Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Office of the President and Chancellor, Records of the Assistant to the President and Provost, Norman C. Dahl

The Office of the President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was established at an organizational meeting in 1862 following the incorporation of MIT on April 10, 1861 (Massachusetts Acts of 1861, Chapter 183), as a three-part body consisting of a “society of arts, a museum of arts [industrial arts], and a school of industrial science.” The president is the chief executive officer of MIT and serves as an ex officio member of the MIT Corporation and of the following Corporation committees: the Executive Committee, of which he is chairman, the Development Committee, and the Membership Committee.

MIT History, Office of the MIT President, 2005

The provost is the senior academic officer of the Institute. He or she shares responsibility with the president and the academic deans for supervision and leadership of the Institute’s policies, plans, and priorities as they affect all academic programs. The provost, working with the executive vice president, also has responsibility for coordinating the budgeting of the Institute.

The academic offices within the Institute that report directly to the provost include the deans of the schools; the deans of the interdisciplinary centers, laboratories, and programs; the director of the Libraries; the director of Lincoln Laboratory; and the associate provosts for research, educational policy, and the arts. The provost also coordinates educational and research activities that do not fall under the jurisdiction of any one school, such as interdepartmental collaboration among faculty sponsored jointly by different departments.

The Office of the Provost was created in the spring of 1949. The first provost was Julius Adams Stratton, who continued to have the responsibilities of the Office of Provost when he was later appointed vice president and provost in 1952. During his term as MIT president, Stratton appointed the second provost, Charles Hard Townes, in 1961.

The provost is currently (as of 2010) a member of the following Institute-wide councils: Academic Council, Faculty Council, Administrative Council, and the Council on Educational Technology. The provost is also a member of the Committee on Resource and Space Planning, the Building Committee, the Budget and Finance Steering Committee, and the Enrollment Management Group.

MIT History, Office of the MIT Provost, 2014