Charles "Chuck" Marstiller Vest (September 9, 1941 – December 12, 2013) was an American educator and engineer. He served as President of the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

from October 1990 until December 2004. He succeeded Paul Gray and was succeeded by

Susan Hockfield Susan Hockfield (born March 24, 1951) is an American neuroscientist who served as the sixteenth president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from December 2004 through June 2012. Hockfield succeeded Charles M. Vest and was succeeded by ...

. He served as president of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

from 2007 to 2013.

Education and career

Vest was born in Morgantown,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, in 1941. He went to

Morgantown High School Morgantown High School is a public high school in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. It is one of three secondary schools in the Monongalia County School District. Athletic teams compete as the Morgantown Mohigans in the West Virginia Seco ...

. He graduated from West Virginia University in Morgantown in 1963 with a bachelor of science degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

, and earned a

master of science in engineering A Master of Science in Engineering (abbreviated MSE, M.Sc.Eng. or MScEng) is a type of Master of Science awarded by universities in many countries. It is an academic degree to be differentiated from a Master of Engineering. A Master of Science in ...

degree in 1964 and a PhD in 1967, both in mechanical engineering at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he later served as professor of mechanical engineering,

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the College of Engineering, and provost of the university, prior to his appointment as MIT's president. In 2004, a selection of Vest's speeches from his time as President of MIT was published under the title, ''Pursuing the Endless Frontier: Essays on MIT and the Role of Research Universities''.

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate in law in 2006.

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

has also given him an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in 2005. In 2011 Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctorate in science; the same year he delivered the Tufts University Commencement address.

Other activities

Vest served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and chaired the Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

. At the request of President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, he chaired the Committee on the Redesign of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

, which revitalized the space station at a time when its future was in question. On February 6, 2004, he was appointed to the

Iraq Intelligence Commission The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction is a panel created by Executive Order 13328, signed by U.S. President George W. Bush in February 2004. The impetus for the Commission l ...

by President George W. Bush. He was appointed the president of the

in 2007 and served until 2013. Vest was a member of the

USA Science and Engineering Festival The USA Science & Engineering Festival is a bi-annual science festival held in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 by Larry Bock, the festival is the largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in the ...

's Advisory Board. He was a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

and served as co-chair of the Academy's Science, Engineering & Technology Policy Program. In 2008, Vest was elected an honorary academician of Academia Sinica. On December 12, 2013, he died of pancreatic cancer, aged 72.

References

External links

National Academy of Engineering page
* * *

Appearance on WMBR's

' radio show March 31, 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Vest, Charles Marstiller 1941 births American mechanical engineers DuPont people Educators from West Virginia 2013 deaths MIT School of Engineering faculty Morgantown High School alumni National Medal of Technology recipients People from Morgantown, West Virginia Presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni University of Michigan faculty West Virginia University alumni Engineers from West Virginia Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Deaths from pancreatic cancer Henry Laurence Gantt Medal recipients Members of Academia Sinica Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering