An executive committee of faculty and senior staff has been appointed to lead the MIT Media Lab through a transition period, effective immediately and until a new director is in place and acclimated.

The committee was formed in response to a request by the MIT provost to the dean of the School of Architecture and Planning, to work with the Media Lab community on transitional leadership for the lab and the search for the next director.

Pattie Maes has agreed to serve as chair of the committee. The five members of the committee and their areas of responsibility are:

Pattie Maes, professor of media arts and sciences: future lab governance model and search for new director;

Deb Roy, professor of media arts and sciences: executive director of operations and communications;

Tod Machover, professor and head of the Program in Media Arts and Sciences: community engagement and culture change;

Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research: policies, practices, and culture of research; and

Ramona Allen, the School of Architecture and Planning’s assistant dean for human resources and, as of Oct. 1, MIT’s vice president of human resources: administrative organization.

“I am grateful to Pattie and the members of the committee for rising to the occasion under these challenging circumstances,” says Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. “These have been exceptionally difficult times for the Media Lab, and I want to thank the members of the community for their dedication to the lab and for their commitment to real change.”

The committee has been tasked to chart a future of greater inclusion and transparency for the Media Lab. Committee members will reach out to the lab community with further information about its agenda and mission.