Veterans
The history of MIT has been intertwined with the military for decades. MIT students and professors have been at the forefront of new technology, from the development of computers, radar, and inertial guidance systems during World War II to the creation of air defense systems and the Internet in modern times.
All Services, Many Countries
The MIT Sloan Veterans Association (VA) encompasses and welcomes military veterans from all services and from many different countries. Building on the strong foundation of leadership that veterans develop in the military, the MIT Sloan VA strives to help veterans reach new heights in their business careers.
Smoother Transitions
The Veterans Association also helps prospective veteran students transition into business school, serves as the MIT Sloan veteran hub for esprit de corps, career development, and networking, and establishes and maintains contact with the extensive MIT Sloan military alumni network throughout the world. The group holds a number of events during the year, including barbecues, career panels and fairs, resume and interviewing workshops, as well as club dinners.
“The conditions in the neighborhoods we were visiting were different than what we realized before getting there. Beyond that, what was surprising was that there weren’t surprises!”
“These companies are really excited to work with MIT students.They reach out to the community to set up these projects and are great to work with. They give us access to all their resources and are very open to us.”
“I knew about American business, but not enough about what’s really become a global economy. … You can read about it all you want, but there’s no substitute for being there and seeing the context and seeing how completely different these [other countries] are.”
“Our mission, along with the mission of MIT Sloan, is to both develop leaders who make a difference in the world, and also to make a contribution to thinking about the topic of leadership.”
“It was really rewarding that they wanted to know what we thought. We left there being fairly certain that they will do some of the things that we suggested.”
“You could talk about watershed management and conservation of energy all you want. But until you put numbers to it and financial analysis to it, you’re not going to get much done. I came to business school to speak that language, speak with people in terms of numbers, financial numbers so that I can get projects done.”
“Because of the diversity of our backgrounds, when we hit the ground in Tanzania it almost was a natural play where different people assume different roles.”
“I can honestly say that when I was planning on coming to business school I never thought that witnessing the birth of a child would be included in the education. It was definitely an experience.”
“I love being in a place that is such a nexus of people and ideas — people coming to learn something new and to define themselves. Being a part of that process is a real honor and a real gift.”
"The relationships that we forged helped us to turn out a better project. We were able to test our hypotheses with the people that we spoke with every single day. And really, I think the friendships that you develop really propel the work that you’re doing."
“One of the reasons I came to Sloan was because I wanted to be at a top MBA institution worldwide. But I also wanted access to working with the latest innovations and the highest technology that was coming out of the MIT labs.”
“At MIT Sloan you have a lot of opportunities to explore entrepreneurship. Especially in a place like Kampala where you have a lot of development, entrepreneurship can be very exciting.”
“For 35 years, we’ve been studying how companies get value from information. … We try to help organizations take a more holistic view of what they are trying to do.”
“We’re very interdisciplinary. Among the faculty in the group are an economist, a political scientist, a sociologist, and an industrial relations specialist. We’ve always made a big effort to be open to a variety of perspectives, but also to go beyond being open to them, to want to bring them in, because it makes for a richer environment.”
“During the mid-1980s there were only five women faculty, and we used to have regular dinners together. The number of female faculty members has greatly increased since then, and students will have several of us for classes in the first year.”
