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In 1993, the Faculty voted to delete any gender specific terminology from the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty. This decision changed the title of the position from Chairman of the Faculty to Chair of the Faculty.

The first recorded meeting of the faculty was held on 25 September 1865, and meetings have been held regularly since then. The faculty is responsible not only for educating the students, but also for making policy decisions on how the Institute functions based on internal and external factors. Topics discussed in faculty meetings include proposals for new courses, student petitions (extensions of deadlines, disciplinary issues, etc.), admission requirements, deaths of faculty members, enrollment and diversity issues, student life, and committee reports.

The officers of the faculty are the chair, the associate chair, the secretary, and ex officio, the president of the Institute. (The president of the Institute is, ex officio, president of the faculty.) In the absence of the president, the chair of the faculty presides at faculty meetings.

Rules of the Faculty was first published in October 1879. The rules outline the structure of the faculty, meetings, committees, course work, grading system, and more. The title was changed to Rules and Regulations of the Faculty in 1937. Editions from 1879 through the latest revision are available in the Institute Archives under the classification number T171.M4199. The latest revision is available to members of the MIT community on the faculty web site. A current list of committees is also available online.

The first written definition of the MIT faculty appeared in the 1921 revision of the Rules: “The Faculty consists of the President and all members of the instructing staff with rank of Professor, Associate Professor, or Assistant Professor, and certain Instructors selected by the Executive Committee of the Corporation.” Through the years, the definition has been updated to suit the changing face and needs of the Institute. For instance, in 1932 the dean of students, the registrar and the head librarian were added to the faculty. The current definition can be found online in section 1.10 of the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty.

The faculty give out two awards each year: the Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award and the James R. Killian, Jr. Faculty Achievement Award. The Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award Selection Committee chooses one individual from among the junior (non-tenured) members of the MIT faculty. The award was established in the fall of 1982 as a permanent tribute to Institute Professor Emeritus Harold E. Edgerton for his great and enduring support for younger faculty members over the years. The purpose of the award is to recognize exceptional distinction in teaching and research or scholarship. The James R. Killian, Jr. Faculty Achievement Award Selection Committee chooses one member of the MIT faculty to be the Killian Award Lecturer for the following academic year. The purpose of the award is to recognize extraordinary professional accomplishments by MIT faculty members and to communicate these accomplishments to members of the MIT community. The award was established in the spring of 1971 as a permanent tribute to James R. Killian, Jr., President of the Institute from 1948 to 1959 and Chairman of the MIT Corporation from 1959 to 1971.

Prepared by the Institute Archives, MIT Libraries

Last updated December 2007