The Rosenfield Family
Making It Five for Five at Commencement '08
The Rosenfield family, from left: Jennifer '96, Nancy '71, Adam '08, Donald '69, SM '71, EE '71, and Todd '01. Photo: Donna Coveney.
At MIT, students commonly meet and marry, and some have a child or two who graduates from the Institute. Since MIT admits students based on their own merit—not as legacies—this is less common at the Institute than other universities. However, in the family of Donald Rosenfield '69, SM '71, EE '71, director of the Leaders For Manufacturing Fellows (LFM) program, and Nancy Rosenfield '71, all three children are MIT alums—as of the June 6 Commencement. Only a handful of other families can make a similar claim.
Nancy (née Liebman), a mathematics major, arrived at MIT in 1969 after transferring from Smith College. "Given my interest in math and computer science, my father encouraged me to consider MIT. I decided it was the perfect fit for me," she explains. After the couple's marriage three weeks after graduation, she began a career in software development and now works in Web security.
Donald came to MIT in 1965 as a freshman and, except for a nine-year stint in the '70s, has been at the Institute ever since. He earned degrees in math then operations management and electrical engineering. In addition to his LFM post, he is a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Their oldest child, Jennifer '96, majored in biology then earned an MA in genetics from Harvard and a JD from Suffolk. She now works in biotech patent law. The next in line, Todd '01, also a patent attorney, studied mechanical engineering and holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania. The newest graduate, Adam '08, earned degrees in computer science and mathematics.
"The entire family has a passion for math. We had a ball watching Adam grow and develop academically," says Nancy. During his public school years, Adam placed eighth nationally in MathCounts, the middle school math competition. In high school, he was invited to participate in training camps for the United States math, computer science, and physics national teams. He is now working as a programmer at Demiurge Studios, a video game software company based in Cambridge, MA, where he interned as a student.
"MIT has been a great place for the entire family," says Don.
By Lois Slavin, communications director, MIT Leaders for Manufacturing Program
Published June 17, 2008
