Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87, an inventor and parallel entrepreneur with a penchant for daring concepts, will ship the tackle on the OneMIT Graduation Ceremony on Thursday, Might 30.
Afeyan is the founder and CEO of the enterprise creation firm Flagship Pioneering, which founds corporations that construct biotechnology platforms to remodel human well being and sustainability. Since its founding in 2000, the corporate has constructed greater than 100 science-based corporations; Flagship-founded corporations at the moment have greater than 60 medication in medical growth.
Certainly one of Afeyan’s most well-known successes is Moderna, which invented and produced an efficient Covid-19 vaccine permitted and deployed to billions of individuals in additional than 70 nations. At the moment the corporate’s chairman, he co-founded Moderna working along with his crew at Flagship and three educational co-founders in 2010, when the concept of utilizing messenger RNA in therapies was nearly remarkable. However Afeyan has lengthy been identified for asking unconventional “What if?” questions and constructing corporations with visionary targets. “Why wouldn’t you assume you may really change the world?” he mentioned in a 2021 interview with Forbes.
“You may anticipate that after Moderna’s success in bringing lifesaving Covid-19 vaccines to the world, Noubar would relaxation on his laurels. However he isn’t that sort of entrepreneur,” says MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “The truth is, he cautions that anybody in search of to profit humanity on a big scale ought to keep away from getting snug. He’s not afraid to make long-shot, long-term bets, investing in essentially the most modern science for the most important affect. We’re delighted to welcome Noubar to share his daring, dynamic outlook with the Class of 2024.”
“MIT is a spot the place audacious concepts abound, thanks largely to its exceptional college students. I’m thrilled to handle the Class of 2024 as they put together to make an affect on this planet. We’d like their curiosity, creativeness, inventiveness, braveness, and dedication — now greater than ever,” Afeyan says.
A member of the MIT Company, Afeyan has a protracted relationship with the Institute. He earned his PhD in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987 and was a senior lecturer on the MIT Sloan Faculty of Administration for 16 years, beginning in 2000. Amongst different actions, he serves on the advisory board of the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Studying, and has spoken at quite a few Institute occasions, together with MIT Remedy.
“Afeyan has proven repeatedly that excellent scientific expertise, when relentlessly targeted on audacious targets, can yield breakthroughs that many thought had been unimaginable. His prolific document of invention, alongside along with his teaching, funding, and mentoring of scores of science-driven startup companies, offers a consumer’s information on methods to channel advances in science and know-how to advertise the general public good,” says James Poterba, the Mitsui Professor of Economics and the chair of the Graduation Committee.
Born in Beirut to Armenian mother and father, Afeyan is a staunch advocate for the contributions of immigrants to financial and scientific progress. He’s the co-founder of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity and numerous different philanthropic initiatives.
“I’m excited to study from Dr. Afeyan as our graduation speaker. His work in biotechnology and entrepreneurship is really inspiring, and I can’t wait to listen to the insights and experiences that he’ll share with us,” senior class president Penny Brant says.
“I maintain nice admiration for the groundbreaking work of Moderna and its revolutionary vaccine growth. Dr. Afeyan’s contributions to the sphere of biotechnology are really commendable. Because the UA president and a consultant of my constituents, I’m to listen to what insights he’ll share with our graduating class,” Andre Hamelberg, president of the Undergraduate Affiliation, says.
“I believe it’s nice that our speaker could have shared so lots of our experiences. I’m excited for what recommendation he’ll supply us all,” Mikala Molina, president of the Graduate Scholar Council, says.
Afeyan joins notable latest MIT Graduation audio system together with YouTuber and inventor Mark Rober (2023); Director-Normal of the World Commerce Group Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (2022); lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson (2021); retired U.S. Navy four-star admiral William McRaven (2020); three-term New York Metropolis mayor and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg (2019); and Fb COO Sheryl Sandberg (2018).
