CIS welcomes Weiner family for exhibit tour

CIS welcomes Weiner family for exhibit tour

Professor Myron Weiner's daughter and granddaughter, Beth Ben-Avraham and Avital (Tali) Datskovsky, visited MIT to tour South Asia and the Institute: Transformative Connections, an exhibit highlighting the long history of connections between MIT and South Asia.

Myron Weiner in his office

Myron Weiner in his office, 1987. 

Sabina Van Mell
May 10, 2023
Center for International Studies

This week, Beth Ben-Avraham and Avital (Tali) Datskovsky, Professor Myron Weiner's daughter and granddaughter, visited the Institute to tour the South Asia and the Institute: Transformative Connections. The exhibit showcases the longstanding connections between MIT and South Asia, beginning with MIT's first South Asian student, who attended in 1882.

Myron Weiner was a member of the faculty in the Department of Political Science from 1961 until his death in 1999. He was director of the Center for International Studies from 1987 to 1992 and acting director 1995 to 1996. 

The Myron Weiner Seminar Series on International Migration has been hosted at CIS since 2005. The public seminars explore factors affecting international population movements and their impact upon sending and receiving countries and relations among them. 

A profile of Myron Weiner is featured as part of the exhibit, highlighting his work and travel in India and explaining that he first became interested in the region shortly after independence. While touring the collection, Ben-Avraham remarked that "his interest in India was in fact sparked by his interest in pacifism." In addition to international migration, Weiner was also an expert on India's politics, ethnic conflicts, education, and agrarian and industrial policies.