Question: What is the department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who was born on December 20 , 1938 ?

text: List of institute professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
List of institute professors -- Current

Institute professor is the highest title that can be awarded to a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is analogous to the titles of distinguished professor, university professor, or regents professor used at other universities in recognition of a professor's extraordinary research achievements and dedication to the school. The position was created by President James R. Killian in 1951, and John C. Slater was the first to hold the position. At MIT, institute professors are granted a unique level of freedom and flexibility to pursue their research and teaching interests without regular departmental or school responsibilities; they report only to the provost. Usually no more than twelve professors hold this distinction at any one time. Institute professors are initially nominated by leaders representing either a department or school. The chair of the faculty then consults with the Academic Council and jointly appoints with the president an ad-hoc committee from various departments and non-MIT members to evaluate the qualifications and make a documented recommendation to the president. The final determination is made based upon recommendations from professionals in the nominee's field. The case is then reviewed again by the Academic Council and approved by the executive committee of the MIT Corporation.
Name Department Elected Notability
Daron Acemoglu Economics 2019 Author of Why Nations Fail , John Bates Clark Medal ( 2005 )
Suzanne Berger Political Science 2019 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , chevalier of France 's Légion d'Honneur
Sallie W. Chisholm Civil and Environmental Engineering 2015 Discovery and biology of the Prochlorococcus marine cyanobacteria
Ann Graybiel Brain and Cognitive Sciences 2008 Basal Ganglia ; National Medal of Science ( 2001 )
John Harbison Music and Theater Arts 1995 Composer ; Pulitzer Prize ( 1987 ) for Flight into Egypt ; MacArthur Fellow ( 1989 )
Robert S. Langer Chemical Engineering & Biological Engineering 2005 Drug delivery and tissue engineering ; youngest person to be elected to three American academies ; Lemelson-MIT Prize ( 1998 ) , Draper Prize ( 2002 ) , National Medal of Science ( 2007 ) , Millennium Technology Prize ( 2008 )
Thomas Magnanti Mechanical Engineering 1997 Operations research ; Dean of Engineering ( 1999-2007 )
Ron Rivest Electrical Engineering and Computer Science 2015 Co-inventor of the RSA ( cryptosystem ) algorithm ; founder of Verisign , RSA Security
Phillip Sharp Biology 1999 RNA interference and splicing ; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine ( 1993 )
Marcus Thompson Music and Theater Arts 2015 Violist ; Artistic Director of Boston Chamber Music Society
Daniel I.C . Wang Chemical Engineering 1995 Biochemical process engineering
Sheila Widnall Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering 1998 Secretary of the Air Force ( 1993-1997 ) ; first MIT alumna appointed to MIT engineering faculty ; first woman to chair the MIT faculty