Call for speaker nominations: Hooding 2019

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Commencement Committee, we invite you to submit nominations for a guest speaker at the 2019 Investiture of Doctoral Hoods. This will be the fifth year that a guest speaker is included in the ceremony and we welcome your recommendations of MIT Doctoral alumni to speak at Hooding. Nominees are not required to be your own former students or even graduates of your department—we encourage you to recommend any alum who meets the criteria (below). Please note that while formal letters of nomination are welcome, they are not required; the online form will assist in collecting the essential points.

Criteria:

• Nominees must hold an MIT PhD or ScD.
• Nominees may be working in academe, the private sector, government, or non-profit.
• Nominees should have the ability to inspire while allaying the fears of our Doctoral candidates, to show a professional path, and to demonstrate success in making career decisions.

Nominations are reviewed by a subgroup that includes PhD/ScD students representing the five Schools. Our deliberations will be aided by any background information you are able to provide regarding the nominees, such as links to their current work, comments about their MIT careers, and if possible, the names of their dissertation supervisors or other special colleagues.

Kindly submit nominations online by October 26—and please accept our thanks in advance for your thoughtful input.

With best wishes for the year ahead,

Cynthia Barnhart
Chancellor, 2014-2021

Eric Grimson
Chancellor for Academic Advancement and Chair, Commencement Committee