Tech Reunions will bring some 3,300 MIT alumni and guests to campus June 4‒7 for 160 events including a role in Commencement. MIT Alumni Association President Don Shobrys ’75, holding the MIT mace, will lead the academic procession while the 50th reunion class — in their signature red jackets — will lead the graduating class into Killian Court.
Tech Reunions festivities kick off Thursday night with the 118th Tech Night at Pops, a Symphony Hall performance that will feature professor of music Evan Ziporyn, a student gamelan orchestra, and, on the piano, graduating senior John Bowler.
The 14 classes, from 1945‒2010, will attend events from class dinners and dances to lab tours and departmental receptions to living group receptions and Explore MIT Today faculty talks. On Friday, the Cardinal and Gray Academy will gather alumni who have passed their 50th reunions for faculty lectures and lunch, and, on Saturday, graduate degree holders are invited to a Graduate Alumni Lunch and poster session with current graduate students. The MIT10 cohort, who graduated in the past 10 years, have their own meetup at the MIT Museum Friday night. For a complete list of activities, visit the Tech Reunions website.
During Tech Day 2015, Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon in Kresge Auditorium, faculty will address “Private Lives in an Interconnected World,” including issues in nanophotonics and cybersecurity as well as urban, global, and cloud security. Speakers include Nazli Choucri, professor of political science; Tom Leighton PhD '81, professor of mathematics and founder of Akamai; Marin Soljacic '96, professor of physics; Daniel Weitzner, principal research scientist at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and director of the MIT Cybersecurity Policy Initiative; and Sarah Williams MCP ’05, assistant professor of urban planning and director of the Civic Data Design Lab.
Alumni and the campus community can register to watch the live webcast, which begins with remarks by President L. Rafael Reif, who also hosted and attended many reunions events.
Saturday includes the afternoon Tech Challenge Games, including an MIT trivia contest, design competition, and a paper airplane challenge; Saturday night, alumni and guests are invited to the Toast to Tech after-hours cocktail reception with live music; and Reunion Row offers a Sunday morning competition launched from the boathouse.
During a Tech Day luncheon on Saturday, classes will announce their reunions gifts.
