NEW YORK
Interview/ Anantha P. Chandrakasan provost, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anantha Chandrakasan, the newly-appointed provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was once rejected as a graduate applicant to the very same institution, which counts among its faculty 105 Nobel laureates. His story is one of perseverance, focus and quiet determination. Today, as provost, Chandrakasan serves as MIT’s chief academic and budget officer. He also co-chairs the Financial Scenarios Working Group, which deals with the Trump-era ‘endowment tax’—an 8 per cent levy on annual investment returns.
In an exclusive interview with THE WEEK, Chandrakasan says he sees himself as an enabler for the Indian community at MIT, so that they can continue to make extraordinary contributions and impact. On President Donald Trump’s policy measures curtailing academic freedom, he says MIT’s ability to produce groundbreaking innovations depends on its ability to be self-governing. Edited excerpts:
What does it mean to you to be the first person of Indian origin to be appointed provost at MIT?
I really see myself as an enabler for our community—which includes faculty, students and postdoctoral staff—so that they can continue to make extraordinary contributions and impact, whether it is in scholarship, educational innovation or entrepreneurship. My role is to promote excellence in academics, research and entrepreneurship, and I would like to deliver on the promise of enabling excellence.
Could you tell us about your formative years in Chennai, and how they shaped the person you have become?
Every experience in life matters. India had a profound impact in shaping who I am. I grew up in Chennai and was there through the 11th grade. At the end of 11th grade, I came to the United States to visit my mother, Gowri Chandrakasan, who was on a Fulbright scholarship. While in Chennai, my mother worked at the Central Leather Research Institute in Chennai. She used to take me to her laboratory, and I would watch her perform experiments and talk about science and the importance of advancing it. Her work ethic, her energy—just seeing her work—was amazing. She published a very important work on collagen and wound healing, so I would say that she was a major inspiration for me. I studied at Vidya Mandir in Mylapore, an excellent school in Chennai. Before that, I attended St Michael’s Academy in Adyar. One particular experience that stayed with me from those days was meeting a senior colleague of my mother’s, who tutored me in mathematics. He had a big influence on me. He would come home and teach me even when I was itching to go out and play cricket. But he was persistent. It is a reminder that one dedicated individual can ignite a passion and instil the confidence a student needs for long-term success.
I always try to pay that forward. I receive so many emails from prospective applicants, and until recently, I used to respond to them directly. It has now become overwhelming, but I do my best. I was not always perfect, but I believe everyone needs a little encouragement. It does not take an army; it just takes one person. So always remember that you can make a difference in someone’s life.
How did your Indian education and early career experiences prepare you for this challenging role?
Indian education is intense, it requires hard work and persistence. Even though I was there only until the 11th grade, I experienced that rigour. Later, while I was an undergraduate student at UC (University of California) Berkeley, I applied for an internship at a wireless company that specialised in low-power design. That is an area that became central to my PhD. I was not selected for the internship. But then my adviser, Robert Brodersen, offered me a summer research opportunity in his lab. That had a profound impact on me and made me want to pursue research.
So again, it is about persistence. Years later, when I became a faculty member, I became head of the department of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. I created a programme called SuperUROP (Super Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program), inspired by my own experience. MIT already had UROP and SuperUROP took that to the next level. It enabled undergraduates to publish papers in top journals. That was me replicating my own journey—persistence, mentorship and the values I learned growing up in India.
When I applied to graduate school after Berkeley, I was rejected by MIT. I remember calling the admissions office and speaking to them for an hour. I got quite emotional. But that was not the last chapter in my relationship with MIT. I eventually did my doctoral work with the same mentor who had once given me that summer research opportunity. I ended up working on low-power design, and the resulting paper with my adviser became one of the most cited in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. That paper played a key role in my becoming a faculty member.
What do these experiences say about you, and about MIT?
Not everyone gets accepted into selective programmes with limited space. There is a lot of talent out there. The key is persistence. I had a wonderful PhD experience at UC Berkeley, and my advice to students is: make the most of the platform you are given. That is the most important thing. Better opportunities will follow. So many students I talk to do not get admitted to MIT or other institutions, but I tell them that is not the end. There is still so much they can accomplish.
How do you plan to strengthen MIT’s partnerships with industry?
During my eight years as dean, I led the creation of many interdisciplinary programmes, focusing on new models for how academia and industry work together to accelerate the pace of research. This resulted in the launch of initiatives, including the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium, the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, the MIT-Takeda Program, the MIT and Accenture Convergence Initiative, the MIT Mobility Initiative, the MIT Quest for Intelligence, the MIT AI Hardware Program, the MIT-Northpond Program and the MIT-Novo Nordisk Artificial Intelligence Postdoctoral Fellows Program.
As MIT's inaugural chief innovation and strategy officer (CISO), working closely with our president Sally Kornbluth, I helped launch the MIT-GE Vernova Energy and Climate Alliance, the Generative AI Impact Consortium (MGAIC) and the MIT Health and Life Sciences Collaborative (MIT HEALS). In each case, we are helping industry allies connect with faculty whose work is of interest, and creating mechanisms, including seed funds, to inspire new faculty collaborations across academic disciplines as well as with people in industry and hospitals focused on related problems. Our industry collaborations are also key to supporting research excellence and the next generation of talent. The industry collaboration allows us to scale our solutions rapidly for impact. Expanding our industry connections is a high priority for me. This is particularly true in areas such as AI, biotechnology, semiconductors, quantum computing and manufacturing.
What is your approach to integrating the humanities with STEM at MIT?
MIT has an incredibly rich history of incorporating the humanities in undergraduate education. I only see the importance of the humanities, arts and social sciences growing. The humanities play a central role shaping our STEM students today. As CISO, I co-led the creation of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative (MITHIC). It fosters an ecosystem of individual excellence and cross-cutting collaboration in humanities research, as well as providing the substrate for collaborations between the humanities, arts, and social sciences and STEM.
Collaboration with scholars in our human-centred disciplines has already led to important new initiatives at MIT. The Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing draws on expertise from across the Institute to integrate social and ethical considerations into our computing curriculum. With new courses like Ethics of Computing, co-taught by a philosopher and a computer scientist, our aim is to ensure those who will create and deploy new computing technologies do so responsibly and in the public interest. MIT is launching a new graduate programme in music technology and computation this autumn. This programme is truly multidisciplinary, with faculty, labs and curricula coming from the Music and Theatre Arts Section and the School of Engineering.
For MIT to have the greatest impact, we must continue to champion this interdisciplinary and human-centred approach to educating the leaders of tomorrow, conducting research and solving challenges.
What steps are you taking to protect academic freedom, especially in light of President Trump’s criticisms of universities?
MIT’s ability to produce groundbreaking discoveries and innovations depends on its ability to be self-governing—and on the freedom of our faculty, research staff and students to pursue the directions in research that they deem most important and fruitful. These are bedrock principles and we stand by them.
What kind of support will you offer Indian students in these difficult times, especially with regard to visa challenges?
I was an international student, and I have been through those kinds of processes, so I understand what it feels like from the other side. How do we maintain MIT’s success and leadership? By being a magnet for the finest talent from around the world. Bringing in diverse perspectives to solve problems is essential. We must understand how people around the world think. I believe in that more than anything. It is a top priority for me to support our graduates in ways that maximise their global impact, whether they remain in the United States or return to their home countries. I believe very, very strongly that the United States should continue to encourage top talent from other countries. That has helped build the US economy in the past, and it will do so in the future. I will work hard to ensure that everyone who joins the MIT community feels welcome and valued.
Could you tell us a bit about your family and your interests outside of MIT?
Someone once asked me what my hobby is, and I said, “MIT!” It feels like that sometimes. But outside of MIT, I enjoy watching sports, especially American football. It is something I am very passionate about. I have three children—two daughters and a son—and they all have different interests, which is great. Honestly, the roles I have held are very intense, and I am deeply committed to supporting our community, so I do not get a lot of time for other activities. I am a vegetarian and I enjoy food from all over the world, including Indian cuisine, of course. I do go back to Chennai, though not as often as I would like. I certainly plan to visit more often.
Finally, what personal quality do you consider most important in dealing with the challenges you face? What do you think you uniquely bring to the role?
There are a couple of things. One, I do not always show it, but I am very empathetic. I try to put myself in someone else’s shoes and understand their perspective. At the same time, I enjoy solving problems and getting to solutions quickly. So really understanding other perspectives is something I try to do consistently. But this is also a very fast-paced role, so you have to be decisive and act quickly as well.
Lavina Melwani is a New York based journalist and blogs at Lassi with Lavina.