Setting an Example for Active-Duty Service Members and Veterans at MIT Sloan

Megan Ernst noticed a renewed sense of purpose in her husband, Chief Special Warfare Operator Michael T. Ernst, SFMBA ’22, after his graduation from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

“Michael came back with purpose,” she says. “He had purpose before, but this was different. It was an excitement about bringing what he’d learned and the connections he’d made back to the command.”

Michael Ernst, who was assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, tragically lost his life on February 19, 2023, during a training accident in Arizona. To honor his legacy, MIT Sloan and J2 Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm co-founded and managed by United States military veterans, have established the Michael Ernst Memorial Fellowship.

The Michael Ernst Memorial Fellowship

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The fellowship will support exceptional active-duty service members and veterans as they work toward earning a world-class MBA from the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA Program. The 12-month program for mid-career professionals will equip them with the invaluable tools, strategic insights, and network exclusive to the MIT Sloan experience, and help them to drive innovation, leadership, and impact in the world.

“When you’re working to achieve one of the highest callings of duty, service, and responsibility, a place like MIT Sloan puts you in a position to continue that mission,” says Dena Patterson (Assistant Dean, External Relations), a member of a U.S. Navy family who worked for the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation prior to joining MIT Sloan. “The mission of MIT Sloan is to develop principled, innovative leaders who change the world. Michael Ernst and his fellow American service members are such leaders.”

The humility of impact

Michael enlisted with the U.S. Navy in 2011. “He was focused on becoming the best SEAL that he could, but he was so humble,” says Megan. “He rarely ever talked about what he was able to accomplish.”

They first met in college and later reconnected at a mutual friend’s wedding. After dating long distance, Megan moved from New York City to Virginia Beach, where Michael was stationed with SEAL Team 10. They married in 2014, then welcomed a daughter in 2017 and a son in 2020. That’s when Michael applied to the Sloan Fellows program.

“Command is very important, but it’s all-encompassing,” says Megan. “Being able to take a break from that world and see other points of view is necessary.”

Future fellowship recipients can similarly branch out from their routine, while simultaneously bringing their extensive experience working in highly complex, high-stress environments to the classroom. Active-duty service members and veterans are proven leaders and problem solvers who contribute significantly to the global MIT Sloan alumni network and apply what they learn in Cambridge to their commands.

“He wanted to prove that you can get an MBA, see this outside world, and bring so much value back,” says Megan. “What he was most excited about was bringing all that knowledge back to the command, putting it to good use, and changing the world.”

A duty to give back

Michael’s humility was matched by his commitment to excellence and to the people serving alongside him. That example resonates with Alexander Harstrick, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer who co-founded J2 Ventures with Jonathan Bronson.

“It is wrong to benefit so much and to give nothing back,” says Harstrick. “In the establishment of this fellowship, we have not even begun to pay back that debt, and I don’t think that we will ever pay it back in full.”

This conviction led Harstrick, Bronson, and the J2 Ventures leadership team to partner with Megan Ernst and MIT Sloan in creating the fellowship. “If we benefit from a system that affords us the freedoms of living in the United States, including the ability to establish a venture capital fund like ours, then we have a duty to give back,” says Harstrick.

Credit: MIT Sloan School of Management

Through the fellowship, J2 Ventures aims to help active-duty service members and veterans pursue the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA, just as Michael did.

“He achieved a great deal by completing the program at MIT Sloan,” says Adam Briley, director of federal solutions at J2 Ventures. Although Briley did not know Michael personally when they were stationed at the same base, he knew his reputation and the example he set.

“People who joined command after Michael still look to his example,” adds Briley. “This is evident by the number of people who have also attended MIT Sloan since then.”

Bonds that endure

A week after Michael’s death, a memorial service was held at the Little Creek amphitheater.

Over 1,000 people attended the service, including family, friends, fellow SEALs, and other Navy personnel. Many were also part of the cohort of Sloan Fellows Michael had befriended during his year at MIT Sloan.

“Someone flew over from England for 24 hours just to attend the service, rest, and return home,” says Megan. “The fact that so many people showed up for him, people he’d only known for a year, is amazing. The bonds there are real and they go beyond MIT.”

Reflecting on his time in the Navy SEALs, Briley acknowledges the importance of bonds like these among activity-duty service members and veterans. Through these personal and professional relationships, he sees a willingness to embrace difficult challenges, pursue meaningful impact, and pass hard-earned knowledge to those who follow.

“How can you take all of this experience and knowledge and pass it down to the next people so that they can follow in your footsteps?” says Briley. “You follow the example of someone like Michael.”

For more information about the Michael Ernst Memorial Fellowship, visit the fellowship website.