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.