Announcing the new dean of engineering
To members of the MIT community,
I am thrilled to share the news that Executive Vice Provost and Institute Professor Paula T. Hammond, a scholar of extraordinary accomplishment, will become the next dean of the School of Engineering, effective January 16, 2026. For Paula, this is the latest step in a highly distinguished MIT career in which she has been an undergraduate student, graduate student, faculty member, department head, Institute professor, vice provost, and executive vice provost – enriching our community with each step she took.
The next step in a storied MIT career
Ever since enrolling at MIT as an undergraduate, Paula has built a truly remarkable record of accomplishment in scholarship, teaching, and service. Faculty, staff, and students across the Institute praise her wisdom, selflessness, and kindness, especially when it comes to enabling others’ professional growth and success.
Paula joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1995 and led the department from 2015 to 2023. As department head, she promoted more cross-disciplinary collaboration among faculty, created an even stronger sense of community within the department, and spearheaded a review of the undergraduate curriculum.
Paula was named vice provost for faculty in 2023 and promoted to executive vice provost this year. Her work in this role underscores her deep commitment to her fellow faculty members: She has developed and overseen new efforts to improve faculty recruitment and retention, mentoring, and professional development – all with the aim of helping everyone find a welcoming and productive place to do their very best work.
Even before taking on formal Institute leadership roles, Paula enthusiastically answered the call to Institute service. She co-chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Advising and Mentoring as well as the implementation team responsible for shaping MIT’s response to the landmark 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report on the sexual harassment of women in academia.
Paula’s scholarly contributions have also been exceptional. In 2021, she became an Institute Professor, the highest honor awarded by MIT’s administration and faculty. She received the 2023–2024 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award for her professional contributions to designing novel polymers and nanomaterials. The recent focus of her research has been on developing new early assessments and therapies for ovarian cancer, but her work has wide-ranging applications in cancer and health more broadly.
In particular, she has designed nanomaterials that stick to selective cells and tissues to deliver a broad range of medicines and immunotherapies, from proteins to RNA, to address disease, vaccines, wound healing, and tissue regeneration. For this work, she was recognized with a 2024 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Paula was a member of the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology from 2021 to 2025 and is one of six active MIT faculty members elected to all three National Academies, in sciences, engineering, and medicine.
With gratitude and appreciation
I want to express my gratitude and admiration to Interim Dean Maria Yang, the William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, for her dedicated leadership of the School of Engineering since July 2025. She has also been an outstanding associate dean since 2021 and deputy dean since 2023. In a testament to her own longstanding contributions to the School of Engineering, Maria took on the deanship even while maintaining leadership roles with the Ideation Lab, D-Lab, and Morningside Academy for Design. For her excellent service and leadership, Maria deserves our deep appreciation.
I also want to thank the members of the Search Advisory Committee (listed below), led by Professor Angela Belcher, for their dedicated service and thorough process. Over the summer and fall, the committee engaged widely across the school and beyond, holding more than 20 stakeholder listening sessions, inviting nominations, and reviewing extensive input. In a testament to the remarkable depth of leadership across the school, more than two dozen individuals were nominated by colleagues and invited to submit applications.
And I am thankful to the many faculty, students, staff, alumni, and dean’s advisory council members who shared their perspectives throughout the process. Their insights were essential in shaping the profile of the next dean and in identifying the strengths, challenges, and aspirations of the School of Engineering.
In conclusion
We will soon announce a process to address Paula’s current responsibilities as executive vice provost.
Please join me in congratulating Paula on her new role. Paula’s positive vision and her collaborative, innovative leadership will no doubt advance the School of Engineering’s long tradition of excellence.
Sincerely,
Anantha P. Chandrakasan
Provost
Search Advisory Committee
Angela Belcher, Chair; Professor, Department of Biological Engineering and Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Members
Emery Brown, Professor, Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
Jacopo Buongiorno, Professor, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Olivier de Weck, Professor and Associate Head, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
James DiCarlo, Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Leslie Kaelbling, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Joanne Mathias, Director of Administration and Finance, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Ankur Moitra, Professor, Department of Mathematics and Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS); Associate Director, IDSS
Stefanie Mueller, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Department of Mechanical Engineering
Elsa Olivetti, Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
David Perreault, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Desiree Plata, Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Magdalena Rieb, Assistant Dean for Human Resources and Administration, School of Science
Themistoklis Sapsis, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering
William Tisdale, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering
Dan Delgado, Senior Director of Human Resources and Finance, Office of the Provost, Staff to the Committee