The MIT Corporation, the Institute’s board of trustees, elected 12 term members — with terms ranging from one to five years — during its quarterly meeting held yesterday afternoon. Corporation Chairman John S. Reed ’61 announced the election results; all appointments are effective July 1.
Nine term members were elected to serve for five years: Bruce N. Anderson ’69, MArch ’73 (an Alumni Association nominee); Ursula M. Burns; Patricia R. Callahan ’75, SM ’77 (an Alumni Association nominee); R. Erich Caulfield SM ’01, PhD ’06; David L. desJardins ’83; Abigail P. Johnson; Paul M. Kominers ’12 (the recent classes nominee); Neil E. Rasmussen ’76, SM ’80 (an Alumni Association nominee); and Alan G. Spoon ’73, SM ’73.
Also elected as term members were Vanu G. Bose ’87, SM ’94, PhD ’99 (elected to a three-year term); Viktor F. Vekselberg (elected to a two-year term); and Alan M. Leventhal (elected to a one-year term).
This year, five new life members were also elected: Lawrence K. Fish; Diane B. Greene SM ’78; Charlene C. Kabcenell ’79; Robert B. Millard ’73; and Henri A. Termeer.
It was also announced at the meeting that John W. Jarve — managing director of Menlo Ventures, a venture-capital firm in California — has been named the 2013-14 president of the MIT Association of Alumni and Alumnae.
Both term members and life members — who serve without a specific term until they reach age 75 — have voting rights in the Corporation. At age 75, life members become life members emeritus; while they no longer have a vote, they continue to play an active role in Institute affairs.
As of July 1, the Corporation will consist of 76 distinguished leaders in education, science, engineering and industry; of those, 25 are life members and 8 are ex officio. An additional 34 individuals are life members emeritus.
The elected term members are:
Bruce N. Anderson ’69, MArch ’73
Chief Executive Officer, Wilson Solarpower Corporation
Anderson graduated from MIT in 1970 with an SB in aeronautics and astronautics and an SB in architecture. In 1973, he obtained his MArch in Architecture from MIT. He completed his master’s thesis in architecture on solar energy in 1973 just before the first oil embargo, and subsequently started four solar-related businesses. Anderson is currently the co-founder and CEO of Wilson Solarpower Corporation, an MIT spinoff, developing technology to generate solar power all day and night, regardless of weather conditions. He currently serves on the MIT Alumni Association Board of Directors and has previously served on the Corporation visiting committees for athletics, physical education and recreation; architecture; and urban studies and planning.
Vanu G. Bose ’87, SM ’94, PhD ’99
Chief Executive Officer, Vanu, Inc.
Vanu G. Bose obtained an SB in electrical engineering in 1987, an SB in mathematics in 1988, and an SM and a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science in 1994 and 1999 from MIT. Bose founded Vanu, Inc. in 1998, which pioneered the commercialization of software-defined radio and was the first company to receive FCC certification of a software-defined radio in 2004. He is on the Corporation visiting committee for electrical engineering and computer science.
Ursula M. Burns
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation
Ursula M. Burns received a BS from the Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1980 and an MS degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in 1981. In July 2009, Burns was named chief executive officer at Xerox. Shortly thereafter, she made the largest acquisition in Xerox history: the $6.4-billion purchase of Affiliated Computer Services, catapulting the company’s presence in the $500-billion business services market and extending the company’s reach into diverse areas of business process and IT outsourcing. This is the second five-year term for Burns, who was first elected in 2008. She currently serves on the Corporation visiting committees for the Libraries and the Engineering Systems Division.
Patricia R. Callahan ’75, SM ’77
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
Callahan attended MIT from 1971 to 1977, earning her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s degree in management and finance. From 2008 to 2011, Callahan successfully led the largest, most complex banking merger in U.S. history, providing oversight and strategic direction for the merger of Wells Fargo and Wachovia Corporation. In 2011, she was promoted to chief administrative officer — one of only 11 senior leaders on Wells Fargo’s operating committee.
R. Erich Caulfield SM ’01, PhD ’06
New Orleans Federal Team Lead, White House SC2 Initiative
Caulfield obtained his SM in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 2001 and received his PhD in electrical engineering and computer science in 2006. He began his professional career as an associate at McKinsey & Company, from 2006 to 2008, focusing on public sector projects. In 2010, Caulfield was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve as a White House Fellow, working at the White House Domestic Policy Council. In this role, he worked on economic development and long-term disaster recovery. Caulfield is currently serving as the New Orleans Community Solutions Team Lead for the White House Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) Initiative.
David L. desJardins ’83
Retired; former engineer at Google
DesJardins earned an SB in mathematics from MIT in 1983; in 2002, he completed a PhD in mathematics at the University of California at Berkeley. He retired from Google as a software engineer in 2005 after joining in 1999 as one of the first 20 employees hired. Among his many activities, David is an investor in several startups; is general partner in DJ Ventures LP; supports several philanthropic organizations; and continues to consult in encrypted communication. He is an investor in such companies as Cloudera, ScanScout, Tivix, 23andMe and more. He currently serves on the Corporation visiting committees for Libraries and Mathematics.
Abigail P. Johnson
President, Fidelity Financial Services, Fidelity Investments
Johnson received a bachelor of arts degree in art history from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1984 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1988. As president of Fidelity Financial Services, Johnson oversees all of the financial services businesses — asset management, retail and institutional brokerage, retirement and benefits services — as well as corporate operations and support functions. She has served as a Corporation member since 2007.
Paul M. Kominers ’12
Research Director, TurboVote
Kominers graduated from MIT in 2012 with a SB in economics and political science. He is the research director at TurboVote, a service provided by Democracy Works, Inc., designed to boost voter turnout by making it easier to vote. He is responsible for gathering information such as addresses, deadlines, election locations and other data needed for TurboVote to help people to vote. Kominers served as class president for MIT’s Class of 2012.
Alan M. Leventhal
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
Beacon Capital Partners
Alan M. Leventhal received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University in 1974 and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College in 1976.
Neil E. Rasmussen ’76, SM ’80
Senior Vice President of Innovation, Schneider Electric
Rasmussen obtained his SB from MIT in 1976 with a focus in bioelectrical engineering and his SM in 1980 with a focus in power electronics, both in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Neil worked at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory from 1979 to 1981, where he and two other staff members spun off a startup company, American Power Conversion (APC). He currently serves on the Corporation visiting committees for Nuclear Science and Engineering and Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.
Alan G. Spoon ’73, SM ’73
General Partner, Polaris Partners, LLC
Spoon received his SB and SM degrees in 1973 from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He continued his education at Harvard Law School, where he received his JD in 1976. Since 2000, Alan has been managing general partner (2000-10) and general partner (2010-present) at Polaris Partners, LLC, a diversified national venture capital firm with investments in information technology and life sciences enterprises. He currently serves on the development committee of the MIT Corporation and as an edX/MITx board member.
Viktor F. Vekselberg
Chairman; Renova Group
President; Skolkovo Foundation
In 1979, Vekselberg graduated with honors from the Moscow Railway Transport Engineering Institute (MIIT) in the Faculty of Automation and Computer Engineering. He continued his education studies at the Computing Center of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he obtained his MS and PhD in mathematics. In 1990, Vekselberg became one of the major founders of the Renova Asset Management Company. In March 2010, Dmitry Medvedev, then-president of the Russian Federation, appointed Vekselberg as the head of the project for launching the Innovation Center in Skolkovo. Since June 2010, he has been the president of the Skolkovo Foundation.
