2016 2017
A YEAR M ADE TO M AT TER
FROM TH E DEAN Dear Alumni, It is my pleasure to share with you the inaugural issue of A Year Made to Matter. This review highlights many of the developments, accomplishments, and stories of impact that have defined the past academic year at MIT Sloan, and have reinforced the school’s reputation for worldchanging work. I invite you to read on and rediscover the MIT Sloan experience. In 2016, in partnership with the MIT Operations Research Center, we launched the Master of Business Analytics (MBAn) program, an accelerated course of study that challenges students to apply data science to solve complex business problems. We unveiled the Bennett W. Golub Center for Finance and Policy (GCFP) as the new home for innovative, nonpartisan research around global financial resilience. The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship has been renovated and expanded, supporting entrepreneurial activities and collaboration amongst our students. Equally inspiring are the numerous accomplishments highlighted in the “Faculty” section that demonstrate the impact of pioneering research across disciplines from finance to labor economics, entrepreneurship to digital resilience. In “Student Life,” you will get a glimpse into what elements have defined the student experience this past year. And in the “Board Engagement” section, you will learn how our alumni-led boards engage our global community of graduates and students. The stories shared here underscore that our work to improve the world and generate ideas that advance management practice is only possible with your ongoing support. I hope that what you discover on the following pages serves to inspire — or reinspire — your engagement with MIT Sloan. In embracing what it means to be MIT’s management school, we can do more than merely look ahead to the possibilities of the coming year. We can ensure that the next year is most impactful: a year that, together, we made matter. Sincerely,
DAV I D S C H M I T T L E I N
John C Head III Dean
PROGR A M U PDATES M A S T E R O F B U S I N E S S A N A LY T I C S
Effectively leveraging data and analytics has become indispensable among forward-thinking organizations. Launched in March 2016 and swiftly becoming the most popular program at MIT Sloan, this quantitatively rigorous 12-month degree is designed to accelerate the skills of tomorrow’s data analysts. Centered around a seven-month capstone, teams of Master of Business Analytics (MBAn) students apply the tools of modern data science to solve high-impact challenges in companies worldwide. U N D E R G R A D UAT E M A J O R S/M I N O R S
Established over 100 years ago, Course XV was designed to give MIT undergraduates a timeless advantage: the management skills to complement their technical acumen. This past year, the undergraduate program was reorganized from the unitary management science degree into three new majors and minors that cover the disciplines of management, business analytics, and finance, to better align with master’s level programming and provide undergraduates with a wider array of robust and relevant options for study. M ASTER OF FINANCE
The MIT Sloan 12- or 18-month Master of Finance (MFin) curriculum is engineered around the most advanced financial theories, quantitative models, and industry practices, enabling students to find answers to complex finance problems. The program was recently awarded STEM certification after several curriculum additions, reflecting the increased importance of quantitativefocused skills, and including concentrations in capital markets, corporate finance, and financial engineering.
“The professional opportunities for our graduates will be extensive. Companies from IBM to Dell to Amazon to Google are collectively investing billions of dollars in data collection to build models that help them make better, more informed decisions. This is a transformational moment in business and management science.” Dimitris Bertsimas, Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management; Faculty Director, MBAn Program
N E W ON CA M PUS
Transformations in Kendall Square. Under development as the result of nearly seven years of city and institutional planning, MIT’s Kendall Square Initiative aims to create a mixed-use district featuring six new buildings in the East Campus/ Kendall Square area — including three buildings for research and development, two for housing, and one for retail and office space. To learn more, visit kendallsquare.mit.edu.
A major gift. A major new tool for change. Named in 2016 after a
generous gift from alumnus Bennett (Ben) W. Golub, SB ’78, SM ’82, PhD ’84, the Bennett W. Golub Center for Finance and Policy (GCFP) will be the home of innovative, cross-disciplinary, and nonpartisan research and educational initiatives, bringing together economists, political scientists, and engineers from the school and beyond to develop solutions to financial sustainability challenges.
Building E52: transformed. Named
the Morris and Sophie Chang Building after Morris Chang, SB ’52, SM ’53, ME ’55, Building E52 reopened in 2016 after a two-and-a-half year renovation project. The building was redesigned and expanded to bring student-facing offices together, and includes MIT’s Department of Economics as well as the Samberg Conference Center, a new state-of-the-art conference and event space named in honor of Art ’62 and Becky Samberg.
A building that promotes building things. The Martin Trust Center
for MIT Entrepreneurship has been renovated and expanded to allow for maximized collaboration and entrepreneurial activity. The renovation, which was finished in June, includes more open space, team-planning rooms, a quiet “phone booth,” and a maker space.
SC HOO L FINAN C IAL S
The narrative in the numbers. We are pleased to include MIT Sloan’s financial results for fiscal years 2015–2017.
HIGHLIGHTS UNDERSCORING MIT SLOAN’S FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
O P E R AT I N G R E S U LT S ($M)
F Y15 F Y16 F Y17
› Since FY15, MIT Sloan has transferred $30M from its fund
B E G I N N I N G F U N D B A L A N C E
185.2 191. 4 179. 4
balances to the endowment to establish in perpetuity fellowship aid for students. › Endowed and expendable gifts continue to be essential to MIT
Sloan’s operating sustainability. › MIT Sloan’s expense growth is a reflection of continued
investment in faculty, students, and staff, and in the competitive positioning of the school relative to other top-tier business schools. › The school continues to grow its investment in alumni engagement
through support for alumni conferences, expanded reunion activities, online engagement, and much more.
REVENUE
Net Tuition and Non-Degree Fees
122.5
126.9 134.6
Net Investment Income
22.6
24.9
27.4
Expendable Gifts*
17.4
23.7
20.7
27.4
27.4
27.7
Sponsored and Other Revenue T O TA L R E V E N U E
190.0 202.9 210.5
O P E R AT I N G E X P E N S E S A N D S PAC E R E N E WA L
Salary and Benefits
99.6 104.9
Other Expenses^
83.3
T O TA L O P E R AT I N G E X P E N S E S O P E R AT I N G S U R P L U S (D E F I C I T )
89.7
117.5 87.8
182.9 194.6 205.3 7.1 8.4 5.1
N O N - O P E R AT I N G AC T I V I T I E S
(1.0) (20.3)
(9.0)
6.2
(11.9)
(3.9)
ENDING FUND BAL ANCE
191.4
179.4
175.6
E N D OWM E N T ($M)
F Y15 F Y16 F Y17
B E G I N N I N G P R I N C I PA L
224.5 235.4 273.6
Transfers to Endowment C H A N G E I N F U N D B A L A N C E
P R I N C I PA L
Transfers from Fund Balance Endowed Gifts*
1.0
20.3
9.0
10.0
17.9
18.1
E N D I N G P R I N C I PA L
235.4 273.6 300.7
Principal Appreciation
577.9
E N D I N G M A R K E T VA L U E
813.4 820.7 923.5
547.1
*Expendable and endowed gifts presented on a cash basis. ^ Includes Space Renewal expenses. Numbers may not add up due to rounding.
622.9
FACU LT Y
All the expertise you remember. And more. MIT Sloan’s faculty represent the foremost minds in management theory and practice: a renowned group committed to making an impact on the complex challenges that affect economies, organizations, and humankind. Their impact is the kind that starts with asking courageous questions, and leading the development of practical solutions. Today, the school’s faculty are harnessing the tools and methods of finance and operations, economics and marketing science, to do just that.
SELECTED QUESTIONS OF INTEREST
What’s the best way to maintain competitive advantage through changing times? Labor economist
and George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management Thomas Kochan has a recommendation: Think of labor as an asset, not a cost. In his recent study of America’s economic and social progress from the 1930s to now, Kochan has gathered evidence that companies that invest in their people by providing good jobs, good training, and good work environments stay profitable and productive for the long term. Did we get the causes of the 2008 housing crisis all wrong? In her recent paper, MIT Sloan finance professor
and Michael M. Koerner (1949) Professor of Entrepreneurship Antoinette Schoar suggests that the accepted narrative regarding the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis may not reflect the facts. In fact, Schoar’s research illuminates the role of prime middle-class borrowers with good credit as drivers of the largest number of dollars in default. Are analytics the key to solving the U.S. healthcare crisis? With a $3 trillion U.S. healthcare system that’s rife with
wasteful spending, Joseph Doyle, Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management, is exploring how predictive analytics can provide fact- and outcome-based data to improve healthcare — and control skyrocketing spending. His research indicates significant savings could still be unlocked. Can mobile money apps drive long-term reductions in poverty? Developmental economist and associate professor
Tavneet Suri has found compelling evidence that access to mobile money services can do just that. Drawing on research conducted since 2008, Suri’s recent paper shows that mobile money services increased daily per-capita consumption levels of 194,000 — or 2 percent of — Kenyan households, lifting them out of extreme poverty and improving their long-term financial resilience.
FAC U LT Y N E WS . I N T H E N E WS .
Over the past year, our faculty has made impact their bottom line — and the world has noticed. Here are a few examples of places and platforms on which MIT Sloan faculty work has been featured. The Economist: New York Times bestselling author and Schussel Family Professor of Management Science Erik Brynjolfsson’s and MIT Sloan Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee’s new book, Machine, Platform, Crowd, has been hailed as “a must-read road map” for success in the digital economy, following on the heels of their 2014 bestseller The Second Machine Age. The authors are also director and co-director, respectively, of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy (IDE). Fortune: One of the “World’s Most Powerful Women,” Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Global Economics Kristin Forbes has stepped down as a member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to return to MIT Sloan full time and advance the study of the topics she encountered during her Committee tenure — namely, investigations of the economic impact of heightened uncertainty. The Conversation: George P. Shultz Professor of Applied Economics Christopher Knittel has co-authored an op-ed exploring patterns of — and solutions for — racial and gender discrimination evident in ridesharing systems like Uber and Lyft. Suggested countermeasures range from delays in passenger name reveals for drivers to elimination of names altogether. Bloomberg TV: Gordon Y Billard Professor in Management and Economics John Van Reenen’s new research predicted a 9.5 percent fall of U.K. output after Brexit: a negative domestic product impact of almost four times that of previous estimates. Financial Times: Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering Andrew Lo’s Adaptive Markets was declared a bookshelf classic, providing investors and regulators with timeless frameworks for understanding and managing risk in capital markets. Poets & Quants: W. Maurice Young (1961) Career Development Professor of Management Evan Apfelbaum was named one of the 2017 “40 Under 40” professors worldwide for his research examining diversity approaches in the modern workplace. The Boston Globe: Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management John Sterman cited the impacts of the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Sterman’s work on the C-ROADS climate policy model has helped build global understanding of climate dynamics that is grounded in the best available science.
ADM ISSIONS
E X E C U T I V E M B A (E M B A) CL ASS SIZE
B   y the numbers. These 2017 numbers represent the sum of more than 400 events in 35 countries over the course of the yearlong MIT Sloan Admissions cycle. From info sessions to student interviews to AdMit celebrations, these metrics represent a diverse, capable, and global student body committed to advancing world-changing work. MBA CL ASS SIZE
355
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
34%
44% 49
L E A D E R S FO R G L O B A L O P E R AT I O N S (L G O)
49
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
24%
29% 15
M A S T E R O F F I N A N C E (M F I N)
119
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
85%
37 % women
28
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
30
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
57 %
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
33% women
17
AV E R AG E Y E A R S O F WO R K E X P E R I E N C E
S L OA N F E L L O W S CL ASS SIZE
109
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
84%
23% women
42
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
M A S T E R O F S C I E N C E I N M A N AG E M E N T S T U D I E S (M S M S) CL ASS SIZE
6
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
100%
DEMOGR APHICS
MEDIAN G PA
33% 3.9
women
2
PHD CL ASS SIZE
19
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
53%
42% women
U N I V E R S I T Y/P O S T- D O C T O R A L P L AC E M E N T S
Sungkyunkwan University, Boston College, ESADE Business School, Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, Yale University, Harvard School of Public Health, The National Bureau of Economic Research
U N D E R G R A D UAT E
sophomores, juniors, and seniors
106
55
majors minors
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
DEMOGR APHICS
9%
women
12
AV E R AG E AG E
67% 27
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
CL ASS SIZE
M A S T E R O F B U S I N E S S A N A LY T I C S (M B A N) CL ASS SIZE
12%
women
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
CL ASS SIZE
DEMOGR APHICS
women
COUNTRIES REPRESENTED
CL ASS SIZE
126
I N T E R N AT I O N A L CITIZEN
PERCENTAGE OF 2017 MIT GR ADUATES WHO T O O K AT L E A S T O N E M I T S L OA N C O U R S E
52% women
36%
Work or play, Sloanies choose their own direction. Each year, students are finding more opportunities to engage with their peers and shape their own experiences: from Student Senate to student-run conferences to hackathons, to the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. These cultural exchanges, topical forums, and thematic events draw the interest and participation of not only Sloan students, but also of students and leaders from MIT and beyond.
1 MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition: Winning student team Lightmatter developed fully optical chips able to power faster, more efficient AI devices. 2 The Sports Analytics Conference featured former Oakland A’s assistant GM Paul DePodesta (Moneyball ) and Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight, in a discussion of the role of analytics in the global sports industry. 3 The Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) Conference “Hackathon” brought together more than 150 hackers, mentors, and experts to combat unconscious bias and increase diversity and inclusion through creating disruptive technologies.
1
4 The Rolling Sloans, self-described as “MIT Sloan’s Amazing, Death Defying, Charles River Dominating Band,” performed a Pi Day concert in support of their Class Gift efforts.
2
3
4
M O R E N O TA B L E H A P P E N I N G S O N C A M P U S
John Kerry: “Climate change should not be a partisan issue.”
VR/AR club draws students from across campus to the future. The
Family Business Club offers support and networking. Founded this past
Addressing an audience of several hundred at the MIT Samberg Conference Center, former Secretary of State John Kerry praised Massachusetts’ advances in renewable energy, and called for a more aggressive climate action plan.
VR/AR club was founded as a way to bring together like-minded students excited by the possibilities of VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality). The club provides students with the resources, support, and contact with key industry leaders to apply these technologies for industry impact.
year, the MIT Sloan Family Business Club seeks to draw together students of diverse backgrounds to strengthen the network of businesses that are family and privately owned. The club aims to provide educational programming, seminars, treks to local family businesses, and networking opportunities with other students, faculty, and alumni to address the unique challenges and decisions facing family-owned companies.
ACTION LEARN IN G
Matching real-world problems with actionable solutions. Since 2000, Action Learning at MIT Sloan has grown to include up to 20 semester-long Action Learning Labs that challenge thousands of MIT Sloan student teams to put their knowledge to work in organizations. Whether their lab work takes them across the country or overseas, participating students play a formative role in helping host companies, institutions, and local entrepreneurs solve realworld challenges, and develop strategies that fuel their organizations’ success. While students gain the invaluable experience of learning outside the classroom, the learning — and the impact — goes both ways.
FAC T S, I N AC T I O N
F E AT U R E D L A BS
Healthcare Lab (H-Lab)
Healthcare Lab student teams work on Analytics Lab (A-Lab) complex operational challenges, Created in response to market demand emphasizing streamlined healthcare in 2014, Analytics Lab teams get firsthand delivery and improved health outcomes experience in using analytics, machine for patients worldwide. This year, learning, and modeling to solve high-impact students worked with the Cardiology business problems. This past year, A-Lab Center of Boston Medical Center to students analyzed years’ worth of GE improve clinic utilization and combat Transportation’s digital maintenance records, appointment “no-shows.” Students developing a model linking locomotive analyzed years’ worth of scheduling features to high likelihoods of mechanical data, developing a practical model failure. As a result, GE Transportation to predict no-shows and help front desk was able to optimize maintenance schedules staff optimize accordingly. across the locomotives they support.
Action Learning is a foundational part
of the MIT Sloan experience. The creation of the Global Entrepreneurship Lab (G-Lab) seventeen years ago helped launch the growth of MIT Sloan’s Action Learning offerings, and has helped pioneer the practice of experiential learning in management schools at large.
1,024 students in AY16–17 participated in Action Learning Labs
India Lab
W H AT W E H E A R
India Lab focuses on improving organizations “Our host organization implemented across India through internationalization new strategies informed by our strategies, new market entry analyses, team’s recommendations, and and foreign and domestic capital-raising has been able to increase its clinic strategies. Recently, an India Lab team utilization by 7 percent since was hosted by Paytm, India’s largest mobile implementation.” commerce platform. Students developed Michael Hu, MIT Sloan PhD Student (H-Lab) expansion strategies for attracting new, smaller offline merchants to mobile “We’re very happy with the results. payments in a cash-dominant market. The students became subject-matter Local surveying and strategy development experts for us on this niche project, resulted in an action plan and product road and we were able to capitalize on map created by MIT Sloan students. Paytm their findings.” has implemented student recommendations, Justin Rivera, Manager of Data Science and and as of March 2017 was signing up new Analytics at GE Transportation (A-Lab host) merchants at a rate of 100,000 per week across India. Since 1998, MIT Sloan has led
1,589 projects
FO R
1,349 68 IN
host organizations
countries
M BA EM PLOYM ENT PRO FILE
Innovative organizations, meet our inventive leaders. When your skill set includes the knowledge and abilities to solve the world’s toughest challenges, not just any career will fit the bill. Newly armed with the tools and resources acquired at MIT Sloan, this year’s graduates are headed to some of the most progressive and impact-focused employers across the globe. Here are some of the opportunities that our students and alumni are pursuing, as they carry their skills and drive to make a difference out into the world. Class of 2017 Top Industries for Employment 34%
C O N S U LT I N G
31.8%
T E C H N O L O GY
13.7%
FINANCE
T O P E M P L OY E R S O F T H E C L A S S O F 2 017
› McKinsey & Company › Amazon › Bain & Company › Boston Consulting Group › Microsoft Corporation › Deloitte Consulting
› Nike › IBM › Facebook › Anheuser-Busch InBev › Cisco
W H AT W E H E A R
“At MIT Sloan, I learned how to jump into new group projects, evaluate the challenges at hand and quickly get to work on solutions. This has empowered me to efficiently collaborate and deliver results in the dynamic working environment that we have at a fast-growing company like Okta.” Jay Sherman, MBA ’16; Manager, Partner Sales Enablement, Okta, Inc.
Okta Co-Founder Frederic Kerrest, MBA ’09, celebrates the Okta IPO at Nasdaq, April 7, 2017.
“My experiences at MIT Sloan showed me what entrepreneurship actually consists of, breaking it down into steps and helping me understand how to evaluate a business idea, build a team, and launch a product. The MIT Sloan community provided (and in fact, still provides!) me with crucial support and encouragement. Starting a company takes a village, and MIT Sloan is my village.” Eva Breitenbach, CEO, Sophia
GLOBAL OUTREAC H
Solving global challenges begins with taking our work global. At MIT Sloan, we seek to solve the world’s toughest challenges. Which is why our work can’t be contained on a single campus — or continent. Here are some of our most recent initiatives designed to bring MIT Sloan’s problem-solving acumen to individuals, communities, and industries all over the world.
MIT REAP
For communities worldwide, the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (REAP) provides a practical, evidence-based method to create innovation-driven entrepreneurial (IDE) systems. With the goal of providing a framework to jumpstart economic and social impact, MIT REAP brings together stakeholders from business, government, and the MIT Sloan academic community. In June 2017, REAP announced the acceptance of a fifth cohort of regional teams from Algeria, Ghana, Australia, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. A S I A S C H O O L O F B U S I N E S S PA R T N E R S H I P
Established in 2015 with Bank Negara Malaysia, the Asia School of Business (ASB) represents one of MIT Sloan’s largest international partnerships. Designed as a traditional two-year MBA program, the school welcomes MIT Sloan faculty to teach week-long modules in Kuala Lumpur. MIT Sloan welcomed 47 ASB students to campus for four weeks of intensive courses followed by a six-week study tour modeled on Action Learning, where students visited a broad range of U.S. organizations this past June. ASB welcomed their second intake of MBAs in the fall of 2017. MENS ET MANUS AMERICA
Mens et Manus America is a cross campus initiative at MIT focused on addressing social, political, and economic issues exposed by the 2016 presidential election. As part of the initiative, recent MIT Sloan graduates developed a Wisconsin Index Fund with Aperio Capital Management and nonprofit Incourage. The fund was created to support investment in businesses operating in rural Wisconsin and to create more attainable opportunities for community members to influence those companies through shareholder activism. A new course, USA Lab, will launch in the spring of 2018 as a result of this work.
T H E L E GAT U M C E N T E R : O P E N M I C A F R I C A
Open Mic Africa, run by The Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, toured across Africa to discover and support local entrepreneurs who are making ideas matter — connecting them to the MIT community and potential investors. Meetings in Nairobi alone brought together 180 participants, with 46 entrepreneurial pitches. Open Mic Africa is the first phase of the 2017 Zambezi Prize for Innovation in Financial Inclusion, which will award $200,000 in prizes to advance financial inclusion in Africa’s most promising and innovative early-stage startups.
M I T N YC S TA R T U P S T U D I O
Launched in the summer of 2017 by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship, the NYC Summer Startup Studio represents the center’s first satellite accelerator. Seven student startup teams worked full-time on their businesses from June to August, and received a rigorous mentorship-based education and startup experience with access to Manhattan’s thriving real estate, financial, media, healthcare, and technology communities. Just as with MIT’s delta v program, the Summer Studio culminated in a presentation in September.
M I T H O N G KO N G I N N OVAT I O N N O D E
The Innovation Node has convened MIT students, faculty, and researchers to work on various entrepreneurial and research projects alongside Hong Kong-based students and faculty, entrepreneurs, businesses, and local MIT alumni — with the goal of helping students learn how to move ideas quickly from the lab to market, in a global locale with access to rapid prototyping and advanced manufacturing resources. Launched in January 2017, the node’s newest program, MEMSI, is designed as a fully immersive two-week boot camp in Hong Kong for aspiring hardware systems innovators and entrepreneurs.
ALUM N I
Tap into the mindshare. Clubs, conferences, and events. “MIT Sloan on the Road.” Online virtual programming. From digital media to Reunion Weekend, there are more ways than ever to tap back into the MIT Sloan mindshare. If you haven’t already, please join in. Hosted six alumni conferences
Launched podcast
NEW PROGR A MS L AUNCHED THIS YEAR
Conferences and clubs hosted around the world offer exposure to the latest faculty research, as well as the opportunity for alumni to connect with peers. This past year, MIT Sloan hosted the following conferences for alumni:
Launched virtual programs
› San Francisco: Machine, Platform,
New this year, the MIT Sloan Office of Communications launched MIT Sloan’s new, quant-centered podcast Data Made to Matter to provide insights about the business breakthroughs that come from applying data-driven insight to realworld challenges. Available on iTunes, SoundCloud, and the MIT Sloan website. Listen to all the podcasts by visiting mitsloan.mit.edu/podcast.
Over the past year, we’ve set out to engage our 23,000 alumni-strong network through a variety of programs and events — hosted online and regionally — to connect alumni to each other, students, and the school.
MIT Sloan Alumni Online offers timely virtual events through the “Ideas Made to Matter” monthly series — for example, when the United States was exiting the Paris Climate Accord during the United Nations Climate Change Conference, the school featured online programming highlighting the Climate Scoreboard created by Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management John Sterman, based on the C-ROADS climate change simulation. For upcoming and past speakers, please visit mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/ events/alumni-online.
Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future › Cambridge: Celebrating a Half-Century
of MIT Entrepreneurship › Cambridge: MIT Health Innovations:
Technology, Analytics, and Systems › New York: FinTech and the Disruption of
Finance: Perspectives from MIT Sloan › Santiago, Chile: Strategic Analytics:
Changing the Future of Healthcare
Hosted Reunion Weekend
Over 1,600 alumni and friends, from 38 countries, came back to Cambridge to celebrate Reunion 2017 — the greatest number of people the school has ever had the honor of welcoming home. By the end of the weekend, over $1,050,000 had been raised for the MIT Sloan Annual Fund.
› London, England: Accelerating
Developing World Growth through Entrepreneurship and Finance: A Conversation Led by MIT
Highlights from the MIT Sloan Newsroom. Sloanies are purposeful, principled, and innovative in their work in the classroom and beyond. The following is a selection of the most-viewed stories from the over 130 articles published in the MIT Sloan Newsroom this past year featuring students, alumni, and their ideas made to matter.
How can a 1.5-acre farm produce two million pounds of leafy greens?
Student Juliana Philippa Kerrest (MBA/MPA Dual Candidate at MIT Sloan and Harvard Kennedy School) is investigating how vertical farms can impact critical food supply chain issues in emerging economies and urban areas. Find, compare, choose, and learn about sustainability tools with SHIFT.
Daniel Aronson, MBA ’99, and Professor Jason Jay developed online aggregator SHIFT — short for Sustainability Help Information Frameworks and Tools — which helps its users find, compare, and choose the correct sustainability tools for research and business purposes.
ALUM NI VO LU NTEERS
Uniting leaders in Cambridge and beyond. There’s never been a better time to find engagement and volunteering opportunities in the MIT Sloan community — both in the United States, and worldwide. Whether it’s seeking a mentoring relationship with a next-generation Sloanie, staying connected to former classmates through Sloan 5 events for recent graduates, or serving as an alumni leader on a board, here are some of the ways we’re working to create a vibrant community that extends beyond graduation day.
M I T S L OA N A L U M N I C L U BS
MENTORING PROGR A M
S L OA N 5
Designed for alumni, by alumni, MIT and MIT Sloan regional clubs are essential forums to connect with former classmates and peers, and reconnect with the school’s intellectual experience. Whether you’re looking for casual networking, industry events, or continuous learning opportunities, more than 95 clubs around the world offer ample opportunities to reengage. More information is available on the MIT Sloan website. This year saw the launch of industry-specific networking groups within several clubs, including a finance group in New York and marketing and IOT groups in Northern California.
The MIT Sloan Alumni-Student Mentoring Program was created to foster mutually rewarding relationships between alumni and students. Incorporating alumni feedback to launch an enhanced online platform to facilitate connections between students and alumni from different class years, programs, and industries, the Alumni-Student Mentoring Program provides a crucial link between MIT Sloan students and alumni. FY17 saw the participation of the largest number of alumni mentors since the launch of the program. Interested in participating? Email the Office of External Relations at
The Sloan 5 program unites graduates of the last five classes from across MIT Sloan’s programs to create opportunities for community, fellowship, and networking amongst alumni — a nd continued connection to the school. In 2017 alone the program grew from 14 to 20 cities in the United States and around the world, with gatherings taking place in Los Angeles, Singapore, Tokyo, San Francisco, and other major cities. Programming expanded to include new opportunities to grow and foster connections like an admitted students event in Austin, TX, during SXSW. To learn more or to become a Sloan 5 officer in your city, please email mitsloanalumnirelations@mit.edu.
mitsloanmentorprogram@mit.edu
or call 617-253-1557.
Three MIT Sloan companies are rewriting lending rules: › Destácame: Jorge Camus, MBA ’14, with co-founders
Augusto Ruiz-Tagle and Sebastian Ugárte, both MBA ’14, is helping under-banked Latin Americans secure loans. › LendBuzz: CEO Amitay Kalmar, MBA ’10, is providing U.S.
car loans for international students and expats. › A lfie: Founder Pepijn van Kesteren, MBA ’16, is offering
income-based education financing so loan payments scale with career and income growth.
Seventeen MIT Sloan entrepreneurs named to 2017 Forbes “30 Under 30” lists.
Winners included the creators of innovations from handheld malaria detection devices to “smart” guns. Use algorithms to solve everyday challenges.
Ali Almossawi, SDM ’12, covers solutions to daily problems in his new book, Bad Choices: How Algorithms Can Help You Think Smarter and Live Happier. These are just a sample of newsworthy ideas and accomplishments from MIT Sloan students and alumni. Stay up to date at: mitsloan.mit.edu/newsroom.
BOARD EN GAGEM ENT
Two strategies, one united purpose.
E X E C U T I V E B OA R D S
M I T S L OA N A L U M N I B OA R D
Led by three alumni chairs and composed of business leaders from the private and public sectors, the MIT Sloan Executive Boards advise the Dean, ensuring the advancement of the school’s mission and impact on global management issues. Further, they provide critical top-level philanthropic support to the school. As part of MIT Sloan’s engagement with our extensive alumni network and global community, the three executive boards span regions of influence: the Americas (AMEB), chaired by Judy C. Lewent, SM ’72; Asia (AEB), chaired by Chi-Won Yoon, SB ’82, SM ’86; and Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and Africa (EMSAEB), chaired by Sadeq Sayeed, SB ’85, SM ’85.
The MIT Sloan Alumni Board was established in 2014 by school leadership to foster deeper connections between alumni and the school, and among each other. Chaired by Aliza Blachman O’Keeffe, SM ’90, the board is comprised of 30 alumni from around the world, representing a diverse array of degree programs, graduation years, and fields of expertise. Each year, small teams of board members partner with the school to collaborate on high-impact projects, with the aim of building a strong, cohesive alumni community in which everyone feels proud and connected.
The board has provided insight and advice in answering complex questions such as: How should research and activity at the school be organized through centers and initiatives? How do we define leadership at MIT Sloan, and how should it be taught? How can the school attract the top candidates for whom MIT Sloan is the best fit? What considerations should shape MIT Sloan’s international strategy?
Some recent highlights include: › Expanding alumni engagement in the admissions and acceptance process: The board created new opportunities to enable
more alumni to get involved by interacting with prospective and admitted students at critical points throughout the admissions process. › Reinventing regional alumni clubs: In addition to supporting the
relaunch of two MIT Sloan clubs in key markets, the board conducted a full audit of existing regional clubs to create a protocol for launching new clubs. › Improving volunteer programs: The board developed an upgraded
approach to recruiting, training, and communicating with alumni volunteers. › Connecting philanthropy to impact: The board recommended
changes to stewardship efforts to increase benefits by providing lifelong learning and other valued opportunities for alumni. If you have ideas for helping our alumni community thrive, we would love to hear from you! Please share your thoughts via mitsloanalumnirelations@mit.edu. For more information on the board and a list of members, visit: mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/ get-involved/alumni-board.
CA M PAI GN EVENTS
Coming together for a better world. This past year, in partnership with the MIT Campaign for a Better World events, MIT Sloan hosted six campaign events across the globe to bring together MIT Sloan alumni and friends. Each event was a chance to learn more about the Campaign for a Better World, hear new stories of impact from celebrated faculty including Andrew Lo, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor, and Roberto Rigobon, Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Management, and network with and among fellow alumni. Events were held in San Francisco, New York, Boston, SĂŁo Paulo, Singapore, and London. If you missed the opportunity to attend, you can find photos and video footage by visiting mitsloan.mit.edu/campaign.
CA M PAI GN
Ensuring a legacy of leaders doing world-changing work. Giving back to an institution that has given you so much is only one of many reasons to support MIT Sloan. As alumni, you know better than anyone, the school’s mission is larger than any one student or alumni experience. At MIT Sloan, making a difference is in our collective DNA. Among the fundraising milestones of the 2016–2017 academic year is the ongoing MIT Campaign for a Better World, a highly ambitious initiative seeking a $5 billion goal to solve some of the world’s toughest problems — right now. Though progress toward all of our fundraising goals has been notable, we require your continued support now more than ever. All of our efforts share the goal not only of improving the world, but also of ensuring that the next generation of MIT Sloan leaders can join you in advancing world-changing work. To learn more, visit mitsloan.mit.edu/alumni/give.
THE MIT CAMPAIGN FOR A BETTER WORLD
The MIT Campaign for a Better World is MIT’s most ambitious fundraising campaign to date. In support of the Institute’s $5 billion goal, MIT Sloan is soliciting support to fund essential, ongoing priorities to ensure a better future through initiatives spanning healthcare, the digital economy, sustainability, finance and policy, cyber security, and fellowship for our students among many more. To learn more, visit: mitsloan.mit.edu/campaign. F E L L OWS H I P S
One of our critical Campaign priorities is the funding of fellowships for master’s level students: Only by attracting the best and the brightest from around the world can MIT Sloan support the next generation in embodying the school’s critical values. Increased funding for fellowships also helps attract a student body that reflects today’s global diversity — providing crucially distinct points of view, and a classroom environment in which familiar ideas can be challenged and assumptions changed. Since 2014, MIT Sloan has more than tripled the percentage of students who receive fellowship support to attend MIT Sloan — from 12 to 37 percent.
A Better World Is Our Business: MIT Sloan’s Campaign Progress as of June 30, 2017 $300M $2 37M
$200M
$100M
$0M
FY11
FY12
FY13
FY14
FY15
FY16
FY17
Fellowship Support Awarded to Incoming First-Year MBAs by Graduating Class
PERCENT RECEIVING F E L L OWS H I P SUPPORT
37% 12%
$51,240 AV E R AG E AWA R D
$12,500 CL ASS
2014
2019
FY17 MIT Sloan Annual Fund Utilization
M I T S L OA N A N N UA L F U N D 2 8% FAC U LT Y SUPPORT/RESEARCH
39 % S T U D E N T S U P P O R T
Annual Fund: $2,142,613
Annual Fund: $1,564,081
17% ALUMNI VISIBILIT Y & O U T R E AC H
16% PROGR A MS/INITIATIVES
Annual Fund: $890,598
Annual Fund: $947,963
Pi Day Challenge G OA L
314
1,142
participants
participants
RESULTS
Dean’s Circle Gifts
Year-over-year, flexible, unrestricted funding is critical to support MIT Sloan leaders and the essential programs that define the school experience. The MIT Sloan Annual Fund provides the funding needed to advance innovative new programs and courses, offer fellowships to attract the best and brightest students, fund groundbreaking research projects developed and led by faculty, and expand the network of Action Learning Labs. In FY17, gifts to the MIT Sloan Annual Fund totaled a record of over $5.5M. P I DAY C H A L L E N G E
In 2017, “Pi Day” — the unofficial quant holiday marked yearly on March 14 — became a rally for community support. The first MIT Sloan Pi Day 24-Hour Challenge set an ambitious goal: If 314 individuals donated to the MIT Sloan Annual Fund by midnight, MIT Sloan would receive a $50,000 gift from Judy C. Lewent, SM ’72, and her husband, Mark Shapiro, for student fellowships, faculty support, and new programs and initiatives. In true Sloanie collaborative spirit, a record 1,142 members of the MIT Sloan community made their gifts count toward exceeding the day’s goal for a total of $215,015.73, and unlocking an additional $75,000 in challenge gifts from Lewent, Shapiro, and Bassim Halaby, MCP ’88, MBA ’02. D E A N ’S C I R C L E/I M PAC T
For those who give annually to the MIT Sloan Annual Fund at a level of $2,500 or more*, membership in the Dean’s Circle opens the door to a formative leadership role in advancing timely, school-level initiatives, thereby ensuring the Dean’s ability to anticipate, analyze, and address global challenges. In fiscal year 2017, Dean’s Circle gifts represented 82 percent of all giving to the Annual Fund.
82%
Raised from Dean’s Circle Gifts
*1,000 for first four years out, or $500 for students. ANNUAL FUND MONEY R AISED
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