Janet E. Fischer

With devotion and tenacity, Janet E. Fischer has created a diversity program that recruits graduate students while changing perceptions inside and outside MIT. CONVERGE, a graduate preview weekend that began in 2004, has made under-represented and under-served populations realize that MIT cares and has places for them. CONVERGE rests on one woman’s shoulders; she has tirelessly championed it, made sure it happened, and made it outstanding. The MIT Summer Research Program also claims her as an integral element in its success, for she determined what the Program looks like, identifies faculty mentors, participates in community service, and organizes faculty seminars. She has also been very committed to helping develop a thriving post-doc community. Thanks to this tremendously thoughtful, hard-working, and humble woman, people who would not necessarily cross paths do so because she focuses on long-term gains that foster community. This award goes to Janet E. Fischer, whose imprint benefits any project, its participants, and MIT.