Leadership for the academic schools that oversee arts departments, labs and centers comes from the Dean of the School for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and the Dean of the School of Architecture + Planning. The Vice Provost oversees extra-curricular arts programming including the List Visual Arts Center, MIT Museum, Council for the Arts at MIT, and Student Arts Programs.

The Center for Art, Science & Technology is a joint initiative by all three executive leaders.

 

The arts at MIT are diverse, wide-ranging, and embedded throughout the institute.

 

Read more about the faculty in the arts at MIT

Philip S. Khoury, Vice Provost

Professor Philip S. Khoury was appointed Associate Provost in 2006 and became Vice Provost in 2023. He is responsible for overseeing MIT’s noncurricular arts programs and initiatives, including the MIT Museum and the List Visual Arts Center; MIT’s strategic planning for international education and research; and MIT’s efforts to promote the public understanding of science and technology. He is also responsible for the enhancement of existing activities and the creation of new opportunities at the intersections of MIT’s five schools: Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Management; and Science.

“The arts thrive at MIT because of our commitment to cross-disciplinary study and to a curriculum based in experimentation and imaginative problem solving. Studying the arts, in combination with the extraordinary discoveries in science and engineering, prepares our students to make creative and innovative contributions in multiple fields.”

Auguston Rayo smiles into the camera while standing on the colorful Sol LeWitt floor.
Dean of SHASS Agustín Rayo. Photo: Jon Sachs/MIT.

Agustín Rayo, Professor of Philosophy and Kenan Sahin Dean, MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Known for his expertise in “mathy philosophy,” Dean Rayo’s domain of study lies at the intersection of the philosophy of logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. He has focused on understanding the relationship between our language and the world it represents, clarifying the connection between logic and mathematics, and investigating the limits of communicable thought.

Rayo, who showed an interest in math and logic from a young age, grew up in Mexico City. He earned his undergraduate degree in 1996 from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his PhD from MIT in 2001. He served as a postdoc at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of California at San Diego, then joined the MIT faculty in 2005.

Dean Rayo was elected to the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 2018, was a Burkhardt Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Oslo from 2015 to 2020. His books lnclude The Construction of Logical Space (OUP, 2013) and On the Brink of Paradox (MIT Press, 2019), which won the 2020 PROSE Award for best textbook in the humanities.

“I want to continue the work of former MIT SHASS deans, to make sure that the fields we study at the school remain at the heart of the MIT experience. If you want to change the world, you need to understand how it works.”

Hashim Sarkis in a gray top at a roof top in Cambridge with a morning view across Charles River view of Boston.
Hashim Sarkis. Credit: Sham Sthankiya.

Hashim Sarkis, Dean of the School of Architecture + Planning

Hashim Sarkis was appointed Dean of the School of Architecture and Planning in January of 2015. Prior to that he was at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) as the The Aga Khan Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urbanism. In addition to professorships at Harvard University and MIT, Dean Sarkis has held numerous visiting appointments around the world including the American University of Beirut and the Metropolis Program in Barcelona.

In addition to his academic work, Dean Sarkis is principal architect in the Cambridge and Beirut based firm, HashimSarkis Studios, founded in 1998. His architectural and planning projects include affordable housing, institutional buildings, and town planning throughout the globe.

“The arts and humanities are deeply embedded at MIT, throughout our schools and departments and across the curriculum.”