MIT Honors Two Professors for Transformative Undergraduate Teaching

MIT has named two outstanding educators as 2026 MacVicar Faculty Fellows: Professor Amos Winter from mechanical engineering and Professor Nikolai Zeldovich from electrical engineering and computer science. The MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program, established over 30 years ago to honor Margaret MacVicar, MIT's first dean for undergraduate education, recognizes faculty members who demonstrate exemplary and sustained contributions to undergraduate education at the Institute.

The selection process is highly competitive, with nominations reviewed by an advisory committee and final selections made by the provost. This year's fellows were chosen for their distinctive approaches to teaching and their profound impact on student learning and development.

Amos Winter: Engineering Education Through Hands-On Innovation

Professor Amos Winter, the Germeshausen Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has transformed how students experience engineering design through his teaching of class 2.007 (Design and Manufacturing I). Since joining MIT's faculty in 2012, Winter has developed a pedagogical approach that seamlessly connects technical learning with real-world applications.

Winter's teaching style is characterized by his energetic classroom presence and creative use of demonstrations. As Class of 1948 Career Development Professor Kaitlyn Becker describes, Winter arrives with "a large steamer trunk filled with demos he has built or collected to illustrate the day's topic." These demonstrations range from enduring classics to newly designed materials each year, making fundamental engineering concepts tangible and memorable for students.

One of Winter's signature techniques is the "Gearhead Moment of Zen," where he shares astonishing car stunts to explain mechanical principles using course material. "The theatrics stay in students' minds," notes Becker, highlighting how Winter's dramatic examples reinforce learning. This approach has transformed 2.007 from a standard core class into what colleagues describe as "a celebration of student effort and learning."

The course culminates in a robot competition where students design and build machines to tackle themed challenges on a life-size game board. Under Winter's mentorship, completion rates have soared from fewer than half to nearly 97 percent of students finishing with competition-ready robots. Ralph E. and Eloise F. Cross Professor David Hardt observes that "thanks to Amos, this subject has become transformative for many MechE undergraduates."

Beyond the classroom, Winter serves as faculty supervisor for MIT's Formula SAE and Solar Car teams, advising nearly 50 UROP students in fall 2025 alone. Graduate student Aidan Salazar '25 notes that Winter's "teaching philosophy is grounded in empowerment: he encourages students to take risks when designing while giving them the confidence and support needed to do so with thoughtful engineering analysis."

Winter reflects on the honor, saying, "I have always looked up to my colleagues who are MacVicar Fellows as the best educators at the Institute. What makes this acknowledgement even more special to me is by earning it from teaching 2.007, which I often cite as one of the best parts of my job."

Nikolai Zeldovich: Cultivating Independent Thinking in Computer Science

Professor Nikolai Zeldovich, the Joan and Irwin M. Jacobs Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, has made equally significant contributions to undergraduate education through his innovative approach to teaching computer systems security. Since arriving at MIT in 2008, Zeldovich has created new courses and inspired students to become independent thinkers and future educators themselves.

Zeldovich's teaching style is characterized by interactive lectures that encourage problem-solving through discussion and probing questions. Katarina Cheng '25 writes that she was "immediately drawn in by Professor Zeldovich's joy and enthusiasm for every facet of security and its power," while Rotem Hemo '17, '18 notes that Zeldovich "empowers students to find solutions themselves."

Recognizing gaps in MIT's curriculum, Zeldovich took initiative to create class 6.566/6.858 (Computer Systems Security) in 2009, which has since become a central part of the curriculum. When sustained undergraduate interest revealed another need, he partnered with colleagues in 2021 to create 6.1600 (Foundations of Computer Security), providing a dedicated introductory course in the field.

Edwin Sibley Webster Professor Srini Devadas writes that "what our curriculum was sorely in need of was a systems security class, and Nickolai immediately and single-handedly created [it]," adding that Zeldovich has "taught this class to rave reviews ever since."

Zeldovich's impact extends beyond his own teaching through his dedication to mentoring future educators. Henry Corrigan-Gibbs, the Douglas Ross Career Development Professor of Software Technology, notes that Zeldovich has "proven himself to be a dedicated teacher of teachers." His approach to teaching assistants is particularly noteworthy: "One of the things that makes teaching with Nickolai so much fun is that he shares his passion with the undergraduates and MEng students who join the course staff as TAs."

MIT alumna Anna Arpaci-Dusseau '23, SM '24 credits Zeldovich with inspiring her own career path: "Due, in no small part, to how I saw Nickolai lead his classroom, I was inspired to become an educator myself. I saw that the role of an instructor is not only to teach, but to innovate by thinking of creative projects, and to connect by listening to students' concerns."

Zeldovich's numerous teaching awards include the EECS Spira Teaching Award (2013), the Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award (2014), the EECS Faculty Research Innovation Fellowship (2018), and the EECS Jamieson Award for Excellence in Teaching (2024). He reflects on the MacVicar honor by noting MIT's "culture of strong undergraduate education" and expressing gratitude for the opportunity to teach "smart students about computer systems."

Both Winter and Zeldovich exemplify the MacVicar Fellows' commitment to undergraduate education through their innovative teaching methods, dedication to student mentorship, and ability to inspire the next generation of engineers and computer scientists. Their recognition underscores MIT's ongoing commitment to excellence in undergraduate teaching and the transformative impact that dedicated educators can have on student learning and development.

The MacVicar Faculty Fellows Program continues Margaret MacVicar's legacy of championing undergraduate education, ensuring that MIT students benefit from faculty members who are not only leading researchers but also exceptional teachers committed to student success.