Month: September 2024

Every year since 1991, MIT has welcomed outstanding visiting scholars to campus through the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Professors and Scholars Program. The Institute aspires to attract candidates who are, in King’s words, “trailblazers in human, academic, scientific and religious freedom.”

MLK Scholars enhance the intellectual and cultural life of the Institute through teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and through active research collaborations with faculty. They work within MIT’s academic departments, but also across fields such as medicine, the arts, law, and public service. The program honors King’s life and legacy by expanding and extending the reach of our community.

“The MLK Scholars program is a jewel — a source of deep pride for the Institute,” says Karl Reid ’84, SM ’85, MIT’s vice president for equity and inclusion. “Scholars who come to us broaden the perspectives of our students in the classroom, and they help power innovations in our labs. Overall, they make us better. It is an honor to advance this program through partnerships with faculty and students across the Institute.”

Headquartered in the Institute Community and Equity Office, the MLK Scholars Program is also working closely with MIT’s new Vice Provost for Faculty, Institute Professor Paula Hammond. “These individuals bring so much strength to us. We want to expand the program’s reach and engagement,” she says. “We want to cast a wide net when we recruit new scholars, and we want to make the most of our time together when they are here with us on campus.”

This year’s cohort of MLK Scholars joins a group of more than 160 professors, practitioners, and experts — all of whom are featured on the program’s new website: https://mlkscholars.mit.edu/. 

The 2024-2025 MLK Scholars:

Janine Dawkins serves as the chief technical director for Jamaica’s Ministry of Transport and Mining. She holds an MS in civil engineering and PhD in philosophy, both from Georgia Tech. Hosted by professor of cities and transportation planning Jinhua Zhao, Dawkins brings a wealth of experience in transportation engineering and planning, government administration, and public policy. One of her areas of focus is identifying a balanced approach to traffic compliance.

Joining MIT in January 2025, Leslie Jonas, an elder member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, is an Indigenous land and water conservationist with a focus on weaving traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). She is a founding board member of Native Land Conservancy Inc. in Mashpee, Massachusetts, and earned a MS in community economic development from Southern New Hampshire University. Her work is focused on involving and educating communities about environmental justice, cultural respect, responsible stewardship and land-management practices, as well as the impact of climate change on coastal areas and Indigenous communities. Her faculty hosts are Christine Walley and Bettina Stoetzer, both from MIT Anthropology. In addition to her ongoing collaboration on an MIT Sea Grant project, “Sustainable Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation: Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge and STEAM,” she will help foster relationships between MIT and local Indigenous communities.

Meleko Mokgosi is an associate professor and director of graduate studies in painting and printmaking at the Yale University School of Art. He is hosted by Danielle Wood, an associate professor with joint appointments in the Media Lab and Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Mokgosi will join Wood’s Space Enabled Research Group in the MIT Media Lab. His expertise in post-colonial studies and critical theory align with the group’s mission to “advance justice in Earth’s complex systems using designs enabled by space.” In collaboration with Wood, Mokgosi will use art to explore the meaning of African space activities. He earned his MFA in interdisciplinary studio program from University of California in Los Angeles.

Donna Nelson, a 2010-2011 MLK visiting professor previously hosted in the Department of Chemical Engineering, returns to the program sponsored by Wesley Harris, the Charles Stark Draper Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, as her faculty host. She is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma. Her two areas of focus are on fentanyl data standardization and dissemination and using mindset and personality surveys as performance predictors in her work in STEM education research. Her visiting appointment begins in January 2025. Nelson earned her PhD in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.

Justin Wilkerson is currently a tenured associate professor and the Sallie and Don Davis ’61 Career Development Professor in the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. His research interests include micromechanics and multiscale modeling. He brings to MIT a specialized knowledge in the thermomechanical behavior of materials subject to extreme environments as a function of their composition and microstructure. Zachary Cordero and Raul Radovitzky, both from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, are his faculty hosts. Wilkerson earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University and received the 2023 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Four members of the 2023–24 MLK Visiting Scholars cohort are extending their visit with MIT for an additional year:

Morgane Konig continues her visiting appointment within MIT’s Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP). Her faculty hosts are David Kaiser, the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and professor of physics, and Alan Guth, the Victor F. Weisskopf Professor of Physics, both from the Department of Physics. Konig will build on the substantial progress she has achieved in various research projects, including those on early-universe inflation and late-universe signatures. These efforts could offer valuable insights to the scientific community regarding the enigmatic nature of dark matter and dark energy. Konig will organize a series of workshops to connect African physicists with the global scientific community to provide a platform for collaboration and intellectual exchange.

Angelica Mayolo-Obregon returns for a second year co-hosted by John Fernandez, a professor of building technology in the Department of Architecture and director of MIT’s Environmental Solutions Initiative, and by J. Phillip Thompson, an associate professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (and former MLK Scholar). Mayolo-Obregon will continue to lead the Afro-Interamerican Forum on Climate Change (AIFCC), a forum that elevates the voices of Afro-descendant peoples in addressing climate action and biodiversity conservation and expand its network.

Jean-Luc Pierite, a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana and the president of the board of directors of North American Indian Center of Boston, is hosted by Janelle Knox-Hayes, a professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and director of the Resilient Communities Lab. Along with Leslie Jonas, Pierite will continue his work on the ongoing project, “Sustainable Solutions for Climate Change Adaptation: Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge and STEAM.” He will lead two full practica projects on the integration of Indigenous knowledge in restoration projects along Mill Creek with the City of Chelsea and creating an urban greenhouse model that partners with Indigenous communities.

Christine Taylor-Butler ’81 will build on her existing partnerships on campus and in the local communities in promoting STEAM literacy for children. Hosted by Graham Jones, associate professor in MIT Anthropology, she will complete The Lost Tribes series and explore opportunities to create augmented experiences for the book series. Building on a successful Independent Activities Period (IAP) workshop in January 2024, she will develop a more comprehensive IAP course in 2025 that will equip students to simplify complex material and make it accessible to a wider range of reading levels. 

For questions and more information about the MLK Scholars program, please contact Beatriz Cantada or visit the program website.