Ethernet Inventor Endows New Chair in Entrepreneurship

Best known as the managing director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship and a purveyor of ramen noodles, Bill Aulet, SF ’94, has been named the inaugural Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship.

Dean David Schmittlein announced Aulet’s appointment to the new chair position at the 2022 New Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Symposium in April. The endowed chair was made possible by the generosity of Robert Metcalfe, SB ’68.

“I am grateful to Bob [Metcalfe] for his support of entrepreneurship and the pursuit of invention at MIT, and for his generosity in establishing the Ethernet Inventors Professorship of the Practice,” said Schmittlein. “This chair will enable the Trust Center to continue to expand its reach and impact by attracting and providing support for practitioners and educators of entrepreneurship in perpetuity.”

Metcalfe helped pioneer the creation of the internet, invented the Ethernet, and co-founded digital electronics manufacturer 3Com in 1979 with other MIT alumni. He graduated from MIT with two undergraduate degrees—one in electrical engineering, and another in industrial management from MIT Sloan. Metcalfe has long served as a mentor for MIT Sloan students, a judge in entrepreneurial competitions, and a keynote speaker who has helped raise the profile of entrepreneurship at MIT.

“A secret to success is continuing to do less of what is not working and to do more of what is working,” said Metcalfe. “Let’s do more of what Bill Aulet does at the Trust Center at MIT Sloan. His advocacy and teaching of the entrepreneurial mindset are working.”

Since 2009, Aulet has led the development of entrepreneurship education across MIT at the Trust Center.

“Entrepreneurship is a mindset, startup skillset, and way of operating that is critical for all our students going forward. It can be taught, and we do,” said Aulet. “Bob Metcalfe and his fellow Ethernet inventors embody this mindset. I am deeply honored to be the first Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship in the Trust Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management.”

If you would like to help grow the chair position and be recognized as an Ethernet Inventor, please contact Lauren Krzynowek in the MIT Sloan Office of External Relations.