Top 10 Alumni Stories of 2025

In 2025, the MIT Sloan alumni community stayed busy finding a cure to pediatric brain cancer, publishing new research on leadership, and more. Read on to see how your fellow Sloanies are reaching new heights in their work to build a better future.

Here are the top 10 alumni stories of 2025:

1. In this republished 2019 episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, sat down with David Schmittlein, former dean (2007–2024) and professor of marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, to discuss many topics. Schmittlein, 69, who was MIT Sloan’s longest-serving dean and a visionary and transformational leader, died March 13, following a long illness.
2. When Fernando Goldsztein, SF ’03, was told there was no cure for his son’s relapsing medulloblastoma, he established the Medulloblastoma Initiative (MBI), an international consortium for collaborative drug research using a remarkable new model for funding rare disease research.
3. Through planned giving, Nitin Nohria, PhD ’88, former dean of the Harvard Business School, wants to create opportunities for future entrepreneurs. “MIT Sloan truly opened the doorway for me to have the life that I’ve had,” he said. “It changed the arc of my life. That’s why it’s so meaningful for me to help create that opportunity for someone else.”
4. ISN Software Corporation Chairman and Co-Founder Joe Eastin, EMBA ’15, spoke to students from across the Institute as a part of the iLead Speaker Series in April. “Every time uncertainty came, we doubled down on the business,” said Eastin.
5. MIT Sloan Professor Nelson Repenning, PhD ’96, spoke about his early days as a PhD student and young professor on the podcast. He also discussed his 2025 book There’s Got to Be a Better Way, co-authored with Senior Lecturer Donald Kieffer. “You can take the most dysfunctional, bureaucratic, screwed up organization, put them in a good crisis, and temporarily all that BS melts away and they become remarkably functional,” he said.
6. According to alumni and students, Sloanies Helping Sloanies is more than just an event—it’s an ethos about helping the next generation of leaders at MIT Sloan. “I am helping Sloanies because previous Sloanies helped me, and I’m simply paying the favor forward to the next generation,” said Stwart Peña Feliz, MBA ’23.
7. Dr. Sreenivas Koka, EMBA ’13, talked about how his multicultural upbringing and MIT Sloan experience transformed his approach to dentistry and leadership on the podcast. “Even though going from Minnesota to Boston was not easy, I can say Sloan changed my life. It made me a different person. I was this dentist. I was technically successful and then Sloan opened so many paths to the way I think and expanded my mindset,” he said.
8. MIT Sloan alumni across programs and class years were recognized by the MIT Alumni Association for their service to the Institute at the 2025 Alumni Leadership Conference in September. “I’m just trying to do my small part in the fulfillment of [MIT’s] mission,” said Kerry Bowie, SB ’94, MBA ’06.
9. Thousands of graduating students, alumni, and their families came to campus at the end of May for the 2025 commencement ceremonies and Reunion celebrations. Among the returning graduates were over 1,500 MIT Sloan alumni and their guests from 46 countries who attended MIT Sloan Reunion 2025.
10. Nearly 300 MIT alumnae gathered in Boston for the 2025 MIT Women’s Conference. “Hearing how other smart, driven women navigate career shifts, job transitions, and personal growth is always enlightening,” said Rachele (Jean) Sylvan, SB ’95. “MIT women are smart, fearless, and creative, and being surrounded by that energy is truly motivating.”