Rafael was the President of MIT for the period 2012-2022, where he led transformative initiatives in education, climate action, and interdisciplinary research. He championed the development of online learning platforms, sustainability programs like MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges, and innovation hubs such as the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. An inventor with 13 patents, Rafael has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1980 and holds advanced degrees in electrical engineering. Rafael also serves on the board of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
Rafael holds a B.S in electrical engineering from Universidad de Carabobo and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.




