10 of the Most Successful MIT Graduates (2024)

Table of contents

• Introduction
• 1. Buzz Aldrin
• 2. Ilene S. Gordon
• 3. Richard Feynman
• 4. Jonah Peretti
• 5. Shirley Ann Jackson
• 6. Robin Chase
• 7. Kofi Annan
• 8. Katharine McCormick
• 9. Michael J. Massimino
• 10. Andrea Wong

Table of contents

• Introduction
• 1. Buzz Aldrin
• 2. Ilene S. Gordon
• 3. Richard Feynman
• 4. Jonah Peretti
• 5. Shirley Ann Jackson
• 6. Robin Chase
• 7. Kofi Annan
• 8. Katharine McCormick
• 9. Michael J. Massimino
• 10. Andrea Wong

Find out which other universities topped the QS Graduate Employability Rankings

It’s safe to say thatMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)is firmly established among the world’s most prestigious universities – it’s been ranked first in theQS World University Rankings®for seven years in a row, and has now added another string to its bow by overtaking Stanford to rank first in the world in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019. MIT achieved a perfect score for the ‘alumni outcomes’ indicator (one of the five used to calculate the ranking), having been associated with 91 Nobel Prize winners, while more than a third of the US’s manned spaceflights have featured MIT-educated astronauts.

But which MIT graduateshave done particularly well for themselves? Read on to find out about some of the top tech school’s most successful alumni…

The second person to walk on the Moon, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin gained a doctorate in astronautics at MIT in 1963. His dissertation was titled,"Line-of-sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous."His first impression of the Moon was that it was “magnificent desolation”, which became the title of one of his autobiographies.Also a former US Air Force officer and command pilot, Buzz has recently expressed his support for a manned mission to Mars and colonization of the planet by 2040.

Richard Feynman studied ‘Introduction to Theoretical Physics’ in his second year at MIT, an advanced class intended for postgraduate students, and graduated in 1939. He then studied a PhD atPrinceton Universitybefore working on the Manhattan Project, having been persuaded to help build the first atomic bomb before Nazi Germany could. He went on to lecture at bothCornell UniversityandCaltechwhilst developing significant research in quantum electrodynamics, leading to his Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

Image credit:PopTech(Flickr)

In 1973 Shirley Ann Jackson became the first African-American woman to earn a doctorate from MIT. Having studied nuclear physics, she was the chairman ofthe US Nuclear Regulatory Commission during the Clinton administration, and is now the president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In 2007 the National Science Board gave Shirley the Vannevar Bush Award for "a lifetime of achievements in scientific research, education and senior statesman-like contributions to public policy", and she also won a National Medal of Science in 2016, for her work in condensed matter and particle physics.

Kofi Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006, and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 along with the UN for “their work for a better organized and more peaceful world”. Healso established the Kofi Annan Foundation, an independent, not-for profit organization which works to promote betterinternational governance and support the abilities of people and countries to achieve a fairer, more peaceful world. Following his death on August 18 2018,current UN Secretary-General António GuterrescalledKofi Annan "A champion for peace and a guiding force for good."

Image credit:NASA Hubble Space Telescope(Flickr)

You might recognize him fromThe Big Bang Theory, but did you know he was a real astronaut (playing himself)? Michael graduated from MIT in 1988 with MSc degrees in mechanical engineering, technology and public policy. He is now the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and a professor of mechanical engineering atColumbia University, having previously attended the university for his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering.

Andrea Wong, the president of Sony International Production, graduated from MIT in 1988 with a degree in electrical engineering and went on to gain an MBA fromStanford University.Prior to working for Sony, Andrea was an executive for ABC in America, where she helped develop popular TV showsThe Bachelor,Dancing with the Starsand the Emmy Award-winningExtreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Honorary mention:James Woods dropped out of MIT in his final year of studying political science in 1969 to pursue a successful career in acting, having so far received three Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe and two Academy Award nominations.

This blog post was originally published in September 2015. It was last updated in September 2018 to reflect the results of the latest the QS Graduate Employability Rankings.

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