Ash Carter Elected to MIT Corporation

Adapted from an MIT News Office article

The MIT Corporation — the Institute’s board of trustees — elected ten new term members and two life members, during its quarterly meeting held June 7. Corporation Chair Robert B. Millard ’73 announced the election results, and all positions are effective July 1.

The new term members are Ashton “Ash” B. Carter; David L. desJardins ’83 (second term); Leslye Miller Fraser ’78; Temitope “Tope” O. Lawani ’91; Paul R. Marcus ’81 (second term); Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; Lubna S. Olayan; Charles Ong ’90; Hyun-A C. Park ’85; and Colin O. Webb, II ’18.

The two life members are Abigail P. Johnson and Alan G. Spoon ’73.

The Corporation also announced C.J. Whelan ’92, as the 2018-2019 president of the Association of Alumni and Alumnae of MIT, effective July 1. As such, he becomes ex officio member of the Corporation and of the Corporation Joint Advisory Committee on Institute-Wide Affairs. He succeeds Park, who will return to the Corporation for a five-year term.

As of July 1, the Corporation will consist of 73 distinguished leaders in education, science, engineering, and industry; of those, 22 are life members, 43 are term members, and eight are ex officio. An additional 37 individuals are life members emeritus.

Life members serve without a specific term until they turn 75 years old, while term members serve for five years. Both types of members have voting rights in the Corporation. Alumni nominees and representatives of recent graduating classes also serve five-year terms. At age 75, life members become life members emeritus; while they no longer have a vote, they continue to play an active role in Institute affairs.

This year’s elected term members:

Ashton “Ash” B. Carter, Innovation Fellow, MIT

Carter currently serves as the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, as well as innovation fellow at MIT. Most recently, Carter served as the 25th Secretary of Defense. For over 35 years, he worked inside government, under presidents of both political parties, as well as in the private sector, leveraging his experience in national security, technology, and innovation. Carter earned his bachelor’s degrees in physics and in medieval history, summa cum laude, at Yale University, where he was also awarded Phi Beta Kappa. He received his doctorate in theoretical physics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. From 1998 to 2009, he also served on the advisory board for MIT Lincoln Laboratories and as chairperson of the board from 2004 to 2008. Carter, who was elected to the MIT Corporation to serve the remainder of an outgoing trustee’s term, will serve for an initial term of three years.