Cynthia Barnhart, the first woman provost of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has announced she will step down from her role on July 1 and return to a full-time faculty position following a sabbatical.
Dr. Barnhart has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1992. She currently holds the title of Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management Science and Professor of Operations Research. Her primary appointments are in the department of civil and environmental engineering and the Sloan School of Management. She is also affiliated with the Operations Research Center and the Center for Transportation and Logistics. Her academic work centers around large-scale optimization and analysis for transportation and logistics systems.
In 2007, Dr. Barnhart was appointed associate dean of the School of Engineering. She soon served as acting dean of the school from 2010 to 2011. Three years later, she was appointed as MIT’s first-ever woman chancellor. In this role, she was responsible for all student operations. She served as chancellor for over seven years until her appointment as provost in 2022. As provost, Dr. Barnhart serves as MIT’s chief academic and budget officer, overseeing all academic and faculty operations.
Dr. Barnhart earned her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Vermont, where she currently serves as chair of the board of trustees. She received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in transportation systems and optimization from MIT.