Who We Are

Who We Are

Serving the community of
religious, spiritual, and ethical
traditions at MIT

Thea Keith-Lucas, Chaplain to the Institute delivering the Invocation at Commencement 2022 | Photo credit: Adam Glanzman

With over 20 chaplains representing many of the world’s religious, spiritual and ethical traditions, and more than 25 different student communities, ORSEL reflects the diversity of the institute’s community. Through regular opportunities for worship, meditation, prayer, and study, the office is a resource for students, faculty, and staff, of all faith traditions and belief systems.

For more information on student groups, visit engage.mit.edu.

The chaplains provide religious, spiritual, and ethical programming, as well as confidential* counseling and crisis support. Please find bios and contact information for chaplains in the menu below.

*Chaplains who are ordained clergy within their religious traditions are confidential resources for members of the community.

ORSEL Staff and Affiliated Chaplains


After seven years as MIT’s Episcopal Chaplain, Thea Keith-Lucas is the Chaplain to the Institute at MIT, which makes her the university’s primary interfaith chaplain and leader of its Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life. She took on this role in January 2022 after serving in an interim capacity for a year and a half. From 2013 to 2020, Thea served a small community of progressive Christians as the Episcopal Chaplain at MIT. She was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 2006 and previously served parishes in Randolph, Mass. and Danvers, Mass.

theakl@mit.edu
617.253.2983

As program director of Radius and as a chaplain in MIT's Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life (ORSEL), Nicholas Collura welcomes conversations with students, staff, faculty, and others in the MIT community on ethical issues in their fields as well as on matters of values-based personal discernment and discovery. Nicholas brings thirteen years of experience in a variety of roles, most recently innovating spiritual care programs in the field of population health at two healthcare institutions in Philadelphia, where he also co-founded and co-facilitated a community-based climate organizing initiative. Nicholas is a peer leader in the Jewish Heritage Museum’s Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, which creates dialogues among engineers, businesspeople, attorneys, journalists, religious professionals, and physicians on pressing ethical issues of the day. He studied film and literature at Yale University and the University of Paris and is now completing a doctor of ministry degree integrating personality psychology and contemporary neuroscience through Fordham University.

ncollura@mit.edu

Nina Lytton is a Humanist Chaplain and Celebrant, a Candidate for Unitarian Universalist Ministry, and a member of the social justice activist community at MIT. Most recently she served as an Interfaith Chaplain in Clinical Pastoral Education at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Nina comes to ministry after a career in high tech and an informative detour in microbrewing. Nina is of European and Native American ancestry, and practices the Hawaiian culture with her Big Island ohana. She has an economics degree from Princeton, a business degree from the MIT Sloan School, and an M.Div from Meadville Lombard Theological School. Nina engages in spiritual practices anchored by movement—stargazing, watching the sun and moon rise and set, beachcombing, ocean swimming, walking, hiking, yoga, dance, knitting, looking out an airplane window. Nina enjoys watching things grow—from young people and small companies to roof gardening and fringe theatre.

nlytton@mit.edu

Christina English has been part-time administrator in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at MIT since 2007. She handles various aspects of communications, project management, and office management, and she is always available to help you find the best resources for your needs. Christina earned her M.M. in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and a B.A. in music from Loyola Marymount University, where she was part of the University Honors Program, a selective course dedicated to fostering an interdisciplinary, collaborative, and creative community of scholars. In addition to her work at MIT, Christina is a nonprofit arts administrator and maintains an active singing career, appearing in opera, concert, and musical theater productions throughout New England. Learn more at www.christinaenglish.com

cenglish@mit.edu
617-253-7707

Brian Aull is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. He studied electrical engineering at Purdue University and then at MIT, earning his Ph.D. in 1985.   Since then, he has worked as a staff scientist at MIT developing solid-state image sensors. An adherent of the Bahá’í Faith since 1981, Brian is interested in interfaith work, the dialogue between religion and science, and the role of spirituality in creating a peaceful and just society. His most recent project is the publication of a book, The Triad: Three Civic Virtues That Could Save American Democracy.

bahai.mit.edu
aull@ll.mit.edu
781-981-4676

The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi is President & CEO of The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a center dedicated to inquiry, dialogue, and education on the ethical and humane dimensions of life. The Center is a collaborative and nonpartisan think tank, and its programs emphasize responsibility and examine meaningfulness and moral purpose between individuals, organizations, and societies. Six Nobel Peace Laureates serve as The Center’s founding members and its programs run in several countries and are expanding.

Venerable Tenzin's unusual background encompasses entering a Buddhist monastery at the age of ten and receiving graduate education at Harvard University with degrees ranging from Philosophy to Physics to International Relations. He is a Tribeca Disruptive Fellow and a 2018 Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. He has served as Director of Prajnopaya at MIT and as Buddhist Chaplain to the Institute since 2002.

Venerable Tenzin serves on the boards of number of academic, humanitarian, and religious organizations. He is the recipient of several recognitions and awards, and received Harvard’s Distinguished Alumni Honors for his visionary contributions to humanity.

tenzin.mit.edu
prajnopaya.mit.edu
thecenter.mit.edu
tenzin@mit.edu
617.253.2327

Father Michael Medas, M.S.W., joins the MIT community with 32 years of varied and creative experience as a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston serving the local Church, and in service as a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve/Air National Guard. Through those years a quote from Pope Saint John XXIII has been a dynamic light: “Seek what unites, not what divides you one from another.” Fr Michael and the Tech Catholic Community welcomes all as brothers and sisters.

tcc.mit.edu
mmedas@mit.edu
617-252-1779

Rev. Michael Dean grew up in Greater Boston. As a chaplain at MIT for the last few decades he has led Baptist Campus Ministry and served as advisor for Baptist Student Fellowship. He leads a team at MIT who serve students well.  He enjoys the global diversity within the Christian faith and the unity shared by followers of Jesus. He has also sponsored a free English class for international students & spouses for twenty years. Michael loves time with his wife & kids & enjoys outdoor sports & recreation.

bsf.mit.edu
mdean@mit.edu
617.253.2328

Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, Greg Hsu always had connections to MIT through church and family friends. Upon graduating from Duke University, Greg became a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He spent 7 years at the University of Virginia then returned home to Boston and began to serve at MIT! After 4 years serving MIT’s Asian Christian Fellowship and IV, Greg now serves the Graduate Christian Fellowship! Outside of serving as a chaplain, Greg and his wife, LeLe, live in Cambridge with two delightful sons (James and Manny) and a mostly-delightful cat (Cooper). LeLe and Greg are also the co-pastors of Highrock Cambridge Church. Greg loves exploring local restaurants and cooking meals for family and friends. He’s also fairly religious about men’s college basketball and cheers for Duke and UVA.

greghsu@mit.edu

Pastor Andrew Heisen is a native New England Lutheran baptized in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He spent six summers working with youth as a counselor, head counselor, and finally the trainer of new counselors-in-training at Calumet Lutheran Camp in Ossipee, NH. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating with degrees in music composition and computer science. This led to four years of working in Johnson & Johnson’s IT “Advanced Technology Research” division and two years as a bartender before attending the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and then Andover Newton Theological School, from which he received a Master of Divinity. Pastor Heisen served for 7 years as pastor at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Shrewsbury, MA, before becoming a chaplain at MIT. His interests include ecumenical and interfaith cooperation, creativity in fostering communities of faith, teaching, music, and social justice.

le-ministry.mit.edu
heisen@mit.edu
617-253-2325

Kevin Vetiac (he/they) is a Boston native with years of ministerial and higher education experience. Kevin earned a Master of Divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology and in 2023 was ordained an Episcopal priest. Kevin has a big heart for ecumenical ministry and college chaplaincy. Kevin also has a deep love for music and served as the Music Director of The Crossing at St. Paul's Cathedral in Downtown Boston for six years. Kevin also serves as the Episcopal Chaplain at Northeastern University, where they previously served as the Director of the LGBTQA Resource Center for two and a half years. Kevin looks forward to continuing the work of creating inclusive and liberating Christian spaces for college students.

Contact info coming soon.

While MIT does not have an Orthodox Christian chaplain, students can connect with the Orthodox Christian Fellowship student group at orthodox-exec@mit.edu.

Rev. Natalie Hill is a Methodist minister and chaplain to MIT from the Welsey Foundation, a Boston Cambridge Ministry in Higher Education, founded by an ecumenical consortium of UMC, UCC, PC(USA), and American Baptist traditions. Natalie holds a B.A. and M.Div. from Boston University, and an M.S.W. from Simmons College. She worked as a clinical social worker for many years with a specialization in eating disorders, and entered ministry as an extension of this work. She is particularly interested in the role of spirituality in emotional wellbeing, as well as the intersection of faith, food, and embodiment. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was known to say that the world was his parish. Natalie invites students to instead view the world as their laboratory, bringing their questions and creativity into a wide range of life experiences

revnhill@mit.edu

Rev. Solomon Kim is the Reformed University Fellowship chaplain at MIT and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. He has been serving as the RUF pastor at MIT since its beginning in 2015. Previously, Solomon worked as a data analyst for a software company and in various ministry settings including college ministry in Florida and church planting in California. He graduated with a B.S. in Operations Research from Cornell University and an M.Div from Reformed Theological Seminary.

Solomon was born and raised in Los Angeles, and has also lived in the Pacific Northwest, New York, Illinois, Florida, and Korea - and not in that order. He currently lives in Somerville with his wife, Jane, and their two kids. These days, Solomon enjoys golfing, browsing the MIT Press bookstore, making coffee, and traveling with his family.

www.rufmit.org
solokim@mit.edu
857-500-0557

Nathan Barczi, Octet Collaborative, is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America.  In 2017, he was awarded the John Stott award from the Creation Project at the Henry Center, a grant that supported him and his congregation in a year exploring the doctrine of creation in an age of science with eminent scientists and theologians.  He is a cohort facilitator for the Boston Fellows, and a fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians.  His Christianity Today article about his work with Harvard geneticists exploring the bioethics of gene editing won an Evangelical Press Association Award. Prior to serving in full-time vocational ministry, he was an economic consultant for The Brattle Group and an assistant economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  He holds a PhD in theology from the University of Nottingham and a PhD in economics from MIT.  He did his undergraduate work at Stanford University in his native Silicon Valley.  He lives with his wife (another Bay Area native) and three children in Somerville, Massachusetts.

nab@mit.edu
617.320.1346
octetcollaborative.org

Darrin Darrin has been a religious educator for more than 20 years. He likes to spend time hanging out with his amazing wife Jennifer of 29 years and their five incredible children and four perfect grandchildren! He enjoys walking by the harbor, cheering for the Red Sox, Celtics and reading the news. This is his eighth year working with the incredible students at MIT

Education: BA, Political Science, Idaho State University
MPA, Idaho State University
PhD, Education, University of Idaho
Lives in Boston, MA
simpsondb@ChurchofJesusChrist.org
ComeUntoChrist.org

Sadananda Dasa did his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from NIT Allahabad and later his MBA from S P Jain Institute of Management, Mumbai, India. Sadananda has accumulated 10 years of experience in the corporate world in various management positions. During his stint of four years as a Lead Consultant at Infosys, he took keen interest in the philosophy of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (a fifteenth century saint who inaugurated the Bhakti Movement of India). He joined ISKCON Bangalore in 2011 and was trained in the philosophy and practice of Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Srimad Bhagavatam. He also received diksha (spiritual initiation) from Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON, under the Officiating Acharya system of initiation. While in ISKCON Bangalore, he actively counselled hundreds of students and young IT engineers in professional-personal life balance, peer pressure and stress management, life enrichment programs, meditation techniques, Yoga for Happiness – all on the principles of Bhagavad Gita.

Since August 2016, he is located in Boston, MA and continues to counsel students, university faculty and young families and help them as a spiritual guide. He also conducts online courses on meditation and Vedic literatures for students and young people from around the world. He also spends considerable time of his day in spiritual practices, mantra meditation, self-study and distance-study of Vedic literatures with his seniors in ISKCON Bangalore.

“Helping others to spiritually enrich their lives with wisdom, refined character, compassion and happiness is my life’s mission,” says Sadananda.

sdasa@mit.edu

 

Swami Tyagananda, a monk of the Ramakrishna Order since 1976, is the head of the Vedanta Society in Boston, and is the Hindu Chaplain both at MIT and Harvard; Prior to coming to the United States, Swami was for eleven years the editor of the English language journal Vedanta Kesari based in Chennai, India. He has written, translated and edited ten books, including Monasticism: Ideals and Traditions (1991), Values: The Key to a Meaningful Life (1996), The Essence of the Gita (2000), Interpreting Ramakrishna (2011), Walking the Walk: A Karma Yoga Manual (2013), Knowing the Knower: A Jnana Yoga Manual (2017), and Vivekachudamani: A Vedanta Manual (2021).

Swami Tyagananda has presented papers at academic conferences and he gives lectures and classes at the Vedanta Society as well as at MIT, Harvard and, on invitation, other colleges and religious groups in North America; He shares the insights of his tradition on the campus, collaborating with the Hindu Students’ Council (HSC-MIT). The weekly meetings at the Vedanta Society consist of prayer, guided meditation, study of spiritual texts, and informal discussions; Swami makes himself available for personal interviews, meditation instruction, and spiritual guidance, and can be reached via e-mail or phone.

vedantasociety.net
tyag@mit.edu
617.536.5320

Greg M. Epstein serves as the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard and MIT, and as Convenor for Ethical Life at MIT’s ORSEL. He is author of the New York Times Bestselling book, Good Without God.

A Harvard chaplain since 2004, Greg’s 2018 appointment at MIT marked a major career transition. After building a congregation of “atheists, agnostics, and allies” meeting more than 1,000 times between 2013-2018, Greg and colleagues shut the community down in 2018. A decisive factor was Greg’s conclusion that many secular young people he hoped to serve already were already active participants in a kind of congregation — but their community, rather than following a specific creed, could be summed up in a word: “technology.” He is now delighted to help people at a technological institute think about how to live ethically and meaningfully in a technological world; and how to be vulnerable and human when those around us too often expect us to act like impervious machines.

When not having deep discussions with MIT and Harvard affiliates, Greg can be found playing with his young son, planning a weekend family outing with his wife, hosting or appearing on podcasts, or writing. In 2019-2020 Greg was the “Ethicist in Residence” at TechCrunch; in 2021 he is a regular contributor to The Boston Globe. Other bylines include CNN.com, The Washington Post, and Newsweek. He is currently working on a book about technology, religion, and humanism. For more information, see Greg’s LinkTree or find him on Twitter or LinkedIn. For a meeting, email Greg from your MIT email address and ask for the link to his Calendly.

gepstein@mit.edu

Born in the heart of Brooklyn, Rabbi Menachem Altein was raised together with his 11 siblings by his parents, Rabbi Yaakov Altein, a leading scholar and author on Chassidic texts, and Mrs. Chava Altein, principal of Beth Rivka - the largest Chabad girls’ school in Brooklyn. Beginning Talmudic studies at the age of 10, his formal education in Chassidic philosophy began at Lubavitch Mesivta High School in Chicago. From there he went on to Yeshiva in Manchester, England, for 2 years to advance his Judaic studies and its practical application.

Continuing his advanced studies in Jewish mysticism and Chabad texts, he spent 2 years at the Rabbinical College of America (Morristown, NJ), where he received his BA in Religious Studies. Having taught for a year in Yeshiva Ohr Elchanan in Los Angeles, he returned to Brooklyn to further his study of Halacha (Jewish law) and received rabbinical ordination at Chabad World Headquarters in 2013.

After marrying his wife, Mussy, he studied a year in a Kollel in Midtown Manhattan, before moving to Cambridge in the summer of 2014 to head the new Chabad center at MIT, founded by Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, director of Chabad Lubavitch of Cambridge and Jewish chaplain at Harvard University.

rabbia@mit.edu

 

Rabbi Michelle H. Fisher SM ’97 is the Executive Director of MIT Hillel, a job that now synthesizes her two academic courses of studies.  As an undergraduate at Princeton University and as a graduate student at MIT, she studied organic chemistry.  She received a Wexner Graduate Fellowship to study at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NY, from which she received her ordination in 2002. Before returning to MIT in her current role, Rabbi Fisher served as the Associate Rabbi of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, MD and the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Shalom in Walnut Creek, CA.  She also served as a Naval Chaplain Candidate, ministering to Jewish and non-Jewish sailors and Marines.

Rabbi Fisher has a passion for teaching, and for helping Jews of all ages travel along the paths of their Jewish journeys.  She loves the questioning and exploring that is inherent in the lives of emerging adults on the college campus, and is inspired by the dream that every MIT Jew will graduate from the Institute being able to see their lives, including the work they do in science and engineering, through a Jewish lens.  She describes her second career at MIT as “the mothership calling her home,” and she’s thrilled every day to be at the Institute.

hillel.mit.edu
rabbif@mit.edu
617.253.2982

Sister Nada El-Alami has been the MIT Muslim Chaplain to the Institute since 2017. She works with Dr. Hossein Mosallaei, the Muslim Shia Chaplain and is the advisor to MSA (Muslim Student Association). Sister Nada serves the needs of all MIT Muslims by providing spiritual programming, supporting students, and advocating for student needs on campus.

Prior to coming to MIT, Sister Nada served for over 15 years in leading spiritual study circles. She has planned and supported faith-oriented programs, such as camps and retreats, both locally and nationally. She has also led educational institutions focusing on young Muslims.

Sister Nada holds a BA in psychology and an MA in Administration and Leadership, and is currently pursuing a second Masters Degree in Islamic Religious Leadership. Furthermore, Sister Nada has been awarded an Ijaza (authenticated certificate) in teaching Qur’anic reading.


mchnada@mit.edu
617.258.9285

 

Hossein Mosallaei is a Muslim Shia chaplain at MIT. He has been actively involved with student groups at different universities, also helping Shia student efforts at MIT from 2007 with Mobin and MSA also under ZEKR, in organizing various programs including Quran Study, Dua Kumayl, Nahj al-Balagha, Sahifa Sajjadiya, and Lecture Series. His vision is to be a good support for Muslim students in keeping them spiritually fulfilled while they pursue their studies.

hosseinm@mit.edu

Daryush Mehta is the Zoroastrian chaplain at Harvard and;MIT, an active member of the Zoroastrian Association of the Greater Boston Area(ZAGBA), Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and Principal Investigator at Massachusetts General Hospital in the field of voice and speech disorders. Daryush arrived to MIT for graduate school and became involved in ZAGBA, helping co-found the Zoroastrian Students of Boston (ZSB) that brought together students and youth from around the area to perform service activities, engage in religious dialog, and host eminent Zoroastrian leaders and scholars.

Daryush is honored to continue the good work of Dr. Cyrus Mehta who diligently represented the Zoroastrian community as the first MIT Chaplain. Although not a priest by training, Daryush's maternal grandfather, Dasturji N. D. Minochehr-Homji, was a High Priest of the Zoroastrian community in Bombay and a respected religious scholar. His grandfather’s teachings, kindness, and philosophy of dialog and inclusion are imbibed within Daryush.


www.zagba.org
dmehta@mit.edu

Rev. Dr. Danny Yamashiro is co-chairperson of the Cambridge Roundtable, where dinners each semester include MIT and Harvard faculty with colleagues from nearby universities and colleges. Sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation, these events at the Harvard Faculty Club facilitate discussions around scholarly presentations on science and religion.

Yamashiro has ministered in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, North America, South America, and in the Pacific and Atlantic islands. He earned a Ph.D. with research on American presidents and childhood trauma. He is ordained by the EV Free Church of America. At 18, Danny survived falling 400 feet from a cliff in Hawaii. The founder and president of JCCY, Inc., he lives with his wife, Jamie, in Brookline. They have three adult children.


cambridgeroundtable.org
dyamash@mit.edu