Notable Persons
This list of “Notable Persons” is only a sampling of the remarkable people who have been associated with MIT. An outstanding faculty and staff and a diverse community of students and scholars from around the globe continue to make significant contributions toward solving the world’s problems.
- Harold Eugene (“Doc”) Edgerton
[Professor of Electrical Engineering, inventor of stop action and multi-flash photography using stroboscopic technology, nighttime aerial photography, underwater photography] - John Ripley Freeman
[S.B. MIT 1876, internationally known hydraulics engineer who served as a consultant on water power, river control, water supply, and allied problems of hydraulic engineering] - Lois Lilley Howe, Eleanor Manning O’Connor, and Mary Almy
MIT alumnae; principals in the firm of Howe, Manning & Almy, Inc., believed to be the first architectural firm in Boston founded by women and the second in the United States] - Arthur D. Little
[attended MIT 1881-1884; founder of Arthur D. Little, Inc., an international consulting firm] - Katharine Dexter McCormick
[S.B. MIT 1904; pioneer of the women’s suffrage and birth control movements, MIT benefactor] - Ellen Swallow Richards
[S.B. MIT 1873; first woman admitted to MIT] - William Barton Rogers
[Founder and first President of MIT] - Francis O. Schmitt
[Professor of Biology; founder of Neurosciences Research Program] - Robert Robinson Taylor
[S.B. MIT 1892; first black student admitted to MIT] - Norbert Wiener
[World renowned mathematician who was instrumental in the development of communication and control theories. He coined the word “cybernetics” to describe this new science.] - MIT’s first Ph.D.s
- Signers of the 11 January 1861 “Act of Association.” 37 men signed the Act to indicate their approval of the plan for the Institute.