Susan Hockfield

Susan Hockfield (born March 24, 1951) is an

American neuroscientist who served as the 16th Susan Hockfield
president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
from 2004 to 2012.

Hockfield currently serves as a Professor of

Neuroscience in MIT's Department of Brain and
Cognitive Sciences, a Joint Professor of Work and
Organization Studies in MIT’s Sloan School of
Management, and a member of the Koch Institute for
Integrative Cancer Research. She is also a director of
Break Through Cancer (https://breakthroughcancer.or
g/), Cajal Neuroscience (https://www.cajalneuro.com),
Fidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation, Lasker
Foundation (https://laskerfoundation.org), Mass
General Brigham, Pfizer, Repertoire Immune
Medicines, and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
Research; a lifetime member of the MIT Corporation;
and a board member of the Belfer Center at the 16th President of the Massachusetts
Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Before Institute of Technology
returning to MIT following her presidency, Hockfield In office
held the Marie Curie Visiting Professorship at Harvard 2004–2012
University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Preceded by Charles M. Vest
Succeeded by L. Rafael Reif
Provost of Yale University
Early life and education
In office
Hockfield graduated from Horace Greeley High December 2002 – August 2004
School in Chappaqua, New York, in 1969. She Preceded by Alison Richard
received her bachelor's degree in Biology from the Succeeded by Andrew D. Hamilton
University of Rochester in 1973 and her Ph.D. in
Personal details
Anatomy and Neuroscience from the Georgetown
University School of Medicine in 1979. Her doctoral Born March 24, 1951
dissertation centered on the pathways in the nervous Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
system through which pain is perceived and processed. Spouse Thomas Byrne
Her advisor during her doctoral work was Stephen Education University of Rochester (BS)
Gobel.[1] Georgetown University (MS,
PhD)

Scientific career
Career
Fields Neuroscience
Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University Institutions Cold Spring Harbor
of California, San Francisco, Hockfield joined the staff Laboratory
of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 1980. She Yale University
was hired by James Watson, who together with Francis Massachusetts Institute of
Crick had discovered the structure of DNA. Technology
Thesis Afferent and Efferent
In 1985, Hockfield joined the faculty of Yale
Neuronal Connections of the
University. She received tenure in 1991 and became a
Dorsal Horn of the Caudal
full professor of neurobiology in 1994; soon thereafter
Medulla (Trigeminal Nucleus
she began to take on positions of administrative
Caudalis) Demonstrated by
leadership. From 1998 to 2002, she served as Dean of
Retrograde Labeling with
Yale's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, with
Horseradish Peroxidase (htt
oversight of 70 graduate programs. Over the course of ps://search.proquest.com/do
her deanship, the number of applicants to the graduate cview/302948878/) (1979)
school doubled. Support for graduate students also
Doctoral Stephen Gobel
expanded in many dimensions, including healthcare,
advisor
career counseling, fellowships, and opportunities to
interact with faculty. Other academic Allan Basbaum
advisors
In December 2002, she was named Yale's Provost — Doctoral Daniel Geschwind
the university's second-highest officer, with oversight students
of the university's 12 schools. As Provost, she led
major initiatives in science, medicine, and engineering,
including a $500 million investment in scientific facilities.

During her time as dean and as provost, Hockfield was at the center of an imbroglio surrounding the
Graduate Employees and Students Organization and its unionization efforts. While Yale opposed the
student union, Hockfield made healthcare for Ph.D. students free and increased stipends for graduate
students.[2]

MIT presidency
In August 2004, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology named Hockfield its next president. MIT
raised nearly $3 billion during Hockfield's presidency, making it a more successful period of fundraising
than any prior administration. However, the global financial crisis put great pressure on the Institute's
endowment, which was valued at $5.9 billion upon Hockfield's arrival. It peaked at $9.9 billion in June
2008, then fell to $7.9 billion. By June 2011, it was valued at $9.7 billion. Through these financial ups
and downs, Hockfield made affordability a priority: Annual undergraduate financial aid increased by
about 75 percent during her presidency.[3]

In her inaugural address, Hockfield called for MIT to cultivate the convergence of engineering and the
life sciences to develop new approaches to address global challenges.[4] She encouraged work that
crossed disciplines, departments, and schools within MIT and that fostered collaborations among the
Boston region's academic medical centers and educational institutions. To that end, she led, among other
efforts, the establishment of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; the Ragon
Institute (a collaboration between Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard University); and
the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke, Massachusetts, an
unprecedented collaboration of 5 universities, 2 private companies, and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts to provide state-of-the art computation tools for research in a wide variety of fields.[3]

Hockfield also announced her intention to develop a multidisciplinary, Institute-wide center focused on
energy. That effort spawned the MIT Energy Initiative, which raised more than $350 million during
Hockfield's tenure and accelerated research on technologies and policies for a sustainable energy future.
In 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama gave an address on U.S. energy policy at MIT, and Hockfield gave
him the first tour of an MIT laboratory by a sitting U.S. president.[5]

Hockfield also encouraged concerted faculty research in an area she considered vital to American national
interests: manufacturing. She launched “Production in the Innovation Economy,” a campus-wide project
to provide a blueprint for 21st century manufacturing in America. During her presidency, she served as
the inaugural co-chair of the White House-led Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP), a task force
of government, industry, and academic leaders. In an August 2011 New York Times op-ed, Hockfield
wrote, “To make our economy grow, sell more goods to the world and replenish the work force, we need
to restore manufacturing — not the assembly-line jobs of the past, but the high-tech advanced
manufacturing of the future.”[6]

During Hockfield's presidency, representation of underrepresented minorities and women increased

across the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty populations. The graduating Class of 2015 was composed
of 45 percent women and 24 percent underrepresented minorities. To address the growing interest in
attending MIT (applications more than doubled during her tenure), Hockfield initiated an expansion of
the undergraduate population. She also guided enhancements to student life and learning, including the
construction of a new residence for graduate students and a restoration of MIT's oldest building into an
undergraduate residence with expanded space and amenities to foster student collaboration.

In addition, while Hockfield was president, the east side of MIT's campus was enhanced by an extension
to the Media Lab complex and a new building for the MIT Sloan School of Management. Hockfield also
led a comprehensive strategic planning process for campus development and worked to foster the
innovation cluster around Kendall Square, which at the end of her presidency was home to more biotech
and life sciences companies per square mile than anywhere in the world.[3]

In December 2011, MIT launched MITx, a not-for-profit online learning platform that offers online
versions of MIT courses free of charge. In May 2012, Hockfield and Harvard president Drew Gilpin
Faust announced edX, an MIT-Harvard partnership in online education. EdX, Hockfield said, “represents
a unique opportunity to improve education on our own campuses through online learning, while
simultaneously creating a bold new educational path for millions of learners worldwide.”[7]

Scientific research
Hockfield pioneered the use of monoclonal antibody technology in brain research and discovered a gene
that plays a critical role in the spread of cancer in the brain. Hockfield's early work involved the
application of monoclonal antibody technology to questions within neurobiology. She and her colleagues
identified a family of cell surface proteins whose expression is regulated by neuronal activity early in an
animal's life and which reflect the effect of early experience on brain structure and function. A link
between her research and human health was made when it was suggested that one of these proteins
played a role in the progression of brain tumors. Hockfield's work on a type of brain tumor called glioma
identified molecules that allow glioma cells to move through normal brain tissue, the feature that makes
glioma particularly deadly.[8]

Honors and awards

Elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in
2016, and served as Chairman in 2018
Elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Honorary degrees from Georgetown University, Northeastern University, Duke University,
Brown University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Tsinghua University, University
of Edinburgh, Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University (University of Paris 6), University of
Massachusetts Medical School, University of Rochester, the Watson School of Biological
Sciences at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and a jointly awarded honorary degree from
the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the Technical University of Lisbon, and the University of
Porto.
Wilbur Lucius Cross Medal, Yale University Graduate School
Meliora Citation for Career Achievement, University of Rochester[9]
Charles Judson Herrick Award (for outstanding contributions by a young scientist), American
Association of Anatomists
Amelia Earhart Award, which is given by the Women's Union to honor women who have
significantly contributed to the expansion of opportunities for women[10]
Pinnacle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Greater Boston Chamber of
Commerce[11]
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2005, presented by
Awards Council member Dr. Tenley Albright[12][13][14]
Edison Achievement Award in 2010 for her commitment to innovation throughout her career

Selected works
The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution, W. W.
Norton & Company, 2019. ISBN 978-0-393-63474-7.
Our science, our society (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aat0957), Science
Magazine, Vol 359 Issue 6375, 2018.

Personal life
Hockfield is married to Thomas N. Byrne, M.D., a Professor of Neurology and Health Sciences
Technology (part-time) at the Harvard Medical School and a Senior Lecturer of Brain and Cognitive
Sciences at MIT. They were married on March 2, 1991, at Yale's Battell Chapel.[15] They have a daughter,
Elizabeth.

References
 1. Hockfield, Susan Joan (1979). Afferent and efferent neuronal connections of the dorsal horn
of the caudal medulla (trigeminal nucleus caudalis) demonstrated by retrograde labeling
with horseradish peroxidase (https://www.proquest.com/docview/302948878/) (Ph.D.).
Georgetown University Medical Center. OCLC 122259522 (https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/
122259522) – via ProQuest.
2. Bombardieri, Marcella (26 August 2004). "MIT set to pick its first female president" (http://ww
w.boston.com/news/globe/education/articles/2004/08/26/mit_set_to_pick_its_first_female_pr
esident_1093494695/). The Boston Globe.
3. "Susan Hockfield to step down" (http://news.mit.edu/2012/hockfield-0216). MIT News. 16
February 2012.
4. "Inaugural Address: 16th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT's 16th
President | Susan Hockfield" (https://hockfield.mit.edu/inaugural-address-16th-president-ma
ssachusetts-institute-technology). hockfield.mit.edu. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
5. "President Obama lights up MIT" (https://news.mit.edu/2009/obama-visit). MIT News |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
6. Hockfield, Susan (30 August 2011). "Opinion | Manufacturing a Recovery" (https://www.nyti
mes.com/2011/08/30/opinion/manufacturing-a-recovery.html). The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 12 April 2022.
7. "MIT and Harvard announce edX" (https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/05/mit-and-
harvard-announce-edx/). Harvard Gazette. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
8. Zhang, Hong; Kelly, Gail; Zerillo, Cynthia; Jaworski, Diane M.; Hockfield, Susan (1 April
1998). "Expression of a Cleaved Brain-Specific Extracellular Matrix Protein Mediates Glioma
Cell InvasionIn Vivo" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6793111). The Journal
of Neuroscience. 18 (7): 2370–2376. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.18-07-02370.1998 (https://d
oi.org/10.1523%2FJNEUROSCI.18-07-02370.1998). PMC 6793111 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.ni
h.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6793111). PMID 9502798 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/950279
8).
9. "Rochester Review • University of Rochester" (https://rochester.edu/pr/Review/V67N2/gazett
e2.html). rochester.edu. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
10. "Women's Union set to honor Hockfield Nov. 21" (https://news.mit.edu/2005/womens-union-
set-honor-hockfield-nov-21). MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 16
November 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
11. "MIT's Susan Hockfield will receive Pinnacle Lifetime Achievement Award from Greater
Boston Chamber of Commerce" (https://www.boston.com/uncategorized/noprimarytagmatc
h/2012/12/06/mits-susan-hockfield-will-receive-pinnacle-lifetime-achievement-award-from-gr
eater-boston-chamber-of-commerce/). www.boston.com. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
12. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement" (https://achievement.or
g/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#public-service). www.achievement.org. American
Academy of Achievement.
13. "2005 Summit Highlights Photo" (https://achievement.org/summit/2005/). "MIT President Dr.
Susan Hockfield with a fellow member of the Academy, Her Excellency Vaira Vike-
Freiberga, President of Latvia, and her husband Imants Freibergs, during the reception at
the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
14. "2008 Summit Highlights Photo" (https://achievement.org/summit/2008/). "The President of
MIT, Dr. Susan Hockfield, shares her views on creativity at the International Achievement
Summit."
15. "Susan Hockfield and Thomas Byrne, Medical Professors at Yale, Are Wed" (https://query.ny
times.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DD1539F930A35750C0A967958260). The New
York Times. 3 March 1991. Retrieved 7 January 2007.
External links
Susan Hockfield, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (http://web.mit.edu/hockfi
eld/)
Susan Hockfield Playlist (http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/hockfield.html) Appearance on
WMBR's Dinnertime Sampler (http://web.mit.edu/echemi/www/index.html) radio show March
30, 2005
Interview on "Charlie Rose" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101123165337/http://www.charli
erose.com/view/interview/8944) February 2008.
Promoting a Culture of Science in the United States (https://archive.today/20130416064835/
http://www.thetakeaway.org/2012/jun/18/culture-science-united-states/) Appearance on the
Takeaway June 2012.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Susan_Hockfield&oldid=1217586486"