Colbert, Isaac M.

Dates

• Existence: 1946

Biographical Note

Isaac (Ike) M. Colbert, born 1946, was the dean for graduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He earned a bachelors degree in psychology from Johns Hopkins Univerity in 1964. He received an MA (1971) and PhD (1974) from Brown University in experimental psychology. Colbert began his career at MIT as a consultant to the Office of Personnel Development, a role he served from 1977 to 1979. He became assistant equal opportunity officer in 1979, manager of faculty and staff information services in 1982, and assistant to the vice president of financial operations in 1986. In 1988, Colbert joined the Office of the Dean of Graduate Education as associate dean. From 1995 to 1996 he served as acting dean for graduate education. In 1996 he became senior associate dean. Colbert was named dean for graduate students in 1999, becoming the first Black academic dean at MIT.¹ He retired in 2007.

1. “MIT Names Its First Black Academic Dean,” Black Issues in Higher Education 16, no. 7 (May 27, 1999): 34.

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