Remembering Charles M. Vest 15th President of MIT
1990-2004

My heartfelt condolences to Professor Vest's family and associates

In 1994, Chuck was instrumental in carving out a place for me at MIT, a woman with no "formal" credentials. That was who is was. He had the ability to see something new and potentially valuable and made if happen. I had the privilege of getting to know him just a bit--as much as he would allow a stranger to enter into his private world. In those too few one-on-one conversations, I experience a profound sense of the man-- one of great integrity, kindness, vision and quiet intelligence. My deepest condolences to Becky and the family. This, truly, is a great loss for us all. I do and will forever miss him.

My condolences to the Vest family. President Vest was a great and gracious man. I always remember the commencement year when he repeated on various occasions that "Leaders are those that take us elsewhere." During his years as president, I often had the opportunity to briefly talk with him and Dr. Vest always took the time to reciprocate. Years later, during an Alumni Leadership Conference activity, I mentioned to him that I always remembered his "Leaders are those that take us elsewhere" words. He immediately remembered them but quickly added that those were words he had picked up from a good friend. He mentioned to me who that person was but the name escapes me now.

I was lucky to meet President Vest on the many occasions when I visited MIT and on many opportunities when he participated in Washington, D.C. and Maryland venues. I will always remember Dr. Vest. He was the perfect embodiment of MIT. It was an honor to have known President Charles M. Vest.

I came to MIT as a post-doctoral fellow during Chuck Vest's tenure. I was shocked to learn about his death from MIT website and for the next 3-4 hours I couldn’t stop my tears as I watched his interviews. Simply put, President Vest represented the very best of an educator, leader and visionary. He will stand out as one of the greatest MIT presidents for his qualities-simplicity, integrity and humility. MIT community has lost a great leader and friend while the country lost a great Patriot.

I felt shocked by the news. He was president of MIT during my study there and hence has always been my president (although he jokingly called himself a small replica of the real thing when he was next to Bill Clinton). His passing somehow reminds me of the passing of the youth of our generation. He, together with the Charles river, will always remain in my memory.

My deepest condolences to the Vest family and our community.

My condolences to you and your family. President Vest or "Chuck" as we referred to him was such a nice man and a great leader for MIT! He will be missed!!!!

What a human being !! Chuck Vest represented the very best academia could ever offer to the world. I can't believe he is gone…
In mourning,

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Vest. MIT changed my life. Dr. Vest, thank you for having provided us with the institution which helps our dream come true.

As a grateful MIT alumna (Course X '58 and '66), I was delighted to join the MIT Energy Lab staff in 1990 - shortly after Chuck Vest took over the presidency of MIT. His leadership was thoughtful, his dedication to the Institute was amazing, his listening and communication skills throughout the community at large were a gift to everyone. I am one of many, many people who admire his many contributions to MIT, to the engineering communities through his leadership of the National Academy of Engineering, and the nation. My thoughts and prayers go to Becky and the rest of his family. We all have lost a wonderful leader and friend.

I was shocked to hear of the passing of Charles Vest! I studied engineering at the University of Michigan in the late 70’s, and he was on the faculty teaching various courses at that time. We ran into each other several times over the course of my studies. After a stint at Cummins Engine Company’s R&D Center in Columbus, I went to MIT to complete my PhD (‘88) under Karl Hedrick. At the time Paul Gray was President of MIT, and Charles Vest would be elected to that position two years after my graduation, so we didn’t cross paths there.

From my experiences at Michigan, I know Charles to be a wonderful colleague, a terrific and highly respected educator/instructor, and a very friendly, personable, and approachable fellow. It is a terrible shame to lose such a talented individual at such a young age. His contributions were enormous. I consider myself very fortunate to have crossed paths with him at Michigan.

His loss hits close to home, as another dear friend of mine from high school (Dr. Norman Letvin, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Chief of the Division of Viral Pathogenesis, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) also recently passed away from pancreatic cancer, so this news is a sad reoccurrence. I was part of Norm’s memorial at Harvard, and I hope that Charles’ memorial at MIT is a fitting tribute to his life and contributions. My sincerest regards go out to his family and friends, and I wish them strength at this difficult time.

Dear Vest Family:

I wanted to convey my condolences to you on the tragic and premature loss of one the most incredible human beings I ever had the honor to know.

I was a student of Dr. Vest's at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1978. He, without a doubt, had the most significant influence on a life path that led me to a rewarding career in the aerospace industry. His innate ability to teach and convey his knowledge to those of us that were his students has had an a lasting impact that I will be eternally grateful for.

I had the privilege of contributing to NASA's Galileo mission to explore Jupiter. I was also involved in NASA's cutting edge infrared technology program Thematic Mapper. Among other capabilities Thematic Mapper was used to identify the types of crops that were being grown worldwide as well as determine their state of health from 400 nautical miles in space.

Dr. Vest exemplified the quote that when a butterfly flaps its wings it can cause a hurricane in another part of the world. If you multiply my small contributions to technology by the thousands of students that were influenced both directly and indirectly by Dr. Vest throughout his life, the technological whirlwind he created has had a significant, indisputable impact on society as a whole. Only a select few individuals can be credited with such a spectacular legacy.

While I am not family, nor can I be considered a close friend, I wanted you to know that there are those of us whose lives Dr. Vest touched that share in your deep sense of loss at his passing.

Bless you and the memory of Charles Vest.