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MIT President wins WW Taplin Public Intellectual Award
This fall, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation presented MIT President L. Rafael Reif with the Frank E. Taplin, Jr. Public Intellectual Award, which recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to public cultural and intellectual life. The award is named in memory of longtime Woodrow Wilson Trustee Frank Taplin. Since taking office as MIT President in 2012, President Reif has put teaching and learning at the heart of MIT’s innovations with programs like edX and MITx. WW honored President Reif and his accomplishments at an event in Boston where he spoke about the power of digital learning:
We aim to use digital learning to democratize education. To reach those who want to apply themselves, clearing pathways that otherwise would remain closed. I believe in the power of access because I have lived it. And I want others to live it, too. Imagine a world in which all those who seek an education have access to it and, equipped with that education, dedicate their lives to make the world better.
Read President Reif’s full remarks here and see photos from the event above.