Dean of Engineering, Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, MacVicar Faculty Fellow

Ian A. Waitz is Dean of the School of Engineering and the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been on the faculty at MIT since 1991 and was the department head in Aeronautics and Astronautics from 2008 until his appointment as dean in 2011.

As Dean, Waitz has focused on advancing the mission of the School of Engineering through the development of new programs and spaces for innovation and entrepreneurship, novel models and opportunities in residential education, expanded pathways for engagement with the Institute’s alumni, friends, and industry partners, and programs and policies that will further enable MIT’s ability to provide an exceptional learning and research environment for students, faculty, and staff.

As a researcher, Waitz has made advances in gas turbine engines, fluid mechanics, combustion, and acoustics. The principal focus of his current work is on the modeling and evaluation of climate, the air-quality and noise impacts of aviation, and the assessment of technological, operational, and policy options for mitigating these impacts. He served from 2004 to 2014 as Director of the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER), an FAA, NASA, DOD, EPA and Transport Canada-sponsored Center of Excellence with participants from a dozen universities and 50 industry and government organizations. In addition to scholarly publications, Waitz has contributed to several influential policy documents and scientific assessments, including a report to the U.S. Congress on aviation and the environment. He holds three patents, and has consulted for many organizations. In 2003, Waitz received a NASA Turning Goals Into Reality Award for Noise Reduction, and in 2007 he was awarded the FAA Excellence in Aviation Research Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and an American Society of Mechanical Engineering and American Society of Engineering Education member.

Waitz teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the fields of thermodynamics and energy conversion, propulsion, and experimental projects. He was honored with the 2002 MIT Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Award and an appointment as an MIT MacVicar Faculty Fellow in 2003.

Waitz received his BS in 1986 from the Pennsylvania State University, his MS in 1988 from George Washington University and his PhD in 1991 from the California Institute of Technology.