Students and Alumni Connect at MIT

With a PhD from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. Jean-Jacques Degroof also has participated in MIT initiatives like the Educational Council and the MIT Sloan Student-Alumni Mentoring Program. Dr. Jean-Jacques Degroof further engages with the school by supporting the annual MIT Alumni Leadership Conference (ALC).

At ALC 2014, the diverse and interactive program included a discussion on the relationship between alumni and students during a presentation by Tiandra Ray, from the class of 2015. Ray explained that the distinctive series of experiences shared by MIT between alumni and students creates a permanent link that spans generations. According to Ray, the alumni-student relationship can also progress from a bond based on shared experiences to one characterized by idea sharing and open exchange. She further noted that people can only truly comprehend MIT by experiencing the institution first-hand.

One of the ways that alumni support students is through the MIT Sloan Student-Alumni Mentoring Program, which uses an online system to help alumni and students develop mutually beneficial connections. The program unites MIT students with graduates from a variety of academic programs, professional fields, and graduating classes.