CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- More than 3,000 MIT alumni/ae are expected to return to campus during Commencement weekend for class reunions, an exciting schedule of Tech Week activities and a Technology Day program that spans two days.
The theme of the two-day Technology Day program is "The Human Body / Emerging Medical Science and Technology."
On Friday, June 4, from 3-5pm in Room 10-250, alumni involved in medicine, biotechnical research and health care will participate in a panel discussion of "Biomedical Entrepreneurship." The moderator will be Dr. Jerome H. Grossman (SB 1961), chair and CEO of Health Quality Inc. Panelists are Noubar Afeyan (PhD 1987), senior vice president and CBO, Perkin-Elmer Corp.; Dr. Mark Braunstein (SB 1969), chair and CEO, Patient Care Technologies; Jerome Goldstein (SB, SM 1960), president and CEO, Advanced Magnetics Inc.; and Seth Taylor (MOT 1997), president and CEO of MolecularWare, the recent winner of the Sloan $50K Robert P. Goldberg '65 Gold Prize.
Three MIT professors and a Yale professor who will soon join the MIT faculty will discuss their areas of expertise from 9am-noon on Saturday, June 5, in Kresge Auditorium. The professors and their topics are:
Dr. Robert S. Langer Jr. (ScD 1974), the Kenneth J. Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, will speak on "Biomaterials and How They Will Change Our Lives."
Professor David C. Page of biology and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research will report on "The Human Genome Project, Sex and Infertility."
Dr. Martha Constantine-Paton, who joins the Department of Biology in July, will ponder the questions "What Is Developmental Plasticity and What Does It Do for Us? "
Dr. Robert A. Weinberg (SB 1964, PhD 1969), a founding member of the Whitehead Institute and the David K. Ludwig Professor for Cancer Research, will explain "How Cancer Begins."
President Charles M. Vest will moderate a question-and-answer session following the talks.
Panel discussions from 3-5pm in the Student Center and Little Kresge will follow the annual Technology Day Luncheon. The topics are "Aging, Alzheimer's and Arthritis"; "Trends for Health Care in the 21st Century," and "Genetic Testing and Privacy: Ethical Dilemmas." Among the participants will be Dr. Mitchell Spellman, life member emeritus, the MIT Corporation; Professor Suzanne Corkin of brain and cognitive science; Professor Leonard Guarente of biology; Professor Page and Phillip R. Reilly, director of the Shriver Institute for Mental Retardation.
The annual Tech Night at Pops that includes a post-concert reception in Symphony Hall takes place on Thursday, June 3.
Tours of Boston Harbor, the Big Dig, the Museum of Fine Arts' conservation laboratories and the Haystack Observatory are scheduled for Friday, June 4, most of which have already sold out.
Outdoor activities during the weekend include golf and tennis clinics, the Tech Challenge Games, an alumni/ae sail and the Third Annual Reunion Row. The Henley Team of 1955 will be participating in the row along with teams from the classes of 1939 to 1994.
The Great Court Gala, first held in 1916, will be reinstituted for returning classes and graduating seniors after a 73-year absence. Entertainment will be offered at three sites from 9pm-midnight on Saturday, June 5. Bob Bachelder and the Totem Pole Swing Orchestra will perform on center stage in Killian Court, with tables grouped by class. Desserts, coffees and cordials will be served. The Bush Room will host a piano bar and disco music will be featured in Lobby 13.
The Classes of 1929, 1934, 1939, 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1989 and 1994 will hold reunions.
