The MIT Corporation today elected Israel Ruiz SM ‘01, who had previously served as vice president for finance, as the Institute’s new executive vice president and treasurer. His appointment is effective immediately.
Ruiz succeeds Theresa M. Stone SM ‘76, who announced in May that she would step down. In June, Ruiz was selected by President Susan Hockfield to fill the position upon Stone’s departure and was formally nominated to the post by the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation.
“It is a great privilege to serve this outstanding institution and its talented students, faculty and staff,” Ruiz said. “Our shared vision for tackling the world’s great problems makes MIT an inspiring place to work. I look forward to working together to ensure that MIT’s future is no less glorious than its distinguished past.”
“Israel holds himself and his team to unwavering standards of excellence,” Hockfield said. “In each of the roles he has held at the Institute since 2002, he has consistently identified innovative solutions to some of our thorniest challenges. I have great confidence that he will succeed brilliantly in his new role.”
Following nearly five years as executive vice president and treasurer, Stone will now serve, in a temporary capacity, as a senior advisor to Hockfield, working with the president, Chairman of the Corporation John Reed, and Vice President for Resource Development Jeffrey Newton to plan for future major fundraising initiatives. After that, she plans to stay involved with MIT in similar initiatives, but as a volunteer.
“All of us owe Terry a debt of gratitude for the Institute’s strength in operations and finance,” Hockfield said. “Her leadership in delivering what she has called ‘services worthy of MIT’ has built an outstanding foundation for the future.”
As vice president for finance since 2007, Ruiz led a team that managed the Institute’s financing strategy, financial and capital planning, annual budgeting, receipt and disbursement of funds, accounting, procurement and property management. He also played a key role in ensuring the integrity of financial reporting and compliance.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, he envisioned and co-led — with Associate Provost Martin Schmidt — the 200-member Institute-wide Planning Task Force, which achieved substantial long-term cost reductions and implemented fully 70 percent of all ideas submitted by the MIT community. His team also developed a model to monitor the Institute’s working capital liquidity during the financial crisis, which was instrumental in maintaining operational flexibility.
In 2010, as part of the “Digital MIT” initiative, Ruiz’s group modernized and simplified financial processes by successfully digitizing many services, resulting in widespread adoption of electronic paystubs, W-2s and reimbursements. Earlier this year, to support the development and renewal of the Institute’s academic plant under the MIT 2030 framework, Ruiz led the successful completion of a landmark $750 million taxable century bond offering.
Ruiz holds a master’s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management, awarded in 2001, and a degree in industrial and mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, awarded in 1995. Before joining MIT, he worked as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard and at Nissan Automotive.
Ruiz succeeds Theresa M. Stone SM ‘76, who announced in May that she would step down. In June, Ruiz was selected by President Susan Hockfield to fill the position upon Stone’s departure and was formally nominated to the post by the Executive Committee of the MIT Corporation.
“It is a great privilege to serve this outstanding institution and its talented students, faculty and staff,” Ruiz said. “Our shared vision for tackling the world’s great problems makes MIT an inspiring place to work. I look forward to working together to ensure that MIT’s future is no less glorious than its distinguished past.”
“Israel holds himself and his team to unwavering standards of excellence,” Hockfield said. “In each of the roles he has held at the Institute since 2002, he has consistently identified innovative solutions to some of our thorniest challenges. I have great confidence that he will succeed brilliantly in his new role.”
Following nearly five years as executive vice president and treasurer, Stone will now serve, in a temporary capacity, as a senior advisor to Hockfield, working with the president, Chairman of the Corporation John Reed, and Vice President for Resource Development Jeffrey Newton to plan for future major fundraising initiatives. After that, she plans to stay involved with MIT in similar initiatives, but as a volunteer.
“All of us owe Terry a debt of gratitude for the Institute’s strength in operations and finance,” Hockfield said. “Her leadership in delivering what she has called ‘services worthy of MIT’ has built an outstanding foundation for the future.”
As vice president for finance since 2007, Ruiz led a team that managed the Institute’s financing strategy, financial and capital planning, annual budgeting, receipt and disbursement of funds, accounting, procurement and property management. He also played a key role in ensuring the integrity of financial reporting and compliance.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, he envisioned and co-led — with Associate Provost Martin Schmidt — the 200-member Institute-wide Planning Task Force, which achieved substantial long-term cost reductions and implemented fully 70 percent of all ideas submitted by the MIT community. His team also developed a model to monitor the Institute’s working capital liquidity during the financial crisis, which was instrumental in maintaining operational flexibility.
In 2010, as part of the “Digital MIT” initiative, Ruiz’s group modernized and simplified financial processes by successfully digitizing many services, resulting in widespread adoption of electronic paystubs, W-2s and reimbursements. Earlier this year, to support the development and renewal of the Institute’s academic plant under the MIT 2030 framework, Ruiz led the successful completion of a landmark $750 million taxable century bond offering.
Ruiz holds a master’s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management, awarded in 2001, and a degree in industrial and mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, awarded in 1995. Before joining MIT, he worked as an engineer at Hewlett-Packard and at Nissan Automotive.
