Mary Schaefer has joined the MIT Sloan School of Management as director of communication, with overall responsibility for Sloan's communication to internal and external constituencies.
Ms. Schaefer was a 1990 Sloan Fellow. After receiving the BA degree in Journalism from St. Cloud State University (1975) and the SM in management from Sloan, she started her own research and consulting firm in the Boston area. As part of that business, she directed a venture called Lessons from Leaders that identified and assessed leading-edge communication practices in some 50 companies worldwide. She often writes, speaks and conducts workshops for corporations and business associations on developing more effective and creative ways to communicate.
"That work and this position will enable me to develop and apply the communication practices that will demonstrate and communicate Sloan's leadership position in business education worldwide," Ms. Schaefer said.
Her other experience includes eight years in the computer industry at Control Data as a strategic planner and executive communications consultant. She also spent eight years in publishing and newspapers, six of those years as an editor, columnist and public relations liaison for a Gannett newspaper. She regularly advised some 300 civic and community leaders on how to build credibility and visibility through effective planning and communication.
Ms. Schaefer also serves as president of the MIT Club of Boston and is active in the Council of Communication Management and the Strategic Leadership Forum.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 29, 1997.
