L. Rafael Reif Biography

Since July 2012, Rafael Reif has been the 17th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Reif was the Provost of MIT for seven years before becoming president. In this role, he assisted in the creation and implementation of the strategy that allowed MIT to weather the global financial crisis; he led the expansion of MIT's global strategy; he promoted a major faculty-led effort to address race and diversity issues; he aided in the establishment of the Kendall Square innovation cluster; he aided in the establishment of the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and he spearheaded the development of the MIT Global Strategy. Dr. Reif has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1980, serving as director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories, assistant department head for Electrical Engineering, and department head for the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He was a driving force behind the establishment of a new semiconductor device research center at MIT, as well as multi-university research centers on improved and environmentally friendly semiconductor production. He was also instrumental in the formation of the National Focus Center Research Program and the inauguration of the Interconnect Focus Center at the Semiconductor Research Corporation. Dr. Reif, an early proponent of MIT's involvement in micro-and nanotechnologies, holds 15 patents, has written or co-edited five publications, and has supervised 38 doctorate theses. His latest research has been focused on three-dimensional integrated circuit technology and environmentally friendly microelectronics manufacturing. Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology was bestowed to him in 2004. “For pioneering work in the low-temperature epitaxial growth of semiconductor thin films,” Dr. Reif was designated a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1993. He won the 2000 Aristotle Award from the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) for "his devotion to the educational experience of SRC students and the significant and continuing influence he has had on their professional lives." He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, the Electrochemical Society, and the IEEE. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned the 2012 Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award for his work on MITx. Dr. Reif earned his Ingeniero Eléctrico degree from the Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela, and worked as an associate professor at the Universidad Simón Bolvar in Caracas for a year. He received his doctorate in electrical engineering from Stanford University, where he also worked as a visiting assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering Department for a year. Dr. Reif held the Analog Devices Career Development Professorship in the EECS Department and an IBM Faculty Fellowship from MIT's Center for Materials Science and Engineering after transferring to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1984, he was awarded the Presidential Young Investigator Award by the United States.

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