Mark and Rowena Braunstein are longtime contributors to MIT’s Annual Fund and recently established a charitable gift annuity in support of undergraduates. Mark cofounded the Atlanta chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum and is a member of the MIT Educational Council, a global alumni volunteer network that helps recruit undergraduates to MIT.

Early adopter. “I was interested in computing at MIT, but there was no computing major at the time,” says Mark, who is a professor of the practice in health informatics at the School of Interactive Computing in the Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Computing. He also has a degree in medicine. “Instead, I majored in Course 21B, humanities and science, which taught me how to think and work hard,” he says.

Giving back. “We’ve always donated because I felt MIT was a wonderful place and it has helped me a lot over the years,” says Mark.

On supporting education. “The thing that had the biggest influence on me was seeing some of the kids that I interviewed, whose families could not afford MIT, get accepted and be able to go because of need-blind admission,” says Mark. Adds Rowena, who is a family physician: “The motivation for our gift was education. It’s the key to the future and the road to a better world.”

Why the world needs MIT. “As trained physicians, we have been happy to see the evolution of life sciences research at MIT,” says Mark. “It was just starting when I was there. I hope it will have great benefits for humanity.”

Help MIT build a better world.
For information, contact Amy Goldman:
617-715-2932; goldman@mit.edu.
Or visit giving.mit.edu/planned-giving