Daniel Freedman, Larry Guth, and Gigliola Staffilani Are Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Professor emeritus Daniel Freedman and Professors Larry Guth and Gigliola Staffilani have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Members are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is one of the highest honors that a scientist can achieve. They join 15 other NAS members in our department.

Read more in the MIT News.

Congratulations Dan, Larry, and Gigliola!

Scott Sheffield Named American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow

Professor Scott Sheffield has been elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. As described by AAAS, "The election of new Academy members in 2021 provides an opportunity to recognize extraordinary people who help solve the world’s most urgent challenges, create meaning through art, and contribute to the common good from every field, discipline, and profession."

Read more in the MIT News.

Congratulations Scott!

Haynes Miller Receives Lazarus Award for Excellence In Advising

Professor Haynes Miller has been awarded the 2021 Alan J. Lazarus (1953) Excellence in Advising by the Office of the First Year. The award is "presented to a faculty member who has served as an excellent advisor and mentor to first-year students and who has had a significant impact on their personal lives and academic success."

The presentation will be at a virtual ceremony for award recipients (advisors, first-years and associate advisors) on May 13.

Congratulations Haynes!

Jerry Orloff Receives Teaching with Digital Technology Award

Lecturer Jerry Orloff PhD ’85 received the 2021 Teaching with Digital Technology Award for enhancing on-campus and remote teaching. The awards are student-nominated and co-sponsored by MIT Open Learning and the Office of the Vice Chancellor.

Jerry teaches 18.05, is a lecturer at Experimental Study Group for versions of 18.01A, 02A and 03, and serves on our Education Committee. Professor Haynes Miller also commented on his "invaluable contributions to the MIT Mathlet project."

Congratulations Jerry!

John Bush and Martin Bazant Develop Covid-19 Risk Guidelines

Professors John Bush and Martin Bazant’s paper “Beyond Six Feet: A Guideline to Limit Indoor Airborne Transmission of COVID-19” was published in PNAS.

By considering the fluid mechanics of indoor spaces, they developed a new safety guideline for limiting airborne transmission of COVID-19 indoors. Their mathematical model yields a time limit for a given indoor space that depends on the ventilation rate, mask use and number of occupants. Their study underscores the inadequacy of the 6-Foot Rule in protecting against airborne transmission.

Their work has prompted the development of an app that calculates safe exposure times and occupancy levels for indoor spaces, and Martin’s MOOC on the physics of Covid-19 transmission.

Read more in the MIT News, on John’s web page, and Martin’s web page.