MIT's New Treasurer

Israel Ruiz, SM ‘01, who had ­previously served as vice president for finance, became the Institute’s new executive vice president and treasurer in October.

Ruiz, who joined the MIT administration in 2002 after working as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard and Nissan Automotive and earning a master’s degree at Sloan, succeeds Theresa M. Stone, SM ‘76, who announced in May that she would step down. Stone, who was EVP and treasurer for nearly five years, is now serving temporarily as a senior advisor to President Susan Hockfield, helping to plan for future major fund-raising initiatives. After that, she plans to stay involved with MIT in similar initiatives, but as a volunteer.

“All of us owe Terry a debt of gratitude for the Institute’s strength in operations and finance,” Hockfield says. “Her leadership in delivering what she has called ‘services worthy of MIT’ has built an outstanding foundation for the future.”

As vice president for finance since 2007, Ruiz led a team that managed the Institute’s financing strategy, financial and capital planning, annual budgeting, receipt and disbursement of funds, accounting, procurement, and property management. He also played a key role in ensuring the integrity of financial reporting and compliance.

Following the 2008 financial crisis, he envisioned and, with associate provost Martin Schmidt, led the 200-­member Institute-wide Planning Task Force, which achieved substantial long-term cost reductions and implemented fully 70 percent of all ideas submitted by the MIT community. His team also developed a model to monitor the liquidity of the Institute’s working capital during the crisis, helping maintain MIT’s operational flexibility. 

In 2010 Ruiz’s group modernized and simplified financial processes by ­digitizing many services, resulting in widespread adoption of electronic pay stubs, W-2s, and reimbursements. To support the development and renewal of MIT’s academic plant under the MIT 2030 framework, Ruiz led the successful completion of a landmark $750 million taxable century bond offering in 2011.

In his new role, Ruiz plans to encourage cross-functional collaboration, promote individual growth and development, and modernize administrative systems and processes. “As MIT increasingly operates in a global landscape,” he says, “administrative functions and services will have to work seamlessly as one administration, delivering targeted information and effective processes.”