Paula Hammond 84 and Arup K. Chalkraborty, PhD 93 were named Institute Professors. This is the highest honor given to MIT faculty members.Chakraborty is the founder director of MITs Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. He pioneered the use of computational techniques in immunology. His research has resulted in discoveries about T cell function and helped to develop vaccines against highly mutable pathogens like HIV.Chakraborty is the Robert T. Haslam Chair of Chemical Engineering. He received his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and his doctorate from the University of Delaware. Chakraborty was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota before joining the MIT faculty as an instructor in 2005.He teaches in the Departments Physics and Chemistry. He is also a founding member of the Ragon Institute at MIT, Harvard, and MGH. This institute harnesses the immune system to treat and prevent diseases. Five awards have been given to him for classroom teaching. 24 of his former students are now faculty members at universities in various fields. He is a member of the Defense Science Board of US Department of Defense.Chakraborty considers being named Institute Professor his most significant honor. He says that this recognition is due to my inspirational faculty colleagues, my students whose curiosity makes me a better teacher, as well as the postdocs and students in my research group, who have taught me so many things.
