By Peter Dizikes

MIT President L. Rafael Reif today announced the creation of the MIT Morningside Academy for Design, a major interdisciplinary center that will build on the Institute’s leadership in design-focused education and become a global hub for design research, thinking, and entrepreneurship.

The new academy, which aims to foster collaboration and innovation on campus, will be housed in the School of Architecture and Planning. Projected to launch in September 2022, it will create and administer academic and research programs across MIT, especially between the School of Architecture and Planning and the School of Engineering. It provides a hub that will encourage design work at MIT to grow and cross disciplines among engineering, science, management, computing, architecture, urban planning, and the arts. The academy will strengthen MIT’s ongoing efforts to tackle pressing issues of global importance, such as climate adaptation, public health, transportation, and civic engagement.

The academy was established through a $100 million gift from The Morningside Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the T.H. Chan family.