Exploring the impact of Margaret MacVicar’s legacy on education at MIT
Question: What does building a 15th-century printing press have in common with using DNA to encode genetic memory in a cell? Answer: Both are recent MIT undergraduate research projects conducted through the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) launched in 1969 by Margaret MacVicar, MIT’s first dean for undergraduate education. MacVicar created numerous far-reaching educational initiatives and championed the then-novel idea that cultivating collaborative research relationships between students and faculty had great educational value. Nearly five decades later, UROP is emulated at universities around the world and is an indispensable part of the MIT experience. More than 2,600 students participate every year, and 90 percent of the Class of 2016 completed at least one UROP. Faculty and students gathered on March 17 to highlight examples of undergraduate research and to consider the future of education at MIT...