At its annual meeting on October 2, the MIT Corporation elected Allan S. Bufferd, deputy treasurer and director of investments at MIT since 1986, as treasurer of the Institute, effective January 1.
One of four officers of the Corporation and a member of the Corporation ex officio, the treasurer is responsible for the stewardship of the financial resources of the Institute and serves ex officio on the Executive, Investment and Development Committees of the Corporation.
As deputy treasurer and director of investments, Dr. Bufferd has been responsible for the investment operations of the Treasurer's Office, including the supervision of investment management of assets in securities, real estate and other personal property of the MIT Corporation, which has total institutional assets in excess of $5 billion. He is responsible for carrying out investment policies as determined by the MIT Investment Committee and the trustees of the MIT Retirement Plan.
Commenting on Dr. Bufferd's election, President Charles M. Vest said, "Allan was the obvious and welcome choice to become our next treasurer. He is a loyal alumnus who knows the Institute in all its facets, and he has established a reputation as one of the finest institutional investors in the United States. His astute investment choices and professional direction of the staff in the Treasurer's Office have been instrumental in the rapid growth of our endowment."
Dr. Bufferd will succeed Glenn P. Strehle, vice president for finance and treasurer, who will step down December 31. "Allan Bufferd has been my principal associate in overseeing the financial resources of the Institute during the past 23 years," Mr. Strehle said. "He has been a key participant in this process and I am confident that the Institute's finances will be in experienced and capable hands."
"Allan has done an outstanding job of overseeing the management of MIT's investments, and I have the utmost confidence that he will match or exceed his past performance in his new job with its expanded responsibilities," said Alex d'Arbeloff, chairman of the Corporation.
Mr. Strehle plans to continue at MIT on a part-time basis, providing counsel and advice to the senior administration and the Corporation. The responsibilities of the position of vice president for finance, also held by Mr. Strehle for the past four years, will be reviewed with John R. Curry, MIT's new executive vice president, after his arrival in mid-November.
Dr. Bufferd (SB 1959) also received the SM in 1961 and ScD in 1965 in metallurgy from MIT and a law degree from Suffolk University in 1976. Prior to joining the administration of MIT in 1972, he was director of engineering for the Nuclear Metals Division of the Whittaker Corp., during which time he also served as a lecturer in metallurgy at Northeastern University.
He is active in a range of civic organizations, including Wheelock College, where he is chairman of the board of trustees, and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he is a life trustee and serves as vice chairman of the board. In addition, he is a trustee of the Whiting Foundation in Boston, a member of the Investment Committee of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a director of MASCO, and a member of the Investment Subcommittee of the Massachusetts State Teachers' and Employees' Retirement Systems Trust.
Dr. Bufferd is treasurer and director of the Harvard Cooperative Society and serves on the board of several organizations in the private sector. He and his wife, Rhea, live in Newton.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 7, 1998.
