Volume 49 – Number 29 Wednesday – June 1, 2005 TechTalk S ERVING T HE M I T C OMMUNITY MIT readies for 139th Commencement Sasha Brown alumnus (S.M. 1957 and Sc.D. 1959), will ate study and a first faculty position at science/master of science; bachelor of sci- News Office deliver the principal address. President MIT, has changed countless lives, not only ence/master of engineering; and advanced Susan Hockfield will charge the graduates. through invention and entrepreneurship, degrees in the School of Science, the Other speakers will include Barun Singh, but also through remarkable support of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and MIT’s 139th Commencement exercises president of the Graduate Student Council, secondary math and science education, the Whitaker College of Health Sciences will be held on Friday, June 3, at 10 a.m. in and Rohit Gupta, president of the Class of and of the arts,” said Hockfield. “We are and Technology. Provost Robert A. Brown Killian Court. During the ceremony, 2,177 2005, who will present the class gift. Hindu honored and delighted that he is returning will award advanced degrees in the Schools undergraduates and graduate students Chaplain Swami Tyagananda will deliver to MIT to inspire our graduates and their of Architecture and Planning; Engineering; are scheduled to receive 1,094 bachelor’s the invocation. families, and to share his unique perspec- Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; and degrees, 1,078 master’s degrees, 257 doc- Jacobs is known as an innovative entre- tive on technology and education.” in the Sloan School of Management. torates and 12 engineer degrees. preneur and engineer who greatly values San Diego-based Qualcomm holds Following the exercises, a reception Admission for ticketed guests begins at research. He advocates improving U.S. nearly 1,400 patents and has more than will be held for graduates and their guests 7:30 a.m. Graduates will robe and assem- math and science education. 2,000 patents pending. The company has on the West Campus Plaza. ble in the Johnson Athletics Center, on the “The extraordinary technological been compared to a think tank with thou- A special hooding ceremony for Ph.D. second floor, at 7:30 a.m. contributions of Irwin Jacobs have trans- sands of employees. Irwin M. Jacobs, co-founder, chairman formed global telecommunications. Dr. Hockfield will present the following See CEREMONY and CEO of Qualcomm Inc. and an MIT Jacobs’ career, which began with gradu- degrees: bachelor of science; bachelor of Page 4 Institute MIT fulfills Professor dreams for Cohen dies Kazakh grad Sarah H. Wright Sasha Brown News Office News Office Morris Cohen, a world-renowned met- When Vitaliy Pereverzev dons his allurgist and MIT institute professor who cap and gown on Friday, June 3, he will received both the National Medal of Sci- be fulfilling a dream that began seven ence and the Kyoto Prize for Advanced years ago when he first emigrated from Technology, died May 27 at his home in Kazakhstan to play tennis and study in Swampscott, Mass. He was 93. the United States. Cohen made major contributions to the “Growing up I looked up to my understanding of the structure of matter father,” said Pereverzev whose father and the ways in which materials such as holds a Ph.D. in physics. “My dream iron and steel can became to go to MIT.” be processed. His Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in work has been cen- 1981, Pereverzev spent most of his child- tral to the develop- hood either playing tennis or studying. ment of modern By the time he graduated from high high-strength steels. school at 16, he was both the valedicto- “This gracious rian and a junior champion tennis player. gentleman trans- In the spring of 1998, Pereverzev decid- formed the disci- ed to pack up, leave his family behind in pline of metallurgy Kazakhstan and go to the Palmer Tennis via his intellect, Academy in Florida. vision and personal With very little English, Pereverzev effort into modern struggled during his first months in the Morris Cohen materials science United States. After spending the sum- and engineering. mer back home, Pereverzev returned to The modern catholic view of materials sci- Florida even more determined. Eventu- ence and engineering he fostered at MIT ally, he became one the top 10 juniors in continues to influence the materials field Florida. worldwide to this day,” said Edwin L. Thom- While playing at Palmer, Pereverzev as, the Morris Cohen Professor of Materi- was living with a host family and enrolled als Science and Engineering and director of in a local high school. He quickly rose to the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies. the top there as well, graduating as vale- A native of Chelsea, Mass., Cohen dictorian for the second time. When he became interested in metals as an out- started to think about schools, his host growth of his family’s business in produc- family encouraged him to look at MIT. ing and refining the lead-based alloys used “They told me MIT was the best,” in type and solders. said Pereverzev. “I knew it was for me. Cohen received the S.B. and Sc.D. I thought one day God would give me a degrees in metallurgy from MIT in 1933 chance, and I would be able to get in.” and 1936, respectively. In the meantime, Pereverzev focused He joined the MIT faculty in 1936, his search on state schools with strong becoming a full professor of physical met- PHOTO / DONNA COVENEY tennis programs. He was accepted at the allurgy in 1946. He retired in 1987. “MIT is favored with many great intel- Vitaliy Pereverzev has come a long way from his childhood in Kazakhstan to achieve See GRAD See COHEN success in tennis and, finally, at MIT. The electrical engineering and computer science major will graduate Friday. Page 5 Page 6 NEWS RESEARCH ARTS COUNCIL ON AGING PAIRED FOR LIFE POPS PREMIERE Joseph Coughlin of MIT’s AgeLab gets a Bush A new algorithm could save lives by optimizing Tech Night features ‘Jeux Deux’ by Media Lab’s Tod appointment. kidney matches. Machover. Page 2 Page 2 Page 7 HONORED BY PEERS DOUBLE AGENTS BEYOND ORIGINALITY Mathematician Isadore Singer wins the Killian Cells that aid in healing also help cancer tumors Sturtevant’s artworks challenge the artist’s role. Faculty Achievement Award. grow. Page 7 Page 3 Page 6 PAGE 2 June 1, 2005 NEWS MIT Tech Talk AgeLab chief gets Bush post Faculty elects slate President George W. Bush has select- With more than 76 million baby boom- ed Joseph F. Coughlin, director of MIT’s ers turning 50 at a rate of one every seven AgeLab, to serve as a member of the seconds, the stakes are high. of new officers Advisory Committee to the 2005 White “We may not have enough time to intro- House Conference on Aging. duce a number of the innovations already Sasha Brown The conference, which only occurs developed,” Coughlin said. For example, News Office once every 10 years, provides recom- new technology designed to adapt cars to mendations to the president and Con- the needs of older drivers can be applied gress to help shape aging policy for the in two to three years by automakers, but Elections were held for officers as well as for members of the next 10 years. Past conferences have led it may take a further 10 years for these standing committees as the faculty gathered in Kirsch Auditorium to the passage of Medicare and Medic- changes to percolate through the national for their last meeting of the academic year on May 18. aid, the Supplemental Security Income fleet, he said. The meeting also included reports on both the proposed faculty program and the Older Americans Act. Coughlin, who joined MIT’s Center for Joseph Coughlin housing program and on the advising and mentoring of undergradu- The 22-member Advisory Committee Transportation and Logistics and Engi- ates. Institute Professor Isadore Singer was named MIT’s James R. will advise the president and Congress on a vari- neering Systems Division in 1997, is also director Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2005-2006 (see ety of policy areas, including technology, economic of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s New story, Page 3), and retiring faculty members were recognized. security, transportation, housing, health care and England University Transportation Center. Associate Professor Bruce Tidor was elected associate chair other issues of concern to the nation’s aging pop- The first research facility of its kind, the Age and Associate Professor Diana Henderson was elected secretary. ulation. Committee members were appointed on Lab brings together the public and private sectors Professor Lorna Gibson, who has been serving as chair-elect this May 13. to craft solutions for an aging population. year, will become chair effective June 15. The slate for the officers and for all but three of the standing committees was approved by voice vote. Because additional nominations for three of the committees were Math optimizes submitted after last month’s presentation of the slate by the Nomina- tions Committee, the election for these committees was done by bal- lot. Although the Rules and Regulations of the Faculty allows for bal- loting, this was the first time in memory that that provision was used. kidney matches For more details, please visit the faculty meeting web site at web. mit.edu/dept/libdata/libdepts/d/archives/facmin/050518/050518. Elizabeth Thomson html. Details will be available by June 6. News Office Professor Hazel Sive presented the report on advising and men- toring on behalf of the Committee on Student Life, which she chairs, and the Committee on the Undergraduate Program.