Michael Sipser to step down as School of Science dean

Michael Sipser Image: Justin Knight, edited by MIT News Mathematician to return to the faculty after six years leading MIT's second-largest school. Michael Sipser plans to step down as dean of the MIT School of Science, concluding six years of service marked by the launch of key initiatives and the upgrading of facilities across the school's six academic departments. Provost Martin Schmidt announced the news today in an email to the MIT community. Following Sipser's service as dean - which will conclude on June 30, assuming that a suitable successor is found by then - he will return to the faculty, where he is the Donner Professor of Mathematics. "Mike's accomplishments as dean span the School of Science and have built its strength in both research and education, often by increasing the impact of science on critical areas of collaborative study," Schmidt wrote. With 280 faculty, the School of Science is MIT's second-largest school. It comprises the departments of Biology; Brain and Cognitive Sciences; Chemistry; Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary sciences; Mathematics; and Physics.