Current Status

Current student in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT

Statement

MIT has become home for me, in the fullest sense of the word. It is out of love that I wish to serve on the Corporation in pursuit of an even better, more inclusive, and more impactful MIT.

It is here that I truly grew into myself, forming my conceptions of the world and my place in it. I drank from the firehose, learning from the world through MISTI, trying my hand at research, and through incredible people ranging from world-renowned professors to student communities I’ve come to call family. Perhaps my most formative experiences though were actually in service to MIT. These transformative experiences that I’ve had are because of incredible people that work behind the scenes for MIT to run as it does. I realized this soon into my tenure as vice president of the UA, where I worked tirelessly alongside faculty, staff, administrators, and other students, spending late nights deliberating MIT’s Covid-19 response and shaping what experiential learning should look like.

One of MIT’s most significant challenges, however, continues to be the way it can break people down. From the pressures of the rigorous academic environment to burnout or imposter syndrome, students often leave MIT with less belief in themselves than when they arrive. We are set up with the tools to solve the world’s biggest problems but not built up to do so. It is out of hope to build toward an MIT that builds up changemakers that the world needs that I wish to serve.

Degree Info

MCP | 2023 | MIT, City Planning
SB | 2022 | MIT, Urban Studies and Planning with Computer Science

Select MIT-related activities

MIT Presidential Search Committee, April 2022–October 2022
- Undergraduate student member
- Student Advisory Committee, co-chair

Undergraduate Association (UA)
- Vice president, May 2020–May 2022
- Co-chair, UA Committee on Covid-19, May 2020–May 2021

Asian American Initiative (asianamerican.mit.edu)
- Founder and Executive Board member, February 2019–May 2022

Truman Scholar, 2021

2021 MIT Recognizing Individuals Supporting Equity: Dr. Robbin Chapman Excellence Through Adversity Award, 2021

First Year Leadership Award, 2019

Current Status

Master of Public Policy candidate at Oxford on Rhodes Scholarship

Statement

My aim in serving on the Corporation is to bring a student-oriented yet distinctive perspective to the Institute’s strategic planning. As an undergraduate, my leadership of the UA Covid-19 Committee, seat on administration advisory boards, and work with the PKG Public Service Center gave me a profound understanding of our university’s culture and structure. I know both how change is made at MIT and how to balance the concerns of its diverse population.

As a Corporation member, I seek to raise conversations on MIT’s most salient responsibilities, including its duty of care toward its students and the Cambridge community, shaping technology ethics, and the academic scope of undergraduate majors. More is needed from MIT to ensure that all community members are equally supported and protected. If elected, my term on the Corporation will coincide with my PhD at Harvard―I will draw on nearly a decade of experience as a student in Cambridge to provide invaluable perspective on housing, researcher safety, quality of life, union efforts, and academic support. Additionally, my graduate work in public policy and history of technology, focusing on the relationship between novel technologies and governance, underpins my belief that MIT has a critical role to play in science communication and advising.

MIT’s influence is not constrained to the technologies we develop: Our university must cultivate a conscientious, forward-thinking, and inclusive environment to imbue these principles into our broader societal impact. I would be honored to stand for these values as a member of the Corporation.

Degree Info

MSc | 2022 | University of Oxford, History of Science, Medicine, and Technology
SB | 2021 | MIT, Materials Science and Engineering

Select MIT-related activities

Undergraduate Association (UA) Covid-19 Committee
- Committee chair, August 2020–June 2021
- Director, Policy Reports, May–August 2020

MIT School of Engineering
- Student Advisory Group for Engineering, member 2019–2021
- DEI Committee, member 2020–2021
- Assistant Dean for DEI Selection Committee, member 2020–2021

MIT Priscilla King Gray Center for Public Service
- Intern, June 2019–February 2021

Priscilla King Gray Award for Public Service, 2021

Undergraduate Student Teaching Award from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2021

Outstanding Senior Thesis Award from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 2021

Current Status

Assistant professor of Management of Organizations + Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business

Statement

Having spent six years of my life as a PhD student at MIT, I am thoroughly convinced that it stands apart from other world-class research universities. This is both because of MIT’s extremely unique campus culture, which produces students who go on to achieve amazing things in the worlds of business, academia, and public policy, and the university’s commitment to serving those from first-generation and low-income backgrounds, a population of students who stand to benefit tremendously from the MIT experience. I’m excited to have the opportunity to “give back” to MIT by joining the Corporation and helping to ensure that the university continues to stand apart from peer institutions in these ways, while navigating a world that is constantly evolving and becoming increasingly complex.

In the coming years, there are a number of challenges that I believe MIT will need to overcome. These include navigating the shift to remote and hybrid modes of work and education, operating effectively as a global organization amid an increasingly fractured geopolitical landscape, and adapting its curriculum in response to changes in student demand and a shifting technological landscape. I feel well qualified and excited to help MIT face these challenges, and hope to be given the opportunity to do so.

Degree Info

PhD | 2021 | MIT, Management (Information Technology)
SM | 2018 | MIT, Management (Information Technology)
MA | 2013 | Johns Hopkins University, Physics and Astronomy
AB | 2010 | Princeton University, Physics (certificate in Theater and Dance)

Select MIT-related activities

MIT Sloan PhD Student Committee, May 2020–December 2020
- Liaison and advocate to staff and administration to provide support to students during the Covid-19 pandemic

MBA and Masters of Analytics student groups in Sloan’s Analytics Lab course
- Mentor

Led a team of 14 researchers and produced a first-authored publication at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that received national news coverage and has been cited over 130 times, 2020

A paper that I contributed to during the final year of my PhD was published in Nature Human Behaviour, has been cited over 250 times, and has received press coverage by outlets like the Washington Post, the BBC, and the Atlantic, fall 2021

INFORMS Information Systems Society: Nunamaker-Chen Dissertation Award, 2021

Current Status

Mechanical engineer, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Statement

MIT shaped each of us as problem solvers, innovators, and leaders. I'm deeply grateful for the education, opportunities, mentors, and friends at MIT and I want to pay it forward to the next generation.

As a precision engineer and human-centered designer, I learned to meld data-driven insights with empathy for human needs. As a member of the MIT Corporation, I will listen to and amplify the voices of my fellow young alumni in order to direct MIT's governance for the flourishing of the whole institution.

Higher education faces several key challenges: rapid development of artificial intelligence, computing interwoven in all disciplines, and a polarized decline of public trust in science. AI presents a powerful opportunity and challenge to the way and the why of how we educate. Students will ask: Are my skill sets relevant? How do I navigate challenging ethical-technical decisions? Do I still need to learn the basics when I can just ask ChatGPT? Education should take a proactive approach to teaching both fundamental skills as well as relevant advanced use of technology integrated in all of science, engineering, and the liberal arts.

I think MIT can teach leaders who are both technically and ethically prepared to envision our rapidly changing world. As a global leader, MIT must bring its enduring spirit of mens et manus to respond to the challenges of AI and shape the future of higher education.

Degree Info

PhD | 2022 | MIT, Mechanical Engineering SM | 2018 | MIT, Mechanical Engineering BA & BE | 2015 | Dartmouth College and Thayer School of Engineering

Select MIT-related activities

MIT MakerWorks, 2017–2022
- Mentor
- President emeritus

Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS)
- Mentor and collaborator
- Meswani Water Fellow, 2021; two-time ambassador to World Water Week

Startup founder funded and mentored by MIT Sandbox

Forbes 30 Under 30 in Manufacturing and Industry, 2022

Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventors, 2021

Current Status

MIT undergraduate, Class of 2023 | President of the Undergraduate Association

Statement

Having served undergraduates for four years through the Undergraduate Association, my commitment to improving student life remains a central conviction in how I lead. As UA president I have advocated and collaborated with the many stakeholder groups that make up the Institute―undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and more. Through strong partnerships with stakeholder groups, such as the Graduate Student Council, I have been successful in many initiatives, such as reconsidering MIT’s campus access policies, supporting students during the W20 closure, and advocating for affirmative action at the national level. As a member of the MIT Corporation, I aim to continue empowering and elevating issues that matter most to students and to approach Institute matters cognizant of the student perspective. My passion for student advocacy does not end on Commencement day, which is why I want to apply my service to students to the MIT Corporation.

MIT’s most significant challenge is infrastructure. Among renovations impacting culture and community in residential settings, internet and technology that fails often, and lack of affordable housing options, MIT is facing enormous challenges to its infrastructure, which has real impacts on students’ quality of life. Rather than band-aid solution after band-aid solution, MIT needs to develop a long-term, systematic strategic plan to tackle infrastructure issues that have remained unaddressed for far too long. By improving its infrastructure, MIT augments its capacity to better serve students and provide them with a better MIT experience.

Degree Info

SB | 2023 | MIT, Political Science
AA | 2018 | McNeese State University, Applied and Natural Sciences

Select MIT-related activities

Undergraduate Association (UA), September 2019–present
- President, May 2022–present
- Committee on Community and Diversity, chair May 2020–May 2022

MIT Pre-Law Society, January 2020–present
- President, January 2022–present
- Vice president, January 2020–January 2022
- Cofounder

United States Department of Education, September–December 2021, February–May 2022, February 2023–present
- Student volunteer trainee

Reagan Institute Summit on Education, panelist July 2022

Priscilla King Gray Awards for Public Service, May 2022

Jeffrey L. Pressman Award, summer 2020, summer 2022

Current Status

Associate consultant at Bain & Company

Statement

I want to serve on the Corporation because of my love for MIT, the family it has given me, and what it represents. Globally, MIT is the beacon of science and technology, known for taking chances on gifted and highly motivated people. MIT gave me a chance and is a fundamental part of my story today. I believe that as a person with an international background and professional experience in the private equity and energy industries, I have a unique contribution to make in some of the significant challenges the Corporation must tackle.

In today’s world there are a lot of very salient issues ranging from the climate crisis to loss of biodiversity, ensuring freedom of expression, ethical deployment of artificial intelligence, and many others. However, I believe that the MIT community has the curiosity, expertise, and leadership to tackle these problems. From that lens, I believe our greatest challenge as a community is upholding that feeling of community that makes MIT a special place. As an undergrad, the highlight of my experience was working and living with people with different strengths, from different backgrounds, and with minds that worked very differently from mine, and still finding a home with them. To continue to lead globally with the groundbreaking intellectual curiosity and results that our community is capable of, we must make sure that we continue to intentionally create the space to form strong relationships, in a world where it is increasingly difficult to do so. Because it is those relationships that challenge us to remain exceptional.

Degree Info

SB | 2022 | MIT, Chemical Engineering

Select MIT-related activities

African Students Association
- Vice president, April 2019–April 2020
- Member, August 2018–2019, May 2020–present

Presidential Advisory Cabinet (PAC)
- Member, July 2020–June 2021

Nu Delta Fraternity
- Treasurer, February 2019–February 2020
- Member, August 2018–January 2019, March 2020–present

Legatum Fellowship Award for entrepreneurship, July 2020–June 2021

International Students of Color Working Group, 2020
- Worked with the office of the Vice Chancellor to re-design the experience of international students from application to graduation

Beat of Africa Award, May 2020
- Awarded to a student that showed unique commitment to African Student Community

Current Status

Data science consultant, QuantumBlack, AI by McKinsey

Statement

As MIT changes, student voices are integral in shaping an Institute that works for all. If challenges facing MIT are tackled correctly, solutions can drastically improve the quality of life for current and future students. Some crucial changes are:

- Renewed discussion about how free speech could drive academic excellence without harming community members
- The potential of a SCOTUS decision challenging affirmative action to endanger the diversity underpinning MIT’s student body
- Unionization of graduate students dissatisfied with persistent shortcomings in their working conditions
- The call for further integration of social sciences into technical subjects to address the future of work and alignment of smart systems to our values, resurfaced by ChatGPT

Throughout six years at MIT, I tested my leadership skills by navigating and communicating change. For one and a half years as president of the Physics Graduate Student Council, I personally drafted the Physics values statement, built a sustainable team that organized weekly events, and was the voice for our community of 250+ students. Later, I spearheaded an effort to support department leadership in establishing a new degree in Physics, Statistics, and Data Science, benefiting interdisciplinary research and international students. As the first to graduate with this new degree, I could pursue my current machine learning consulting job. There, I learned professional problem-solving tactics and how to balance technical and human skills. I am convinced that MIT, known for its technical expertise, would benefit from electing a recent graduate alum, currently missing from the Board, who can understand and communicate in both worlds.

Degree Info

PhD | 2021 | MIT, Physics, Statistics, and Data Science
MS | 2015 | University of Manchester, Physics

Select MIT-related activities

MIT Physics Graduate Student Council, March 2016–September 2017
- President

MIT Physics Values Committee, September 2016–March 2017
- Member & personally drafted the first version of the MIT Physics Value Statement in use today

MIT Graduate Student Council September 2016 - July 2018
- Representative

MIT clubs
- Ballroom Dance Team, member
- Outing Club, member
- Triathlon Club, president

Advanced the state of the art of particle physics at MIT and CERN by showing that a certain high-interest particle related to dark matter likely does not exist, March 2016–December 2019

Increased the collaboration between the Physics, Statistics, and CS departments. Supported PhD students at the intersection of these fields by helping faculty set up the interdisciplinary PhD in Physics, Statistics, and Data Science, from which I was the first to graduate, June 2020–April 2021

Represented MIT Triathlon at the 2017 Ironman Triathlon Mont Tremblant and finished in under 14 hours, August 2017