Volunteer Annual Report: FY09

Table of Contents

Dear Volunteers

Ken Wang

My sincerest thanks on behalf of the Alumni Association for your dedication and fine work in support of MIT. Volunteers are essential to helping sustain the Institute, especially during these difficult economic times. In the last fiscal year, 9,664 of you volunteered for MIT and the Association, including 8,356 alumni and 1,308 non-alumni.

Your work helped educate, inspire, and unite alumni. Educational counselors interviewed 11,035 of MIT's 15,661 applicants and recruited prospective students. Many of you welcomed new students and their parents into the MIT family at 45 summer send-off events worldwide. More than 450 MIT alumni and guests from 29 states and ten countries celebrated innovation and alumni award winners at the Alumni Leadership Conference in September. Thanks to some 1,200 volunteers, the 24 MIT Enterprise Forum chapters held 259 events with more than 22,000 attendees. Perhaps as a result of the need to find community amid turmoil, overall club membership increased this year to a total of 8,035 club members, up from 7,723 in FY08. And Tech Reunions drew 3,170 alumni and guests—the third highest attendance on record.

Some groups observed milestones in FY09. BAMIT celebrated its 30th anniversary with a semi-formal dinner that highlighted the breadth of black alumni achievement in the arts and sciences throughout the group's history. President Hockfield headlined the Club of Singapore's 25th anniversary. And a new affinity group was formed: the MIT Military Alumni Association (MITMAA).

We also made important strides with some of MIT's key initiatives. The K-12 STEM Education ad hoc committee investigated alumni involvement in this area and are planning campus collaborations and a pilot relationship with FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). Alumni clubs also continue to support the Science and Engineering program for teachers—35 teachers attended the program this year thanks to support from 18 alumni clubs. The Energy, Environment, and Sustainability ad hoc committee surveyed some 7,000 alumni and learned that 38 percent were engaged in energy-related activities outside of their employment; 28 percent were considering a career change to energy- and environment-related fields.

FY09 was a transitional year for the Alumni Association, and I'd like to thank my predecessor Toni Schuman '58 for so effectively leading the Association during this time of change. We moved into a new home (complete with alumni welcome center) at 600 Memorial Drive (W98) and searched for a new EVP/CEO. Judy Cole has been selected to fill the role, and having served on the selection committee, I can tell you the Association is in very good hands. Again, thank you for working so hard to strengthen MIT and its alumni network. I'm looking forward to a productive and fruitful FY10 and to meeting many of you in my travels.

Sincerely,
Ken Wang '71
115th President
MIT Alumni Association

Bronze Beaver winners congratulated by President Hockfield at the 2008 Alumni Leadership Conference The 2008 Alumni Leadership Conference celebrated how MIT inspires innovation and offered 35 workshops, committee meetings, special events, and a keynote address by President Susan Hockfield (shown on right). A festive dinner feted 37 award winners, including Bronze Beaver recipients (shown from left): Albert O. Wilson Jr. '38; Anne Street '69, SM '72; A. Neil Pappalardo '64; and Thomas C. Davis '84, SM '85. Not pictured: David H. Koch '62, SM '63.








aa The Student/Alumni Externship Program went global for the second year, with students working in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere. The program placed 245 students on the job with 155 alumni hosts in positions such as partnering with an assistant professor at the University of California–San Diego and working as an economics analyst at NERA in New York.











Audience members ask questions of the alumni panelists at View from the Top Boston Some 139 events sponsored through the alumni education program either directly or in partnership with clubs reached 9,937 alumni and guests. Increasingly, alumni are taking the podium as well as faculty to share expertise and build connections among alumni. At events worldwide, 149 speakers took center stage including 67 alumni, 68 faculty, and 14 MIT administrators and staff. Photo: Audience members ask questions of the alumni panelists at View from the Top Boston.











At the BAMIT 30th anniversary event At the BAMIT 30th anniversary event, some 100 alumni and students enjoyed a panel highlighting both artistic and scientific achievement. Panelists included Samuel Nixon Jr. '80, a minister from Washington; visual effects artist Greg Anderson '94, SM '96; Hollywood writer/director Saladin Patterson '94; Nelly Rosario '94, an author and Texas State University professor; and professional saxophonist Louis Fouché '07. The panel was moderated by Chemical Engineering Professor Paula Hammond '84, PhD '93.










Unveiling the Smoot plaque on the Mass. Avenue bridge The campus-wide 50th anniversary celebration of the legendary measurement of the Mass. Ave. bridge—using fraternity pledge Ollie Smoot '62 as the yardstick—was held October 4, 2008. MIT community festivities include a repainting of the bridge and a festive '50s party at the MIT Museum. Celebrations were primarily sponsored by the MIT Club of Boston, the Class of 1962, and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In May, a plaque was dedicated and placed on the Mass. Ave. bridge.