Alumni

Always up for a challenge, Braedon Rudolph ’26 double majored in physics and economics before commissioning as an officer in the Marines. “I chose MIT because of the balance, ironically. Everything is to the max but that means there’s a balance,” he says.

Philosopher Brian Hedden PhD ’12 studies decision-making over time and, with his work at MIT, is now connecting ethics and computing. “We are temporally extended people with hopefully long lifespans, but we’re made up of lots of different time slices,” Hedden says.

Stanley Anderson ‘79, who double majored in electrical engineering and humanities, operates a pickleball high-performance paddle design business. “Pickleball is booming. It’s everywhere,” he says.

Reid, the Executive Director of philanthropic funder and advisor Global Health and Wellbeing for Coefficient Giving, describes his post-PhD career path, his current work at Coefficient, and how the tools from his economics training have shaped each step along the way.

Mariano Salcedo SB ’25, SM ’26, an alumnus of MIT’s undergraduate artificial intelligence and decision making program and music technology and computation graduate program, is designing an AI to visualize and express music and other sounds. “I want users to feel movement and explore sounds and their impact more fully,” he says.

MIT political science alumna Carrie Muh ’96 ’97 earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Institute and is now chief of pediatric neurosurgery and surgical director of the Pediatric Epilepsy Program at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital and Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, New York. “I discovered MIT was a welcoming, open place. I tell my kids now: ‘I’m proud to be a nerd!’”

MIT political science alumnus Michael Franklin ’88, is an education counselor (EC), a volunteer who interviews MIT undergraduates for admission. All play a vital role by helping MIT Admissions get a more holistic view of candidates. “There’s this glow about students when they talk about what they really like to do, and I enjoy seeing that,” he says.

MIT political scientist and alumna Caitlin Talmadge PhD ‘11 scrutinizes military postures and international dynamics to understand the risks of escalation. “It’s important for me to do scholarship that speaks to real-world problems,” she says.

Economics doctoral student Whitney Zhang ‘21 investigates how technologies and organizational decisions shape labor markets. “Though I’m studying workers, it’s important to consider the entire complex ecosystem when solving for these kinds of challenges, including firm incentives and global economic conditions,” she says.

MIT alumnus, former airman, and Air Force reservist Erik Lin-Greenberg ’09, SM ’09 walks a fine line between military and political theory and practice. “I’ve learned a lot about leadership as a professor, an airman, and as a reservist, and look forward to serving the airmen in my squadron,” he says.