A new portrait marks the legacy of L. Rafael Reif, MIT's president from 2012 to 2022. Painted by Jon Friedman, the portrait was unveiled at a recent gathering at Gray House, where portraits of many of Reif's predecessors also adorn the walls.
The unveiling served as something of a reunion for many MIT faculty and staff members who had worked closely with Reif at various points in his four decades at MIT, especially his decade as president. It also featured several generations of the Reif family and special friends such as cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Susan Whitehead, a life member of the MIT Corporation and life board member of the Whitehead Institute, and Ray Stata '57, SM '58, co-founder of Analog Devices, gave remarks honoring Reif and his impact at the Institute.
MIT President Sally Kornbluth opened the event by welcoming the audience to the president's residence on campus.
"As we all know, Gray House belongs to the MIT community, which means that each family who lives here takes responsibility for stewarding the place for the future. Which, in a grander sense, is a pretty good way of describing what it means to be president of MIT," she said.
Applauding the "many grand things he set in motion," Kornbluth described several of Reif's impactful achievements as MIT's 17th president, such as establishing the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing , leading the revitalization of Kendall Square , and envisioning and launching The Engine , MIT's venture firm for "tough tech."
"Each of those achievements helped prime MIT for the future, and each one has had powerful positive effects well beyond our community too," Kornbluth said, noting that the term "tough tech" didn't even exist before the establishment of The Engine.
"MIT has been an exceptional place from the very start, and it has had quite a few visionary presidents. But there is no question that MIT was more exceptional when Rafael finished than when he began. And we owe him a great debt of gratitude," Kornbluth said.
