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222 THE NAI PROFILE

T&I: You are a dedicated teacher and mentor as well T&I: How would you assess your success as a teacher?
as researcher. Do you still love teaching? Langer: I think it’s pretty good. I don’t know if it’s
Langer: I do. I still love giving lectures. I don’t teach just me; I’ve been very lucky to have had really good
a formal class right now. I have at different points in people in my lab. There’s different metrics you could
time. When you are an Institute Professor, which is the use. One metric you could use is to ask how many are
title I have at MIT, you can pretty much do what you in the National Academy of Inventors. I think there
feel like, but I do like teaching. I enjoy it very much. are 21. I know there are 14 who are in the National
And I like teaching in different ways, and this gets to Academy of Engineering, 9 in the National Academy
part of the next question. I like teaching classes, but of Medicine, 36 in the Technology Review, and there
I also like being a part of my students’ and postdocs’ are nearly 300 or so who are professors. A whole
lives and teaching them research and seeing them do bunch who have started companies. I don’t want to
well in the lab and later on. I like all of that. brag. If I look back at what I’ve done, I’m very proud
T&I: One intriguing comment you made about your of the research, but the thing I’m always proudest
teaching was that instead of teaching students to give of is how well my students have done. This year, we
good answers, you want to teach them to ask good will have people become professors at places like
questions. How would you describe the pedagogical Stanford, Harvard, and MIT, and that’s great. I’m
process by which you achieve this? delighted about that.
Langer: I think it’s individualized, and it’s not some- T&I: I’ve read that your work has impacted two bil-
thing that you can really do in a class very well. But it lion lives. What does that mean to you?
is something that you can do for postdoctoral fellows Langer: I guess that was my dream. Not two billion
and for graduate students. It’s trying to be a bit of a but the fact that our research could do good for the
guide but not too much of a guide. In other words, if world. When I was a young person, I didn’t have a
somebody is doing a research project, you want to try very clear idea of what I wanted to do, but I definitely
to get them to think. You want to give them a bit of wanted to help people, and I’m thrilled that what I’ve
guidance but not tell them what to do. Let me use an done as a scientist and an educator has hopefully
airplane view analogy: Maybe I would give students helped people. That was my dream, so I feel very
a 50,000- to 100,000-foot view of what I want them happy about that.
to do to get started, but, ultimately, they are going to T&I: How does it relate to your perception of your
figure out the 30,000-foot view, the 10,000-foot view. own success? It seems like a lot of your perception
They are going to ultimately figure it all out. But I try
to help them if they run into problems. I don’t think of your success is connected to your ability to help
it is that structured, but it’s really with the intent that people.
you want to see what they’re interested in, you put Langer: Helping people is what I wanted to do, so
them on the course to do something that you and they success ultimately relates back to that. Not that I had
feel is important, but how they get there is going to a very clear sense of goals, but if you set some goals
be mostly up to them. And, of course, you help them and you are able to get there, then you feel like you’ve
if they get lost a bit. done ok. It’s nice to see that a lot of the therapies
T&I: Do you model that process for them? have gotten out to the world. That’s one of the things
I wanted to see happen. I think the companies have
Langer: No, not really. I don’t think I model it. I think helped that, and I think the students have done that.
that it’s very individualized. Everybody is different, It’s a team effort.
and some people want more guidance than others,
and so I adjust what I do for each student. I never T&I: How do you sustain such a high level of engage-
want to give too much, or too little, guidance. You ment and commitment?
want people to stretch a little bit, but you don’t want Langer: It’s the students and the postdocs and the
them to have to stretch too much. things that we’re doing. I think the projects we’re