Which MIT Alumni Were Named Among Boston's Most Powerful and the World's Most Influential?

Judging by recent rankings in Boston Magazine and Time, many MIT alumni hold a significant amount of power and influence in Boston and around the world. Boston Magazine’s list of Boston’s 50 Most Powerful People is 10 percent MIT, including President L. Rafael Reif. And Time’s 100 Most Influential People ranking, which was announced earlier this month, features four MIT alumni, including Harvard Associate Professor Pardis Sabeti ’97, who was part of a group of Ebola fighters that were co-named Time's 2014 Person of the Year.

As with previous coverage of MIT-related rankings on Slice of MIT, we're not endorsing these lists. But we do hope they continue to generate significant conversation among the MIT community.

What's you take? Share your thoughts on the the rankings—or let us know if we left anyone out—in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.

Boston’s 50 Most Powerful People, via Boston Magazine

Joseph Aoun PhD ’82 (25) President, Northeastern University “Aoun has continued Northeastern’s march up the college rankings: It’s now among the most competitive schools in the Northeast. Aoun has flexed the university’s muscles in a relentless quest for a bigger footprint.”

Stephanie Pollack ’82 (26) Massachusetts secretary of transportation “A brilliant, wonky, and progressive veteran of Northeastern’s Dukakis Center, Charlie Baker’s most unlikely appointee survived the winter from hell, but now faces fixing a debt-crippled MBTA.”

L. Rafael Reif HM '14 (36) President, MIT “Reif presides over an institution that continues to transform Kendall Square into a hub of innovation. It’s engaging Boston as well, partnering with Boston 2024 and Linda Pizzuti Henry’s upcoming HUBWeek festival.”

Ralph de la Torre SM ’92 (40) Chairman and CEO, Steward Health Care System “He’s leading the largest for-profit community-care organization in New England—17,000 employees, 11 hospitals—and betting on private healthcare.”

John Harthorne MBA ’07 (44) CEO and founder, MassChallenge “Harthorne's Boston-based startup accelerator program, the largest in the world, has helped launch more than 600 businesses, and nearly 5,000 new jobs, since its establishment in 2010.”

Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People Charles Koch ’57, SM ’58, SM ’60 David Koch ’62, SM ‘63 Koch Industries “Charles and David Koch are well known for their business success, their generous philanthropic efforts and for their focus on innovation in management.” – Rand Paul, United States Senator from Kentucky

Pardis Sabeti ’97 Associate Professor, Harvard University “When the Ebola epidemic began, Dr. Pardis Sabeti led a team that did something critically important: it sequenced virus samples from infected patients almost as soon as the outbreak began.” - J. Craig Venter, biologist

Benjamin Netanyahu ’75, SM ’76 Prime Minister, Israel “Netanyahu was just elected, for the fourth time, to lead Israel. I personally know it’s not trivial to win office, simple to govern or easy to leave a positive imprint on history.” - Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel

Pardis Sabeti image via PopTech 2011, Camden, Maine, USA