Many of today's research scientists and engineers, inventors and professors, were nurtured in that heady scientific optimism of the 1950s and 1960s. I came of age as a scientist in the 1960s and 1970s. When I graduated from MIT, I chose to continue to graduate school - a decision that would lead to a career more varied and rewarding than I anticipated at the time. Concomitantly, my management responsibilities and strategic planning activities at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, being engaged with the Congress, and representing the United States on nuclear safety issues and other nuclear issues abroad, more than provided the background to move to my current position as the president of a major technological research university, and led to my being elected, recently, to the National Academy of Engineering. This is where graduate school can lead.
Attractive opportunities await graduates with bachelor's degrees in science and engineering.
But those who pursue advanced degrees can look forward to even greater rewards. A Ph.D. opens a wide range of career opportunities in the laboratory, in the classroom, in the boardroom, in government leadership, and more - on the global stage. This is indeed an exciting time to pursue an advanced degree, when critical research with global implications is unfolding in biotechnology, information technology, engineering, and the physical and mathematical sciences. We are building research programs of world-class standing in promising areas in biotechnology and information technology. Our comprehensive research goals call for research initiatives in four focal areas in biotechnology.