Nate Nickerson Appointed VP for Communications

Dear MIT faculty and staff,

I write to let you know that Associate Vice President for Communications Nate Nickerson will be taking on broader responsibility for MIT's external communications and emerging forms of public engagement.

More and more, topics at the center of our society -- technological innovation, entrepreneurship, energy, big data, robotics, digital learning,human health -- overlap with many areas of distinctive strength for MIT. While the work of MIT has always been fundamentally important, today it is also "hot" news.

Since his arrival at the MIT News Office in 2009, Nate has recognized MIT's global scope, visibility and impact, and transformed that office to keep pace. With an editorial vision and creative standards honed as former deputy editor of Technology Review and managing editor of Fast Company, Nate has built an exceptional news and media relations team while raising expectations for external communications across the Institute. By telling the MIT story in an MIT way -- clear, compelling, rigorous and playful -- MIT News now often attracts more than half a million unique visitors a month, including hundreds of thousands of people beyond the MIT community. Nate has also assumed an important leadership role as MIT's most senior advisor on key questions of communications strategy, from managing sensitive, high-stakes media events to announcing new initiatives.

Today -- as the Institute seeks to safeguard federal funding for basic research, build enthusiasm for STEM fields among a broader pool of students, explore the power of digital learning to reinvent higher education, cultivate the Kendall Square ecosystem, accelerate the cycle of innovation, tackle great global challenges around water, food, poverty, education, human health and the health of the planet, and embark on a correspondingly ambitious capital campaign – it has never been more important that MIT engage the imagination of the world.

As Nate helps MIT rise to this challenge, he will assume the title of Vice President for Communications, beginning today. I hope you will join me in congratulating him on earning this expanded role. (You can find more information here.)

Sincerely,

Kirk Kolenbrander