Albert G. Hill and students, ca. 1982

The Albert G. Hill Prize is awarded to juniors or seniors from underrepresented minority backgrounds who have maintained high academic standards and have made continued contributions to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion at MIT.

Albert Gordon Hill came to MIT in 1937 as an instructor in the Department of Physics. By the time of his retirement from MIT in 1978, he had held numerous administrative posts, including director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics, director of Lincoln Laboratory, MIT’s vice president for research, and director of the MIT Plasma Fusion Center. In addition, he served as a technical leader in the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II, and was the first chairman of the Charles Draper Laboratory. Professor Hill was an advocate for equal opportunity and affirmative action. He personally recruited African-American graduate students and faculty for the Department of Physics and was a member of the Task Force on Educational Opportunity, which proposed and organized the Office of Minority Education on campus.

MIT Awards Convocation