Alumni Leadership Conference
MIT Volunteers Connect, Get an Insider’s View
This year's Alumni Leadership Conference was held on Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26, 2009.
ALC Attendees: Give us your feedback. Fill out the conference survey.
Highlights
More than 400 alumni and guests at the Alumni Leadership Conference, Sept. 25-26, came to campus for an insider's view of MIT-and they got it. President Susan Hockfield keynoted the event and they were the first to receive a new report on the future of MIT's global education and research.
Alumni Association President Kenneth Wang '71, who has served on many MIT committees, introduced Hockfield's keynote Friday evening. "There is an energy I never saw before all around me," he said. And he attributed part of that high campus energy level to President Hockfield. "From the very beginning, Susan has seen us as better than we thought ourselves to be...This is really MIT's time and we should take great advantage of it."
Participants at the annual gathering are leaders among the Association's 9,664 volunteers. During the weekend, they shared strategies for community building and fundraising, honored pivotal volunteers, and learned what's new at the Institute, from financial facts to new research.
The Association's annual awards were bestowed at a festive dinner. The top honor, the Bronze Beaver, went to Joseph G. Hadzima, Jr. '73, SM '77, a leader of the MIT Enterprise Forum and other entrepreneurial activities; Patrick J. McGovern, Jr. '59, a life member of the Corporation and founder of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research; and Dana G. Mead PhD '67, chairman of the MIT Corporation since 2003.
"The ALC theme, Connections that Count, means all of you-your connections with one another and with the Institute," Hockfield said. She recounted student and faculty honors, a new minor in energy, research breakthroughs in areas as diverse as the discovery of exo-planets and cement's molecular structure, and influential studies of practice and policy in coal, nuclear, and other energy industries. "On campus there is cutting-edge energy research, but we are also framing the ideas discussed in Congress with recently released policy reports."
Annual Fund Board Chair Donald Shobrys '75 said that, despite tough economic conditions, MIT had fared well in FY09 giving. Donors were down about 1 percent and giving dipped about 21 percent, however, reunion giving topped $153 million, the second highest total on record.
In other presentations, MIT Energy Club Co-President Timothy Heidel '05, MNG '06, SM '09 described the 1700+ member club as the largest and most active group of students, faculty, and alumni on campus, hosting 450 events since 2004. Alumni and Association staff profiled new ways to engage alumni through social media.
An MIT faculty panel on Global Initiatives profiled ways to improve the Institute's international access. "The true secret to the success of American science and technology is our openness" to other cultures and ideas, said Richard Samuels PhD '80, director of the Center for International Studies. And the global report distributed at ALC, titled "Mens et Manus et Mundus," proposes ways to increase student engagement in international study and internships such as founding a Global Scholars Program; expanding the capacity of MISTI, which now provides internships in 10 countries; and new Global Gateway courses focusing on international issues. "You are our best ambassadors," Hockfield told participants who came from 32 states and 15 countries.
"It's important to tell the world not just what we are doing but how we are doing it. We want you to share the world of MIT with your community."
Learn more from ALC presentations online.
Nancy DuVergne Smith, MIT Alumni Association
General Information
Visit our information page for details on the MIT10 travel subsidy and other general details.
Contact us
E-mail us at alc@mit.edu or call 617-253-8246.
