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“One of the biggest advantages of being a small school—whether you are a student or an administrator—is you have the chance to really get to know everyone. You can build these relationships that will last long after graduation,” outgoing Assistant Dean of Admissions Rod Garcia said last May .
“I think that’s really due to the culture of MIT Sloan. It’s one of the first things I noticed when I came here.”
Whether they combined management and engineering training in MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) , learned from industry experts in Action Learning , or returned to MIT Sloan to serve the next generation of entrepreneurs, the Sloanies we spoke to in 2021 fondly recalled this culture of close-knit connectivity and collaboration from their time as students.
Here are 14 other quotes about the culture of MIT Sloan by alumni we spoke to this year:
“MIT Sloan taught me about the collective power of community building and collaboration to produce systems-level change. That’s a particularly important lesson to learn and apply in the venture capital space, where the quality of your ecosystem influences your deal flow, co-investment network, and ability to add value.” – Noramay Cadena, SB ’03, LGO ’11
“MIT Sloan was a life-changing experience. It gave me the tools and frameworks I use to solve problems in both business and life.” – Gokul Rajaram, MBA ’01
“I remember coming to MIT Sloan and being inspired by the friends I made there every day. They made me think anything was possible. The energy in those halls was palpable, thanks in large part to being around people like them.” – Will Blodgett, MBA ’12
“Whenever something work-related or in life happens, I always have someone from MIT Sloan I can call. We are a community like that. Because when you become more senior in your organizations—particularly in male-dominated organizations—it can be lonely when you don’t have a group of people like this. That sense of community is really important.” – Kerry James, SB ’95, MBA ’01
“There’s a perception of MIT being very tech and quant heavy, but the reality is that MIT Sloan has very broad offerings—from finance to general management and entrepreneurship, it supplies the tools and programs that help a person grow in whatever they’re passionate about.” – Mindy Hsu, LGO ’06
“MIT Sloan has given me a feeling of empowerment, which has created a mindset that is best described with the phrase: ‘If I can get into MIT Sloan and study with this amazing group of people, then there are a lot of other things I can do, too.’” – Pat Hubbell, SM ’91
“MIT Sloan taught me a lot about how to implement my ideas and promote my values in a global context. Within the LGO program, I learned how to conceptualize and solve problems that involve many different parts of the world and operationalize a vision on a global scale. For me, that was really important, as I am searching for the best ways to provide patients around the world with the medicines they need to live a healthy life.” – Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, SB ’08, LGO ’16
“I feel that my time at MIT Sloan influenced the way I express myself and how much I share with others. I used to keep everything to myself, but finding a community that is welcome to different ideas has made me more willing to share what I’m thinking about and working on. Only when you share your ideas can they come true.” – Carolina Goncebat, MBA ’20
“There is no better place in the world to work and contribute than MIT Sloan. Not just because of the school’s intellectual capacity, but also because of the community’s culture. It’s all about collaborative leadership. Collaboration is truly in MIT Sloan’s DNA, and they work tirelessly to help students build those skills.” – Jorge Arbesú-Cardona, SFMBA ’18
“To always search for ways to make whatever you’re doing better, that’s where MIT Sloan really helped me.” – Dr. Tamara (Lucero) Rajaram, MBA ’01
“MIT Sloan to me is the best place on earth to learn how to lead through change, so having a broad, more balanced set of voices to help lead through that change will enable our community to do more.” – David Lee, MBA ’04
“These hands-on experiences really helped me to hone in on what I wanted to do post-graduation. After all, the Institute motto is “mens et manus,” or “mind and hand.” That’s a very real thing, and whenever I talk to prospective students, that’s what I talk about the most.” – Shayna Harris, MBA ’11
“MIT Sloan really opened my eyes to different viewpoints… If you can see the viewpoints of other perspectives, it really opens your eyes. Misunderstandings avoided take far less effort than correcting them later.” – Chris Chia, MBA ’98
“The MIT Sloan Fellows program was life-changing for me. I not only learned critical skills from an impressive faculty in the classroom, but Stephanie and I learned just as much from our friends and family in our program… Listening to everyone’s stories was very powerful because you really got to put yourself in other people’s shoes. You learned how to better appreciate diverse cultures, backgrounds, and perspectives.” – David Gitlin, SF ’03
