Bill Gates visits MIT
Bill Gates, philanthropist and retired co-founder of Microsoft Corp., urged MIT students on Wednesday to focus their talent and energy on tackling the world's biggest challenges, including global health, poverty and education.Gates's visit was part of a three-day tour of five universities that was intended to inspire students and faculty to focus on issues of inequity. Although he had completed similar college visits while at Microsoft, this trip marked Gates's first college tour since he assumed full-time duties at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation nearly two years ago. With a $33.5 billion endowment, the Seattle-based foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.Titled "Giving Back: Finding the Best Way to Make A Difference," Gates's 30-minute presentation followed a private roundtable discussion with several faculty members about their work to fight global poverty. During that discussion, he also talked about how to expand MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW), which is...