MIT Media Lab gets a new director

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology yesterday named JoichiIto as the next director of the MIT Media Lab. Ito, 44, is thechairman of the board and former chief executive of CreativeCommons, a nonprofit organization that develops legal and technicaltools to encourage legal sharing and reuse of intellectual property.

A native of Japan, Ito does not have a college degree, but he hasspent his career working in a variety of roles in the Internet andventure capital industries in Japan, the United States, and theMiddle East.

In a news release, Adele Santos, who oversees the Media Lab asdean of MIT's School of Architecture and Planning, said Ito "bringsus the kind of creative thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, andsocietal concern that is so highly valued at MIT."

Ito succeeds Frank Moss, who was director of the Media Lab forthe past five years.

26mit.ART