Alumni Connection

Building Community

Groups bond both students and alumni

hen Breanna Berry 12 arrived at the Institute as a freshman in the fall of 2008, one of the rst things she did was join Alpha Phi sorority. Then she joined another group, the Program in Leadership and Undergraduate Success. And then ve more. Student groups give people an opportunity to gure out who they are and cultivate relationships with people who will encourage them to reach their goals, Berry says. And with more than 450 to choose from, students are likely to nd at least one good match. Student groups help in looking at the bigger picture, says graduate student Prakash Narayan Govindan, president of MIT Bhakti Yoga. You get to sort of take a step back from all the stress and work and just hang out with friends and do something you like.

Groups are an essential part of the MIT experience, Berry adds. Theyre an essential part of the MIT alumni experience, too: a central focus of the MIT Alumni Association, in fact, is to ensure that clubs, classes, affinity groups, and interest groups remain strong and viable sources of community for graduates. To that end, the Association supports more than 50 alumni networks and affinity groups, such as the 32-year-old Black Alumni of MIT (BAMIT), and 90 Institute clubs worldwide.

Stephen Ho, SM 84, president of the MIT Club of Singapore, says that after MIT, alumni clubs help members retain ties to the Institute and encourage lifelong learning. At a recent club event, he says, he learned a lot about space research from Professor Dava Newman, SM 89, PhD 92, who was involved in the design of space suits for astronauts. Ho says members of the Club of Singapore are enthusiastic about connecting, not just to area alumni but also to alumni in other clubs. Singapore club members recently partnered with the Club of Malaysia to host joint lunches with speakers from each club. In Singapore, they held a joint golf match with the Club of Chicago and a joint Chinese New Year celebration with the Club of China. Washington, D.C., resident Jennifer Navarro 00 says a fellow graduate encouraged her to get involved with her local club even though she expected to be in the area

SIG MA ALPHA M U TH ROWS ITSE LF A R E U N ION In September, Sigma Alpha Mu alumni who attended MIT between the 1950s and the early 70s held a weekend reunion. Some 122 Sammies and their guests enjoyed reconnecting at the event, which was led by reunion chair Paul Rudovsky 66. Sigma Alpha Mu was an active chapter from 1917 to 1973, when it disafliated with the national fraternity to become the Fenway House Independent Living Group.

J I M R O M E 64, E E 67, E N G 67, S M 67, S C D 71

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for only a short time. However, its six years later, Im still here and I really enjoy the mentorship by some of our more experienced alums in the club, she says. They always offer wonderful career advice and are willing to help in any way they can. Navarro currently serves as president of the D.C. club. Affinity groups have also enriched alumni lives. The Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA) is dedicated to promoting alumnae accomplishments, maintaining connections among female graduates, and supporting women on campus. Carol Hooker 67, who lives in Indianapolis, says she became a member as a means to stay connected to MIT after she retired. Membership, she notes, has afforded her a closer connection to campus and given me a wonderful excuse to come visit! Cambridge resident Aileen Wu 03 agrees. AMITA and other MIT alumni groups provide valuable opportunities to take on leadership roles and network, she says. For example, this past year [several other members] and I set up a series of discussion panels focused on women in entrepreneurship. Just being part of AMITA and the MIT Alumni Association means that we have access to a huge group of people who are interested in attending eventsalumni, current students,

etc.as well as many companies who are interested in helping to fund them. Many alumni have also found that shared interestseducation or energy, for example can bring a group together and strengthen it. More than 300 people belong to the K12 STEM Education Volunteer Network, which aims to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math pursuits. Membership in the Energy, Environment, and Sustainability (EES) network is nearing 1,000. Doug Spreng 65, a California resident who worked at Hewlett-Packard and other high-tech companies, has been active with EES since his retirement. He advocates for energy research, and he persuaded class leaders to promote MITs new energy minor as a theme for their reunion gifts. As is usually the case when working with bright, committed people on a tough project, friendships spring up in the process, says Spreng. For me, its some of the EES leaders as well as a number of MIT professors, including Tonio Buonassisi, Vladimir Bulovic , Jeff Grossman, and others, who have given generously of their time to support the EES program. Like so many other alumni, hes found that these groups can serve as catalysts for both mentoring relationships and lifelong friendships. Liv Gold

Refreshed Innite Connection Offers New Online Tools

LOOK FOR exciting changes when you visit the MIT Alumni Associations website. With new software behind the Innite Connection, the Online Alumni Directory has a new look and expanded options. You can enrich your prole with non-MIT degrees, nd other alumni in your club area, and add feeds from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Flickr. Find out what you can do by logging in to the Innite Connection: alum.mit.edu/ic.

Have You Voted Yet?

AASC election, call for alumni nominations
ALUMNI HAVE a hand in guiding the future of the MIT Alumni Association, the MIT Corporation, and other leadership groups by electing new members to the Alumni Association Selection Committee (AASC). The 12 alumni who serve on the AASC are charged with reviewing nominations by alumni and then selecting the new Association board members and determining the nominations for the MIT Corporation. In addition to voting in the AASC election, alumni are invited to nominate others for many roles. Nominations are due now for visiting committees, which review academic departments; the MIT Annual Fund Board; and the Alumni Association Awards Committee. See the range of nomination opportunities and deadlines at alum.mit.edu/ leadership_nominations. AASC voting ends February 29 at alum.mit.edu/aascb.

Ask the Faculty

Real-time online interviews
ALUMNI CAN POSE questions about timely topics to MIT faculty, and get their responses in real time, during a series of live online interviews offered eight times this academic year. Faculty Forum Online, a program of the MIT Alumni Association, hosts the half-hour webcasts. Alumni who register in advance can log in to watch the interview and submit questions. Selected questions are posed to the faculty member. Go online now to watch past sessionsincluding the October interview, The Real Solution Is Growth, with economics professor Daron Acemoglu (at right)and check for upcoming forums. The series is designed to address contemporary issues, so topics are chosen only a few weeks in advance. Find it at alum.mit.edu/learn/facultyforum/online.

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technology review January/February 2012

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