Comprehensive fundraising initiative aims to raise $5 billion to advance Institute’s work on some of the world’s biggest challenges.

MIT President L. Rafael Reif today announced the official launch of the MIT Campaign for a Better World, a comprehensive fundraising initiative that will amplify the Institute's distinctive strength in education, research, and innovation, and will advance MIT’s work on some of the world's biggest challenges.

MIT has a history of discovery, knowledge creation, and innovation. Through the MIT Campaign for a Better World, MIT aims to extend that track record, raising $5 billion in support of efforts that, as announced by Reif, will enable a future where fundamental science unlocks new knowledge; where climate change yields to climate action; where clean energy is universal; where everyone can count on clean water and nourishing food; where we detect disease before it has symptoms; where Alzheimer's itself is just a memory; where good ideas don’t languish in the lab but flourish in the marketplace; where daring companies create thriving industries and achieve lasting progress; where prosperity is measured not in dollars alone but in the currency of art, culture, and understanding; where quality education is radically more available; and where we offer the world's undiscovered talent a digital path to a creative future.

To ensure that MIT continues to attract a community of exceptionally talented students and faculty, and provides the infrastructure their pioneering work demands, the Campaign is also committed to strengthening the Institute's core — increasing resources for undergraduate financial aid, graduate fellowships, and professorships; reimagining residential living and educational spaces; and developing innovative research facilities such as MIT.nano.

"Humanity faces urgent challenges — challenges whose solutions depend on marrying advanced technical and scientific capabilities with a deep understanding of the world's political, cultural, and economic complexities," Reif said.

"We launch the Campaign for a Better World to rise to those challenges and accelerate positive change. In this effort, we seek the support of enthusiastic partners who share our sense of mission and infinite possibility — including our remarkable alumni, who do the great work of MIT in the world every day," he continued. "Together, through this Campaign, we will give the brilliant minds and hands of the MIT community the fuel and the focus to make inspiring progress for the world."

The Campaign is guided by six priority areas that span the full breadth of MIT:

Discovery Science: Transforming our world through fundamental scientific research

Health of the Planet: Addressing critical environmental and sustainability challenges facing humankind through science, technology, design, management, and policy

Human Health: Defining the future of health through advances in basic science and engineering — informed by expertise in disciplines such as management, economics, and political science

Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Accelerating the path from idea to impact

Teaching, Learning, and Living: Reimagining education for the 21st-century learner

The MIT Core: Attracting extraordinary students and faculty, and providing them with the resources they need to thrive

"The MIT Campaign for a Better World represents an important and historic undertaking," said Julie A. Lucas, MIT's vice president for resource development. "Its priorities transcend disciplines and reflect the breadth and depth of the Institute's commitment to bringing real change to the world. This is an extraordinary moment in the life of MIT."

As of the end of the first quarter of 2016, MIT has raised over $2.6 billion toward the Campaign goal, with gifts coming from more than 77,000 alumni and friends. The Institute's most recent comprehensive fundraising campaign ran from 1997 to 2004.

"This Campaign will have far-reaching positive implications for the world at large," said Robert B. Millard '73, chair of the MIT Corporation. "It is an opportunity to re-inspire, reenergize, and recommit the MIT community to our shared vision and values, while amplifying the power of our students, faculty, and staff to shape the future by providing them with the resources they need to do their best work.”

For more information on the MIT Campaign for a Better World, visit betterworld.mit.edu and follow #MITBetterWorld.