MIT Notable Alumni

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or as we know it as the famous MIT, is considered to be one of the best universities in the world. Every year, multiple aspirants apply to their dream college with hard work and sheer determination. MIT is ranked as the number 1 college on the QS world ranking for 2021 as well! While talking about such a prestigious college, there are many notable alumni who got to study at MIT. Let us know about some of the most notable alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

MIT Notable Alumni

Here are the most notable alumni of MIT:

• Buzz Aldrin
• Ilene S. Gordon
• Richard Feynman 
• Jonah Peretti 
• Shirley Ann Jackson 
• Robin Chase 
• Kofi Annan 
• Katharine McCormick
• Michael J. Massimino 
• Andrea Wong 

Buzz Aldrin 

Aldrin and mission commander Neil Armstrong were the first two people to land on the Moon. After the deaths of Armstrong in 2012 and Michael Collins in 2021, Aldrin is the last surviving crew member of Apollo 11. In 1963, Aldrin received a doctorate in astronautics at MIT. His first thought towards the Moon was that it was “magnificent desolation”. It also became the title of one of his autobiographies. 

Ilene S. Gordon

Ilene S. Gordon earned her BSc in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and is the CEO, President and Chairman of Ingredion. She changed her mind about being a math teacher and decided to go into business. She graduated with an MSc degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1976. She got a lot of recognition for her success, and was even listed in 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in 2015.

Richard Feynman 

Richard Feynman graduated from MIT in 1939. He studied an advanced class in his second year at MIT, which was ‘Introduction to Theoretical Physics’. He then graduated with a PhD degree from Princeton University. Afterwards, he started working on the Manhattan Project. He was invited to give lectures in prestigious Cornell University and Caltech whilst under significant research in quantum electrodynamics, leading to his Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

Jonah Peretti 

Jonah Peretti originally studied his bachelor’s degree at University of California, Santa Cruz before going on to complete a postgraduate degree at MIT’s Media Lab. He is the co-founder and CEO of BuzzFeed and one of the co-founders of The Huffington Post. He coined the term “reblog” and has continued to use his knowledge of social media sharing to grow BuzzFeed so that users browse the site for genuine news, as well as the site’s humorous listicles.

Shirley Ann Jackson 

Shirley Ann Jackson became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT in 1973. She was the chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Clinton administration as she studied nuclear physics, and is now the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The National Science Board even awarded Shirley with the Vannevar Bush Award for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education and her contributions to public policy” in 2007. She has also been facilitated with the  National Medal of Science in 2016, for her work in particle physics and matter. 

Robin Chase 

Robin Chase graduated from MIT Sloan School of Management with a Masters in Management and went on to become a successful transportation entrepreneur. She founded her own car-sharing service, and co-founded Zipcar, the largest car-sharing company in the world. She received both an honorary PhD from Illinois Institute of Technology and a Women’s Leadership Award from Harvard University in 2004. 

Kofi Annan 

Being the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, he was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 for “the work for a better organized and more peaceful world”. He established the Kofi Annan Foundation, which worked to promote improved international governance and support people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world. Following his death on August 18 2018, current UN Secretary-General António Guterres called Kofi Annan “A champion for peace and a guiding force for good.”

Katharine McCormick

In 1904, Katharine McCormick graduated from MIT and earned a degree of BSc in biology. She even got involved in philanthropy and women’s suffrage. She used to fund majorly towards the research needed to develop the first birth control pill, and that research continued with the funds to know more about birth control during the sixties. She even assigned US$5 million to Stanford University School of Medicine to support female physicians.

Michael J. Massimino 

Michael studied Msc in Mechanical engineering, technology and public policy, and graduated from MIT in 1988. Currently, he is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. He is also a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

Andrea Wong 

Andrea Wong graduated from MIT in 1988 and is the president of Sony International Production. She even received an MBA degree from Stanford University. Before being a part of Sony, Andrea helped to develop TV shows like The Bachelor and was an executive for ABC in America. 

Indian Alumni of MIT

Here are the top MIT Alumni who are from India:

• Anant Pandya 
• S. L. Kirloskar 
• Brahm Prakash 
• M. N. Dastur 
• Lalit Kanodia
• F. C. Kohli
• Vaidyeswaran Rajaraman
• Thomas Kailath

These were some of the MIT Notable Alumni that the world knows about. They have achieved great success in their respective fields and have made sure to give the best through their hard work and determination.  For the latest updates around study blogs, you can follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and also subscribe to our newsletter. You can also join our Leverage Edu Community. Leverage Edu wishes you all the best for all your future endeavors.