 susan hockfield (born march 24, 1951)http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/hoc0bio-1 is an american neuroscientist who from december 2004 through june 2012 served as the sixteenth president of the massachusetts institute of technology. hockfield succeeded charles m. vest and was succeeded by l. rafael reif, who had served in her administration as provost. hockfield was both the first biologist and the first woman to serve as the instituteâs president. hockfield, professor of neuroscience in mitâs department of brain and cognitive sciences and a member of the koch institute for integrative cancer research, is a director of general electric and of qualcomm. she is an overseer of the boston symphony orchestra, a trustee of the carnegie corporation of new york, and a member of the mit corporation. before returning to mit following her presidency, dr. hockfield held the marie curie visiting professorship at harvard university's john f. kennedy school of government. ==education and early career== she attended horace greeley high school in chappaqua, new york and graduated in 1969. she received her bachelorâs degree in biology from the university of rochester in 1973 and her ph.d in anatomy and neuroscience from the georgetown university school of medicine in 1979.her doctoral dissertation centered on the subject of pathways in the nervous system through which pain is perceived and processed. her advisor during her doctoral work was steven gobel. following a postdoctoral fellowship at the university of california, san francisco, hockfield in 1980 joined the staff of the cold spring harbor laboratory: she was hired by james watson, who with francis crick had discovered the structure of dna. in 1985, hockfield joined the faculty of yale university. she received tenure in 1991 and became a f
1951_births American_biologists Georgetown_University_School_of_Medicine_alumni Georgetown_University_alumni Living_people Presidents_of_the_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology University_of_Rochester_alumni