Vice Provost for Faculty

Maria C. Yang is the vice provost for faculty, providing leadership, guidance, and oversight of Institute-wide strategies and programs to recruit, retain, and support MIT’s faculty. As the William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yang is an internationally recognized leader in design theory and methodology, with a current focus on the role of design representations and both physical and AI-based tools for design. Her research considers early-stage processes used to create successful designs, from consumer products to complex, large-scale engineering systems, and their role on design outcome. 

Yang, who joined the MIT faculty in 2007, previously held the roles of associate dean, deputy dean, and interim dean of the School of Engineering. She is the founder and director of MIT’s Ideation Lab, and was the faculty director for academics for the MIT D-Lab and founding associate director of the Morningside Academy for Design. 

Yang’s contributions have been recognized by an National Science Foundation CAREER award, multiple best paper awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Society of Engineering Education Fred Merryfield Design Award, as well as the 2024 ASME Design Theory and Methodology Award for sustained and meritorious contributions. She is a fellow of the ASME and is the co-author of Product Design and Development, one of the most popular textbooks in the world on the topic. She is a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, one of MIT’s highest teaching honors.

Yang earned her SB in mechanical engineering from MIT and her MS and PhD in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.