2 ResourcesHeroes challenge us

I grew up in the Chicano section of a southern California farm town where it was uncool to excel in math or science or to study much of anything except cars -- lifted trucks or low-riding Chevys. Being from the only white family in the neighborhood, I didn't spend much time playing outside amidst drug and gang violence. Very few kids went to college; practically none went to private universities.

I expected undergraduate studies at Caltech to liberate me from this background. But quickly I learned that one year ahead of me at Caltech, excelling in electrical engineering, was Chicano John Martinez. I hadn't seen far enough across the neighborhood to recognize a kindred spirit.

John and I both got into Caltech the same way -- by following our bliss, studying hard, and by accepting both encouragement and challenges from a remarkable science teacher, Richard Almy. John taught me to look beyond my expectations. John and Mr. Almy are two of my adolescent heroes.

More than thirty years later, as a MIT department head I have the good fortune to encourage and challenge others and occasionally to rattle a few expectations. My own physics department has a glaring deficiency: the students and faculty are overwhelmingly white male. A woman, Chicano, African-American or other minority scholar might understandably feel nervous about venturing out into this neighborhood, given the paucity of success stories.

The standard expectation is that MIT is a meritocracy where everyone is treated equitably, given equal opportunities for advancement, and evaluated fairly. Sometimes reality falls a little short of the ideal. But even a meritocracy is not enough when it overlooks the potential of the majority of our citizenry, and when those members of underrepresented groups feel as out of place here as I did when walking home from junior high school.

The status quo is unacceptable. Departments and universities that fail to attract more women and minorities fail to tap the largest talent pool in the U.S. Just as we invest capital in our future, we must also invest human capital to expand the opportunities for scholars from underrepresented groups. Doing so requires that we venture out of our neighborhood and look beyond our expectations.

Have you gone out of your comfort zone to find and develop talent?

What happened?