Forbes reporter Yola Robert spotlights Sloan alumna Mona Patel for her philanthropic work supporting education for girls and underserved communities. “For Patel, her passion for supporting education stems from her experience coming to America as an immigrant student and witnessing how transformational it was for her,” writes Robert.
MIT Profs. Angela Belcher, Emery Brown, Paula Hammond and Feng Zhang have been honored with National Medals of Science and Technology, reports Michael T. Neitzel for Forbes. Additionally, R. Lawrence Edwards '76 received a National Medal of Science and Noubar Afeyan PhD '87, a member of the MIT Corporation, accepted a National Medal on behalf of Moderna. The recipients have been awarded “the nation’s highest honors for exemplary achievements and leadership in science and technology,” explains Neitzel.
Prof. William Thilly, a “leader of groundbreaking research into human genetic mutations, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, and the inventor of Kellogg’s Apple Jacks cereal,” has died at age 79, reports Jade Lozada for The Boston Globe. “I will always remember Bill as my first mentor and a scientific father figure,” says alumnus Tushar Kamath. “I can’t imagine having pursued a career of medical research without the formative experiences he offered me.”
Forbes reporter Bruce Dorminey spotlights Donald Douglas, a graduate of the class of 1914. “Douglas christened his company, Douglas Aircraft and built his first planes under contract with the U.S. Navy,” explains Dorminey. “The early most successful model was known as the Douglas Torpedo 2, a single engine seaplane. But the DT2 had to be heavily modified to make it suitable for a trip around the world. Douglas increased the DT2 biplane’s range from 275 miles to over 2000 miles.”
Lisa Su '90, SM '91, PhD '94, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), has been named Time’s 2024 CEO of the Year, reports Orianna Rosa Royle for Fortune. In 2012, Su joined “AMD as senior vice president and general manager of the company’s global business units,” writes Royle. “Just two years later she was promoted to AMD’s CEO becoming the first woman to hold to role since the company’s founding in 1969.”
Lisa Su '90, SM '91, PhD '94, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, has been named Time’s CEO of the Year, reports Morgan Smith for CNBC. “Su is one of few Fortune 500 CEOs with a PhD,” explains Smith. “Her engineering background helped her spearhead some of the technological innovations — including a new faster CPU chip for computers — that drove AMD’s recent success.”
Writing for Scientific American, former postdoctoral fellow Aza Allsop PhD '16 and his colleagues spotlight bias in the scientific community. “When the significant contributions of Black scientists are excluded, we all lose,” they write. “This is why it is time that awarding committees and beyond finally begin acknowledging the significant discoveries made by Black scientists that benefit all of humanity—and giving them the proper recognition they deserve.”
Hank Green - an online educator, author and Youtuber will deliver the 2025 OneMIT Commencement address, reports Molly Farrar for Boston.com. Green is “the creator of VidCon, the world’s largest annual gathering of digital content creators,” writes Farrar. “He and his brother also created SciShow and Crash Course, two YouTube education shows played in high school classrooms.”
TIME has named Lisa Su ’90 SM ’91 PhD ’94, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, the 2024 CEO of the year. “It was at MIT that Su first experienced a semiconductor lab, where she was taken by the idea that such a tiny piece of hardware could carry so much mathematical firepower,” writes Billy Perrigo. “I was really lucky early in my career,” says Su. “Every two years, I did a different thing.” Su adds: “I felt like I was in training for the opportunity to do something meaningful in the semiconductor industry. And AMD was my shot.”
Alex Oliva '16, MEng '18 will be touring the country with “Nutcracker! Magical Christmas Ballet” as an acrobat/aerialist, “spinning across the stage inside a 73-inch Cyr wheel,” reports Cate McQuaid for The Boston Globe. “It’s a very simple device, just a circle,” says Oliva. “The laws of physics govern the movement of it the same way that you can spin a coin.”
Lisa Su '90, SM '91, PhD '94, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, has been named one of the Financial Times’ most influential women of the year. “Lisa Su is a trailblazer,” writes Tsai Ing-wen, the former president of Taiwan. “Su has shattered glass ceilings, becoming the first female CEO to lead AMD, the AI chipmaker based in Silicon Valley, and she has broken stereotypes in her industry.” Ing-Wen adds that Su is a “role model, as well as an example of perseverance and strength who inspires us all.”
Anna Sun '23 co-founded Nowadays, an AI-powered event planner, reports Julie Bort for TechCrunch. Nowadays “emails venues, caterers, and the like to gather bids,” explains Bort. “It will even make phone calls to nudge a response to unanswered emails. It then organizes the information and presents it to the event planner, who can make decisions and sign contracts.”
Forbes reporter Tom Teicholz spotlights the artistic work of alumna Lauren Bon. “Over the last two decades, as part of her art practice, Bon has undertaken projects that involve an exploration of urban natural resources in ways that have a positive environmental and societal impact,” writes Teicholz.
Smithsonian Magazine reporter Michael Snyder spotlights Marion Mahony Griffin, an “inventive and remarkable architect” who was the second woman to earn an architecture degree from MIT. “A brilliant graphic artist with a deep interest in Japanese printmaking, Mahony created the signature aesthetic of [Frank Llyod] Wright’s perspective drawings, bursting with exquisite detail,” explains Snyder.
Prof. Daron Acemoglu and Prof. Simon Johnson, recipients of the 2024 Nobel Prize in economics, join Boston Public Radio to discuss their research examining the role of institutions in creating shared prosperity. “For the longer-term health of the U.S. economy,” says Acemoglu, “there’s probably nothing more important than its institutions. If any president, any politician, any party damages those institutions, that’s the first thing we should focus on.” Johnson adds: “Democracy has to deliver on shared prosperity. Otherwise people get very annoyed and they question the system.”