Massachusetts Institute of Technology or MIT is one of the most prestigious institutions in the world. MIT is ranked among the best engineering universities in the world. Not only it is ranked the best in the field of science and engineering but it is also among the best universities in the world. As of 2015, more than 80 Nobel Prize winners are affiliated from MIT. Many inventions, researches and great personalities have graduated from MIT. Many industrialists, business executives, scientists, physicists, economists and astronauts are now the alumni of MIT. Few of the well-known alumni from MIT are Kofi Annan, Buzz Aldrin, Paul Krugman, Benjamin Netanyahu and many more. So who are the most famous graduates who have graduated from MIT? Here goes the list of 10 most famous alumni from MIT.
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10. Aditya Vikram Birla
DOB: 14 November 1943
Aditya Vikram Birla was born in one of India’s largest business families, who went on to become a famous Indian industrialist. He was one of the first Indian industrialists to expand his plants overseas in countries such as Philippines, Egypt and South East Asia. He oversaw his diversification of the Birla Group business into other sectors such as textiles, petrochemicals and telecom. The Aditya Birla Group has set up Aditya Birla Scholarships in memory of Aditya Vikram Birla, which recognizes fresh talents from prestigious institutions in India such as the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and Birla Institute of Technology and Science.
9. Edward Lorenz
DOB: May 23, 1917
Edward Norton Lorenz is famous for Chaos theory, Lorenz attractor and Butterfly effect. Edward Norton Lorenz is a famous American mathematician and meteorologist who coined the term “Butterfly effect”. After World War II, Edward Lorenz earned two degrees from MIT in the field of meteorology. Later, he became a professor in MIT for several years. Lorenz built a mathematical model on how the air moves in the atmosphere. In 2005, Lorenz published a book on chaotic theory known as Designing Chaotic Models. He has written several books and articles. Lorenz has won several awards from 1969 through 2004.
8. Ben Bernanke
DOB: December 13, 1953
Ben Bernanke is a famous American economist who served Federal Reserve and the Central Bank during the presidential office of George W. Bush and Barack Obama from 2006 to 2014. He is a graduate from MIT, who oversaw the late-2000s financial crisis during his tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve. He proposed the Bernanke Doctrine during his office. He was a professor in other prestigious universities such as Stanford Graduate School of Business, New York University and Princeton University. According to IDEAS/RePEc he is among world’s 50 most published economists.
7. Alfred P. Sloan
DOB: May 23, 1875
Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. was an American business executive who is known for serving as the president and CEO of General Motors. Though, he started studying electrical engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, but later transferred to MIT where he finally graduated. He helped General Motors grow throughout the 1930s to 1950s. Sloan is remembered for being a rational, shrewd, and very successful manager, who led GM to become the largest corporation on Earth, a position it held for many years after his death. He is also known for his philanthropic legacy and accomplishments in the corporate world.
6. William R. Hewlett
DOB: May 20, 1913
If you know the world-famous MNC Company Hewlett-Packard then William R. Hewlett is easy to recognise. William R. Hewlett is the co-founder of HP along with David Packard. He is also an American engineer who holds his master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. Steve Jobs at the age of 12 admired HP as one of the best companies built to last. The young Steve Jobs called up William R. Hewlett and requested any available parts for a frequency counter he was building. Hewlett, impressed with Jobs’ gumption, offered him a summer job assembling frequency counters. William R. Hewlett is also known for Agilent Technologies and Keysight. He served as president of HP from 1964 to 1977, and also served as CEO from 1968 to 1978,
5. Paul Krugman
DOB: Feb 28, 1953
Paul Krugman is a famous American economist who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in the year 2008. He is a famous figure in world economy for his contributions in international finance, trade theory and economic geography and also contributed to works such as liquidity traps and currency crisis. Krugman is ranked among the best and most influential economic thinkers in the USA. Paul Krugman has authored more than 20 books for expects and also for the general audience. He is a PhD holder from the prestigious MIT University.
4. Benjamin Netanyahu
DOB: 21 October, 1949
Benjamin Netanyahu is 9th and 13th Prime Minister of Israel who completed his SB and SM from MIT. Benjamin Netanyahu became a team leader in the Israeli Special Forces – Sayeret Matkal. He is known to have taken part in many missions. He was the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. He holds the record of being elected as the Prime Minister four times matching the record of David Ben-Gurion. He also holds the record for being elected the Prime Minister three times in a row making the record best ever in Israel’s history. Benjamin Netanyahu has few books on terrorism and peace under his name.
3. Buzz Aldrin
DOB: Jan 20, 1930
Buzz Aldrin is the second person to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldrin is a famous astronaut who is known for his two historic space missions – Gemini 12 and Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin was part of the American military and NASA as a pilot and astronaut respectively. He flew 66 combat missions during his career in the American military. Aldrin has authored many books such as Mission to Mars, The Return, Reaching for the Moon and Magnificent Desolation. Interestingly Aldrin was the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the moon.
2. Richard Feynman
DOB: May 11, 1918
Richard Feynman is a famous American theoretical physicist who is known for his works in quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, practical physics and superfluidity. He is well-known and famous in the physics world. He received the Nobel Prize along with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for his contribution in quantum electrodynamics. He is known for the Feynman diagrams which are a pictorial representation for the mathematical expression governing the subatomic particles. In a 1999 poll by the British journal Physics World ranked him as one of the top greatest physicists of all time.
1. Kofi Annan
DOB: 8 April 1938
Kofi Annan is a great representative for the United Nations who got the Noble Peace Prize in 2001. Kofi Annan passed out from MIT earning him a master’s degree. Kofi Atta Annan was born in Comassie, Gold Coast in Ghana who went on to become the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006. As of 2016 he is the founder and chairman of Kofi Annan Foundation and also the chairman of The Elders, a group founded by Nelson Mandela. Kofi Annan has a good number of achievements and awards throughout his career. Kofi Annan attended the elite Mfantsipim boarding school which taught him “that suffering anywhere concerns people everywhere”. He is a great personality, peace maker and a great human being.