MIT Residential Scholars @ Simmons Hall Emeriti
Professor Shirley Geok-lin Lim (Fall semester, 2003). Professor Lim came as a Visiting Scholar to Simmons Hall in August 2003. She received her Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University and is currently Professor of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her areas of research are Asian American cultural studies, postcolonial and transnational literatures, and women of color and feminist discourses. In addition to her scholarly publications, Shirley has published books of poetry and short stories, a memoir, and a novel. She served as chair of Women Studies at UCSB and was Chair Professor of English at the University of Hong Kong from 1999-2001. Her husband, Charles Bazerman, is professor and chair of the Department of Education at UCSB. His most recent book is a study of Thomas Edison, published by MIT Press. Some of Shirley's program included presentations Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in internment camps in the United States during World War II. She also coordinated the Boston Baroque visit by Martin Pearlman.
Dr. Hayden and Bianca Marcollo (Winter 2003 to Summer 2004). Hayden and Bianca Marcollo took residence in Simmons Hall in January 2003 and were our first Visiting Scholars. As the inaugural Scholars, they did much to craft the structure of the current program. Upon arrival from Australia, they met with and leaned the needs of the MIT undergraduate community. They fully integrated into all social events. During Friday Visiting Scholar nights, they introduced the students to the products of the Australian film industry in a series of events that became increasingly well attended, thus providing the program with its momentum. Their consistency in putting on events on Friday evenings helped make the program become a routine event. They became amongst the most visible members the Simmons Hall community.
Hayden received his Ph.D. in Offshore Engineering at Monash University, Australia. His stay at MIT was hosted by Professor Kim Vandiver in the Department of Ocean Engineering. Hayden's work is funded by the oil industry to improve the survivability of oil pipelines. Bianca has the interesting profession of Midwife. While lacking a license to practice her craft in the US, she helped in Simmons with programs involving women’s health and has collaborated with the relevant groups on campus on such programs. A central theme of the Marcollo's tenure in the program was to arrange trips to get students off campus, and into the local community and into other areas of New England.
Professor Arlie Petters (Winter 2003 to Spring 2004). Professor Petters moved into the Simmons Hall community in early 2003 as Visiting Scholar. He worked closely with the Marcollos to configure the present Visiting Scholars Program and, like them, integrated fully into the community. Arlie received his Ph.D. in mathematics from MIT and is currently Professor of Mathematics at Duke University. His area of research expertise is mathematical physics and he is the lead author of the recent book entitled ``Singularity Theory and Gravitational Lensing.'' Arlie was a Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor in MIT's Department of Physics, where he is taught an introduction to relativity for undergraduates and conducted research on gravitational lensing. Arlie hosted in Simmons Hall a series of discussions on "Life in Academia'' aimed at sharing practical advice with under-represented minority students. He also co-coordinated with Ms. Sharon Snaggs a program on Caribbean culture.
Dr. Carlo Ratti (Winter 2003 to Spring 2005) Dr. Ratti is an architect/engineer who teaches at the Harvard Design School and at MIT, where he directs the SENSEable City Laboratory, a research joint initiative between the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Media Lab. Carlo graduated in structural engineering at the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) and the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, before reading for a MPhil and PhD in architecture at Cambridge University. He has written several articles on Simmons Hall, including an architectural review in the magazine Domus. In the spring of 2004 he co-coordinated an event with Jeffery Roberts, MIT class of 2002, dealing with the interplay between the evolution of the Simmons community and the evolution of the architectural design of the building. As part of his residency, Carlo would like to work with the resident students and faculty to describe the "lived-in" Simmons Hall. Dr. Ratti has also collaborated with fellow Schollar, Tenzin Priyadarshi, to help design housing for people displaced by the 2005 tsunami in southeast Asia.
Professors Ralf Koetter and Nuala Koetter (Spring and Fall 2005). Nuala and Ralf Koetter jhold faculty positions at the University of Illinois, Nuala as the Head of Digital Services and Development at the University Library and Ralf as Associate Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Nuala holds a B.A.(Mod.) from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, in Computer Science, Linguistics and German and a M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. Her research includes digitization of rare books, particularly Renaissance-era, and museum and library collaboration. Ralf received an Engineering Diploma from the Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, and a Teknisk Doktor from Linkoeping University, Sweden. Ralf's area of research is in theoretical and practical coding theory and its ramifications. They were accompanied by their most important joint publication - resident baby Finn who will join the Simmons community at the age of four months.
Professor Catharine Drennan and Professor Sean Elliott (Fall 2004 to Fall 2005) Professor Drennan is Associate Professor of Chemistry at MIT. Cathy is a graduate of Vassar, has a PhD from the University of Michigan and did postdoctoral work at CalTech. At MIT, She teaches freshman chemistry, one of MIT's largest and most visible classes. In 2004 she shared the Edgerton Award with Professor Muriel Medard. This award is given to MIT's most impressive young faculty members. Professor Elliott is Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Boston University. Sean is a graduate of Amherst College, has a PhD from CalTech and did postdoctoral work at Oxford. The Drennan-Elliotts have run a program of events that focus on professional life beyond MIT, and how the academic and non-academic experiences at MIT can prepare students for those futures.
Marshall L. Michel III and his Barbara Louviere (Fall 2004-Summer 2006) The Michel-Louvieres came to MIT in August 2004. Marshall was a Visiting Fellow in the National Security Studies Program. He graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in English and has an MA in International Relations from Catholic University. He has a PhD from Auburn University. Previously Marshall was a career Air Force pilot flying the F-15 and F-4 (321 combat missions during the Vietnam War) as well as serving a tour as the American Air Attaché at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. He is the author three books: Clashes: Air Combat Over North Vietnam 1965-1972, The Eleven Days of Christmas: America’s Last Vietnam Battle, and American Civil War Battles and Battlefields. As a Visiting Scholar Marshall hosted a Vietnam War Film Festival, which examined memories of the war in popular films. Barbara has an MBA and was the founder, president and CEO of Southeast Medical Alliance, one of the first and largest HMOs in Louisiana. She is also a nationally renowned collector and expert on Southern Self-Taught and Outsider art, with pieces from her collection on display in the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Barbara headed a program involving the Ralph Lauren Collection at the Museum of Fine arts. Barbara and Marshall headed the Bayou Bash series of events that hosted New Orleans artists displaced from their homes and jobs by Hurricane Katrina.
Professor Rachid Guerraoui and his wife May (Fall 2005-Summer 2006). Professor Guerraoui was a visiting scholar at MIT CSAIL. He is associate professor in computer science at Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne (Switzerland). He is interested in distributed algorithms and distributed programming languages. Rachid got his Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Paris and worked for Hewlitt-Packard prior to beginning his faculty appointment in Switzerland. May works with an environmental organization in Switzerland attended ecology classes while at MIT. Rachid and May were accompanied by their daughters Maria and Sarah, who attend the French-American School in Cambridge and Arlington. The Guerraouis headed a program entitled "The Veil," which tracked the history of veils in Middle-Eastern culture.
Professor Max Hafler (Spring 2006) came to MIT as a Visiting Artist in January, 2006. He has lived in County Galway for more than seven years and his radio play Albion Tower won the UK Commission for Racial Equality's Radio Award and a Sony Award. Hafler has also written radio plays for RTE Radio, including "Falling Prey" (Man in the Moon Theatre, London). Hafler has worked as a director with Galway Youth Theatre and teaches on the Theatre MA program at the National University of Ireland, Galway.
During 2006 IAP, Max directed the MIT Dramashop production "The Old Law", based on his recent adaptation of the 18th century play. He taught theater classes and held a series of public speaking workshops during the spring semester.
Professor Menachem Klein (Spring 2006) came to MIT from Jerusalem, Israel. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and a Senior Research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Dr. Klein studied Middle East and Islamic Studies in Jerusalem and Oxford University and is a Board Member of The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. In 1999-2001, Dr. Klein was an adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the Israel-PLO Final Status issues.
His main fields of research are: The PLO's policy and ideology; Jerusalem as a frontier city; and the ambivalent relationsjip between intellectuals and politicians. He is the author of several books, including "Jerusalem: The Contested City, and The Jerusalem Problem: The Struggle for Permanent Status. Professor Klein held a series of lectures dealing with negotiation, using his background as a negotiator of the Oslo Peace Accords as a platform for discussion.
Professor Thorsten Emig (Fall 2006) was a Visiting Scientist in the MIT Department of Physics from September to December 2005. He currently holds a position at Cologne University, Germany, where he leads a junior research group at the Institute of Theoretical Physics. Thorsten received his diploma and PhD from Cologne University. His area of research is in statistical physics ranging from granular media to quantum effects in nanomechanical systems. He was temporarily accompanied by his wife Beata and his five year old son Balint who was born in Boston during a former stay of Thorsten as a post doc in the Physics Department. Professor Emig hosted a series of European cultural films and gave lectures that contrasted the German and US higher education systems.
Professor William Harris joined the MIT community during the Fall of 2006 as Martin Luther King, Jr. Visiting Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. He is professor and former chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Jackson State University. He served for ten years on the planning commission for the City of Charlottesville, Virginia. In Jackson, Mississippi, he is a board member of the Farish Street Historic Preservation Foundation and the Mississippi Housing Partnership. Elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners, he has authored a number of scholarly articles, books, and book chapters related to African American economic development, professional ethics, and higher education. Professor Harris is active in land use expert witness consultation, community service activities, and scholarly research.
Patricia Acosta became a visiting scholar in the Fall of 2006, and lives in Simmons Hall with her daughter Gabriella. She is a Fellow of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program of MIT's SPURS Program. Architect and Urban Planner. She currently works for the municipal planning department of Bogotá, focusing on land-use planning. She was manager of the master plan revision team in 2003. She has an architecture degree from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and is a candidate for a master’s degree in urban planning at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Bogotá. Her current work at MIT focuses on habitat issues in developing nations and policy evaluation.
Professor Abeer Alwan and Mohamad Ali Alwash are professors in Southern California. Abeer is professor of Electrical Engineering at UCLA and Ali, a professor of Mathematics at West LA College. Abeer holds a Ph.D. from MIT (EECS) and Ali, a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Abeer's research is in the area of speech processing and Ali's, in non-linear differential equations and dynamical systems. Abeer is currently a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and is also a visiting scientist at RLE, MIT. They are accompanied by their children Nial (8) and Nora (2), who were born in sunny California and will experience their very first cold winter!
Professor Gilles Coppin and Professor Catherine Coppin became Residential Scholars in the Fall of 2006.
Professor Carol Espy-Wilson was a Residential Scholar for the 2008-2009 acadeic year. She is Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, MD. While a Residential Scholar, she was a Visiting Scientist in the Research Laboratory of Electronics, working with Prof. Kenneth Stevens, and a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard. She directs the Speech Communication Lab at UMD. Carol, along with her husband John, was a GRA in MacGregor at from 1985 to 1988, and a housemater there from 1988 to 2001. Carol's intterests and hobbies include weight training, spinning, reading (she is part of a bookclub), traveling and cooking (particularly baking).
Professor Patrícia Carvalho was a Residential Scholar for the academic year 2008-2009. She is an Assistant Professor (tenured) in the Departament of Materials Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon. Patricia obtained her PhD in Applied Physics at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, where she lived from 1997 to 2001 and made dear friends from all over the world. She is a trained electron microscopist and her interests have been centered on materials characterization at the atomic and nano scales. Contact and collaboration with researchers from the biology and biotechnology fields led her to perceive that the techniques involved in materials characterization can also be used to investigate cells and biological tissues. Furthermore, the approaches used in materials science lead to new (and quantitative) insights into biological observations. Fulfilling her new scientific interests she is now, while on sabbatical leave, a visiting scholar at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, working with Dean Subra Suresh on cell and molecular mechanics of human diseases, with a focus on malaria.
Patricia's interests and hobbies include DIY (fabricating or repairing things for home needs); living around the world whenever possible; reading (nowadays evolutionary psychology with enthousiasm); cinema (too little time, too many movies to watch); making friends and going out. Patricia is a founding member of Vigia (The Lookout) Club, a group of friends of the ?White Sand Beach? 60 km to the north of Lisbon in Portugal.
