Nobel Prize in Physics for Prof. Emeritus Rai Weiss
To the members of the MIT community,
What a wonderful morning!
I write with the exciting news that Rainer Weiss, SB ’55, PhD ’62, emeritus professor of physics, has just won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics. He shares the award with two key collaborators in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) effort that, just over two years ago, produced the first direct evidence proving Einstein's prediction of the existence of gravitational waves.
You can read more here.
And at 10:30 AM Eastern time, please join us by webcast for the press conference.
We join with the Physics Department in celebrating this extraordinary honor for Rai and his colleagues. And — with deep appreciation also for the work of Michael Rosbash PhD ’71 and his co-laureates, who were awarded the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine just yesterday — I ask that we pause to savor the beauty and thrill of scientific inquiry, and of what can be accomplished when society makes a sustained investment in the power of human exploration.
Hurray, Rai!
Sincerely,
L. Rafael Reif