MIT Appoints David Siegel Innovation Fellow for 2026-27 to Advance AI-Driven Scientific Discovery
Updated
Updated · MIT News · Sep 23
MIT Appoints David Siegel Innovation Fellow for 2026-27 to Advance AI-Driven Scientific Discovery
1 articles · Updated · MIT News · Sep 23
Summary
David Siegel, a Two Sigma co-founder and MIT alumnus, will serve as MIT Innovation Fellow in 2026-27, working with the Schwarzman College of Computing on using AI to speed scientific discovery.
MIT tapped Siegel for his long ties to the institute and AI work spanning the former MIT AI Lab, the Quest for Intelligence, and advisory roles across the university.
Open Athena, the nonprofit Siegel founded in 2024, aims to close resource gaps between academic labs and frontier AI and is building Marin, a 535-billion-parameter foundation model in public.
Siegel retired from day-to-day management at Two Sigma in 2024 but remains co-chair; he also joined the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science Advisory Committee in 2025.
The fellowship places Siegel in MIT's year-in-residence program, where past fellows have included Brian Deese, Ginny Rometty, Eric Schmidt, Ash Carter, and Deval Patrick.