2011 Highlights
Record Reunion Crowd Caps MIT150 Celebrations
View the Tech Reunions 2011 media galleries.
Killian Court was all aglow for the Toast to Tech party attended by some 8,000 members of the MIT community. Photo: Dominick Reuter.
Unprecedented, spectacular, exciting—that sums up Tech Reunions 2011. More than 3,700 alumni and guests converged on campus—shattering the previous attendance record of 3,450 in 2007. The senior class set a record for donors with 76 percent making gifts and reunion classes announced $60 million in gifts. Graduate alumni enjoyed special programming for the first time ever. And MIT threw arguably its biggest party ever, Toast to Tech, as the finale to 150 days of sesquicentennial celebrations.
Boston Pops Rock
Tom Scholz '69, guitarist from the rock band Boston, joined conductor Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops on the Symphony Hall stage to play some of his band's greatest hits. He had the crowd on their feet and dancing and he showcased his versatility by playing a couple of numbers on a pipe organ. Mezzo-soprano Stephanie McGuire '96 also wowed the crowd with selections from Carmen and Candide as well as the classic "In Praise of MIT."
Mezzo-soprano Stephanie McGuire '96 hams it up with Keith Lockhart. Photo: Dominick Reuter.
Tours, events, and receptions
Tyler Jacks and Robert Urban introduced guests to the Koch Center for Integrated Cancer Research on Friday. People flocked to the MIT Museum to view the special MIT150 exhibition. And 33 living groups held receptions, including the long-defunct but now reconnecting Non-Resident Student Association (NRSA), once known as the commuters' fraternity. Learn more about the history of MIT commuters.
Tech Day
Saturday's Technology Day offered talks on Doers and Dreamers: 150 Years of Inventing the Future, which you can watch online. The first panel, Interpreting the Past, included a fast-paced overview of campus development by O. Robert Simha MCP '57, former director of planning. Faculty addressing the second topic, Imagining the Future, pointed to opportunities such as helping the developing world through digital printing of houses.
Recent alumni enjoy the MIT10 reception. Photo: Darren McCollester.
MIT Alumni Association President Anne Street '69, SM '72 announced two honorary association memberships. MIT physics professor Ernie Moniz, the Cecil & Ida Green Distinguished Professor and the director of the MIT Energy Initiative, was honored for his help on Association projects and his popular talks to alumni. Rosanne Goldstein was honored for her six decades as an engaged member of the MIT community. She and her late husband Jim, who earned three MIT degrees in the late 1940s, founded the Goldstein lecture series; their three sons and a grandson also earned MIT degrees.
As Street turned the ceremonial gavel over to incoming association president Greg Turner '74, MAR '77, she noted that the sesquicentennial celebrations provided new opportunities for alumni to gather worldwide. During the celebrations, alumni participated in 158 events from traditional Toasts to IAP in January to a June dedication ceremony and hike at Virginia's tallest peak, Mount Rogers, named for MIT's founder. Turner, whose yearlong term officially beings July 1, said he would focus on issues of governance and alumni engagement in propagating the MIT Alumni Association's message.
Earl Van Horn '61 (left) shares a good story with classmate Howard Lo '61 at the President's reception for the 50th reunion class. Photo: Chris Brown.
The Grad Alumni Drink from the Fire hose was a luncheon hosted by past Association president Harbo Jenson PhD '74, who touted the benefits of volunteering for MIT and the Association. Guests enjoyed meeting current graduate students and hearing a talk by Dean for Graduate Education Christine Ortiz.
MIT150 Finale
Day 149 of MIT's 150-day sesquicentennial celebration ended with a bang—literally. Some 8,000 members of the MIT community and their guests saw fireworks light up the sky over the Charles River as part of the Toast to Tech bash, cohosted by the Alumni Association and the Institute. Lights on the Prudential Center spelled out MIT150 and a greeting recorded by three MIT astronauts at the International Space Station was broadcast on the jumbotron. Robert Satcher '86, a NASA astronaut who took a copy of the MIT charter aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station in November 2009, officially presented the charter along with a flight montage and certificate of flight to Institute administrators. Satcher was in attendance for his own 25th reunion.
A phenomenal cake—24 feet long and 4.5 feet high in places—offered a tasty replica of several iconic campus buildings. Partygoers enjoyed music, merriment, dancing, and the reading of the toast contest winner, chosen from 350 entries. Four runner-up toasts were also on display. Read them all and learn more about the event, including the cake and Pru lighting.
Reunion Row
Reunion Row attendees and participants reconnected with three of MIT's most respected rowers: Steve Tucker '91 and Chet Riley '62, who represented the U.S. in the 2000 and 1964 Olympic Games, respectively, and Linda Muri '85, who has won 18 national championships and three world championships. The reunion rowers competed in a one-heat race using eight-person shells. The Classes of 1966 and 1991 tied for first place, coming in at 44.6 seconds; the Class of 1986 took second place. Read more about Reunion Row and view footage of the race.
The Final Finale
The truly final sesquicentennial event—the MIT150 Finale Brunch—drew more than 250 people Sunday morning. Turner addressed the group and raffled off five copies of an MIT Press book published for the MIT150th anniversary, Becoming MIT edited by David Kaiser.
Photo: Dominick Reuter.
Published June 13, 2011
