MIT Commencement Program 2004 - Includes Address by Elias Zerhouni, President of the National Institute of Health

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KAISER: Welcome family and friends of the MIT graduating Class of 2004.

[APPLAUSE]

I am speaking to you up here at the head of the commencement stand. Can you all see me? I'll wave. Can you see me? Great. Hello. I think our picture is also on the big television screen over there, the jumbotron. My name is Jay Kaiser, and I'm an emeritus professor at MIT. And this is what emeritus professors do. We entertain you until your graduates come into this beautiful court.

I'm joined by my colleague Warren Seamans, who, for 32 years, was associated with MIT and known, most of all, as director of the MIT Museum. There's no one at MIT who knows more about MIT lore and history than Warren.

We will be visiting with you for the next hour or so as we await the arrival of the guests of honor-- your children. They are currently gathering in the Johnson Athletic Center on the west side of the campus, and they should be joining us at about 9:50. If you take a look at the screen, you can see them over in the Johnson Athletic Center now through the magic of television.

It is now 8:18. Please synchronize your watches. During this time, we will also have some video pieces to show. So make sure that you have a good view of the screen. And we'll share with you a variety of perspectives of the MIT experience that the students had when they were here.

This is a gorgeous day. Rarely has there been a day when I could say, look up in the sky, and you will not see a cloud. It's amazing. We have really been blessed with this beautiful day, and it's a beautiful day for us and for you. We've been dodging rain. It rained yesterday. It rained the day before. But no rain today, and that makes this commencement setting a special one.

The court has a rich and interesting history. And as I said, there are few people who know more about that history than my colleague Warren Seamans, who will tell you a little bit about the place you're now sitting in. Warren?

SEAMANS: Welcome, welcome, welcome. It is a great pleasure for me to be here again this year. I think it's important to know a little bit about this holy center of MIT.

88 years ago, in 1916, this was dedicated when this new campus was built and dedicated June of 1916. Since that time, it has served as really the Institute's public living room-- everything from graduation commencement ceremonies through the inauguration of new presidents to a lot of social activities, some of which you will see on our video screens today.

Over the years, it has served as a meeting place. Traditionally, over the history of the place, the first actual meeting of the freshmen class coming in was held here in-- it was known as the Great Court. In 1974, it was renamed Killian Court after James Rhyne Killian, who had just stepped down as chairman of the MIT Corporation.

This has served in many other ways as a center for MIT life. In 1930, June 6 of 1930, Karl Compton was inaugurated president in this locale. At that day, in comparison to today, it was 106 here in the Killian Court. It's also interesting to note that the ashes of at least two MIT presidents have been sprinkled or spread in to the Great Court. So it is truly a significant center of MIT.

I thought it would be interesting, since we are here, to take a look at the object that's directly behind us on the speaker's podium. That's the great seal of MIT. You will notice from looking at it that it has a lot of significance to the group meeting today.

1861 is the day of the actual signing of the MIT charter. That would be 134 years-- 33 years ago-- 143 years ago, and this has been always part of the MIT story. Over the years, they've tried to upgrade it, to change it, but it always comes back to use of the original MIT seal. "Mens et Manus," "Mind and Hand," are opposed to the Science and [AUDIO OUT] artist and the scientist.

And Science and Arts are repeated on the chapters-- on the spines of the books that are on the mantle of learning. So you'll get an idea of this, and you'll see this used in a lot of other places. With that, I'll turn back to Jay.

KAISER: If you look behind you, you'll see a glorious cityscape. It's one of the most beautiful, I think, in the United States. And so be sure you take a moment at some time to look at the cities-- the view of the city from the Killian Court here.

In the beginning when MIT was designed, I believe this court actually went all the way down to the river, and you could actually dock at the end there. Now, of course, Memorial Drive is a major thoroughfare. Well, as Warren said, the ashes of two presidents have been scattered here. So I'd like to ask you to be careful where you walk.

And while you're doing that, we're going to roll our first tape. This court provides many activities-- a place for many activities at MIT. And occasionally it's used as a flight test site for our robotic helicopter developed by students at MIT. If you'll take a look at the jumbotron, we'll show you video of what that looked like.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- This project is to demonstrate what automatic [INAUDIBLE] maneuvering for an aerial vehicle.

- In the Killian Court, we have done a flight in so-called control augmentation system, where the pilot gives very high-level commands, for example, go forward or go sideways or turn, go slightly higher, slightly lower. The pilot doesn't have to take care of stabilization of the system. That's done by automatic control system.

- The vehicle we did not work on. We purchased a vehicle directly from a miniature aircraft.

- Nice.

- We picked this machine because it's very cheap. It's mass manufactured, and we could outfit it with our own electronics very quickly.

- So this is our ground station. It's a very old laptop, about three years old. It's around [INAUDIBLE] time [? for ?] rating system. And it gets the data from the helicopter about the sensors and the state-- attitude, velocities, altitude, and everything else. And the ground station operator monitors that all of sensors are doing fine.

And then we take all this data, we analyze it. We record the trajectories of acrobatic maneuvers that Roger has performed, and we designed the controllers that follows this trajectory.

- So what happens is we use filtering technologies in order to synthesize this information into a complete and accurate estimate of where the helicopter is and what's it's doing.

- Now, previously on a small rotorcraft, and larger rotorcraft as well, when they were flown autonomously, have been flying very non-aggressive trajectories. And what we have contributed is autonomous aggressive maneuvering. So we were able to design the control laws that allow us to perform an aerobatic maneuver completely hands-off.

- The applications could include news gathering, so gathering video footage of hard-to-explore areas, top of mountains, top of volcanoes, fire situations, any environment which is very [? computated, ?] very contrived, and they require [INAUDIBLE] machines to operate.

- You can also use it for a number of [INAUDIBLE] applications, for example, [INAUDIBLE] and [? pursuit. ?]

- There's an aesthetic component to our research, which is to make such machines as graceful as possible. What we would want is that this machine eventually behaves and flies as well, if not better, than a bird.

- Altitude, altitude.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[END PLAYBACK]

KAISER: Now, that tape that you just saw was the work of Eric Feron, and his office is in the new MIT Stata Center. Hi. And I met him recently. That's one of the great things about the center. It's very easy for people to meet one another.

And one of the things that the tape didn't show you was that Eric has this ability to write backwards. He can write backwards with either hand. Now, you might say, what good is that ability?

Well, his office has a glass door. And if you write backwards on the inside, you can read it right side up on the other side. And so that's what he does. He wrote his name and his office backwards in the Stata Center.

The students being honored today have been at MIT during a period of unprecedented growth in our student life and learning programs, resulting in the construction of new dorms, new classrooms, and a beautiful new athletic center.

For people like Warren and me, who have been at MIT for, well, 30, 40 years, MIT is really taking on a completely new look, and we hope you'll get a chance to enjoy that. The new dormitories, the new athletic center, even the Stata Center itself has just opened up. It all gives-- it's just MIT doesn't look the same anymore.

We recently produced a series of short video retrospectives where students talk about the MIT experience outside of their classrooms and laboratories. And if you'll watch the humongous-tron behind us, you'll catch a glimpse-- you may catch a glimpse of one of your children. So here we go.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

[MUSIC - "THE ENGINEERS' DRINKING SONG"]

(SINGING) We are, we are, we are, we are, we are the engineers. [INAUDIBLE] We can, we can, we can, we can.

- There's clubs for everything. And people are doing it, and MIT gives them money for it. And there's so much to do here, which I did not think. I thought everybody would just be holed away in their lab somewhere.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- They let you have a whole diverse group of opportunities for you to kind of follow, and you can easily transition from one to another.

- The expectations of today's students are different. They expect more of their universities than I think the generation of students maybe 20 or 30 years ago. They expect their universities to provide a range of services and opportunities, which many universities didn't provide 30 years ago when I came here.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- I think it helps keep them sharp. I think it contributes to the mental health. It's a great way to blow off steam from the intense classroom experience and then the sheer intensity of the place. That hasn't changed either, in fact, if anything, it's more intense. So I think it's just a key to leading a very well-balanced life. And gee, they have a lot of interests nowadays too.

- A lot of students who come to MIT were very involved in things in high school. I held several leadership positions in tons of clubs, and I wanted to continue that while I was here.

Because for me, learning isn't just about doing the curricular aspect of things, like just learning biology or learning about cells. It's about learning how to be a leader, how to be a better person through activities that you're in. And you gain a lot of skills from working with people and learning from people as well.

- Mr. Worthing and I are engaged to be married.

- Pardon me.

- Because MIT did have all of it, I definitely thought that it was the place for me.

- We've come to understand that the full experience for the student really needs to have this sense of community. And a community means what happens in residential groups? What happens in sports with intramural and formal sports events and collegiate sports events? What happens in music groups? What happens day to day as students work with each other and with the faculty?

- There are only so many things you can learn in the classroom. And I've been here for three and a half years now, and definitely the most I've gotten out of my college experience has not been things I've learned in the classroom. It's definitely been the opportunities I've had outside of it.

- These are going to be the future leaders, someone who is able to do the work at MIT and who are top-level athletes, musicians, drama stars. Whatever their passion is, we want to find the best. And it's not mutually exclusive with the academics.

(SINGING) Don't you lose your head.

- It's been something that's given me a lot personally, and I feel something that's going to give a lot back to the community at MIT and the rest of the world in the future.

- I think the current MIT student comes out and sees a much wider range of opportunities. They will lead companies. They will lead groups within companies. They will go to government, to nonprofit organizations. And all the skills they acquire, not just in the classroom, but in the full community life of being an MIT student, will be a tremendous value to them.

(SINGING) Yes, we are, yes we are. We are the engine-- we are, we are, we are, we are the engineers.

[END PLAYBACK]

KAISER: Yep. All right, this is the part of the program where we'd like to meet some of you. And we thought it might be fun to talk to those of you who have come from the farthest distance. So if you think you've come the longest distance for this graduation, come up to us. We're standing right over here by the screen. You can all see me.

Come up, and we'll talk to you about where you're from. So those of you who have come the longest distance. Now, remember, longest distance is not London. That's just, I mean, London, just around the corner. And not Hoboken. Hoboken just seems far. Ah, here's somebody. Good, hi. And let's have some others. If you think you've come the longest distance, please come here.

In the meantime, let's check in and see how the students are doing over in the Johnson Athletic Center. Hi, can you hear me over there? You can hear me? Yes, can we work on the sound there, because I can't quite hear you.

JK: Mike, they can't hear me. You want me to go louder?

KAISER: Yeah, that's good. [INAUDIBLE].

JK: All righty.

KAISER: That's good. What's your name?

JK: JK.

KAISER: JK?

JK: Yep.

KAISER: That's my initials-- Jay Kaiser.

JK: [LAUGHS]

KAISER: What do you know, Where are you from, JK?

JK: I'm from India, but I grew up in the Middle East.

KAISER: And where did you grow up?

JK: In Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman.

KAISER: So how many languages do you speak?

JK: Fluently, or languages I assume I speak?

KAISER: Languages in which you could conduct a conversation.

JK: Four.

KAISER: And what are they?

JK: English, Hindi, Tamil, [INAUDIBLE].

KAISER: Amazing. That's wonderful. And what did you major in? What was your major?

JK: Aero/astro.

KAISER: And do you have a job?

JK: Yep, I'm on staff at MIT.

KAISER: Wow. Do you have a place to live?

JK: Yep, 1010 Mass Ave. My folks are in the audience right now.

KAISER: Oh, where are your folks? Raise your hand. Are your folks here?

JK: Yep.

KAISER: Where are they?

JK: I got--

KAISER: Boy, you've got a lot of folks.

JK: [LAUGHS]

KAISER: Where are they? Oh, there they are. JK, they're waiting for you.

JK: I know, I know. Hang on, let me introduce you to some people who are here.

KAISER: Terrific, please.

PRETORIUS: Hi, I'm [? Jakob ?] Pretorius from South Africa.

JK: Where are you from in South Africa?

PRETORIUS: [INAUDIBLE].

JK: South Africa?

PRETORIUS: Johannesburg.

KAISER: I've been to Johannesburg.

JK: He's been to Johannesburg.

PRETORIUS: Oh, he has?

KAISER: Yeah. Where do you-- let's see, jacaranda. That's right, jacaranda trees grow in [INAUDIBLE].

PRETORIUS: Yeah, very nice. But Pretoria is actually the city for jacaranda trees.

KAISER: Yeah, I've been to Pretoria too, nice town.

JK: He's been to Pretoria as well.

KAISER: And your name is, what, [? Jakob? ?]

JK: [? Jakob? ?]

PRETORIUS: Yes.

KAISER: And are your parents here?

PRETORIUS: They should be there, and my wife should be on stage too.

KAISER: You're married?

JK: You're married?

PRETORIUS: Yes.

KAISER: Good for you. You look like you're 16.

PRETORIUS: I'm not prepared to disclose that information right now, thanks.

KAISER: I don't blame you. All right, it's nice talking to you guys. We'll come back to you in a few minutes. But we're going to roll another tape over here to entertain your parents.

JK: All right, cheers.

KAISER: Take care. See you, JK. When I got a [INAUDIBLE], I'll come to you. When the Class of 2004 were sophomores, a good number of them took MIT's renowned engineering course 2.007. This is the much emulated course where students design, engineer, and build a machine that accomplishes a specific task. All this hard work culminates in an end-of-semester contest, which is the big event at MIT.

At this contest, students compete head to head in MIT's most exciting spectator sport. We offer you a look at some of the participants and their clever machines. You might recognize your graduate as they appeared when they were hard at work as sophomores. 2.007.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- 3, 2, 1, go!

- It's time again for the granddaddy of all the student engineering contests-- the annual battle of machines built by sophomores at MIT.

- And now comes the fun part-- calling my mom.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- This year's contest, hatched six months earlier, involves a teeter-totter beam and a swinging 8-pound ball. The challenge is to build a machine that starts out sitting on the beam and that after exactly 45 seconds has managed to tilt its side of the beam down working against an opponent trying to do the same thing. There's a 10-pound weight limit for each machine and a box of parts to make it from.

- There are a bunch of structural materials that they can--

- Each of the 100-plus students in the contest, which is actually a course in mechanical engineering, gets an identical kit of stuff, including several electric motors from home power tools, as well as things that seem like mechanical leftovers. What would you do with this?

- Nobody in the class knows what that is.

[LAUGHTER]

- We had a--

- So nobody-- you don't know what this is?

- No one knows how they're going to use it.

- Usually, people just do this-- pop it in and take the motor and do something with the motor and then toss that back in there. What it is good for is--

- It is a mistake to toss that away? After several weeks of brainstorming and designing their machines on paper and computer, the class sets to work manufacturing them. After 14 weeks of design, construction, and testing, the machines faced one last hurdle.

- Fit it in the box however you can get it in.

- Yeah.

- To qualify for the contest, every machine must fit within the box its parts came in.

- Did that go straight?

- Yeah, there.

- All right. Put the lid on, please.

- Woo-hoo.

- Before an expectant crowd at MIT's ice hockey arena--

- 2, 1, go!

- --Nick Martin's machine, flawless in tests, doesn't give him his money's worth.

[INAUDIBLE]

- It fell over. That was of depressing. I'd never seen it before. And I tested it, ran it. But I guess that's what engineering is all about.

- The first semifinal, and now it's Will Lark's turn to face Will DelHagen's jack. Almost before the car has even jumped off the beam, the jack is hoisting it up. All Will DelHagen has to do is stand by and watch as Will Lark's car desperately tries to hook around the jack and yank it away.

[CHEERING]

- 4, 3, 2, 1.

- For Will Lark, it's the end of a great run.

- That's my only way I could've gotten it was was trying to mess him up, so.

- 3, 2, go.

- The second semifinal. It's Alex [? Jacobson's ?] mobile jack against a simple extender that has quietly made it through round after around. For a moment, it looks like Alex has gotten trapped by the corner, but then-- so for the finals, it's mobile jack against mobile jack.

- There was a lot of things I didn't get done that I wanted to get done. But everything I needed, I guess, I finished, so.

- We tracked Alex down behind the scenes, where it turned out he'd been conspiring with Will. Good friends who have been comparing notes ever since the class began, Will and Alex now plan a final collaboration. Carefully choreographed, the two robots jack the whole apparatus an inch off the ground with the beam dead level.

- Doghouse.

- The result is a tie.

- Double win?

- Double win. Double win.

- Or, in MIT speak, a double win.

- Double win.

- This has never ever happened before. And we're so happy it did, because we like doing things different.

- Double win.

[END PLAYBACK]

SEAMANS: Scientific American-- the clip you've just seen is credited to Scientific American Frontiers. The 2.007 contest remains MIT's most widely attended spectator event. But a lack of spectators does not prevent MIT students from participating in athletics. In fact, it is not widely known, but MIT fields more NCAA athletic teams than any other school in the country, with the possible exception of that other school up the river. As this video illustrates, MIT students don't sit in the stands. They participate.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- MIT sponsors a uniquely expansive athletic department which features 25 intercollegiate sports, 40 club sport offerings, and 42 intercollegiate athletic programs.

- Athletics are part of this notion of building a community and building a complete individual's education.

- I certainly feel more well rounded because of it. I feel that I've had the chance to excel in different aspects of my life.

- MIT has the largest number of academic All-Americans in the country, with 114 since the program began in 1980. I think it showcases that our kids are doing exceptionally well in the classroom as well as on the field.

- At the beginning of each season, the football coach says, gentlemen, the first priority for you is going to be your academics. Second priority is going to be football. And if your list doesn't look like this, then you shouldn't be in this room.

- Nearly 60% of our undergraduates compete in organized sports at some level on campus.

- It's a good thing because I met a lot of people that I wouldn't have met otherwise, who I would see afterwards. And I'm like, oh, you're on my IM team. So how's it going? How's your research?

- They don't exist for themselves. They don't exist for the alumni to make the alumni feel good. We have them because they're part of the educational experience.

- [INAUDIBLE]

Out and into the water, down.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- The crew boat itself, a 70-foot boat, is a micromanaged system in and of itself. You got the administrator in your coxswain. And then you've got your powerhouse. You've got your stroke, who is your leader of your powerhouse.

And then you've got your 4 and 5 seats who are the peak of your boat. And then you've got your bow, who kind of guides you along in the little directions left and right. And so together you work as a team to the common goal.

- They learn incredible amounts about leadership, teamwork, sportsmanship, and courage, the willingness to take risks and push their abilities beyond what they think they can achieve.

- I have learned to push myself during races and during practices so hard and commit myself to a certain goal unequivocally and in a way that I never had before.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- The MIT I knew in the '60s and early '70s had a proper emphasis on athletics and a tremendous diversity of sports and really emphasized participation. That part hasn't changed. But what's happened is there is even a greater variety of sports today.

- If MIT doesn't have something, be it a club or an organization or a sport, if two people want to do it, they'll let you organize it, and you can have it. It's up to the individual, but MIT will embrace that.

- It always has been in the past and always will be about opportunity for all.

- One of the things that I think is particularly striking about the athletic program at MIT is the emphasis on participation in sports rather than spectator sports. You don't see the whole campus coming out to watch the football game on a Saturday afternoon like you might find on some college campuses.

But you do see an incredible number of students that are engaged. Currently, about 20% of the students are involved in a varsity sport. About 80% of the students are involved in intramural sports. And 100% of the undergraduates are involved in the physical education program.

- So it really lets students pursue their interests, whether they pursue them as an extracurricular activity through their school previously or whether it's something brand-new.

- We've been able to make major investments in facilities and support services that have enhanced an already vital program.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

The biggest single change has been the opening of the Zesiger Center.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- The Z Center. That thing's just beautiful, man.

- It just seemed like the MIT campus became healthier because people were more willing to work out because there were more facilities and they were nicer.

- The new facilities have been made possible because there was a vision on the part of MIT, but then the facilities could not have been created without the financial support of the alums, who have come forth to say, yes, we recognize that that is an important priority, and we want to be able to support it.

- You'll be in there lifting weights, and your professor will be in there lifting weights also or something, and you'll say hi to him. And just little things like that, seeing people outside of the classroom and interacting not in an academic way, I think, really helps build the community.

- It's not just about the classroom or just about the laboratory, but it's about growing as a person. And part of that is working with other students or participating in sports or other sort of events, the arts, all of which will carry forward into their future lives.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[END PLAYBACK]

KAISER: If you count Europe and Asia as a single continent, there are six continents in the world, and we have three of them represented here. We have the man who has come the farthest, from Perth, Australia, is Tan. Raise your hand, Tan. He spent, what, 25 hours on the plane.

TAN: 25 hours flying [INAUDIBLE] from Perth to Boston.

KAISER: And you have-- how many children are graduating?

TAN: I got one child who's graduating now, yep, and she's in the Sloan School of Management.

KAISER: Sloan School of Management. And the next farthest comes from Bombay, India. Her name is Amita Parekh.

PAREKH: Hi.

KAISER: [INAUDIBLE]

PAREKH: One. He's graduating from the Sloan School of Management, and I'm very proud.

KAISER: Two comments, one graduate school. Our next comes from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hugo Batales. And your child?

BATALES: My child is Alexander Batales. He's [INAUDIBLE] in economics.

KAISER: In economics.

BATALES: Economics.

KAISER: And is he going to go back to Buenos Aires?

BATALES: No, I think he thinks to continue study in the school.

KAISER: Very good. And then finally, from Beirut, Lebanon, Michelle and Patricia Nabti.

NABTI: Hello. Yes, our daughter is Jumana Nabti and she's getting two masters, one in urban planning, one in transportation.

KAISER: Wow, that's wonderful. So tell me, Tan, since you've come the farthest, is this your first time you've been to the United States?

TAN: No, I've been here a few times, and I like America.

KAISER: Well, that's a relief.

[LAUGHTER]

It's good to hear that. I like Australia. And Hugo, is this your first time?

BATALES: No, I came many times. Actually, I was married with an American woman, and we got three kids, two born in Buenos Aries and one born in the States.

KAISER: And what do you do?

BATALES: I have an industry. I make fire extinguishers in Argentina.

KAISER: You make fire extinguishers. Would you give the people here a deal?

[LAUGHTER]

Hugo says, if there's anybody out there needs a fire extinguisher, see him. Tan, what do you do?

TAN: I'm a businessman. I make cakes.

KAISER: You make what?

TAN: Cheesecakes.

AUDIENCE: Mm, cheesecake.

KAISER: All right, now Tan is a friend of mine.

NABTI: He is my friend too.

KAISER: And what about you? What do you do?

PAREKH: I work in a bank in India, a private bank.

KAISER: I just changed allegiances. Michelle and Patricia, what do you do?

NABTI: Yes. Well, I established a volunteer center for the country of Lebanon. So the last six years that's what I've been doing.

KAISER: And you?

NABTI: I spent a career at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace at Stanford University as Middle East area specialist.

KAISER: So your area of specialty is Middle East.

NABTI: Modern Middle East.

KAISER: So it's your fault.

NABTI: Yes.

KAISER: All right. So what we got to do here is break out a little cheesecake and break out a little fire extinguisher and have fun. Thank you very much, folks. It's really been marvelous.

AUDIENCE: Oh, wait. Here comes a proud mother.

KAISER: OK, we've got this-- we've got to [INAUDIBLE] people [INAUDIBLE]. All right. Now, I want-- oh, we have somebody else here? Oh, where are you from?

PARENT: I am coming from Chennai.

PARENT: India.

PARENT: India. And I'm mother of JK, who just talk.

KAISER: Oh, very good. Well, is Chennai farther than Bombay?

PARENT: Yes.

KAISER: JK, your parents are here. They want to know what you're up to. Thank you very much, folks. It's really been wonderful. Thank you very much. Let's give them a big hand.

[APPLAUSE]

He's got two. Hang on just a second. Now then, I would like to invite all those families who have the most MIT degrees back to back. In other words, if you have a child and you went to MIT and your grandfather went to MIT and your great-grandfather, come on up.

In the meantime, Killian Court is not only the setting for MIT's grand commencement ceremony, but it's a favorite setting for relaxation and recreation. This is something very special. Killian Court has also become a preferred hunting ground for MIT's resident red-tailed hawks. Apparently, a number of nesting pairs of hawks have decided, as many of you did four years ago, that MIT is a great environment for maturation and learning.

We recently had the pleasure, due to their choice of nest location, to witness up close a four-week process in which two down-covered chicks grew into fledglings that left the nest just last week. We offer this retrospective as we wait for your prospective fledglings to arrive. Take a look at the humongous-tron.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

- These baby chicks were hatched on April 9 in a tree just across the street from the Student Center. During the week of April 19, MIT's in-house video production department set up a video camera and shared these images 24/7 throughout the Institute via MIT's cable TV system.

The following week, we began sharing the development of these chicks with the world via a 12-hour per day webcast. We were amazed at how quickly they grew. Many viewers wrote to tell us that they had detected visible growth within a single day.

Not unlike the graduates we honor today when they were just babies, the single mission of these youngsters was to be fed and to sleep. The parent hawks constantly doted on the chicks, delivering a nonstop assortment of Cambridge-area prey. Their first tentative steps resulted in the inevitable stumble and header. The parent hawks continued to fortify the nest as the babies grew.

These chicks also experience some of the same character-building New England weather that your children have been exposed to these past years. At different times, the outstretched wings of the mother protected the babies from a 2-inch dusting of snow or from several downpours.

And through it all, the chicks ate and grew and ate some more. During their sophomore period, the down gave way in places to feathers, and the now juveniles became more adventurous. More aggressive attempts at negotiating the nest earned similar results-- a face plant.

But as the footing became surer and the balance improved, it was time to stretch those wings and exercise those muscles. Now, as juniors, these students were learning as much as they could handle. Mother explained that the food they ate didn't just grow on trees. Lessons were provided in the value of the hunt.

And as the last bits of down were preened away and feathers continued to grow, the youngsters enthusiastically tested their abilities at defying gravity. As is usually the case, one of the siblings was far more the risk-taker, the trailblazer. Though only separated by perhaps a day at birth, it was clear that one of the siblings was far more anxious to explore life outside the nest.

Finally, graduation week had arrived. And just a week ago Tuesday, the more precocious sibling, who we named Kitty Hawk, jumped from the nest and glided safely to the other side of Mass Ave., landing on a bicycle rack in front of the Student Center.

MIT Campus Police, aided by a number of onlookers, secured the area, while the fledgling practiced take-offs and landings by flying from handlebar to handlebar. Over the next few hours, Kitty Hawk made its way, seemingly a branch at a time, up a nearby evergreen to an elevation where it gained enough confidence to attempt a return flight back to the nest, encouraged by cries from its mother.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Kitty Hawk provided encouragement to the less daring sibling, Mitzi, also known as Chicken Hawk. But Mitzi wasn't quite ready. Days passed, and Mitzi, although the spirit seemed willing, couldn't bring himself to venture beyond the nest.

We speculated that yet another torrential downpour might provide the necessary incentive, but Mitzi toughed it out. Food continued to be provided, and he now had a room all to himself. Why leave?

Parental and sibling encouragement continued, to where last Friday Mitzi jumped, flew to the highest point in the tree, and looked like he was ready. A gust of wind and a flurry of wings, and the less than gracious hawk stumbled downward--

[MUSIC PLAYING]

--luckily landing in the nest below. Failure breeds success, and Mitzi undoubtedly learned from that failed attempt. The very next morning, Saturday, 5:00 AM, Mitzi took his maiden flight. Perhaps he was waiting for a smaller audience or for the sun to finally shine.

But later that day, he and Kitty Hawk were spotted together on the highest ledge of the Student Center and have since been spotted on ledges and windowsills throughout the Institute. You may even see them flying about today.

This is indeed a place where the young learn while they mature and test their limits and learn from their mistakes and finally leave, with confidence and a sense of great accomplishment to stretch their wings and explore new horizons where possibilities are boundless. We wish them the very best.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[END PLAYBACK]

KAISER: Right now we're going to go back over to the Johnson Athletic Center to interview your children and see who we've got. So take a look at the screen, and I'll see who I can see. Who have you got over there?

LEE: How are you doing?

KAISER: Pretty good. What's your name?

LEE: My name is Kenny Lee. I'm class of '04, Sloan School.

KAISER: Oh, yeah. OK, Kenny. Everybody's Sloan School. But tell me, who are the people around you?

LEE: These are my best friends at MIT. I'm going to let them introduce themselves.

KAISER: Yeah, please do.

GOLDMAN: My name is Megan Goldman. I am class of 2004, undergraduate.

KIM: Mark Kim, class of 2004, MBA. Shout out to all those on the West Coast. Let's hear a cheer.

BUTLER: Hi, I'm Katie Butler. I'm an [INAUDIBLE] EECS of 2004. Whoo!

LEE: Nice.

[? MABLEY: ?] Hi, I'm Mandy [? Mabley, ?] class of 2004, Sloan. Hi, mom, dad, Scotty, Kelly, Molly.

LEE: Hi, my name's David Lee, class of 2004 at Sloan, from Fairfax, Virginia. What's up, mom, dad?

KAISER: So tell me, what's your name again, tell me?

LEE: Kenny.

KAISER: Kenny, did you meet all of these guys at MIT? You're at Sloan School, right?

LEE: That's correct.

KAISER: Did they all live with you or were you in the same dorm?

LEE: Part of it-- they want to know if we were all in the same dorm, did we live together?

BUTLER: Nope.

LEE: So there's a few of us from the Sloan School here. We all took the same classes, lived in the MIT graduate dorms.

BUTLER: Some of us live off campus.

GOLDMAN: I'm at Sydney Pacific. Hi mom and dad and Jan and Donnie.

KAISER: This is management. Tell me, will you guys-- do you think you'll be able to keep in contact with one another after you've graduated?

LEE: Do you think we'll be able to keep contact with one another after we graduate?

LEE: Oh, I definitely think we're going to stay in contact. I think one of the big things from MIT that I think I'll take was the networking, all the great friends we made while we been here.

KAISER: How about the others? What do you think?

MABLEY: Absolutely. The friendships will definitely last a lifetime.

KAISER: That's marvelous.

MABLEY: We'll stay in touch.

BUTLER: We'll definitely stay in touch, mostly because a lot of people are moving to California, like me, yeah.

KIM: I think the great thing about MIT are all the great people that you meet. So definitely stay in touch. A lot of these people will be my lifelong friends, especially Megan and Katie here.

KAISER: All right.

GOLDMAN: Yes, it's been very nice meeting Mark today.

KAISER: All right.

GOLDMAN: But I definitely will stay in touch with all of my friends.

KAISER: OK, Kenny?

LEE: Yeah, go ahead.

KAISER: I want you to, on three, I'd like you to have you and all of your friends wave to all of their friends and parents here in Killian Court. 1--

LEE: Well, actually, can I just interrupt? We've been working on a move for the past three days--

KAISER: Excellent, let's do it.

LEE: --perfecting it. On the count of three, we're going to do our move. Is everyone ready?

KAISER: Everybody, look at the screen.

LEE: We're kind of limbered up here. All right, you give us the count.

KAISER: A 1.

LEE: 1.

KAISER: 2.

LEE: 2.

KAISER: 3.

LEE: 3. Hey.

ALL: Yay.

LEE: Love you.

KAISER: Great, Kenny. That's the MIT wave.

LEE: Thank you.

KAISER: Wow, that looks like they're having a very good time over there. I wonder if they'll ever come over here. MIT has just recently celebrated the completion of the long-awaited Ray and Maria Stata Center, a Frank Gehry-designed building that is the home to the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratories, the lab for Information and Design Systems, and the Departments of Linguistics and Philosophy.

I'm a member of the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, and I have an office in the Stata Building. If you haven't seen it, you must go see it. It's on Vassar Street, and it's that very odd-shaped-looking building.

None of the lines are straight up and down. They're all sort of at angles. In fact, the worse fear of the architect is that there will be an earthquake and straighten the building. So we're going to see a video tape that's going to compress into a few moments the building of this remarkable edifice.

[VIDEO PLAYBACK]

[MUSIC - "TAKE FIVE"]

[APPLAUSE]

- I'm sure that the legacy of the great accomplishments that were born in Building 20 that you've all heard about here today are going to be preserved and extended and enhanced in this new space that will replace the time-honored building.

- We are thrilled that we will be able to move there, and our generations of students and researchers to come will be able to continue to innovate and help us lead better lives.

- This piece of land in this part of the campus will mark the information science, cognitive science, and biology parts that will drive much of our economy and much of our knowledge in this next century.

- We have the best faculty and the best students. And soon they will have the group of buildings of the quality they deserve.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- This is also a building that pushes the edge of design and construction technology. It's a building that was built entirely from a three-dimensional digital model.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- One of the things that we really wanted from the start was room to think, and this literally gives us plenty of room to think. There's light. There's air.

- It's like an ecosystem. It has everything we need.

- I love it. It's like living in a diorama.

- It's made me use my imagination, and I think that's what it's all about.

- The transition from the inside world to the outside world is gradual, and there seems to be a union between the inside and the outside.

- Just amazing space, amazing space. You see, we have the two floors here, the first floor, the second floor. Each slab is organized that way.

- The space is really original. And I really like the fact that a lot of the neighborhood organized around open spaces that really encourage collaboration and informal meeting, just bumping into each other.

- I thought it was rather traditional.

- I love the fact that I don't have to go outside to get to the main campus.

- I was really excited to see how beautiful the space is. It's really just these lofted ceilings and a lot of community areas.

- There was always a community, but it was a community in spite of the architecture. Here we have a community abetted by the architecture.

- What I have is a view not of Boston or Harvard, but a view looking right into the building. So I get to see Frank Gehry every day as I look out of my window, and I like that.

- Stata is a building that's bubbling over with the joy of invention, the pleasure of space and light, the satisfaction of making something well, and the enjoyment of being members of a vital, argumentative, bursting with ideas community. This is a building that combines superb technology with humanity and fun.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

[END PLAYBACK]

KAISER: We are about to interview the MIT generations. But before we do, I'd like to make a brief announcement. The MIT News Office has produced a brochure that outlines the accomplishments of Chuck Vest's administration and career at MIT. That brochure is available at the tent behind you, and you can pick it up any time you like.

It's a very interesting brochure, and it picks up every one of the important points of Chuck's career, which, as you know, will come to an end as president with this commencement after having been president for 13 and 1/2 years. So the MIT News Office has made that available to all of you.

Now we have behind me the generational MIT group. So we're going to first start with you, ma'am. What is your name?

[? LAPIN: ?] Marian [? Lapin. ?]

KAISER: And tell us how many generations?

[? LAPIN: ?] We have three generations in my family-- my husband class of 1935, my son class of '64, and now my grandson, who's getting his master's in 2004.

KAISER: That's unbelievable. Your husband was class of '35?

[? LAPIN: ?] Yes, he was an electrical engineer, and he worked for RCA for many years.

KAISER: That was the year I was born. May I ask how old you are?

[? LAPIN: ?] Yes, 91.

KAISER: How about that? May I have this dance?

[? LAPIN: ?] I'd rather play tennis.

KAISER: Do you play tennis now?

[? LAPIN: ?] Yes, I do, I do, several times a week, indoors in the winter, outdoors in the summer.

KAISER: Is that what you attribute your good health and--

[? LAPIN: ?] Yes.

KAISER: --to tennis?

[? LAPIN: ?] Yes.

KAISER: All right, everybody, take up tennis. And this man here is her son.

[? LAPIN: ?] But not the one that went to MIT.

KAISER: Yes, he went to Penn. That's Okay, Penn's good, Penn's good. And you, ma'am?

KELLER: Hi, I'm Margie Keller, and I'm here with my husband Rob Keller. Our daughter Karen Keller is graduating in 2004. I graduated in 1968 in physics. My husband graduated in 1970--

KELLER: '70.

KELLER: --a PhD in physics. And my daughter's grandfather has a master's in chemistry in 1948.

KAISER: How about that? And you, ma'am?

[? SHEREN: ?] Elizabeth [? Sheren. ?] My father-in-law is class of 1930, Sloan School, and I come back for my 30th reunion, also from the Sloan School. And my son is graduating today in Course 8.

KAISER: All right, folks, that's it. If I counted correctly, there's something like 12 generations of MIT graduates represented in this line. That's really amazing. Thank you so much, and especially to you. You are wonderful.

[? LAPIN: ?] I want to know what happened to the tar hut. I remember coming on a fancy day in May, and young men were trying to climb this hut that was covered with black tar.

KAISER: Oh, I know what happened. Do you know what happened? Warren will tell you what happened.

SEAMANS: [INAUDIBLE] rush, is what that was, yeah.