Keeril Makan, Vice Provost for the Arts

As vice provost for the arts, Keeril Makan provides Institute-wide leadership and strategic direction for the arts, working in close partnership with academic leaders, arts units, and administrative colleagues across MIT.

In this role, he collaborates with schools and departments to strengthen connections between the arts, research, and education; fosters interdisciplinary engagement across the Institute; and enhances the visibility and coherence of MIT’s arts ecosystem. The vice provost for the arts also contributes to broader institutional conversations about academic priorities, resource stewardship, and the ways artistic practice intersects with MIT’s mission in science, technology, and the humanities.

Makan is also the Michael (1949) and Sonja Koerner Music Composition Professor at MIT. A critically acclaimed composer, his work has been commissioned, recorded, and performed internationally by leading ensembles and institutions. His music has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and the International Contemporary Ensemble, and presented at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Tanglewood. His opera Persona premiered at National Sawdust and has been performed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and by the Los Angeles Opera.

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.

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.