5 Of The Most Successful MIT Graduates
It’s safe to say that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is firmly established among the world’s most prestigious universities – it’s been ranked first in the QS World University Rankings for seven years in a row and has now added another string to its bow by overtaking Stanford to rank first in the world in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019. MIT achieved a perfect score for the ‘alumni outcomes’ indicator (one of the five used to calculate the ranking), having been associated with 91 Nobel Prize winners, while more than a third of the US’s manned spaceflights have featured MIT-educated astronauts.
1. Buzz Aldrin
The second person to walk on the Moon, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin gained a doctorate in astronautics at MIT in 1963. His dissertation was titled “Line-of-sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous.” His first impression of the Moon was that it was “magnificent desolation,” which became the title of one of his autobiographies. Also, a former US Air Force officer and command pilot, Buzz, has recently expressed his support for a manned mission to Mars and colonization of the planet by 2040.
2. Richard Feynman
In his second year at MIT, Richard Feynman studied ‘Introduction to Theoretical Physics, an advanced class intended for postgraduate students, and graduated in 1939. He then studied a PhD at Princeton University before working on the Manhattan Project, having been persuaded to help build the first atomic bomb before Nazi Germany could. He went on to lecture at both Cornell University and Caltech whilst developing significant research in quantum electrodynamics, leading to his Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.
3. Shirley Ann Jackson
In 1973 Shirley Ann Jackson became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT. Having studied nuclear physics, she was the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman during the Clinton administration and is now the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2007 the National Science Board gave Shirley the Vannevar Bush Award for “a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy,” She also won a National Medal of Science in 2016 for her work in condensed matter and particle physics.
4. Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 along with the UN for “their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.” He also established the Kofi Annan Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organization that works to promote better international governance and support the abilities of 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.”
5. Michael J. Massimino
You might recognize him from The Big Bang Theory, but did you know he was a real astronaut (playing himself)? Michael graduated from MIT in 1988 with an MSc degree in mechanical engineering, technology, and public policy. He is now the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, and a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University, having previously attended the university for his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.