Advisors are supposed to information college students academically, supporting their analysis and profession targets. For MIT graduate college students, the Dedicated to Caring program acknowledges those that go above and past.
Professors Iain Stewart and Roberto Fernandez are two of the 2023-25 Dedicated to Caring cohort, supporting their college students by self-doubt, growing a welcoming setting, and serving as a good friend.
Iain Stewart: Supportive, equitable, and inclusive
Iain Stewart is the Otto and Jane Morningstar Professor of Science and former director of the Middle for Theoretical Physics (CTP). His analysis pursuits focus on nuclear and particle physics, the place he develops and applies efficient area theories to grasp interactions between elementary particles and significantly robust interactions described by quantum chromodynamics.
Stewart reveals religion in his college students’ talents even after they doubt themselves. In keeping with his nominators, the sector of physics, like many areas of mental pursuit, can appeal to a variety of personalities, together with those that are extremely assured in addition to those that could grapple with self-doubt. He explains ideas in a down-to-earth method and doesn’t make his college students really feel lower than they’re.
For his college students, Stewart’s analysis group comes as a refreshing change. Stewart emphasizes that graduate faculty is for studying, and that one will not be anticipated to know every part from the onset.
Stewart reveals a fantastic stage of empathy and emotional assist for his college students. For instance, one of many nominators recounted a narrative about making ready for his or her oral qualification examination. The scholar had quickly suspended analysis, and one other college member made a disparaging remark in regards to the scholar’s grasp of their analysis. The scholar approached Stewart in misery.
“As your advisor,” Stewart reassured them, “I can inform you confidently that you understand your analysis and you might be doing nicely, and it’s completely OK to place it off for some time to arrange for the qual.”
Stewart’s phrases gave the coed a way of aid and validation, reminding them that progress is a journey, not a race, and that taking time to arrange thoughtfully was each clever and obligatory.
All the time emphasizing positivity in his suggestions, Stewart reminds advisees of their achievements and progress, serving to them develop a extra optimistic mindset. Stewart’s mentorship fashion acknowledges particular person scholar wants, a trait that his college students discover unusual. His analysis group thrives attributable to this method, and a lot of his graduate and postdoc college students have achieved nice success.
Throughout his six years as director, Stewart has made important contributions to the CTP. He has improved the tradition and demographics attributable to robust and inclusive management. Specifically, a noteworthy variety of girls have joined the CTP.
In his personal analysis group, a lot of worldwide and feminine college students have discovered a spot, which is rare for teams in theoretical physics. At present, three out of seven group members are feminine in a area the place fewer than 10 p.c are girls.
Stewart’s nominators imagine that given the variety of girls he has mentored in his profession, he’s single-handedly contributing to enhancing the variety in his area. His nominators say he helps various backgrounds, and financially helps and encourages participation for marginalized teams.
Roberto Fernandez: Professor and good friend
Roberto Fernandez is the William F. Kilos Professor of Group Research on the MIT Sloan Faculty of Administration in addition to the co-director of the Financial Sociology PhD Program. His analysis focuses on organizations, social networks, and race and gender stratification. He has intensive expertise doing area analysis in organizations, and he presently focuses on the organizational processes surrounding the hiring of recent expertise.
Fernandez describes himself as a “full-service professor.” He tries to take care of differing wants and circumstances of scholars and the conditions they discover themselves in, providing recommendation and comfort.
Fernandez could be very understanding of his college students, and is completely satisfied to talk to them about educational and private issues alike. He acknowledges that every scholar comes from a unique background with particular person expertise, and Fernandez makes an attempt to accommodate every one in a super method.
He advises in a method that respects a scholar’s private life, however nonetheless expects an inexpensive quantity of produced work that motivates the coed, permits for them to excel, and retains them to a excessive commonplace.
Fernandez says, “It’s simply my sense of obligation to pay ahead how my mentors handled me. I really feel like I might dishonor their work if I have been to not move it on.”
A nominator shared that Fernandez serves as each a professor and a good friend. He has gone out of his approach to verify in and chat with them. They mentioned that Fernandez is the one professor who has taken the time to actually get to know their story, and Fernandez speaks to college students like an equal.
The nominator famous that many individuals at MIT get pleasure from a excessive stage of privilege. Regardless of the variations of their circumstances, nonetheless, the nominator feels comfy speaking to Fernandez.
Fortunately, the professor continued to the touch base with the nominator lengthy after their class had completed, and he’s the one one that actually made them really feel like MIT was their residence. This expertise stood out as distinctive for the nominator, and performed a big function of their expertise.
Along with offering real connections, Fernandez advises incoming graduate college students in regards to the want for a mindset shift. Graduate faculty will not be like undergrad. Being a wonderful scholar is critical, however it isn’t adequate to reach a PhD program. Glorious undergraduate college students are customers of data; alternatively, glorious graduate college students are producers of data.
The nominator enthused, “[Fernandez] actually went above and past, and this implies lots.”
