Sonal Jhaveri ‘70 SM ‘73
Dr. Sonal Jhaveri was the first South Asian woman to receive an undergraduate degree from the School of Science. She came to MIT as a third-year student in 1968 and double-majored in Physics and Psychology (now called Brain and Cognitive Sciences).
While at MIT, Jhaveri was very involved in Sangam, the South Asian graduate student association. After graduating with an SB from MIT in 1970, Jhaveri completed a Master’s in Psychology at MIT in 1973 and a PhD in Anatomy (now, Cellular and Developmental Biology) at Harvard University in 1978. She returned to MIT four years later in 1982 as a Research Scientist in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and during her tenure received promotions to Principal Research Scientist and Sr. Research Scientist where she focused her studies on the neural pattern formation and regeneration during development, after brain damage, with transplantations, or following genetic alterations. She was also Director of Science Programming at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston until she retired. She currently teaches science communication and language skills to postdocs, graduate and medical students at MIT and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Sonal Jhaveri c.1973 Courtesy Sonal Jhaveri
Excerpt on Sonal Jhaveri’s teaching award as a research scientist in Tech Talk, 2005
Sonal Jhaveri’s Master’s Thesis: Altered Retinal Connections in Hamsters after Partial Damage to the Tectum
Sonal Jhaveri Thesis Preface