as the vice provost for faculty. And he named Keeril Makan, the Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor, as the vice provost for the arts – both effective February 2026.
In an April 2026 announcement, School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences professors Seth Mnookin and Heather Paxson were named faculty co-leads of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC), a presidential initiative launched in 2024. They are charged with helping to drive the work to elevate human-centered research and teaching, and bring together scholars in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Since MITHIC’s inception, it has provided $4.7 million in funding to 56 projects across 26 MIT units.
Georgia Perakis, the William F. Pounds Professor of Operations Research & Statistics and Operations Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, will return to the dean’s office as deputy dean for global, research, and strategic initiatives, effective July 2026.
Tomás Palacios, the Clarence J. LeBel Professor of Electrical Engineering, was named director of the MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, which advances fundamental science and engineering to develop next-generation materials and devices for soldier protection, survivability, and sensing capabilities. The appointment was effective February 2026. He will also continue to serve as the director of the MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories.
Desirée Plata, the School of Engineering Distinguished Climate and Energy Professor in the MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was named associate dean of engineering, effective July 2026.
Matthew D. Shoulders, the Class of 1942 Professor of Chemistry, a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, and an associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, was named head of the MIT Department of Chemistry, effective January 2026.
John Ochsendorf, the Class of 1942 Professor with dual appointments in the departments of Architecture and Civil and Environmental Engineering, was named associate dean for research for the School of Architecture and Planning, effective January 2026.
Brian Hedden, a professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy was named co-associate dean of Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC), effective January 2026.
Justin Solomon, associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was appointed associate dean of engineering education, effective July 2026.
Jinhua Zhao, the Class of 1941 Professor of Cities and Transportation, was appointed Head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, effective July 2026.
Ana Miljački, the Francis White Davis Professor of Architecture, was appointed Head of the Department of Architecture, effective July 2026.