Couples Who Met @ MIT

MIT is known for tackling global challenges using mind, hand, and heart. Through collaboration between students inside and outside of the classroom, this can lead to strong bonds—both of friendship and love. In honor of Valentine’s Day, we are sharing just a few love stories from alumni couples who met at MIT.

Jim Muller SM ’82, PhD ’83 and Sharon Horovitch PhD ’80

“We actually met at a mixer for graduate students,” Muller says. Horovitch adds, “Where we both discovered that neither of us could dance, and so we ended up just taking a walk along the Charles. That was very romantic.” After earning MIT doctorates, the couple hit the road with their bluegrass band, Southern Rail, and never looked back.

Hear their music and watch an interview with the pair on Slice of MIT.

Jean Paskowitz ’73 and Irv Paskowitz ’73

 “We’ve changed a little, but it’s nice to see that the chapel hasn’t,” says Jean, who shares a photo from the couple’s wedding in the MIT Chapel as well as a photo they took in the chapel on their 50th anniversary last September. The couple was on campus for the Alumni Leadership Conference. Read more.

Jase Wilson MCP ’08 and Xueying Wilson SM ’17, PhD ’20

“Xueying and I met at a Graduate Alumni Council (GAC) event in the fall of 2019,” says Wilson. “I assumed she was a fellow member of the GAC, but it turns out she was there on behalf of the Grad Rat Committee, which she chaired. I thought we were flirting, but she was trying to sell me a class ring! It all worked out, though … We’re now happily married with our wonderful son, who we hope will one day go to MIT!” Read more.

Laura Chadwick ’95, MEng ’96 and Tom Chadwick ’93, SM ’94

“Tom and I met in September 1991 in front of East Campus, where we lived on rival floors (41st West for him, Tetazoo for me),” writes Laura. “A mutual friend introduced us because I was in the pit orchestra for the fall MIT Gilbert & Sullivan Players theater performance, and Tom was in the cast. We hit it off immediately and started dating not long after the show completed its run. We got married five years to the day after our first date—dinner at Royal East and a concert at Boston University. We have lived in Vermont since graduating and make frequent trips back to Cambridge. But our favorite trip back was Valentine's Day weekend of 2021, when we dropped off our youngest daughter (MIT Class of 2024) for her first semester on campus after a remote fall semester.” Read more.

Alex Chen ’95 and Jenny Lee Chen ’95

“Alex and I took and dropped the same music class,” writes Lee Chen. “He was my TA for a biology course, and I was his TA for a chemistry lab course. We had lots of mutual friends. A few days before graduation, we passed each other in the Infinite Corridor and said our goodbyes and wished each other the best of luck. Who would have thought that we would again bump into each other in Maryland two years later and end up married four years after graduation?! Truly, it all happens for a reason, and we will always be grateful to MIT.” Read more.

Nicole Gagnier ’15 and Alex Klein ’15

“We were almost immediately inseparable but the men’s and women’s volleyball coach, Paul Dill, made a ‘rule’ that we couldn't break up for the next four years and cause drama for either team. Eleven years later, we had fulfilled that rule and Coach Paul Dill married us with several alums in attendance, including many members of the volleyball teams.” Read more.

Eli Davis ’15, MEng ’16 and Jenny Ramseyer ’15, MEng ’16

“We met as pen pals! We both entered the MIT origami competition as prefrosh,” writes Ramseyer. “At the awards ceremony, MIT Origami Club president Jason Ku ’09, SM ’11, PhD ’16 gave me Eli's email, and we were pen pals until September. We finally met at Campus Preview Week, but it wasn't until the summer after freshman year when we started dating. We were both UROPs (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program students) in Professor [Erik] Demaine's origami lab and have been inseparable ever since. We finally got married in 2020 in a very small ceremony.” Read more.

David Brown ’77 and Yasmin Brown SM ’78

“We met on campus at a minority graduate student orientation in August of 1976,” writes Yasmin. “We lived in the original Ashdown House, now called Fariborz Maseeh Hall. It was friendship at first sight. We both hailed from Atlanta, and our parents were alumni of Morris Brown College, a historically black university where I matriculated as well. My mother was even a close coworker to a woman who knew David’s family well. Neither of us were looking for a romantic relationship, but when we danced to Diana Ross’ song “I Thought It Took a Little Time (But Today I Fell in Love)” at an off-campus gathering, we knew we were meant for each other. It has been our song for all these years. We were married in a large formal wedding in June 1978, one week after my MIT Commencement. A half a dozen of our MIT friends were in attendance, and some were bridesmaids and groomsmen. And our story continues!” Read more.

David Udin ’66 and Susan Udin ’69, PhD ’75

“We met in the picturesque Studio B at WMBR (then WTBS) in the basement of Walker Memorial two days before the start of classes my freshman year,” remembers Susan. “I was checking out the station prior to getting a radio show, and David had already been working there for several years. We discovered that we had the same taste in music, humor, and movies. He was a mensch, so we got married. It'll be 56 years this June.” Read more.

Holly Johnsen PhD ’16 and George Jay Tucker PhD ’14

“George and I met at Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence, where we both enjoyed volunteering at dorm events,” recalls Johnsen. “Our first date was to the Museum of Science, and it was interrupted by his advisor calling to ask for input on a grant application! But it was still fun, and he made sure to tell his advisor no calling on our second date. We continued to volunteer at and enjoyed living together in Sidney-Pacific until George finished his math PhD and we moved to Alewife, and then he worked at Amazon while waiting for me to finish my biology PhD. George proposed on our fifth anniversary after a nice dinner at Craigie on Main, one of his favorite restaurants.” Read more.

Did you and your spouse or partner meet at MIT? Share your story and submit photos.