Nomination Process

Candidates for the MLK scholar program must be nominated by a member of the MIT faculty. Once a faculty host has been identified, they will work with the candidate to complete a nomination. The faculty host will submit the nomination on the candidate’s behalf.

No. However, MLK scholars who are new to the Cambridge area may visit MIT Off-Campus Housing, or discuss additional options with the program director.

Typically, MLK scholars are employees of the Institute, and receive compensation and benefits from MIT. However, scholars who wish to keep benefits from their home institutions may work with their faculty hosts and the program director to be appointed as MIT affiliates and compensated through their home institution.

Yes.

Scholars should work with their faculty host’s academic department to secure office space, get an MIT email address, and answer other questions about onboarding.

If you would like to extend your MLK scholar appointment for an additional year, discuss with your faculty host and the program director as soon as possible. Requests for extension are considered along with the nominations for each year’s cohort.

The nomination period is typically open from mid-November to February of the following year, for appointments for the subsequent academic year. Information about this year’s process can be found on the selection process page.

Appointments are typically for one year at a time, to allow for meaningful engagement with the MIT community while continually inviting new scholars to campus. If a scholar is nominated for  only one semester, the engagement plan must describe how that scholar can make an impact within the shorter period.

• Candidate’s information and CV
• Name of faculty host
• Engagement plan, written and agreed to jointly by the candidate and faculty host. The plan should consider interacts with MIT in:
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Student mentoring (graduate and undergraduate)
  • Community life (for example, efforts to advance diversity and inclusion, or outreach efforts)
• Budget
• Letter of nomination by faculty host
• Letter of endorsement by the relevant DLCI head and school or college dean

Contact the program director for a copy of the nomination form.

Strong candidates advance academic excellence, social justice, and equality for all through their work. Their nomination materials demonstrate how their presence at MIT will continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of service and social justice.

The committee also aims to have representation from all of MIT’s schools and a balance of different social identities in each cohort.

No, though MLK scholars may teach as part of their engagement plan. Teaching as well as other parts of the engagement plan should be discussed with the faculty host. 

As members of the MIT community, MLK scholars are listed in the campus directory. If you would like to reach the cohort as a group, contact the program director.

The ICEO will provide a maximum of $150,000 per year for pre-tenure professors. Up to $200,000 will be considered as needed, based on academic rank. Departments may also contribute toward the costs of hosting a scholar.

Yes. An MLK scholar may be hosted by multiple faculty hosts from multiple departments or schools. When a scholar is hosted by multiple departments or schools, all schools will need to sign off on the letter of endorsement or provide individual letters of endorsement.

Letters of nomination should articulate the intellectual and research contributions that a scholar will make to the host’s academic department, and they should describe, through the engagement plan, how that scholar will interact with the MIT community.

A letter of endorsement should convey leadership, departmental, and school support and commitment to the success of the scholar’s visit.

The nomination period is typically open from mid-November to February of the following year, for appointments for the subsequent academic year. Information about this year’s process can be found on the selection process page.

Appointments are typically for one year at a time, to allow for meaningful engagement with the MIT community while continually inviting new scholars to campus. If a scholar is nominated for  only one semester, the engagement plan must describe how that scholar can make an impact within the shorter period.

• Candidate’s information and CV
• Name of faculty host
• Engagement plan, written and agreed to jointly by the candidate and faculty host. The plan should consider interacts with MIT in:
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Student mentoring (graduate and undergraduate)
  • Community life (for example, efforts to advance diversity and inclusion, or outreach efforts)
• Budget
• Letter of nomination by faculty host
• Letter of endorsement by the relevant DLCI head and school or college dean

Contact the program director for a copy of the nomination form.

Strong candidates advance academic excellence, social justice, and equality for all through their work. Their nomination materials demonstrate how their presence at MIT will continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of service and social justice.

The committee also aims to have representation from all of MIT’s schools and a balance of different social identities in each cohort.

No, though MLK scholars may teach as part of their engagement plan. Teaching as well as other parts of the engagement plan should be discussed with the faculty host.