Resolved: MIT Rocks by Becca H. '12

I came across a news article on a friend’s Facebook page the other day. The U.S. Senate congratulated MIT on its 150th anniversary in Senate Resolution 195.

“Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts (for himself and Mr. Kerry) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

S. Res. 195

Whereas when the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (referred to in this preamble as “MIT”) was founded by William Barton Rogers, on April 10, 1861, the doors to a powerful new institution for education, discovery, and technological advancement were opened;

Whereas the commitment of MIT to innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit has trained innovators and delivered groundbreaking technologies that have significantly contributed to the fields of computing, molecular biology, sustainable development, biomedicine, new media, energy, and the environment;

Whereas there are an estimated 6,900 companies founded by MIT alumni in the State of Massachusetts alone, which have earned worldwide sales of approximately $164,000,000,000 and represent 26 percent of total sales made by Massachusetts companies;

Whereas the distinguished living alumni of MIT have founded approximately 25,800 companies that, as of 2011, provide jobs for approximately 3,300,000 people around the world and earn $2,200,000,000,000 in annual sales;

Whereas MIT has many notable alumni and professors who have contributed to leading research and development efforts, including 76 Nobel Prize recipients and astronauts who have flown more than 1/3 of the manned spaceflights of the United States;

Whereas MIT engineers and researchers have pioneered countless innovations, including the creation of random-access magnetic-core memory (commonly known as “RAM”), which led to the digital revolution, the mapping of the human genome, the creation of GPS navigation technology, and the engineering of the computers that landed Americans on the moon;

Whereas MIT biomedical researchers remain at the forefront of many fields and have contributed years of key advancements, such as the first chemical synthesis of penicillin, the invention of heart stents, and the mapping of molecular defects to produce the first targeted therapies for cancer treatment; and

Whereas MIT has excelled as a world-renowned pioneer that promotes science and engineering education, economic growth, scientific breakthroughs, and technological advancement in the State of Massachusetts and throughout the world: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Senate–

(1) commemorates the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and

(2) honors the outstanding contributions made by the alumni, professors, and staff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology throughout the past 150 years, including the efforts supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that have spurred the industrial progress of the United States through innovation.”

Suffice to say, MIT is an incredible place.