Past MIT president to present Oct. 9 Rorschach lecture

Past MIT president to present Oct. 9 Rorschach lecture

BY DAWN DORSEY
Special to the Rice News

Charles Vest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) president emeritus and professor of mechanical engineering, will present the lecture “Science, Technology, Ethics and Public Decision Making” at the 10th annual Harold E. Rorschach Memorial Lecture Oct. 9.

The lecture, which is sponsored by the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will be at 4 p.m. in the Sadie R. Smith Auditorium (physics amphitheater) in Herz-stein Hall. A reception at the Cohen House will immediately follow the lecture.

VEST

Vest served as president of MIT from 1990 through 2004. During his tenure, he emphasized improving undergraduate education, developing stronger ties with industry and increasing ethnic and cultural diversity at the school. In the areas of research and education, he explored new organizational forms and worked to build a stronger international dimension.

In this lecture, Vest will discuss how the growth of research enterprise shy — now larger, more global, faster, more complex and associated with valuable intellectual property — has made commitment to scientific integrity more important than ever. At the same time, scientific knowledge is increasingly crucial to major public and political decisions.

Vest will look at three past successes as case studies, examining the hints they might offer about the best ways to proceed: recombinant DNA, phasing out of ozone-depleting chemicals and deployment of the World Wide Web.

On a national level, Vest has brought issues concerning education and research to broader public attention and strengthened national policy on science, engineering and education. He chaired the President’s Advisory Committee on Redesign of the Space Station and serves on the President’s Committee of Advisers on Science and Technology and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board.

In addition, Vest recently completed service as a member of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction and serves on the U.S. Secretary of Education’s Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

Vest chaired the U.S. Department of Energy Task Force on the Future of DOE Science Programs, was vice chair of the Council of Competitiveness for a decade and is a past chair of the Association of American Universities.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University, Vest received a master’s of science and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.