Jim Ellis II SM ’80 first discovered a couple of particular alternative for members of the U.S. Coast Guard whereas stationed in Alaska.
“My commander had acquired a discover from headquarters about this chance. They have been asking for suggestions for an officer who is perhaps ,” says Ellis.
The chance in query was the MIT Sloan Fellows program, at present often called the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA (SFMBA) program. Yearly for 50 years, the Coast Guard has nominated a service member to use to this system. Fifty Sloan Fellows and two Administration of Know-how members have graduated since 1976, and the 53rd scholar is presently enrolled.
Along with his tour practically over, Ellis adopted his commander’s suggestion to use. The Coast Guard nominated him and his utility to MIT Sloan Faculty of Administration was accepted. In 1980, Ellis grew to become the fifth-ever Coast Guard Sloan Fellow to graduate because of the particular association.
“My expertise at MIT Sloan has been instrumental all through my complete profession,” says Ellis, who, together with his spouse Margaret Brady, designated half of their bequest to assist graduate fellowships by the MIT Sloan Veterans Fund and half to ascertain the Ellis/Brady Household Fund to assist the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative.
“The success of the individuals who have been by this system is a testomony to why the Coast Guard continues this system,” he provides.
The will to alter the world
All through its 163-year historical past, MIT has maintained robust relationships with the U.S. navy by applications just like the MIT Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps, the 2N Graduate Program in Naval Structure and Marine Engineering, and extra.
The long-standing collaboration between MIT Sloan and the Coast Guard provides to this historical past. Based on Johanna Hising DiFabio, assistant dean for govt diploma applications at MIT Sloan, it demonstrates the Coast Guard’s dedication to management improvement, in addition to the distinctive advantages MIT Sloan has to supply service members.
That is particularly evident within the careers of the 52 Coast Guard Sloan Fellow alumni, lots of whom this system typically invitations to talk to present college students. “It’s inspiring to listen to our alumni mirror on how this training has considerably influenced their careers and the appreciable influence they’ve had on the Coast Guard and the worldwide neighborhood,” says DiFabio.
Captain Anne O’Connell MBA ’19 says, “It is rather rewarding to have the ability to pay it again, to search for these officers developing behind you who ought to completely be provided the identical alternatives, and to assist them chart that course. I feel it is vastly vital.”
One of the vital notable Coast Guard Sloan Fellows is Retired Admiral Thad Allen SM ’89, who served as commandant of the Coast Guard from 2006 to 2010. One of many service’s youngest-ever flag officers, Allen is a determine beloved by present and former guardsmen. As commandant, he embraced new digital applied sciences, championed additional arctic exploration, and solidified relations with the opposite armed companies, federal companions, and personal business.
“While you go away MIT Sloan, you need to change the world,” says Allen.
Impressed by his father, who enlisted after the assault on Pearl Harbor, Allen attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and subsequently held numerous instructions at sea and ashore throughout a profession spanning 4 a long time.
Just a few years earlier than the top of his second decade, Allen discovered concerning the Sloan Fellows Program by a service-wide solicitation. “The folks I labored for believed this might be an excellent alternative, and that it could match with my ability set,” says Allen. With the steering of his senior captains, he utilized to MIT Sloan.
Allen matriculated with a cohort whose members included Carly Fiorina SM ’89, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; Daniel Hesse SM ’89, former CEO of Dash; and Robert Malone SM ’89, former chair and president of BP America. Although he initially felt a pointy disconnect between his nationwide service expertise and their world non-public sector data, Allen realized everybody within the cohort have been changing into his friends.
Sturdy bonds with world views
Like Allen, lots of the Coast Guard Sloan Fellows acknowledge simply how highly effective their cohorts have been after they matriculated, in addition to how influential they’ve remained since.
“I’ve classmates with large views and distinctive experience in locations all around the world. It’s outstanding,” says Retired Commander Catherine Kang MBA ’06, who served as deputy of monetary transformation for Allen.
Nearly all of SFMBA candidates come to Cambridge from around the globe. For instance, the 2023–24 cohort comprised 76 % worldwide residents.
For Coast Guard Sloan Fellows with a long time of home expertise, their cohort’s world views are as novel as they’re informative. As Retired Captain Gregory Sanial SM ’07 explains, “We had college students from 30 to 40 completely different nations, and I had the chance to be taught so much about completely different elements of the world and open up my thoughts to many various experiences.”
After the Coast Guard, Sanial pursued a doctoral diploma in organizational management and a profession in larger training that, professionally, has stored him stateside. But the bonds he constructed at MIT Sloan stay simply as robust and as worldwide as they have been when he first arrived.
Many Coast Guard Sloan Fellows attribute this to this system’s give attention to cooperation and social occasions.
“What impressed me most after I first bought there have been the team-building workouts, which made a distinction in getting a bunch of numerous folks to actually gel and work collectively,” says Retired Captain Lisa Festa SM ’92, SM ’99. “MIT Sloan takes the time originally to spend money on you and to ensure you know the folks you’re going by faculty with for the subsequent yr.”
The latest Coast Guard Sloan Fellow alumnus, Commander Mark Ketchum MBA ’24, says his cohort’s connections are nonetheless contemporary, however he believes they may final a lifetime. Contemplating the testimonies of his predecessors, this will likely very nicely be the case.
“My cohort made me stronger, and I want to suppose that I imparted my strengths onto my classmates,” says Ketchum.
Massive challenges with excessive impacts
Earlier than incomes the Coast Guard’s nomination and an acceptance letter from the SFMBA program, potential Sloan Fellows have already served in numerous management positions. As soon as they graduate, the popularity and distinction that comes with an MIT Sloan diploma is fast.
So, too, are the more difficult management tracks.
After commencement, Allen served as deputy program supervisor for the Coast Guard’s shipbuilding program on the behest of the then-commandant. “For the company head to say, ‘It is a dangerous drawback, so I’m selecting the subsequent graduate from MIT Sloan,’ is indicative of this system’s cachet worth,” he says. Allen then served within the workplace of price range and applications, a difficult and rewarding publish that has grow to be a hub for Coast Guard Sloan Fellows previous, current, and future.
Like Rear Admiral Jason Tama MBA ’11 and Captain Brian Erickson MBA ’21, each of whom credit score the workplace with introducing them to the vigorous work ethic mandatory for each acquiring an MIT Sloan training and for changing into an efficient chief.
“By no means in a thousand years would I’ve gone on the useful resource administration path till a mentor instructed me it could be one of the crucial difficult and high-impact issues I might do,” says Tama. “You may by no means be absolutely ready for the Sloan Fellows expertise, however it will probably and can change you for the higher. It modified the best way I method issues and challenges.”
“I owe MIT for the senior-level alternatives I’ve had on this group, and I’ll in all probability owe them for a number of the alternatives I’ll get sooner or later,” provides Erickson. “It is best to by no means, ever say no to this chance.”
From the early cohorts of Ellis, Allen, and Festa, to more moderen alumni like O’Connell, Kang, and Ketchum, Coast Guard Sloan Fellows from the previous half-century echo Erickson and Tama’s sentiments when requested about how MIT Sloan has modified them. Phrases like “problem,” “alternative,” and “influence” are used typically and with function.
They consider becoming a member of the SFMBA program as up-and-coming senior leaders is an unimaginable alternative for the person and the Coast Guard, in addition to the MIT neighborhood and the world at giant.
“I’m excited to see this custom keep on,” says Tama. “I hope others who’re contemplating it will probably see the potential and the worth, not just for themselves, however for the Coast Guard as nicely.”
Participation by U.S. Coast Guard members on this spotlight of prior MIT Sloan Fellows just isn’t meant as, and doesn’t represent an endorsement of, the MIT Sloan Fellows MBA program or MIT by both the Division of Homeland Safety or the U.S. Coast Guard.
