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MIT News: Alumni connection

Celebrating brass rats, red jackets, and all things MIT

More than 3,350 alumni and guests traveled from as near as campus and as far as Australia for this year’s Tech Reunions.

MIT News Staffarchive page

August 22, 2023

Events kicked off on Thursday, when the 50th reunion Class of 1973 led the traditional commencement procession into Killian Court. Bedecked in their signature red jackets, these alums helped welcome 3,735 new graduates into the MIT Alumni Association, which now represents more than 146,500 alumni worldwide.Ken Richardson

The long weekend of June 1–4 featured more than 140 events, including such perennial favorites as Tech Night at Pops, the late-night Pops Encore Party, Technology Day, and Toast to Tech as well as class-specific events.

MIT’s largest alumni gathering of the year, Tech Reunions are a multigenerational celebration of brass rats, red jackets, the wonders of technology, and the joys of coming together as a community.

Here are some highlights.

Sally Kornbluth at the microphone — President Sally Kornbluth took part in her first Tech Reunions, addressing the crowd at Tech Night at Pops after conferring degrees earlier in the day.

two elderly men in MIT jackets wave at the camera — The Class of 1973 50th reunion drew 148 alums to campus, and two members of the Class of 1948—Mike Oglo (left) and Whitfield Mauzy, shown here at Tech Night at Pops—celebrated 75 years of alumnihood.

Valerie Chen reaches out to take the hand of the conductor on stage — Tech Night at Pops, marking its 125th year, featured MIT doctoral candidate Valerie Chen ’22 as soloist. She is pictured above with Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart.

Stephen Baker leading the commencement procession — MIT Alumni Association president Stephen Baker ’84, MArch ’88, served as chief marshal for this year’s commencement exercises.

MITAA 2022-’23 president Stephen Baker ’84, MArch ’88 (left), honored three alums with the MIT Alumni Better World Service Award: Vanessa Feliberti Bautista ’91 (center); Oluwasegun Ige, SM ’85, PhD ’90 (right); and Donald Rea, PhD ’54 (who could not attend in person but watched the ceremony online).

Erin Kara, the Class of 1958 Career Development Assistant Professor of Physics, gave a presentation titled “Black Hole Echoes and Music of the Cosmos” as part of Technology Day. The Tech Day program focused on space research, filling Kresge Auditorium and attracting more than 800 online viewers.

Four people pose wearing MIT sweatshirts

crowd of people

Two student using bubble wands

Alumni enjoyed reconnecting at a rich assortment of on-campus events, from the Tech Challenge Games to class dinners to the Family Maker Fair.

Alumni poses with Tim the Beaver — Alumni took in a live band and got to meet Tim the Beaver at Saturday’s Toast to Tech.

The Class of 1963 capped off the weekend on the water, participating in the traditional Reunion Row.

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