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Profiles in generosity

Paula and Greg Hughes

Menlo Park, California
December 18, 2014

Greg earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science in 1985 and an MBA from Stanford in 1993. He is currently CEO of Serena Software. Previously, he worked at Silver Lake Partners, Symantec, and McKinsey. Paula earned a degree in sports medicine from Pepperdine University in 1985 and later worked in sales at Merck. The couple and their three children enjoy spending time outdoors.

Paula and Greg Hughes

Greg: “We made a gift of unrestricted funds because we have faith in the wisdom of MIT’s leadership team to direct our funding. Solving the world’s biggest problems may require making investments in a wide range of areas. Recently, we toured MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, where they combine faculty, researchers, and grad students from multiple departments to tackle cancer. Under one roof you’ve got experts in computer science, biology, mechanical engineering, chemistry, and physics. As an individual, and a cancer survivor myself, I don’t believe that I know how best to direct funding for this type of cutting-edge research, so I look to MIT’s leadership to make the right decisions.”

Paula: “I’ve known Greg 28 years, and MIT has always been part of our lives. Even though I didn’t go to MIT, I feel very strongly that it helped shape my husband’s life and the lives of our children. I’m happy to support the Institute.”

Please consider your own gift to MIT.
For information, contact David Woodruff: 617-253-3990; daw@mit.edu. Or visit giving.mit.edu.

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