By: Colin Poler, Kenny Groszman, Mariko Ogawa, Sean O’Donnell
Alumni gifts to LGO provide direct support to current students. This update features four students benefiting from alumni fellowships: Kenny Groszman (ORC LGO ’22) came to LGO hoping to wow his friends with great jokes and study under the titans of optimization – happy to report he is doing well on one of these fronts. Sean O’Donnell (MechE LGO ‘22) joined to harness new advances in intelligence and analytics to bring to traditional operations. Mariko Ogawa (CEE LGO ‘22) (yes the one you all know about from the Onida Watchman!) was really just looking to move across the globe for the sixth time so she could rub it in Sean’s face during before LGO presentations (Sean has never lived anywhere except MA). Colin Poler (EECS LGO ‘22) hopes to use Kaizen to learn how to build a sailboat that doesn’t leak.
We have just begun our fall semester with the rest of Sloan, in a mix of on-campus and fully-remote classes, and packing our already-intense weeks full of guest speakers and COVID-responsible social events. But unlike the rest of Sloan, the LGO class of ‘22 has been bonding and developing relationships in a completely virtual setting all summer, and even joining virtual game nights with the LGO ‘21s.
Equally as impressive has been our interaction with the alumni community. A non-exhaustive list of examples…
- Senior alumni mentors assigned to our summer core teams have been an invaluable part of the new Practical Leadership course. Our mentors have given us real-world advice and helped connect us to unique opportunities like MIT MIMO.
- Over 40 alumni are participating in the LGO alumni-student individual mentorship program and are helping LGOs of both years make the most of our time at MIT
- We’re very excited to have some alumni come back and speak to the class this semester following themes from Don Davis’ “Do the Right Thing” as part of the Leadership Proseminar
It is humbling to be a part of this community, and we speak for the class in saying we are excited to engage with all of you throughout our careers.
Thank you for generously continuing to support the LGO alumni fellowship. Your support made it infinitely less scary to leave our jobs during these challenging times. We are grateful to have the opportunity to continue our studies at MIT, and donations like yours have helped make this a reality.