MIT Establishes Excellence Through Adversity Award to Honor Robbin Chapman of Wellesley College

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has established the Dr. Robbin Chapman Excellence Through Adversity Award. The new award will be presented to a senior at MIT from an underrepresented group who has demonstrated excellence and leadership.

Robbin Chapman is the former manager of diversity recruiting at the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT and also served as the inaugural assistant associate provost for faculty equity at the university. Since 2011, Dr. Chapman has been associate provost and academic director of diversity and inclusion at Wellesley College, the highly rated liberal arts educational institution for women in suburban Boston.

At the ceremony announcing the award, Dr. Chapman explained that “being African-American in a predominantly white institution, I experienced the same systemic barriers and challenges that are seen across higher education. Those included isolation, marginalization of my course and lab work, expectations of intellectual inferiority, and deficits in mentoring. Having someone believe in you and your abilities is critical, and this award may inspire the recipient to continue inspiring others to make the fullest use of their time and talents.”

Dr. Chapman holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT. She is the co-editor of The Computer Clubhouse: Constructionism and Creativity in Youth Communities (Teachers College Press, 2009).