Sally Kornbluth | |
|---|---|
 Kornbluth in 2023 | |
| 18th President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Leo Rafael Reif |
| Provost of Duke University | |
| In office July 1, 2014 – December 31, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Peter Lange |
| Succeeded by | Jennifer Francis (interim) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sally Ann Kornbluth 1960 (age 63–64) |
| Education | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cellular biology |
| Institutions | Duke University Duke Kunshan University |
| Thesis | Modulation of Cellular src family Tyrosine Kinases: Phosphorylation State and Polyomavirus Middle T Antigen Binding (1989) |
| Doctoral advisor | Hidesaburo Hanafusa |
| Other academic advisors | John Newport |
| Doctoral students | Daniel Colón-Ramos |
Sally Ann Kornbluth (born 1960) is an American cell biologist and academic administrator. She began serving as the 18th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in January 2023.[1]
Kornbluth was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey.[2] Her father George was an accountant[2] and her mother, Marisa Galvany, was an opera singer.[3]
Kornbluth received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in political science from Williams College in 1982 and a Bachelor of Science with a major in genetics from the University of Cambridge, in 1984. She received a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular oncology from the Rockefeller University in 1989.[4]
While at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, she was a Herchel Smith Scholar. She worked at the laboratory of Hidesaburo Hanafusa when at Rockefeller University,[5] and performed postdoctoral training with John Newport at the University of California, San Diego.[6][7]
Kornbluth joined the faculty at Duke University in 1994. Her research focuses on cell growth and programmed cell death and how cancer cells evade apoptosis.[8][9] She is interested in the role of programmed cell death in regulating the length of female fertility in vertebrates, in a mechanism regulated by caspase-2.[7][10][11]
At Duke she received a Research Mentoring award in 2012 and the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Duke Medical Alumni Association in 2013. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2013.[12]
In 2014 Kornbluth became Provost at Duke, the first woman to serve in this role.[6][13] As Provost, she oversaw a leadership transition in which female Deans became a majority at Duke.[14] She is an advocate of liberal arts education and has stated that her own experience in a liberal arts school at Williams College led her to a career in the sciences.[15] She is also an advocate for on-line learning as a driver of pedagogic innovation.[16]
She also served as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Duke Kunshan University,[17] overseeing the appointment of Al Bloom as the university's Executive Vice Chancellor in 2020,[18] and the launch of the WHU-Duke Research Institute in 2014.[19]
Kornbluth served as provost from 2014 to 2022 and vice dean for basic sciences at Duke University School of Medicine from 2006 to 2014.[12][4]
In 2022, Kornbluth was selected as the 18th president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, succeeding L. Rafael Reif in this role in 2023.[20][1] At her inauguration she outlined objectives for the institute including accelerating work on climate change and strengthening links between engineering and life sciences.[21]
Following the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel,[22] Kornbluth and the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University were called to testify before a December 2023 congressional hearing about antisemitism on their campuses.[23] When asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) whether calls for "genocide of Jews" was harassment under university policies, she responded, "If targeted at individuals, not making public statements."[24][25] This statement by Kornbluth (who is Jewish)[2] has been described by Stefanik (who is not Jewish) and others as antisemitic, including calls for Kornbluth's resignation.[26]
Kornbluth is married to Daniel Lew, a professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.[2] They have two children.[2] Kornbluth is Jewish.[2]
