Dear members of the MIT community,

One of the things I love about MIT is that we don’t just encourage or lay the groundwork for innovation: we live it. During the recent three-day celebration of the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, I witnessed this truth at every turn — starting with the ingenuity on display at the student computing exposition.

With Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart, I visited enthusiastic participants. We encountered a few students unwilling to break from detailed project descriptions to accept congratulations for their hard work. I smile to think of MIT students so very in the zone: too busy living innovation to pause for praise.

With innovation in the air we breathe at MIT, I am thrilled the Institute is boldly reshaping itself to meet the rise of computing and artificial intelligence technologies. We are changing the very fabric of MIT to prepare students as highly trained computational thinkers who can help responsibly and ethically shape our shared future.

On that note, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to Dan Huttenlocher SM ’84, PhD ’88, a seasoned builder and leader of new academic entities at Cornell University. Currently the founding dean of Cornell Tech, Dan will join us this summer as the first dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. As MIT reinvents itself, we are so pleased to have you on our team, Dan.

I heard from Arturo Chavez-Gehrig, a graduate student in electrical engineering and computer science, following the celebration. He wrote: “Campus felt like the center of the universe this week.” This special edition of The Infinite is dedicated to coverage of the innovative work and thought-provoking discussions responsible for that feeling.

Please delve into MIT’s video footage of the events. Listen to interviews conducted by the CNBC news program, “Squawk Box,” including Mr. Schwarzman and MIT President L. Rafael Reif on the value of investing in AI; MIT professors Dina Katabi and Regina Barzilay on how AI will change healthcare; and alumna Diane Greene, former CEO of Google Cloud and co-founder of VMWare, on the future of AI. Read about 25 ways the Institute has transformed computing. And enjoy the School of Engineering’s video series about MIT students who are using computing to pursue their passions.

Sincerely,