怀念MIT查尔斯·维斯特先生

张利华

知道MIT的查尔斯·维斯特先生是在翻看顾佩华翻译的《重新认识工程教育——国际CDIO培养模式与方法》

（Rethinking Engineering EDUCAITON :tHE cdio Approach）时，第一次读他写的前言就相见恨晚，愣是

全文抄写了一遍。不仅如此，还分享给了一些当时对CDIO理念好奇的小伙伴。

记忆中最深刻的一句话，是那句“学生是由激情、好奇心、参与和梦想驱动的。尽管我们不可能准确地知道

应该交给他们什么，但我们能够把注意力集中在他们学习的环境和背景，他们的动力、想法、灵感，

为他们提供充分展示自己的空间。”

看这本书时，我刚刚进入CUIT信息管理与信息系统专业教研室，正在思考如何让形同“空中楼阁”的《管理信息

系统》课程变得更加“切合中国企业管理信息系统建设实际”。仅仅冥思苦想其实是想不出来什么好的解决方

案的，唯有在实践中去验证。在这之前，我已经在社科基金课题的研究论文里构思出了智能甄别系统的框架，

也重新设计了其运行机理，但是怎么把这个系统“造”出来，“用”起来确是我头疼的事情。这也是我后来申请调

入信息管理与信息系统专业教研室的原因之一。

我想，可能是因为现在我依然没有把这些系统“造”出来，所以才依然活力满满的持续探索着各种技术路径。

当然有时候也会觉得自己很幼稚和任性，为什么那么执着，非要把这个系统“造”出来呢？可能一定程度在于

之前构思这个系统的问题至今依然存在，形成这个问题的原因依然客观存在，不可能消亡，只能通过信息科技

一定程度缓解。我想这也是至今我依然对新兴的信息科技依然保持好奇和热情的由头吧。

为了把这个系统“造”出来，我大胆的从统计学院跳出来，跳到了管理学院，又跳到了物流学院，曾经一度还差

点想跳到了软件工程学院、自动化学院，但后来，我发现无论我跳到哪里，其实都在做同样一件事情，就是想

把那些“空中楼阁”一样的信管专业理论和方法用起来。而且每换个角度，又会发现新的缺憾，所以又会马不停蹄

的去学习新的东西。就这样，一晃，二十五年就过去了。

再过七年，我就要退休了，还有希望“造”出理想中的“可拓智能甄别系统”吗？我不知道，因为脑袋里的那个系统

模型总是变来变去。这个过程就像“盲人摸象”一样，一开始，你觉得大象很像一堵墙，但换个角度，你又惊奇的

发现，原来又很柔然，像一把扇子。再换个角度，你又恍然大悟，其实大象有时候还像一根绳子。就这样，伴随

着专业视角的改变，看似同样的象，变得越来越不像。怎么办呢？

停止想象，把想法及时记录下来，然后就现实条件先一定程度做个模型出来。甚至可以直接在现有产品中叠加

相应的功能。比如在阿尔法蛋的基础上，增加语音提醒，帮助童心未泯的自己了解现有计划与实际执行的差异，从而在

这样做下一轮滚动计划时，变得更加切实可行。

前段时间，再次翻开顾佩华老师的书，上网搜寻了一下，发现已经出了第二版，今日再次翻开顾佩华老师的书

突然很想了解这位写前言的先生目前的近况。没想到网络搜寻了一下，发现他已经去世了。有点遗憾，但还好

因为有互联网的存在，还能搜寻到他以前的一些记录。

查尔斯·维斯特（Charles M. Vest）是MIT第15任校长，在职期间，他期望通过自己的工作，特别是通过毕业生

的工作，让世界变得更加美好。期望用自己所管理的大学产生的知识，积极改善健康、经济，让更多人过上更

健康，更有品质的人生。

特别有缘分的是，1999年当我在中国驻南斯拉夫大使馆被轰炸事件中惊醒，开始思考自己作为计算机教育专业

大学本科生的未来时，我脑海里浮现出的“网络+教育”图景同年已经在MIT实现。只是那时候互联网还不发达，

就算有网络教育资源，身处中国西南某内陆大学的我也全然不知。

但冥冥中，可能人的脑电波是会同频共振的，所以，2000年的时候，我放弃了考了一半的研究生入学考试，开

始了自己沿海城市的探险之旅。很幸运的是，我有姐姐的引导，让我可以幸运的遇见当时走在B2B最前沿的张

翼光先生，让我知道，其实人的个性一定程度决定了他适合做什么。比如当时的我，在选择更喜欢跟人打交道

还是和机器打交道问题时，我居然给出了大学四年，前两年喜欢跟人打交道，后两年喜欢跟机器打交道的答

案。所以，原本是在销售部和技术部二选一的面试机会面前，张翼光先生给了我第三个选择，网页设计和制作

部。不得不佩服他的远见卓识，刚去了两个星期，我就快速解决了来自销售部客户的一个“投诉”项目。一个让

当时高级网页师都头疼的CHINA UFO玩具网站。就像Charles M. Vest 先生在前言中引用的某诺贝尔物理学奖

获得者的那个观点“当老师尝试从讲台走下来，走到学生旁边，会创造更多价值”。的确，当我身临其境的处于现实

场景中，看着客户和销售部、设计部“吵得不可开交”时，我忍不住笑了。经理当时看我笑得那么“莫名其妙”，于

是有点“挑衅”的说，咋的，你觉得你行？那你来试一下？我居然毫不犹豫就爽快答应了。用经理在旁边教了我

两分钟的“技能”，再加上脑海里浮现出的“有趣画面”，愣是做出了一个让经理和高级网页设计师“瘪嘴”，但客

户却高兴的“撤诉”了的主页。当经理给我发“奖金”时，其实当时他也很好奇，问我怎么知道那个客户想要什么？其实，

我也不知道，只是觉得我如果是小孩子的父母，一定会想给孩子买个UFO玩具，一个可以在夜空中飞来飞去的

UFO，于是想着想着，脑海里就浮现出夜空中，群星闪耀，UFO飞舞的动画。而且很巧合的是，公司素材库里刚好有

夜空，也刚好有UFO，还刚好有大大小小闪亮的星星。于是三下五除二，快速在网页编辑器里组装起来，还即

兴写了一首诗：飞翔，人类从古至今的梦想......后来，我想，可能那位客户和我一样也是童心未泯吧，所以才

会想着做个中国UFO玩具公司，还超前的在2000年给公司建个主页。

附录：麻省理工学院前校长 Charles M. Vest 去世，享年 72 岁 |麻省理工学院机械工程系

Former MIT president Charles M. Vest — a tireless advocate for research and science, and a passionate supporter of diversity and openness — died last night of pancreatic cancer at his home in the Washington area. He was 72.As MIT’s 15th president, serving from 1990 to 2004, Vest led the Institute through a period of striking change and growth. A mechanical engineer by training, Vest was president of the National Academy of Engineering from 2007 until earlier this year.During Vest’s presidency — the third-longest in the Institute’s 152-year history —MIT renewed its commitment to education and research through major innovations in both areas; developed strong ties with academic, government, and industry partners around the world; broadened the diversity of its people and programs; and transformed its campus with dramatic new buildings. MIT’s endowment nearly quadrupled during Vest’s tenure, growing from $1.4 billion to $5.1 billion.“Through its own work, and especially through the lives and works of its graduates, a great university can strive to make the world well,” Vest wrote in 2004. “The knowledge we generate, the things we come to understand, and the devices we build can improve health, economies, security and the quality of life. MIT must continue to be optimistic in its vision of why we are here and what we can do.”An era of multifaceted growthConsistent with Vest’s optimistic interest in the expansion of knowledge, MIT’s research enterprise grew substantially during his tenure. Vest spearheaded expansions into fields including brain and cognitive sciences (with the establishment of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Picower Center for Learning and Memory); nanotechnology (with the creation of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies); genomic medicine (with the founding of the Broad Institute); biological engineering; engineering systems; and new media, among others.“Personally and professionally, Chuck Vest set an exceptional standard of intellectual clarity, moral courage, and generosity of spirit,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif says. “And there was no better example of his vision and values than the creation of MIT OpenCourseWare — the simple, elegant, unprecedented idea that MIT should make all of its course materials available online to anyone in the world, free. Thanks to Chuck’s leadership, OCW has become a source of outstanding content for 150 million global learners, the model for the global OpenCourseWare movement, and the foundation and inspiration for everything we are striving to achieve with edX and MITx.”In 1999, Vest charged a faculty committee with considering how to use the Internet in pursuit of MIT’s mission. That committee, led by Professor Dick K. P. Yue, made a revolutionary proposal: the online publication of teaching materials for MIT courses, free and available to learners worldwide. By November 2007, OpenCourseWare had completed the initial publication of virtually the entire curriculum, more than 1,800 courses in 33 academic disciplines. MIT’s move would catalyze similarly bold efforts by universities around the world to democratize access to education.“Chuck Vest was a staunch supporter and champion of MIT OpenCourseWare literally from day one. OCW would not have been possible without his singular vision, courage, and leadership,” says Yue, the Philip J. Solondz Professor of Engineering and Professor of Mechanical and Ocean Engineering.Vest fostered MIT’s international engagement through large-scale ventures, often undertaken in conjunction with other institutions. These included the birth of the Singapore-MIT Alliance, intended to promote global engineering education and research using synchronous distance-teaching technologies.Closer to home, Vest undertook a major examination of student life and learning. His tenure as president was defined by campus innovations such as the introduction of cellular and molecular biology as a core requirement for all undergraduates; the establishment of the MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program to recognize and reward excellence in teaching; the creation of a five-year combined Bachelor/Master of Engineering program; a restructured housing policy including a common first-year experience; and the construction of three new student residences, all designed to enhance interaction among students and faculty, and a state-of-the-art sports and fitness center.Vest’s strong belief that MIT could best address certain educational and research challenges in partnership with others took the form of collaborations with industry that he helped foster. “Industrial issues have become intellectually challenging and exciting … and we need each other as never before,” he wrote in 1993.A scientist on the national stageOn assuming the MIT presidency — an occasion he later described as “a call to national service” — Vest set out to rebuild public understanding of and support for higher education and research. He became a regular presence in Washington, championing research, science, and innovative partnerships among universities, government, and industry. Vest logged more than 100 visits to the nation’s capital, personally conferring with some 250 federal officials during his time as MIT’s president.“Chuck came to lead MIT at a difficult time for American higher education,” says Paul Gray, who preceded Vest as MIT’s president. “In 1990, many in Washington had come to feel that the nation’s universities had not acted as wise stewards of their federal funding. He made frequent trips to Washington as an ambassador not only for MIT, but indeed, for academia as a whole — and he did so supremely well.”Vest served on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and chaired the Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the Department of Energy. At the request of President Bill Clinton, he chaired the Committee on the Redesign of the International Space Station, which revitalized the space station at a time when its future was in question.

"Chuck Vest was both a product and a champion of this nation’s powerful scientific and engineering community," Clinton says. "He served with distinction as an ambassador and spokesman for science in Washington, advocating tirelessly for the essential role of research in our economic growth and national security."

“Chuck Vest’s irrepressible good humor and easy laughter mixed effortlessly with his earnest, persistent pursuit of the right path in all things,” says Susan Hockfield, who succeeded Vest as MIT’s president. “He took up with passion the role of MIT’s president as national spokesperson for higher education and research policy. MIT affords an especially clear view of the dependence of the American innovation economy on federal investments in education and research, and President Vest expanded the Institute’s engagement in federal policymaking, becoming a consistent, trusted voice of the research university in Washington, earning the gratitude of college and university presidents across the nation. Later, as president of the National Academy of Engineering, he continued his role as advocate-in-chief of sound policies for education and research. At MIT and beyond, he will be terribly missed, because his advocacy success was inseparable from his personal warmth.”

“Chuck Vest was, above all, an extraordinary human being: Not only was he perhaps the most respected figure in higher education, he was a man of extraordinary decency, integrity, and grace,” says Lawrence S. Bacow, who served as MIT’s chancellor under Vest before being named president of Tufts University in 2001. “His principled courage stood him, and MIT, in good stead on countless occasions when the going got tough, and he was a good friend and extraordinary mentor to so many of us. I will miss him terribly."

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Vest became a national spokesperson on the importance of higher education and research to the nation’s well-being. As research universities grappled with the balance between security and openness, Vest argued directly, and passionately, in favor of the latter. “Knowledge creation thrives in openness and suffers in isolation,” he wrote in 2002.

In 2004, Vest was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the bipartisan Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction. The commission ultimately concluded that in reporting the presence of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, U.S. intelligence agencies were “dead wrong” and their collected information “worthless or misleading.” In 2006, Vest was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Bush "for his visionary leadership in advancing America's technological workforce and capacity for innovation through revitalizing the national partnership among academia, government, and industry."

A champion of diversity

Vest’s deft handling of one of his presidency’s greatest challenges — a public examination of MIT’s troubled history on issues relating to gender equity — ultimately proved a high point of his tenure, reinforcing the Institute’s status as a beacon of meritocracy.

In 1998, Vest forthrightly acknowledged serious gender-equity problems cited by senior women faculty in the School of Science; he then supported corrective measures to address longstanding imbalances. A stunningly candid and publicly released report detailing gender inequity at MIT — and Vest’s subsequent leadership on the issue —stimulated examination of gender equality at universities across the country.

“I have always believed that contemporary gender discrimination within universities is part reality and part perception,” Vest wrote in a much-cited preface to the MIT report on gender equity, “but I now understand that reality is by far the greater part of the balance.”

Vest’s leadership team, and those of MIT’s five schools, reflected Vest’s personal commitment to diversity and inclusion. Under Vest, MIT appointed its first female department head in the School of Science; its first two minority department heads in the School of Engineering; its first five female vice presidents; and the first African-American chancellor.

Throughout his presidency, Vest also strived to bolster the diversity of MIT’s student body and its faculty. Underrepresented minorities grew from 14 percent to 20 percent of the undergraduate population, and from 3 percent to 5 percent of the graduate student body. The number of women grew from 34 percent to 42 percent of undergraduates; when Vest stepped down as president, women outnumbered men in 10 undergraduate majors. The proportion of women graduate students increased from 20 percent to 29 percent during his tenure.

Vest was a staunch advocate of need-based financial aid. In 1992, MIT went to trial to fight the Justice Department’s contention that antitrust statutes were violated when top universities, including MIT, shared information about applicants’ financial need. A lengthy court battle ultimately established the “MIT Standards of Conduct,” enabling colleges committed to need-based aid to exchange certain data, and also led to legislation permitting colleges to adopt a common methodology for measuring need.

A campus reimagined

Vest’s presidency reinvigorated MIT’s campus, bringing new construction whose square footage exceeded the scope of MIT’s original 1916 campus in Cambridge. Indeed, as Vest left office, one-quarter of the Institute’s square footage had been constructed during his term. His tenure also produced some of MIT’s most celebrated buildings: Vest championed engagement with world-class architects to design facilities such as the Ray and Maria Stata Center; Simmons Hall, an undergraduate residence; the Albert and Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center; Building 46, which houses the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory; and the Media Arts and Sciences building.

“I believe that the buildings at this extraordinary university should be as diverse, forward-thinking and audacious as the community they serve,” Vest said. “They should stand as a metaphor for the ingenuity at work inside them.”

Beyond the construction of new facilities along Vassar Street, MIT’s revitalization of Vassar Street itself — with new trees, lighting, bicycle lanes, and paving — breathed new life into what had for decades been a grim and rundown area of Cambridge.

A career immersed in engineering

Charles Marstiller Vest was born Sept. 9, 1941, in Morgantown, W.Va.; 49 years later, in his inaugural address at MIT, he recalled his upbringing in “a warm family in a small town in West Virginia.” Vest earned a BS in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963, and MS and PhD degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan in 1964 and 1967, respectively.

Vest joined the Michigan faculty as an assistant professor in 1968, teaching courses on heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics, and conducting research in heat transfer and engineering applications of laser optics and holography. He and his students developed techniques for making quantitative measurements of various properties and motions from holographic interferograms, especially the measurement of three-dimensional temperature and density fields using computer tomography. He became an associate professor at Michigan in 1972 and a full professor in 1977.

In 1981 Vest’s career turned toward academic administration when he became Michigan’s associate dean of engineering. He was named dean of engineering in 1986, and served as Michigan’s provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1989 until he became MIT’s president on Oct. 15, 1990.

“Serving as president of a major research university is not a sandbox ambition for any child — I remain frankly astonished at the road that led me here,” Vest wrote upon stepping down as president in 2004. “But looking back at that road — the bends and dips, the forks and unintended shortcuts — I’m struck by how little one can predict at the journey’s outset and by how much of life comes down to how one handles the points where the roads cross. I am also overwhelmed with the sense of how much I owe to the insight, imagination, inspiration and judgment of the many, many gifted people I have been lucky enough to work with at MIT.”

Vest is survived by his wife, Rebecca; daughter and son-in-law, Kemper Vest Gay and John Gay; son and daughter-in-law, John and Christina Vest; and grandchildren Mary and Robert Gay and Ameri and Charles Vest.

（网页自动翻译）

麻省理工学院前校长查尔斯·维斯特（Charles M. Vest）——一位孜孜不倦的研究和科学倡导者，也是多样性和开放性的热情支持者——昨晚在华盛顿地区的家中因胰腺癌去世。他享年 72 岁。作为麻省理工学院的第 15 任校长，Vest 于 1990 年至 2004 年任职，带领该研究所度过了一段显着的变化和发展时期。Vest 是一名训练有素的机械工程师，从 2007 年到今年早些时候一直担任美国国家工程院院长。在 Vest 担任院长期间（该研究所 152 年历史上第三长的任期），麻省理工学院通过这两个领域的重大创新，重新致力于教育和研究;与世界各地的学术界、政府和行业合作伙伴建立了牢固的联系;扩大了其人员和计划的多样性;并通过引人注目的新建筑改造了其园区。在 Vest 任职期间，麻省理工学院的捐赠基金几乎翻了两番，从 14 亿美元增长到 51 亿美元。“通过自己的工作，特别是通过毕业生的生活和工作，一所伟大的大学可以努力让世界变得美好，”维斯特在 2004 年写道。“我们产生的知识、我们了解的事物以及我们制造的设备可以改善健康、经济、安全和生活质量。麻省理工学院必须继续对我们为什么在这里以及我们能做什么的愿景保持乐观。多方面增长的时代 与 Vest 对知识扩展的乐观兴趣一致，麻省理工学院的研究企业在他任职期间大幅增长。Vest 率先扩展到大脑和认知科学等领域（建立了麦戈文大脑研究所和 Picower 学习与记忆中心）;纳米技术（随着纳米技术研究所的创建）;基因组医学（随着 Broad 研究所的成立）;生物工程;工程系统;和新媒体等。“在个人和专业方面，Chuck Vest 在智力清晰、道德勇气和慷慨精神方面树立了非凡的标准，”麻省理工学院校长 L. Rafael Reif 说。“没有比创建 MIT OpenCourseWare 更好的例子来体现他的远见和价值观了——麻省理工学院应该将其所有课程材料免费提供给世界上的任何人。感谢 Chuck 的领导，OCW 已成为全球 1.5 亿学习者的优秀内容来源，成为全球开放课件运动的典范，也是我们努力通过 edX 和 MITx 实现的一切的基础和灵感。1999 年，Vest 责成一个教师委员会考虑如何利用互联网来实现麻省理工学院的使命。该委员会由 Dick K. P. Yue 教授领导，提出了一个革命性的建议：在线出版麻省理工学院课程的教材，免费向全世界的学习者开放。到 2007 年 11 月，OpenCourseWare 已经完成了几乎所有课程的初始发布，包括 33 个学科的 1,800 多门课程。麻省理工学院的举措将促进世界各地的大学为实现教育机会的民主化做出类似的大胆努力。“Chuck Vest 是一位坚定的支持者和拥护者从第一天起就 MIT OpenCourseWare 的 OpenCourseWare 的 OpenCourseWare 的 THE COURSE软件。如果没有他独特的远见、勇气和领导能力，OCW 是不可能的，“Philip J. Solondz 工程学教授兼机械与海洋工程教授 Yue 说。Vest 通过大型企业促进了麻省理工学院的国际参与，这些企业通常与其他机构合作进行。其中包括新加坡-麻省理工学院联盟的诞生，该联盟旨在使用同步远程教学技术促进全球工程教育和研究。在离家更近的地方，Vest 对学生生活和学习进行了一次重大审查。他担任校长的任期由校园创新定义，例如引入细胞和分子生物学作为所有本科生的核心要求;设立 MacVicar 教师研究员计划，以表彰和奖励卓越的教学;创建五年制工程学士/硕士联合课程;重组后的住房政策，包括共同的第一年经验;以及建造三个新的学生宿舍，所有这些都旨在加强学生和教师之间的互动，以及一个最先进的体育和健身中心。Vest 坚信麻省理工学院可以与其他机构合作以最好地解决某些教育和研究挑战，这采取了他帮助促进的与行业合作的形式。“工业问题已经变得具有智力挑战和刺激性......我们比以往任何时候都更需要彼此，“他在 1993 年写道。国家舞台上的科学家在担任麻省理工学院校长时——他后来将这一时刻描述为“对国民服务的呼吁”——维斯特着手重建公众对高等教育和研究的理解和支持。他经常出现在华盛顿，倡导大学、政府和行业之间的研究、科学和创新伙伴关系。维斯特记录了对美国首都的 100 多次访问，在他担任麻省理工学院校长期间亲自与大约 250 名联邦官员进行了会谈。“Chuck 在美国高等教育的困难时期来到麻省理工学院领导，”在 Vest 之前担任麻省理工学院校长的 Paul Gray 说。“1990 年，华盛顿的许多人开始觉得美国的大学没有明智地管理他们的联邦资金。他不仅作为麻省理工学院的大使，而且实际上作为整个学术界的大使，经常前往华盛顿——他做得非常出色。Vest 曾在总统科学技术顾问委员会任职，并担任能源部未来科学计划工作组的主席。应比尔·克林顿总统的要求，他担任了国际空间站重新设计委员会的主席，该委员会在空间站的未来受到质疑时使其焕发了活力。

“Chuck Vest 既是这个国家强大的科学和工程社区的产品，也是它的拥护者，”Clinton 说。“他在华盛顿担任科学大使和发言人，表现出色，孜孜不倦地倡导研究在我们的经济增长和国家安全中发挥重要作用。”

“Chuck Vest 无法抑制的幽默和轻松的笑声与他对一切正确道路的认真、执着的追求毫不费力地融合在一起，”接替 Vest 担任麻省理工学院校长的 Susan Hockfield 说。“他满怀热情地担任麻省理工学院校长的角色，担任高等教育和研究政策的全国发言人。麻省理工学院特别清楚地认识到美国创新经济对联邦教育和研究投资的依赖，Vest 校长扩大了研究所对联邦政策制定的参与，成为华盛顿研究型大学始终如一、值得信赖的代言人，赢得了全国学院和大学校长的感激之情。后来，作为美国国家工程院院长，他继续担任教育和研究健全政策的总倡导者。在麻省理工学院及以后，人们会非常想念他，因为他的倡导成功与他个人的热情密不可分。

“最重要的是，查克·维斯特是一个非凡的人：他不仅可能是高等教育界最受尊敬的人物，而且是一个非常正派、正直和优雅的人，”劳伦斯·巴考 （Lawrence S. Bacow） 说，他在 2001 年被任命为塔夫茨大学校长之前曾在维斯特手下担任麻省理工学院的校长。他有原则的勇气在无数次艰难的场合为他和麻省理工学院提供了良好的帮助，他是我们许多人的好朋友和非凡的导师。我会非常想念他。

2001 年 9 月 11 日恐怖袭击后，Vest 成为高等教育和研究对国家福祉重要性的全国发言人。当研究型大学努力在安全性和开放性之间取得平衡时，Vest 直接而热情地支持后者。“知识创造在开放中蓬勃发展，在孤立中受苦，”他在 2002 年写道。

2004 年，Vest 被乔治 W. 布什总统任命为美国大规模杀伤性武器情报能力两党委员会的成员。该委员会最终得出结论，美国情报机构在 2003 年美国入侵伊拉克之前报告大规模杀伤性核、化学和生物武器的存在，是“大错特错”的，他们收集的信息“毫无价值或具有误导性”。2006 年，Vest 被布什总统授予国家技术奖章，“以表彰他通过振兴学术界、政府和工业界之间的国家伙伴关系，在推进美国技术劳动力和创新能力方面的远见卓识”。

多元化的拥护者

维斯特巧妙地处理了他担任校长期间面临的最大挑战之一——公开审查麻省理工学院在性别平等相关问题上的麻烦历史——最终被证明是他任期内的一个高峰，巩固了该研究所作为精英管理灯塔的地位。

1998 年，Vest 直言不讳地承认理学院高级女教师提到了严重的性别平等问题;然后，他支持采取纠正措施来解决长期存在的不平衡问题。一份非常坦率和公开发布的报告详细介绍了麻省理工学院的性别不平等情况——以及 Vest 随后在这个问题上的领导作用——刺激了全国各地大学对性别平等的审查。

“我一直认为，当代大学内的性别歧视部分是现实，部分是看法，”维斯特在麻省理工学院关于性别平等的报告的序言中写道，“但我现在明白，现实是迄今为止平衡的大部分。

Vest 的领导团队以及麻省理工学院的五所学校的领导团队反映了 Vest 个人对多元化和包容性的承诺。在 Vest 的领导下，麻省理工学院任命了理学院的第一位女性系主任;工程学院的前两名少数族裔系主任;它的前五位女性副总裁;以及第一位非裔美国总理。

在担任校长期间，Vest 还努力加强麻省理工学院学生团体和教师的多样性。代表性不足的少数族裔从本科生人数的 14% 增长到 20%，占研究生群体的 3% 增长到 5%。女性本科生的比例从 34% 增加到 42%;当 Vest 卸任校长时，在 10 个本科专业中，女性人数超过了男性。在他任职期间，女研究生的比例从 20% 增加到 29%。

Vest 是基于需求的经济援助的坚定倡导者。1992 年，麻省理工学院出庭受审，反驳司法部的论点，即包括麻省理工学院在内的顶尖大学分享有关申请人经济需求的信息违反了反垄断法规。一场漫长的法庭斗争最终确立了“麻省理工学院行为标准”，使致力于基于需求的援助的大学能够交换某些数据，还导致了允许大学采用通用方法来衡量需求的立法。

重新构想的校园

Vest 担任校长后，麻省理工学院的校园重新焕发了活力，带来了新的建筑，其建筑面积超过了麻省理工学院 1916 年在剑桥的原始校园的范围。事实上，在 Vest 离任时，研究所四分之一的平方英尺是在他任期内建造的。在他的任期内，麻省理工学院还建造了一些最著名的建筑：Vest 倡导与世界级建筑师合作设计 Ray 和 Maria Stata 中心等设施;Simmons Hall，本科生宿舍;Albert 和 Barrie Zesiger 运动和健身中心;46 号楼，是麦戈文大脑研究所 （McGovern Institute for Brain Research） 和皮考尔学习与记忆研究所 （Picower Institute for Learning and Memory） 的所在地;以及媒体艺术与科学大楼。

“我相信这所非凡大学的建筑应该像它们所服务的社区一样多样化、具有前瞻性和大胆性，”Vest 说。“他们应该隐喻他们内心的独创性。”

除了沿瓦萨街建造新设施外，麻省理工学院还对瓦萨街本身进行了振兴——有了新的树木、照明、自行车道和铺路——为剑桥几十年来严峻和破败的地区注入了新的活力。

沉浸在工程领域的职业生涯

Charles Marstiller Vest 于 1941 年 9 月 9 日出生于 W.Va 州摩根敦;49 年后，在麻省理工学院的就职演说中，他回忆起自己在“西弗吉尼亚州一个小镇的一个温暖家庭”中长大的经历。Vest 于 1963 年获得西弗吉尼亚大学机械工程学士学位，分别于 1964 年和 1967 年获得密歇根大学机械工程硕士和博士学位。

Vest 于 1968 年加入密歇根大学担任助理教授，教授传热、热力学和流体力学课程，并从事激光光学和全息术的传热和工程应用方面的研究。他和他的学生开发了从全息干涉图中定量测量各种特性和运动的技术，特别是使用计算机断层扫描测量三维温度和密度场的技术。他于 1972 年成为密歇根大学的副教授，并于 1977 年成为正教授。

1981 年，Vest 成为密歇根州工程副院长，他的职业生涯转向学术管理。他于 1986 年被任命为工程学院院长，并从 1989 年起担任密歇根州的教务长和学术事务副校长，直到 1990 年 10 月 15 日成为麻省理工学院的校长。

“担任一所重点研究型大学的校长对任何孩子来说都不是一个沙盒式的抱负——坦率地说，我仍然对引领我来到这里的道路感到惊讶，”维斯特在 2004 年卸任校长时写道。“但回头看看那条路——弯道和凹陷、岔路口和意想不到的捷径——我震惊地发现，在旅程开始时，人们几乎无法预测，而生活在很大程度上归结为一个人如何处理道路交叉点。我也感到不知所措，因为我有幸在麻省理工学院与许许多多有才华的人一起工作，他们的洞察力、想象力、灵感和判断力让我不知所措。

Vest 的妻子 Rebecca 在世;女儿和女婿 Kemper Vest Gay 和 John Gay;儿子和儿媳 John 和 Christina Vest;以及孙子 Mary 和 Robert Gay 以及 Ameri 和 Charles Vest。