Editing MIT Media Lab (section)

==Administration==
The founding director of the lab was [[Nicholas Negroponte]], who directed it until 2000.  Later directors were [[Walter Bender]] (2000–2006), [[Frank Moss (technologist)|Frank Moss]] (2006–2011),<ref name="NYT, 4/2011">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/science/26lab.html|title=M.I.T. Media Lab Names a New Director|author=John Markoff|date=April 26, 2011|access-date=2011-04-25|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> and [[Joi Ito]] (2011-2019) who resigned in connection with the [[Jeffrey Epstein]] scandal.<ref name=":0" /> [[Dava Newman]] took the position in July, 2021,<ref>[https://physicsworld.com/a/space-engineer-takes-over-as-head-of-the-mit-media-lab/ Space engineer takes over as head of the MIT Media Lab]</ref> the first woman to do so.

{{as of|2014}}, the media lab had roughly 70 administrative and support staff members. Associate directors of the lab were [[Hiroshi Ishii (computer scientist)|Hiroshi Ishii]] and [[Andrew Lippman]]. [[Pattie Maes]] and [[Mitchel Resnick]] were co-heads of the program in media arts and sciences, and the lab's chief knowledge officer was Henry Holtzman.

The media lab has at times had regional branches in other parts of the world, such as Media Lab Europe and Media Lab Asia, each with their own staff and governing bodies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://india.media.mit.edu|title=Design Innovation Workshop 2015|author=MIT Media Labs, India|access-date=2015-01-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thenewcon.com/mit-design-innovation-workshop/|title=MIT Media Labs Design Innovation Workshop Report|author=Aniruddha Mysore|access-date=2015-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150222094844/http://thenewcon.com/mit-design-innovation-workshop/|archive-date=2015-02-22|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Nicholas Negroponte USNA 20090415 cropped.jpg|Nicholas Negroponte
File:Walter Bender in 2011.jpg|Walter Bender
File:Joichi Ito Headshot 2007.jpg|Joi Ito
File:Dava Newman in 2023 02.jpg|Dava Newman
File:Andy Lippman.jpeg|Andy Lippman
File:Hiroshi Ishii cropped 2 Hiroshi Ishii 20130406 1.jpg|Hiroshi Ishii
File:Dubai Future Forum 2024 - Pattie Maes.jpg|Pattie Maes
</gallery>

===Funding model===
The lab's primary funding comes from [[Sponsor (commercial)|corporate sponsorship]].  Rather than accepting funding on a per-project or per-group basis, the lab asks sponsors to fund general themes; sponsors can then connect with media lab research. Specific projects and researchers are also funded more traditionally through US government institutions including the [[National Institutes of Health|NIH]], [[National Science Foundation|NSF]], and [[DARPA]]. Also, consortia with other schools or other departments at MIT are often able to have money that does not enter into the common pool.

MIT Media Lab has an approximately $75 million annual operating budget.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.media.mit.edu/about/funding-and-support/|title=Funding and Support|website=MIT Media Lab|access-date=2019-08-21}}</ref>

===Intellectual property===
Companies sponsoring the lab can share in the lab's intellectual property without paying license fees or royalties. Non-sponsors cannot make use of media lab developments for two years after technical disclosure is made to MIT and media lab sponsors. The media lab generates approximately 20 new patents every year.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}