It is impossible to recount all of the ways in which Jon Allen
stands so prominently in the life of RLE and of MIT. The Allen Fund
celebrates one of his enduring areas of impact—his devotion
to the success of young MIT professors—and seeks to continue
his important work. In this brochure,we present remembrances from
many of those faculty members who joined MIT during Jon’s
tenure as Director of RLE.
RLE today has a new generation of young faculty poised to make
outstanding and yet to be imagined contributions to the future.
Their potential is great, but so are their needs. They face a funding
environment far more difficult than that of their predecessors.
The financial pressures on our new faculty grow more demanding every
year. RLE’s young professors are taking us in pioneering intellectual
directions; they are crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries.
Their spirit of curiosity, discovery and innovation merit our energetic
support.
We are committed to doing whatever we can to assure their success.
We need partners, however, to help us match the outstanding promise
of RLE’s new generation with the resources to make that promise
a reality. Please join us and others in this mission that was such
a central concern to Jon Allen by making a contribution to the Allen
Fund today.
Jeffrey H. Shapiro
Director
Julius A. Stratton Professor
of Electrical Engineering
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SRINIVAS DEVADAS
Associate Head, Department of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
and
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
"I had the good fortune of not only joining RLE when
I came to MIT in 1988, but also joining the RLE VLSI group
that Jon belonged to. I received a lot of help from Jon during
my first few years in RLE, the time when I needed help the
most. He was always there to make things easier, so I could
concentrate on research and teaching. So much so that I thought
I was getting special treatment because I was part of the
same, small research group, but as I realized years later,
he was giving the same attention to each of the junior RLE
faculty, and making them feel special as well." —
Devadas |
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DENNIS M. FREEMAN
Professor of Electrical Engineering
and Magaret MacVicar Faculty Fellow
Research Laboratory of Electronics
"I am forever grateful to Jon for his unwavering support
throughout my career at RLE, but especially when I was first
appointed as a professor. When I was struggling to define
my path through research that bridged biomedical and imaging
technologies, Jon took the time to talk with me, to read my
manuscripts and grant applications, and to read entire books
so that he could better advise me." — Freeman |
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MARTHA L. GRAY
Edwin Hood Taplin Professor of Medical and Electrical Engineering
Co-Director, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
"'Why don’t you come by sometime soon, and tell
me what you are up to,' Professor Allen (whom I barely knew)
said to me one afternoon. I don’t know what made him
offer, nor do I know what made me follow up on it. But, I
did. And on that day, as in our many meetings over the years,
he was very generous with his time and wisdom. His patience,
insight, and integrity were extraordinary. (This isn’t
to say that our conversations were easy, or that he didn’t
have extremely high expectations for me!) He was among my
most important mentors—the kind you read about and try
to exemplify; the kind you hope all faculty have the good
fortune to know (and to be); the kind you really miss when
they are gone."— Gray |
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QING HU
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Research Laboratory of Electronics
"What mattered the most for me as a junior faculty member
was Jon’s immense interests in my research activities
and his unshakable confidence in my ability to achieve the
objectives, even though some of my projects turned out to
be much more challenging than I initially thought. From the
first day I met him, Jon always made me feel that MIT in general—and
RLE in particular—appreciated my contributions and was
the most suitable place for me to develop my career. It was
his unyielding confidence and support, along with that of
others, that helped me to get through the many ups and downs
that any junior faculty member will encounter." —
Hu |
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WOLFGANG KETTERLE
Associate Director, Research Laboratory of Electronics
and
John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics and 2001 Nobel Laureate
Research Laboratory of Electronics
and Center for Ultracold
Atoms
"When I joined the faculty in 1993, I knew from the
beginning that Jon would be a mentor I could count on. He
exemplified the best qualities of MIT. He was an example for
scientific curiosity, critical assessment, inner strength,
and pursuit of high standards. I still remember that he took
time to listen to my presentations before program reviews
and provided critical and encouraging feedback." —
Ketterle |
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LESLIE A. KOLODZIEJSKI
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Research Laboratory of Electronics
"Jonathan Allen was a strong, supportive Lab Director,
a caring and devoted mentor, and a sincere, attentive personal
friend. Jon Allen was a hero of mine. Jon did all that was
possible within RLE and MIT to enable the successful creation
of innovative state-of-the-art facilities; he used the breadth
of RLE resources to nurture the research programs of new faculty
like me. Jon’s intellectual capacity amazed me as he
tirelessly worked to understand and promote each and every
research endeavor within the Lab. Before even arriving at
MIT, Jon welcomed me with open arms into the RLE family and
I will remain loyal to RLE forever, thanks to Jon." —
Kolodziejski |
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JACOB K. WHITE
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science
Research Laboratory of Electronics
"When I joined RLE in 1987, I, like Jon,worked in the
area of computer-aided design of integrated circuits. Jon
initially made sure that I had research support by putting
together a successful NSF Presidential Young Investigator
application for me, and by sharing his funding and research
contacts at IBM. In addition, Jon helped me build my research
program by participating in group meetings, encouraging and
providing support for several large on-campus reviews that
helped establish industrial contacts, and by offering advice
on supervising graduate students.With so many faculty and
so many Lab issues to worry about, I will never know how Jon
found the time to offer me so much individual help, and I
will be forever grateful for that help." — White |
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GREGORY W. WORNELL
Professor of Electrical Engineering
Research Laboratory of Electronics
"Jon was such an important figure for junior faculty
in RLE, and such a strong advocate of what we were trying
to accomplish. Since so much of what he did was behind the
scenes,much of it we only learned from others years later.
But collectively these things made a big difference, from
championing the unique space and resource needs of a new faculty
member’s group to taking the time to read in detail
about the research itself and providing the kind of deep,
thoughtful feedback that makes it stronger. I will never forget
his selfless dedication to the laboratory, its mission, and
its youngest faculty." —Wornell |
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Tenure-track Associate and Assistant Professors in RLE
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