At MIT, I had the good fortune for seven years to teach network theory, which is basic to many disciplines, to one-third of the undergraduate student body. It was an experiment to see how high we could bring their level of understanding, and it exceeded all of my expectations.

Meaning of the quote

For seven years, Amar Bose taught network theory, a subject that is important in many fields, to about one-third of the students at MIT. He wanted to see how much he could help them understand this topic, and he was surprised that they learned even more than he expected.

About Amar Bose

Amar Bose was an American entrepreneur and academic who founded the Bose Corporation. He was a professor at MIT for over 45 years and in 2011, he donated a majority of the company to MIT to advance its education and research mission.

More about the author

More quotes from Amar Bose

We did experiments with the Boston Symphony for many years where we measured the angles of incidence of sound arriving at the ears of the audience, then took the measurements back to MIT and analyzed them.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

The prejudice was so bad in the United States at that time that a dark person with a white person would not be served in a restaurant. My father, mother, and I would try it occasionally. We would sit there, and the food would never come.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

One hundred percent of our earnings are reinvested in the company, and a great deal of that goes to research.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

There was a time when I was wondering about this business of going public, so I visited about a half-dozen companies in the Boston area, all of them formed by MIT faculty and all had gone public.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

Research in this country is going down.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

The excitement level for me working on projects is really not a bit different from when I was 26.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

I had studied violin from age 7 to 14.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

I loved music, and in my ninth year at MIT, I decided to buy a hi-fi set. I figured that all I needed to do was look at the specifications. So I bought what looked like the best one, turned it on, and turned it off in five minutes, the sound was so poor.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

I really wanted to do research. That has never changed.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

The food we ate was Indian, and both my mother and father were very deep into the ancient philosophy of India, so it could well have been an Indian household.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

But today the quickest way to save your bottom line is to cut off research.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

All military and most commercial aircraft use our designs that process power from jet engines.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

I’m forming a charitable institution for education.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

We learned the value of research in World War II.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

At 13, I realized that I could fix anything electronic. It was amazing, I could just do it. I started a business repairing radios. It grew to be one of the largest in Philadelphia.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

At MIT, I had the good fortune for seven years to teach network theory, which is basic to many disciplines, to one-third of the undergraduate student body. It was an experiment to see how high we could bring their level of understanding, and it exceeded all of my expectations.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur

I hope that the institution will succeed in maximizing students’ potential in the same way. I will give all of my stock to this institution. It will own the Bose Corporation and be funded by the Bose Corporation.

Amar Bose

Indian American academic entrepreneur