A Fireside Chat with President Sally Kornbluth by Emiko P. '25
get to know our president!
Did you know that President Sally Kornbluth, MIT’s 18th president, has sung onstage with one of MIT’s student acapella groups called the Chorallaries? Did you know that she is a foodie and loves to try new restaurants in Cambridge and Boston? Did you know that she does needlepoint portraits of dogs? Did you know that she loves folk music, her family and friends, and political drama TV shows?
I didn’t know any of this.
In fact, I knew next to nothing about our newly inducted president until I sat with her face-to-face in her office to get to know her better. Her office was everything you’d expect the President of MIT’s office to be – dark wood panels lined the walls, a grand desk stood proudly in front of a wall of books, a sweeping view of MIT’s main courtyard could be seen from the windows, and the President herself smiled warmly at me behind a pair of teal glasses.
Almost two years ago, President Sally Kornbluth succeeded former President Rafael Reif as the 18th MIT President. We may recognize her face and her title, but what is the President of MIT like on a personal level? Well, let’s find out.
What is something that you love about MIT?
“Every day you hear something unbelievable,” President Kornbluth says about her daily life at MIT. She loves that you can get a daily fix of science because you are surrounded by such amazing people and endeavors. She is proud of MIT and how it can provide real solutions to society’s problems.
She loves the entrepreneurial spirit, too. “How many friends of yours have started companies?” she asks me. Immediately, half a dozen people spring to mind, and I laugh and tell her, “A lot.” We share a smile because we both know that this drive to learn and create is something uniquely special about MIT.
What are some other things that you love?
It seems that this may be the easiest question of all for President Kornbluth to answer. She loves her friends and family, exploring area restaurants, hiking on trails like the Minuteman Trail, and exploring new countries (like when she went to Iceland last summer!). She loves the rejuvenating feeling of nature, and she loves traveling in order to immerse herself in completely new cultures and environments. It seems to me that she is kind of like an anthropologist of new people and experiences, carefully collecting them and expanding her knowledge of the world. I tell her this, and she says, “You have to be curious. If not, things would be a lot more dull.”
Do you have any nerdy interests?
MIT is known for its nerdy interests – and our president is no different. “I’m definitely nerdy. I like to read books on anything. Also over the pandemic, I got super into needlepoint, which I know sounds super funny,” President Kornbluth tells me. I have to agree, that does sound pretty funny. She then explains how, as a dog lover at heart, she has gotten into the hobby of doing needlepoint portraits of people’s dogs!
She then goes on to say, “But I’m not really mechanically adept. I’m really wanting to learn those skills!”
And then something occurred to me: “Wait, are you allowed to take classes?”
“Well, I could if I had the time!” she says with a laugh. And with that, we commence a brainstorming session on what classes President Kornbluth should take next semester.
Tell me about your passions.
President Kornbluth trained as a cancer biologist, which has led her to be passionate about the life sciences. She tells me about the new MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative, which is seeding high-impact collaborations and interdisciplinary approaches to the life sciences at MIT. She noted a launch event was in the works that would include faculty talks from MIT’s cast of luminaries… which actually took place last week (you can watch it here!)
Another passion of hers is climate. Although she has no trained expertise in the subject, her passion for climate and her belief that climate change is one of the greatest issues of our day has led her to pioneer the Climate Project at MIT. The goal of this project is to figure out how to get people at MIT – all working on their own brilliant projects separately – to row in the same direction. People and projects can be grouped into missions, such as “Building and Adapting Healthy, Resilient Cities” or “Restoring the Atmosphere, Protecting the Land and Oceans.” This subject captured her imagination as a pressing problem that MIT can actually approach, especially because she was looking for ways that MIT’s deep knowledge could underpin actual policy recommendations.
Another project is called MITHIC01 pronounced “mythic,” which is kinda cool , which is a platform for collaboration between the SHASS and departments in MIT’s other schools and the college. MITHIC will include seed money for projects, educational initiatives, undergraduate research opportunities, and postdoc fellowships. Examples of funds include the SHASS+ Connectivity Fund and the Humanities Cultivation Fund.
The spirit of MIT has always been mens et manus: mind and hand. It is a message stating that we don’t only solve problems on paper – we turn them into reality. This philosophy really shines in all of these new projects spearheaded by President Kornbluth, and it makes me excited to see our president taking the initiative to create programs that will use the minds of MIT to better our world.
What do you have to say to people who are reading the blogs and applying to MIT?
“It’s cool to be curious here! It’s cool to start companies and to take hard classes,” she says. “Also, it’s not what we know – it’s how we know it. The elegance of science is something to be admired. If you’re curious to know something, MIT will give you the tools to figure it out.” President Kornbluth’s personal curiosity aligns well with MIT’s own intrinsic curiosity. That’s why she created her own podcast called Curiosity Unbounded, where she and special guests discuss everything from evolution to literature to 4D printing.
She also emphasizes how amazingly collaborative MIT is. President Kornbluth tells me about how she recently visited and had dinner at Phi Beta Epsilon, one of MIT’s fraternities on campus, and was struck by the camaraderie and cooperativeness of the students in the fraternity. She tells me that it gives her hope that we have a whole generation of students moving society forward with a can-do attitude. She says, “It’s a hopeful act to be taking action.”
President Sally Kornbluth made quite the impression on me. Her joy for learning, for the surprise and delight that the discovery of new knowledge provides, reminds me a lot of the students here at MIT. She always seeks to grow – even in areas she is not an expert in. She is an example of a life-long learner, of being adaptable and excited when confronted with unfamiliar situations, of finding joy and purpose in the pursuit of the betterment of society.
She also wants to be involved in students’ lives. I don’t think it’s very common for a student like me to be able to email their university President, casually request an interview, and then get a response the very next day with an enthusiastic of course! That’s pretty cool, if you ask me.
I hope reading this has helped our president become a more familiar face. Next time you see President Kornbluth walking through the halls, maybe you will wave hello, or ask for a restaurant recommendation, or commission a needlepoint portrait of your dog.02 this probably won’t work but maybe worth a shot lol Or maybe you will make sure to catch her next acapella performance.
Thanks for chatting, President Kornbluth! See you around campus :)
- pronounced “mythic,” which is kinda cool back to text ↑
- this probably won’t work but maybe worth a shot lol back to text ↑