On July 2, 2012, Massachusetts Institute of Technology will bid farewell to its current president, Susan Hockfield, and hello to a familiar face in a new office. L. Rafael Reif has served as the provost of MIT for the past seven years, and as it was just recently announced, he will be taking over Hockfield’s position as president starting this summer.

Who is Reif? Reif was born in Venezuela. Of his childhood, he has said that he “grew up in a home wealthy in integrity and principles and values, but poor in everything material.” He graduated from the Universidad de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela in 1973, where he studied electrical engineering. He then moved to the U.S. where he earned a doctorate in the same field from Stanford University. Read the rest of this entry »

Kofi Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who also served as the Secretary-General of the United Nations for nine years. He is well known and respected for founding the Global AIDS and Health Fund to help developing countries care for their citizens and he received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for his efforts. EDUinReview will now take a look at the education background of this inspiring man.

Annan was born on April 8, 1938 in a small town in the Gold Coast section of Ghana. He had a twin sister, Eufa, who died in 1991. Twins in Ghana are very highly respected. Annan’s family was considered to be an elite family because they had tribal chiefs as ancestors.

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One of the most famous educational institutions in America, known for its prestigious degree programs and alumni and research projects, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) epitomizes intelligence and innovation.

However, the 160-acre campus, which boasted over 4,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students last year, does not reflect the stature of its reputation- at least in the opinion of its board of trustees. Thus, MIT is getting a $1.4 billion makeover.

“The physical campus was not keeping pace with the leading-edge research of our scientists and engineers,” Susan Hockfield, MIT President, told the NY Times. Read the rest of this entry »

Remember the Jetsons? The futuristic-cartoon sitcom, complete with a robot maid and flying car, was supposed to take place in the year 2062. It’s only 2010, and while we haven’t totally caught up with the whole flying-car thing, The University of Southern California is testing a robot that can teach.

These teaching robots stand three feet tall and can maintain eye contact with its student. This recent technology has been proven to be most successful in children with developmental problems. Currently, it can only teach simple skills like vocabulary and household tasks.

Right now, these robots have mostly been used in experimental settings, and they’re directed by artificial intelligence software including speech recognition and motion tracking.

These “teacher’s aids” seem to be best used in settings that require the most repetition like foreign language or for teaching autistic children. Read the rest of this entry »

Searcy Hall, nicknamed the pet central dormitory on Stephens College campus will be home to 30 incoming freshmen who have requested to bring along a pet to campus when they arrive this fall to begin classes.

The dorm will feature a makeshift kennel on the first floor that will be fully staffed by work-study students who will offer temporary boarding and maybe even pet baths to keep all the Fidos and Rovers clean.

There is even a pet council at the college, comprised of students and faculty members that enforce strict guidelines. Students may get into trouble with the board if their pets’ barks are too loud. In addition, students are not allowed to bring their pets into classrooms or lounges in case students nearby have allergies.

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Adam Wheeler: Image Via CNN.com

Seemingly motivated and on-track for a bright future, 23-year-old Harvard student Adam Wheeler appeared to be the ideal candidate for all of the scholarships, grants and internships he had applied to and received.

But when Wheeler applied for the Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships in September of 2009, the professor reviewing the materials noticed his work appeared to be plagiarized. The professor alerted officials and they began an investigation, which found that Wheeler had not only falsified transcripts and other documents, but also had submitted perfect but fake SAT scores that contributed to his initial acceptance to Harvard.

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