Melissa Nobles
Chancellor Melissa Nobles
- MIT
Chancellor Nobles is the Class of 1922 professor of political science and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1995. Before being appointed chancellor in 2021, she served as the Kenan Sahin Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS) and as head of the Department of Political Science.
As chancellor, Nobles is responsible for overseeing more than 60 interconnected offices that support undergraduate and graduate students’ academic success, foster community and wellbeing, and cultivate personal and intellectual growth. Chancellor Nobles also works closely with senior leaders to develop and implement the Institute’s strategic priorities and to “Educate the Whole Student“.
Nobles graduated from Brown University with a degree in history and received her MA and PhD in political science from Yale University. She has held fellowships at Boston University’s institute for Race and Social Division and Harvard University’s Radcliffe Center for Advanced Study. She served on the editorial boards of Polity, American Political Science Review, and Perspectives on Politics as well as the guest editor for a special issue of Nature.
Nobles has been involved in faculty governance at MIT and beyond, serving as associate chair of the MIT faculty from 2007 to 2009, vice presidents of the American Political Science Association.