Donor Profiles
Carol Alonso PhD ’70 and Jose Alonso ’62, PhD ’67
Carol Alonso PhD ’70 and Jose Alonso ’62, PhD ’67 have made a gift to the Physics Department to support a fellowship.
Serpil & Yalcin (EE ’73) Ayasli
The airy conference room in the new Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) is named in honor of Dr. Serpil Ayasli, a former postdoctoral fellow in the Physics Department, and the wife of alumnus Dr. Yalcin Ayasli. “I thought it would make a very nice anniversary gift,” Yalcin said.
Hale Bradt (PhD ’61), Professor of Physics Emeritus
This year, Professor Hale Bradt established a Fund from his IRA to support the Department’s graduate students. The Fund, named in honor of Mrs. Barbara E. Thomas, undergraduate administrator in the physics education office from 1931–65, was established by Hale in appreciation of the physics department support staff: past, present and future.
Suzanne Z Deutsch, A Bequest to the Physics Department
“One day, I came home from work and found Martin lying at the top of the staircase in front of the cellar blowing smoke rings,” recounts Suzanne Deutsch, widow of former MIT Professor Martin Deutsch.
Riccardo Di Capua ’72 ML
Why Riccardo and Raquel Di Capua support physics fellowships.
Jim (’53, PhD ’57) and Sylvia Earl, Generous Supporters of the Green Center for Physics
Jim and Sylvia Earl think it’s perfectly natural to support their alma maters. “We get a lot of satisfaction by doing so,”says Jim.
George J. Elbaum (AA ’59, SM AA, NU ’63, PhD NU ’67), The Whiteman Fellowships
“Physics is beautiful,” according to George Elbaum, who holds an undergraduate and two masters degrees, as well as a PhD, all from MIT.
Virgil Elings (PhD ’66), $3.5 Million Gift to Name the Center for Theoretical Physics
“One of the most important things I learned at MIT was from Bill Lobar, Lou’s [Professor of Physics Emeritus Louis S. Osborne] technician. I asked him one day to show me how the oscilloscope worked, since I’d forgotten whatever I’d learned in undergraduate labs. Bill said, ‘fiddle with the knobs, you’ll figure it out.’”
Thomas Frank (’77, PhD ’85)
Tom Frank knew from a young age that he was destined for MIT and in high school a passionate teacher inspired his love of physics. Since arriving on campus, Tom devoted his life to research and discovery in the field of physics.
Morton E. Goulder (’42), Patrons of Physics Fellows
There’s a twinkle in his eye as Mort Goulder talks about his years at MIT and subsequent career. In fact, Mort will tell you that he has never learned anything that wasn’t useful.
Ken La Gattuta 1968 V, 1969 VIII
Inspired by reading physics@mit and his appreciation of his MIT degrees in Physics and Chemistry, Ken established a fund to support graduate fellowships in the Physics Department.
William M. Layson (PhD ’63), The Presidential Fellowships in Physics
“MIT taught me the experimental process for problem solving. It works in business and it works in physics.”
Robert Lourie ’82, PhD ’86
Robert Lourie ’82, PhD ’86 understands the importance of basic science research and graduate fellowships in the Physics Department.
Howard (’73) & Colleen Messing, Patrons of Physics Fellows
Fascinated by astronomy throughout his childhood, Howard remembers, “I thought it would be great to use the computer on astronomy projects. Before I knew it, the second great intellectual passion of my life, computer science, was born.”
Otto and Jane Morningstar, The Morningstar Professorship & Visiting Professorship
Otto Morningstar came from Mobile, Alabama, with a love of science and a zeal for learning.
Mark Mueller ’78
Mark Mueller ’78 makes a lead gift to endow a fellowship in honor of his undergraduate thesis advisor, Professor of Physics Emeritus Arthur Kerman. Additionally, an anonymous donor will match up to $250K to all new gifts in support of the fellowship. The department hopes to reach the $1M goal and fully endow the fellowship by December 2013.
A. Neil (EE ’64) & Jane Pappalardo, Pappalardo Fellowships
Watch Neil Pappalardo as he questions junior faculty on the exact number of exoplanets, or how specifically gravitational waves can be measured, and you’ll see the passion and persistence behind the MEDITECH founder and father of four.
Jonathan Rothberg
Jonathan Rothberg supports Professor Max Tegmark’s research.
Dr. John A. Serri (PhD ’80)
With the invention of two inexpensive optical devices and a free smartphone app that provides a DIY eye exam, John Serri thinks he may be one of the oldest startup entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. But as he told MIT students and others at a talk in April 2017, when you have what it takes to get an MIT PhD in atomic physics, you can do just about anything.
Mark Siegel SB ’90, Patrons of Physics Fellows
Majoring in physics was not a hard choice for Mark Siegel when he entered MIT as a freshman. As far as he’s concerned, the “amount of information I absorbed in those four years is probably equal to everything I have learned since.” He’ll also tell you he’s never been with a group of people as intellectually gifted as those students at MIT.
Juan Carlos Torres (SM ’79), MIT Sloan School of Management
Juan Carlos Torres has had a long interest in physics, which started in his last two years of high school. He had a wonderful physics teacher who sparked his interest in finding out how things work.
Rainer Weiss ’55, PhD ’62, Professor of Physics Emeritus and 2017 Nobel Laureate
Rainer Weiss ’55, PhD ’62 has established a fellowship in the Physics Department because he is eternally grateful to his advisor, the late Jerrold Zacharias, for all that he did for Rai, so he knows firsthand the importance of supporting graduate students.