Martin Schmidt

Dr. Martin A. Schmidt, an accomplished administrative leader, researcher, and entrepreneur – with more than 30 U.S. patents and the founder or co-founder of seven startups – is the 19th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Prior to joining RPI, Dr. Schmidt served as the provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he was responsible for the Institute’s educational programs, as well as the recruitment, promotion, and tenuring of faculty. Dr. Schmidt earned his B.S degree in electrical engineering from RPI in 1981. He earned his S.M. in 1983 — largely for research conducted at Lincoln Laboratory — and his Ph.D. in 1988, both in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) from MIT.